His mother died when Charles was just one year old and his grandmother came to take care of him. She would have loved her grandchild in any case, but his affliction made him especially dear to her, and she cared for him so that all through life he loved her dearly and after her death he cherished her memory. Breslau is a large railway centre and Charles’ father worked in the government railway service there. He was a comparatively poor man but keenly interested in science. He was determined that, as far as was possible, Charles should have a thorough education. Charles himself was a studious boy, and eager to take advantage of every opportunity to learn. He was not able to play games and enjoy an active life as other boys did but he did enjoy life and the subjects he studied greatly interested him, and severely crippled though he was he made up his mind that he would devote himself to science. He said that he hoped to make discoveries that would help other people. As soon as he was old enough, Charles began to study at the university. He was most interested in mathematics, chemistry and electricity and he made considerable progress in these subjects. He was just about to receive his degree when his political views made it necessary for him to leave Germany and go to Switzerland, where several of his friends, holding similar views, had gone before him. The proud, overbearing, arrogant views of many German leaders of that time were not to his liking and he had shown decided radical tendencies which brought him under suspicion of the German government. He arrived in Switzerland in June, 1888, with very little money. It took exactly half of all he had to pay the first month’s rent for his room, but he possessed great courage and immediately resumed his studies in chemistry and physics, while he wrote articles for local papers and magazines and so earned enough to pay his way. By dint of hard work he managed to earn fourteen dollars a month and although this was not very much, his wants were few, and he did not suffer hardship nor get into debt. While he was in Switzerland he met a young Dane named Oscar Asmussen. This man had once lived in San Francisco and intended returning. He urged Charles Steinmetz to go with him but Charles was almost penniless and the thing seemed impossible. Oscar Asmussen had just enough money to pay for two steerage passages and a few dollars over and in June, 1889, the two set out for America.