Los Angeles herald., 1892-01-16
CARRIED MESSAGES.
MESSENGER BOYS WHO HAVE Ac-
oUIRED FAME AND WEALTH.

In Pittsbarg Telegraph ONCE To-
gether-How They Were Promoted.
The story of five messenger boys be-
gins in the early days of telegraphy. In
a dingy Office in Pittsburg, about 1S4S.
Andrew Carnegie, Henry W. Oliver,
Robert Pitcairn, Major William G. More
land and David McCargo were messen-
gers. 1t is said that they took the oppo-
site Of other boys and spent their spare
moments in learning useful lessons. An
drew Carnegie is the Oldest of the lot,
and he was the smartest, leading all in
learning how to telegraph. He was one
OF the first operators in the country to
learn to take the Morse system by sound,
which in those days was considered
remarkable achievement. 1t did not
take Thomas A. Scott long to snatch
Mr.. Carnegie from the telegraph office
in Pittsburg into his office as private
secretary when the great railroad genius
took charge of the Pittsburg end of the
road. The education the young Scotch
man received from greater mind lifted
him from a secretary's seat into the
place of division superintendent when
Mr.. Scott was made vice president of
the railroad. The industry, the subtle
cunning and watching faith of Scott
taught him to lay his lines in other di-
rections than watching the divisions of
railroad, and Scott helped him. His
place gave him the opportunity to look
into other lines of industry, and he drove
n drift into f,.o,, Mill liz xo.al~o-~
was not large, but his cunning and thrift
made up for the size of his AK. j. Edgar
Thomson, who was the president of the
Pennsylvania railroad, then gave a
great name and money to the works now
dominated by Mr.. Carnegie. At that
time Colonel Scott was power in the
nation as we'll as the railroad, and Car
negie began to gather wealth.
MR.. cARNEGIE's EARLY AMBITION.
my ambition in those days." he said
recently, Twas to write for newspapers
l took in material in that direction
whenever it was possible. haunted the
public library in Allegheny, and caught
on to the fact that distinction was
made by the attendants between the
poor boys and the sons of well to do
parents. 1t made me indignant | wrote
my first public letter to the board of con-
troll, and change was ordered. This
result more than ever resolved me to fol-
low journalism, but an accident drifted
me elsewhere, and became a manufac-
turer."
Thrift and industry were the derricks
which lifted Harry w. Oliver out of the
telegraph chair next to Mr. Carnegie
and made him a clerk for a big iron firm.
He is an Irishman, with head full of
cunning about the business economies of
life. 1t did not take long for him to re-
alize the possibilities of the iron trade,
and one day slick working block and
tackle hoisted him out of his seat at the
desk in the big firms workshop and
landed him in a business that has since
grown to be one of the greatest concerns
in the world. He has grown very rich,
and one railroad and seven manufactur-
ing concerns now feel the touch of his
hand
Another Scotchman of the famous five
is Robert Pitcairn, who sits in the seat
once occupied by Colonel Tom Scott and
Mr.. Carnegie. He went from a telegraph
chair into the railroad business, and he
has been master in all the best condi-
tions of railroad life. He is many times
q millionaire, but he lives for his rail-
road, although interested, like Mr.. Oil
YER, in many large manufacturing en-
terprises. He does the work of about
three men every day. and takes recrea-
ton only when he wants to talk with a
big friend or indulge with his country
men in the melodies of Scotland. He
has denied himself promotion many
times. because he likes to cling to the To-
cation where he began as a messenger
boy and has had SO many triumphs
TRIUMPH IN TELEGRAPHY
The fourth member of the group is
David McCargo, the general manager of
the Allegheny railroad. His strong
Scotch character lifted him into big
railway concerns early. He left the
telegraph Office soon after the other boys
and took a place on the railway.
Think of it, said Major William P.
Moreland, the last, but not least, of the
famous five. Il stood at the key with
Carnegie. Oliver, Pitcairn, McCargo, and
heard the first message pass over the
wires that was sent between the north
and south. James D. Reid, who was
general superintendent; David Brooks,
now living in Philadelphia, and jackson
Duncan. Of Cincinnati, had charge of
the experiment. We had to work on
short circuits in those days, and we
thought it was impossible to send mes
sage to New York from New Orleans.
Brooks and Reid walked over and in
spected the line from the Crescent City
to Pittsburg. After arriving here and
assuring themselves that the line was
perfect, the effort was ordered and every
telegraph operator on the line, and in
fact the whole country, was waiting in
suspense to know the success or failure
of the effort. Every magnet was ad-
justed, and every electrician on the line
stood at his key listening for the result.
At the signal New York called Philadel-
phia, the Quaker City signaled Harris
burg, and then in quick succession Pitts
burg, Cincinnati, Louisville and New
Orleans were opened to the metropolis.
No one drew breath scarcely until the
tick came, and in minute an unbroken
message was sent between the north and
south. That may seem primitive in
these days. when there is no measuring