The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1899-12-28

little engine, the danger of max
ing one mistake that would bring
the building crashing down upon
him; -he stood the strain and this
worry very bravely, for one reas-
ON, namely; that he was contrib
uting So. 80 a week toward the ex-
penses of the Carnegiehousehold.
Even then he managed to keep
out few pennies every week for
himself, and, instead of spending
them, put them away in a bureau
drawer that was all his own.
After monthsin the cellar he was
at last promoted to the Office, and
his income increased to three
dollars week. AS he was skill
full with figures, and could write
legible, schoolboy hand, he be-
came his employers only clerk,
making out bills and keeping
crude accounts, Thus he stood
firmly on the third step, and nick
els instead of pennies were de-
posted in the bureau drawer
bank.
The fourth step, at the age of
fourteen, brought him into a new
realm. The family had moved to
Pittsburg, and here he found a
"job" as messenger boy. A
stranger in the city, his great
anxiety was that he might lose
his position because he knew so
little about the name and address
es of the men for whom kilograms
came pouring in.
He spent the evenings, there
fore, wandering up and down the
streets, and before long he could
start at the head of any given
street and, with his eyes shut,
name every firm on either side all
the way down. He was now earn
ing only a percentage on each
message delivered or called for.
When, at the end Of the week, the
amount exceeded SO. so he added
the surplus to the fund in the
drawer; when less, he drew on
the private bank to make up the
deficit.
While he sat on the bench in
the office, waiting his turn, the
other boys talked, but ANDY
listened to the click of the tele-
graph instrument. AT last one
of the men taught him the mys-
terious alphabet, and very soon
he became one of the very few
persons in the United States who
could take messages by ear, "a t
that time extraordinary.
This led to his taking the fifth
step. He was made an operator,
and his salary became enormous,
-S25 a month. With this he
could and would take almost en-
tire care of the whole family. But
how was he to pay the bills and
save money-even little, at the
same time?
One evening, reading as usual,
he came across the words "extra
compensation for extra work. y
He began thinking. The six news
papers in Pittsburg were receiv-
ing their telegraphic news in com
mon. Six copies of each dispatch
were made by the operator at the
next table, who received six dol
lars week for the work. The
next day the ambitious young
Carnegie told the six-dollar man
that he, "Andy," would copy the
dispatches for one dollar Il week,
The offer was accepted, and thus
hundred cents a week went into
the bureau drawer.
One day a locomotive came bel
lowing over new tracks into q
new station, bringing the first
train over the Pennsylvania Rail
road into Pittsburg. The Super
intendent rushed over to the tele
graph Office, and gave Carnegie a
message to wire to the Genera
Manager at Altoona.
The operator, who was then on
ly sixteen, clicked of the message
as fast as the Superintendent
talked. Later, when the Penn
sylvania strung wire of its
own, that Superintendent chose
"Andv" as s'clerk and operator, ,