The Portland daily press., 1899-05-20
MAGIC RISE OF FRICK
The Head Of the Great
Carnegie Plant.
Was Poorly Paid Clerk in 1870.
Is Now Owner Of Millions.
Methods Which Have
Brought Wealth.
Industry and Economy His Sole
Capital at the Start.

As the head of the new Carnegie Steel
company, the greatest OF all the recently
consolidated industrial concerns, Henry
Clark Frick has become man OF world
wide interest. The distinction thus
thrust upon him IL not TO MIR. Frick's
liking. He Is averse to being held up
to public view as financial lion for
two reasons One. and perhaps with
MIN the weightiest. In his natural mod
esty. Mr.. Frick is plain man, and
dislikes ostentation in any form. The
other reason is based upon his ambition
to accomplish even greater triumphs of
fiuanciering, and which might be frus-
trated by too generous publicity.
Mr.. Frick Is man Of uncommon
mold. At 81 he was poorly paid book
keeper in distillery Today. at 90, he
Is the owner of the greatest coke-making
plants in the world, has private for
tune amounting to sl5,Ooo.ooo or more,
and Is the active head of enterprises in
voIying the use of hundreds Of millions
of dollars in capital. A man vEo can
make this kind of record for himself
may he truthfully described as "uncom-
mon." MIR. Frick is the builder OF his
own fortune. He secured what he has
without the aid of family influence or
vealth-it is the creation of his own
brain and industry.
Henry Clay Frick was born in Fayette
county, Ohio, in lS49. His father was
n farmer in moderate circumstances, who
had lived in West Overton, Pa, With
nothing but a common school education
young Prick went to work as dry goods
clerk, but soon gave that up to become
bookkeeper in the distillery owned by his
grandfather at Bradford, Pa.
HIS START IN COKE BUSINESS.
This took young - Frick into the very
heart of the coke region. Although he
was only 81 years of age then, he had de-
yeloped the habit of socumulating mon
ey, and saved most OF his earnings. he
took q great interest in the manufacture
of coke. studied the process, and made up
his mind that he would some day go into
the business. At this time, too, he was
close student OF the labor situation In
the coal anu CUko IeBioue.
A short time after passing his majority
Frick and two other young men scraped
ND money enough between them to buy
$40 acres of land and fifty coke ovens.
They began to manufacture coke under
the firm anne of Frick 81 Co.
Friok succeeded so well In the coke
business that within four years he in
creased is ovens from fifty to one hun
dred. The coke business kept on boom
ing Mt q great rate until 1913 ovens had
been built IN the region.
Then came the panic OF 1878. The price
of pig iron declined enormously, the price
of coke fell in sympathy, and everybody
wanted to get out of the coke business.
Not so with MIR. Frick. He invested eve
~ dollar that he had OF could raise in
purchasing the coke properties and ovens
which others were so ready to sell at low
prices.
All through the panic he kept his ovens
going. In 1876 he separated from his old
partners and took E. NJ. Ferguson as
new partner. Real success came to this
new firm in 1879, when there came an
unprecedented demand for coke, and
nrices went up from about 81 to S. "a ton.
Under the impetus of this boom MIR.
Frick continued 10 buy coke ovens and
GOAL lands until in 1882 his firm had 5000
acres of coal land and 1926 coke ovsns.
1t was in that year that Carnegie Bros.
& Co. (limitsd) became partners IN the
firm of II. G. Friok & 90.
The success of the firm from 1882 I'M
til 1890 was phenomenal, and 1t is gener-
ally acknowledged that it was in the
greatest degree due to the energy ana
| push Of Mr.. Frick himself. In 1890 the
corporation owned and controlled $4,000
acres of coal lands, forty OF the
eighty coke plants in the region, with
an aggregate of 10 046 ovens, three water
plants with pumping capacity of
1000, 600 gallons daily, thirty live miles
OF railroad, and 1910 cars. Eleven thou
sand men were on the pay rolls of the
company then.
On the death of David A. Stewart, in
December, 1888, Andrew Carnegie offered
Mr.. Prick an interest In the firm OF Car
negie Bos. 81 Co.. which MIR. Frick &C.
| cepted and paid for. He was at once
made chairman of the directors of Carne.
gle Bros. & Co.
| AS an employer of labor Mr.. Prick
earned the everlasting hatred of the
| Amal2mated association. When he was
put at the head Of all of the Carnegie
steel interests, the Amalgamated associa-
ton felt that the fight for its life had