Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-05-10
ANDREW CARNEGIE.
Brief Sketch of the Worlds Great
est Iron-Master.
WAS ONCE A COTTON MILL HAND
Afterwards He Became an Expert Tel
cgrapller, Then a Railway super-
intendent-Nlade Money in
OIL His Generosity.

1ntendent-MadeM Money In
OIL = His Generosity.
[Fronl The Conservativc.l
1t was Pope, the poet and philoso-
pher, who said, ''The proper study of
mankind, is man. and surely the
world offers no subject more worthy
of study; nor is there anything more
inspiring than to review the success
full career Of a self-made man, who by
virtue OF his own elements, has risen
from an humble beginning to wealth,
and high esteem among his fellow
men. In our own country, where there
is no inherited greatness, and COM
paratively little inherited wealth, we
find the best examples of great, self
made men. The subject of this sketch,
Andrew Carnegie, stands prominently
before us and has a just claim on high
public regard.
In 1S45 there came to Pittsburg, Pa,
from Dunfermline, Scotland, family
OF Scotch weayers by the name of Car
negie. We first heard of Andrew two
years later as a "bobbin boy in the
\ cotton mill in which his father was
then employed. From 'bobbin boy"
we next find him turned telegraph
messenger in the employ of the At
lantic and Ohio Telegraph company,
and later as telegraph operator, in
which capacity he was regarded as an
expert, being one of the first to use
the system, then new, of reading the
signals by sound. His expert know
ledge of biography soon secured him
the position OF chief clerk to the gem
eral superintendent, Thos. Scott, of
the Pennsylvania railroad, and like
wise the position of manager of it's
telegraph lines, from which situation
he was soon after made superintend-
ent OF the Pittsburg division of that
road.
His Active Youth.
During his railway experience, Mr.
Carnegie was Instrumental in bringing
about various important improve
ments in the service, among which
was the adoption of the Woodruff
sleeping car, the pioneer OF the sleep
ing car business. It was while still in
the service of the Pennsylvania road
that the discovery of petroleum in
Pennsylvania introduced a new and
wonderful factor into the commerce
Of the country, and Mr.. Carnegie,
keenly alive to the situation, invested
his savings in the oil business, much
to his profit. From this investment
was formed the nucleus of his subse-
quent wealth. We now find him quit
ting the railway service and devoting
his attention to the manufacture OF
iron and steel, and his career may be
b said to have commenced at this time.
for it is as a great factor in iron and
steel that Mr.. Carnegie first claims
our attention. While still young
man of 30 years he was able to tore
see that Pittsburg was likely to be-
come the great iron and steel center
of the country, and all his superb
energies we're at once devoted to de-
veloping these industries. Beginning
with the organization of the Keystone
Bridge works, he soon followed with
OF steel rails, furnaces and rolling
mills for the manufacture Of struc.
tslra1 iron and steel finally extending
his operations to include the manu-
facture of armor plate and all kinds
of steel products, and to cover every
stage of the industry from the mining
of the ores to the finished products.
So wide field Of operations necessar-
lily included likewise extensive allied
Industries, such as coke works, coal
mines, railway and steamship lines
for the transportation of raw material
I and finished product, etc. All of these
I were soon established and developed
Y like magic under the hand of the mas
\ ter, until now, as the century draws
3 to a close we may well take national
pride in the knowledge that the steel
works established by Mr.. Carnegie in
the Pittsburg district, are the great
Z est in the world, and that their prod
& ucts may be found in every country
on the globe reached by commerce.
Employs $4,000 Men.
1t is something of which to be
justly proud that an American citizen
should, within the short period OF
time covered by a quarter of a CEN
fury, develop one of our greatest in
dustries SO as to completely surpass
those of the old world. But this is ac-
complished and the great works Of the
Carnegie Steel company, and allied in-
dustries, employing today upwards Of
$4,000 men, and transacting an actual
volume of business equal to twice that
of the Pennsylvania railway company,
are the creation of the great ironmas-
i ter, whose name they bear, and to
whom principally they belong.
"A wise and good man once said that
d he would rather be the employer of
5000 men and feel that he furnished
them the means of gaining a livelihood
than be president of the United Stat
es. What then shall we say of him
who employs ten times that number
and whose hand has furnished the
4 means by which each is able to earn
an independent living? Here is true
royalty, here is a magnifcence of es-
8 tate greater than throne.
As a just reward for veu directed
energies, combined with Integrity and
thrift, we find the subject of our
sketch, the weaver laddie," with
whom we commenced, now grown
great in wealth second to few, if to
y any in QIlr country. LIE a man secrre