New-York tribune., 1911-01-15
New Steel
Head Is a
Hard Worker
AT IT ALL HIS LIFE

A Farrell, Who Succeeds
Corey. viii Draw 100000 a
Year Because He Can Earn 1t.
...s a good soldier" E. II. Gary
otber day when he was asked
saI the almost unknown man whom ne
soo'. '.-,-,oted 10 be president Of the United
e lA- Steel Corporation at salary one
90, ,orger than that paid 20 the Presi-
80. NJ the United States.
on" .-a.+lv the same way Alexander the
~. used to set his generals over
-, kingdoms - because they were
w. sor8iers" and knew how to obey or
Alexander once built an Alexandria
90. and beside the Mediterranean,
rr5-a Gary built Gary on the open
-. beside Lake Michigan. But Alex
,.- never heard OF the land from which
.-.,,rs Of '.J-. 5 Steel set out on its
.,r that has girdled the world And
.-a NJ AIsxander's lieutenants for all
.,.., corrace and their loyalty, ever earned
..,-F bv such intense. overmastering,
r.,girr service as James A. Farrell has
=, tra company Of which he is soon
.t, chief executive. He Is just forty
-,.. ,sars old. and his hair is snow white
.,---rv is used 90 reading about
-...r coronation presidents in the newspa-
ana the matters which have brought
I'm ro,orie,y have not always been mat
49, connected with office business. a
...-r man. who for obvious reasons did not
80 m ne quoted by name. described the
- president terseiv. Who's Farrell!
.sl5 certainly I'll tell YOU. He's a
- man. and he lives in Brooklyn
WILL EARN HIS SALARY.
-..s rre7t corporation does not pay
-. ~ s-mNol a year 10 any man who
- moi earn IL, though his family be as
,-..-.rsbre as the Siamese twins and
.-.-,.r be live in Brooklyn from choice and
-. bs-suee he has 10. James a. Farrell
-. s-ted himself 10 earn the money.
r.ss many Americans Of the present gem
--.5,- he Is of mixed stock. His father
- r-,s-r7an and his mother the daugh-
- NJ q family originally from the North
- England which had settled in New
r5,-7sbire John Farrell. his father was
- .-.-,v~rer. Toward the close OF his ne
=. -..fs~s5 heavy losses. At last, in ls'9'
- r,sr-su who was then sixteen, left
s--,o1 IN do his part as the eldest son II
supporting the family.
rss cot work in q wire mill IN New haven
=. ro--a city. His salary was 81 %
-. his work consisted in tending a ma
,.,-s for -eeline the finished wire.
t,. Aid the work as well as IL could be
s,,. Z. was practically automaicS the
....fr,a did nearly everything that was
,ssss5 Blu. he found that some ot tne
.,r,ors were q. triEe longer than others ana
-. some If them were not eNactIy even
=. .,.--~,ss him that the wire did not III
, -.,,r,. an the zpaos lie studied his ma
-, -,-. carefully. then made slight cnanse
q n and found that he could overcome
-. 5s4-rrtv. I'm his spare time he learned
The work Of a block man.
-.f-a "hIock" is an 0biong piece OF
s,rf steel. perhaps 6 inches square ana
.r NJ 70 inches long. A round hole taper
,-- IRON, back 70 front. runs lengthWlse
,.-,g-- IT, bar Of soft steel, pointed az
,,s end is thrust into the hole, the pointed
,-5 .s fastened % a belt and the steel is
5-,y., ont through the narrow opening IN
the form Of WIRE. The first ora"lh- pro-
tgrss thick strand. Smaller sizes OF wire
az made uy drawing the large WIRE
,.-oarh a still Amer opening.
HIS FIRST PROMOTION.
r,r-- Farrell found that he was strong
enough for the work, and he soon acquired
n. necessary skill. He needed a block
mans rav for the family, and he pre-
fs--ss Oh. rfeher kind Of work. Il was
not ro-z before he got his chance at the
--s,rt-a For nine years he stayed IN the
MIL Ir was not large plant and ne
us-- from ON. sort Of work 20 anotneE
until he had done with his own hands every
Part of the process Of making wire But
be learned that 50 long az he STAYED IN
that plant he had small chance or necoHh-
l-- s-v--tra more than a workman. II
vas a conservative, small company ana
ths two o. three superintendents were
anchored" for life.
He heard of the great strides in tIe
rad, that were going on in Plttsours'
vas-a opportunities we're opening almost
every dav and De had made up his nina
% eo there az once when his fathers
death irra--grtad his plans. His mother
rr.sf was So great that she could not
hear % have him leave her. Besides ne
t.t that he could hardly take the imam
Ga risk with 20 many dependent upon
Rim re did not dare to give up small
tg. certain income for any promises now
ever brilliant So for a year longer ne
stuck bv his mother I'm New Haven.
Then when @ younger brother had be
gun % share the burden, he struck ont.
Few weeks tn a great Pittsburg mill
showed his =Greriors how well he had
FROSTED tv h- long apprenticeship. and
Trey made him a foreman. Those were
days o. rapid expansion ana quick promo
tons iu FluzbGrs Within the year he
Vas assistant suparintendent of the mill.
For -ra e-s- time there was more than
enough for tae family 10 live comfortably.
The 1sI-hbrrs az New Haven said that
.,-r- Farrell seemed 10 sink most Of his
surplus In railroad fares between Pittsburg
I7t his home. Certainly n was not a very
grave eZtravaeauce for a young man who
F3' taf-sre5 his brothers and sisters Tor
zen years He spent so much money Tor
railroad fare that az last he paid two
fs-es instead % one. and carried the best
Iar' cf New Haven bodily 20 Pittsourg
ste Rad been Miss Theresa NcDermott,
SN She was Mrs. James A. Farrell.
i was good thing for the young assist
a. superintendent that he had found out
'22} even De could hardly study the tech
h'3ia ~ steel manufacture on those long
journeys over the Pennsylvania Railroad.
"thin year after his marriage he was
a
Wre Company.