The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-01-10
BEGAN BACK IN 1861

UNITED Press Leased Wire Service
/ WASHINGTON, Jan. l0.-Andrew
Carnegie appeared before the Stan
ley steel investigating committee to-
| day, answering a subpoena, to tell his
own part in the growth of the iron
and steel inquiry. Last summer, the
Laird of Skibo wrote Chairman Stan
ley that he would be glad to testify
before the committee, but he ex-
perienced change of mind later, and
| in order to make certain that he
would be on hand today. Stanley is
sued and secured service of sub
poena on the iron master.
| Back in the early days of what wit
/ nesses before the committee have
termed "ruinous competition Car
negie was known as the most ener-
getic figure in the iron and steel
/ trade. The late John W. Gates. tes-
tifying before the committee, declar-
i ed that the Scotchmans business acu-
men forced the steel trust to pur-
chase his holdings for nearly $780,
100000 more than the figure at which
he had previously offered them for
sale.
/ When the diminutive, energetic fig
ure appeared, the committee room
was crowded For the first time
since the investigation began, a
sprinkling of women appeared among
the spectators. Carnegie looked chip
per and smart in his frock coat, He
took his seat smilingly and drew
| from an inside pocket voluminous
packet of papers and documents
/ him.
| Under the fringy tuft OF his white
| beard stringy black tie struggled
over his white shirt front His
/ bright little grey eyes flashed here
and there about the room over a
pair of steel-bowed glasses set low on
! his aquiline nose
When did you enter the, iron and
steel business" was Stanley's open
ing question.
November 1861 he said. 81 be-
gan as partner of a Mr.. Mills, and
we built an iron mill in Pittsburgh
| In 1852 we went into the keystone
Bridge Works. / found an engineer
on the Pennsylvania railroad who had
built an iron bridge. | saw at once
that the day of wooden bridges had
passed and with two or three part
ners | started the manufacture of
bridge iron.
/ Il borrowed s1,500 from the Third
National bank OF Pittsburgh, to put
in as my share of the capital. That
was my first start
/ After reviewing his early connec-
tons with the steel business, earn
| egie was asked what his plans were
when he sold out to the steel trust.
WHY he answered. pounding the
| table before him, IF | had remained
! in the steel business, I would have
had plant at Conneaut, Ohio, that
would have astonished the world and
would have absolutely crushed out all
competition in the steel business
| Charley schwab told me that he
could build tube mill at Conneaut
that would save ten dollars a ton on
tubes Carnegie continued. 81 told
him to go ahead.
Having the harbor at Conneaut,
we bought what has since become the
Bessemer and Lake Erie railroad
That gave us direct freight line
from the lakes 10 Pittsburg.
Il had always been opposed to any
mining enterprises. but my good friend
Harry Oliver had secured vast
amount of ore lands in Minnesota. +
went up to look them over and when
/ had seen the prospects | said i'm
mediately: We vii! own our own ORE
and we bought five-sixths of divers
holdings
:. developed that this land had been
turned over to the steel trust for
few hundred thousand dollars by
Carnegie. The remaining one-sixth,