El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-03-21
Schwab a Self Made Man
Pennsylvania MuItimiIIiOnaire Rose
From Coach Driver to steel King;
Liberal With Fortune,
: By Madison c. Peters

! /" HARLES NJ. SCHWAB was born
! poor boy in Williamsburg,
! Blair county, Pa, in February,
! 1852, the descendant of an humble
1 family of German immigrants. Charles
I was sent to the village school, but
! did not make much Roadway. The
/ family for economic reasons removed
to LOrettO, in Cambria county the
! same state, in 1872. There was q Ait
tie college in LOretto known as St
brancls, conducted by a Roman Cath
{ one brotherhood, and Charles attended
this until he was 16 He had gone
as far as the course extended and was
a fair scholar when he got through
he was pretty good at English and
mathematics, knew little Latin and
less Greek But there was no op-
/ portun1ty for young SchWab to extend
his education He had to go to work
TO heIp support the family, and at
first he found it hard to get any kind
OF work He did all kinds of Jobs for
the nelgh5Orlng farmers, hoed pota-
toes, planted corn, tossed hay, fed the
dental to farm life. He rarely made
more than dollar a day.
Became Stage Coach Driver.
Dung SchWab got tired of going
around the farmers places looking
for work He was on the lookout
for something else, and it came. A
daily coach ran between Loretto and
Cresson, and the driver having given
up his Job, Schwab applied for the
job and got it. His father had for a
time q contract for carrying the mail
between these two places. This was
q peter job than labOring in the
fields, but there was not much money
IN II ana SchWab was anxious to get
on. In a short time he gave it M and
went 70 Braddock, Pa, where he got
employment as clerk in a grocery
store He had to handle large pacIs
ages and bundles of merchandise. and
~! ne 4ouIS Were rom six in the morn
Ing 70 Almost midnight on occasions.
ne could save nothing at this lob nav
ne couldn't make enough to helm his
Iamlly. he gave it up and one day
WWalked over to the Edgar Thomson
oLeeI VOTES or the Carnegie company,
ana asked capt Jones, the superin- |
tendent, for a job
Got bob With Steel Company.
Jones liked Schwab's appearance.
He mad an open frank countenance |
and he looked strong and healthy He |
gave the youth job. It consisted of |
o9lVlng stakes at a dollar a dav. As !
LeI as ehe money was concerned it |
was no Improvement on his other Jobs, 1
out SchWab saw that if he kept at it /
Inere might be a chance of advance
ment. He stuck. He had mentioned !
to Capt Jones on one Occa sion that .
his ambition was to become a. civil /
engineer Jones liked him for that |
ambition and determined to helm /
young Schwab along.
His Rise Was Rapid.
In less than year Schwab was
captain[Jones' chief assistant, and in
seven years was chief Of the engineer
ing department and it was principally I
under his direction that the Home
stead plant was erected. On the
death of captain Jones in 1889. Schwab
was made superintendent of the Ed
gar Thomson Steel Works and in 1895
the Homestead works was also
placed in his charge He was elected
a member of the board of managers
of the Carnegie company in 1896 and
rs preSldent in 1897, and when the
-arneEse interests were merged in the
arger United States steel corporation
n 1901, he became the first president
IL the corporation, remaining until |