Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-08-11

him promotion to the key and
sounder. When the Pennsylvania
Railroad put up a telegraph wire of
its own he became clerk under Di-
visional Superintendent Thomas A.
Scott. His salary jumped to $50 Il
month. MIR. Scott" he observed,
was then receiving $125 a month,
and | used to wonder what on earth
he could do with so much money"
Andrew was l6 when his father
died, and he became at once the
breadwinner for the family and a
true capitalist. He had been told
by his trusted employer that ten
shares of Adams Express stock
could be had for $500, and it was a
Gil that night Carnegie's mother de-
cided she would mortgage her little
home for $500. The stock was
bought, and it brought monthly
dividends of one per cent.
Il can see that first check of ten
dollars dividend money now" he
said when he became Il retired IRON
master with millions. 1T was some
thing new to all of us, for none of us
had ever received anything but
from toll
The next step toward independ-
ence and fortune came when I. L.
Woodruff. the inventor of the sleep
ing car, approached him with
model of the invention. He had
not spoken TO me a minute" Car
pegie has since recalled, before,
like a flash, the whole range of it's
value burst upon me. Yes l said,
that is something which this CONT
nent must have
He consulted Scott, and the three
invested for the manufacture of the
cars. Carnegie, then earning $50
monthly, had to borrow $500 as his
first instalment of capital, but later
when he sold out his interest to the
Pullman Company he had realized
$4,000 for the venture.
Carnegie was &c when the Civil
War broke out and he saw his old
employer and friend Scott elevated
to the post of assistant secretary OF
war. Carnegie in turn won an ap-
pointment as director of government
railways and telegraphs. To the
carnage he saw at several battles
may be traced his lifelong belief in
the folly of warfare-"a blot upon
civilization
Unwittngly following the lead of
a man who was later to eclipse him
in fortune building, Carnegie, at 30
wears of age, invested in oil. AS one
of a syndicate he bought up vast
tract of oil land. In a year, to the
surprise of all the investors, it paid
the astonishing return of $1,OOO,OOO
in cash dividends upon capital of
$4,000.
But iron was the magnet then at
tracing Carnegie. The railroads
were experimenting with cast iron
bridges Carnegie foresaw the de-
fA
turn out the iron parts, and
he formed the Keystone Bridge
Works. They built. as their first
great piece, a bridge over the Ohio
river, with n span of 800 feet. De-
mand for similar structures became
general. and the keystone works
got the big orders and profits.
Believed in Steel
Carnegie then began to see that
iron rails must be given up for steel
On a visit to England in 1868 he
discovered the success being obtain
ed there with the Bessemer process
Carnegie quietly brought it home,
and before the English makers were
aware of the fact, he had adopted
it in his mills.
such that the immigrant boy of
1S4S became some forty years later
the worlds leading producer of steel,
multimilionaire himself, and fast
bringing a score of other men into
the same category Many square
miles of his mills surrounded Pitts
burgh. He reached into Upper
Michigan, 700 miles away, and ac-
quired vast regions of ore land. He
established railway and steamship
lines to bring the ire to him. He
boasted of the reduction in price of
| steel rails from sos a ton down to
$26. His critics claimed that even
the lower figure was maintained only
by the fact that he had monopolized
the industry. A former secretary
once divulged what was alleged to
have been official correspondence to
the effect that the Carnegie steel
combination could sell rails at a
profit as low as S12 ton.
1t was certain that the grip which
he had upon the steel situation
made his elimination necessary if
others in quest of wealth in steel.
| were to realize millions they saw
| going to him. He was, accordingly,