New-York tribune., 1919-08-12

In attempting to release them one wire
suddenly few up and cut q frightful
cash in his face.
striking Oil"
His next successful business venture
was the purchase with seven capital
lists of the Storey farm in Oil City,
Penn, where oil had been found the
year previous. This venture is re-
fcrred to in Mr.. Carncge's "Trium-
phant Democracy" as follows: when
J first visited this famous we'll the oil
was running into the creek, whore
few fiat bottomcd scows lay filled with
1t, ready to be foated down the Ale
gheny River upon an agreed-upon~ day
each week, when the creek was flooded
by means of temporary dam. This
was the beginning Of the natural oil
business. We purchased the farm for
SaO0OO. Its value rose to $4,000, 900; that
is, the shares of the company sold in the
market upon this basis. and one year
1t paid in cash dividends $1,000, 600
rather good return upon an invest
ment of $4,000"
The Iron Master.
Not satisfied with these enterprises
Mr. Carnegie was always on the alert
for new ventures, and soon came to
the conclusion that railroad bridges
could be improved upon as we'll as
railroad cars: He believed the day Of
wooden bridges had come and gone
and. that cast iron would be the ma
terial employed in the future He
gathered about him q number of rail-
road men and organized the Keystone
Bridge Company, and in order to give
1T full attention he retired from the
railroad service. This was in 1867, and
Mr. Carnegie had at last attained his
ambltlon-hc was working for himself.
had reached point beyond the salary
sphere. The first great bridge over
the Ohio, at Steubenville, with a 800
foot span, was built by this company.
After visit to Europe, where he saw
that iron rails were being discarded
and steel rails substituted, he started
the Besscmcr process in his mills at
Pitts bureh. Later he became the owner
of the Homestead Steel Works, at
Pittsburgh, and in 1888 he owned, with
works IN or near Pittsburgh These
seven mills, known throughout the
world as the Carnegie Steel Company
plant, included the Homestead, the
Edgar Thompson, the Duquesne Steel
Works and Furnaces the Lucy Fur
naces, the Keystone Bridge Works, the
Upper Union Rolling Mills and the
lower onion KOlllnS NILS and the
Frick Coke Company An approximate
estimate of this plant put the output
at 10000 tons Of steel rails and
14O,0 tons of pig iron month
Tcstifying before the Federal Com
mission on Industrial Relations, in
February, 1915, Mr. Carnegie gave in
his own words an interesting account
OF the conduct of that vast business:
I'VE had one rule: Come what may,
we would never think of running our
works with new men. Able, sober, we'll
behaved workmen such as ours were
are not to be picked up on the streets,
and we wished no Others We were
very particular in regard to drinking;
hrst offence, men were excluded thirty
days; second offence, sixty days; third
offence, we parted company.
The Great Homestead Strike.
I'VE had only one serious disaster
with labor; but that was terrible in
deed. | was coaching through the Scot
tlsh Highlands or my holiday and did
not hear of the lamentable riot at
Homestead until days after it occurred
wired at once that | would take the
hrst steamer home, but was requested
not to come.
You might like to hear" he contin-
ued, "the following incident connected
with the Homestead strike:
"Jhe Governor of Pennsylvania. un-
derslood, wished certain Of our workers