Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-08-17
Views and Reviews
Sidelights ON Carnegie Who
Coined Iron into Gold

l saw Andrew Carnegie tor the trSt time in
the winter of 1885, little over so years ago,
while l was serving as page in the United
States senate and have an interesting souvenir
of the occasion in my autograph album. After
| had done some errands for him, asked him
to write his name in my book. Complying
with the request, he inquired who might be
and, when | told him, he said he knew my
father as fellow telegraph operator during the
war and that though he had often talked with
him over the wires he had never met him.
I'll send him message" he added, (which
he will understand"
Whereupon he put down in the lower corner
of the page this inscriptions:
Seventy three-To The Bee-A. C."
Seventy three" translates itself in telegraph
parlance to the code word Regards as
found out when | later exhibited the book to
my father
The over-the- wire acquaintance became a
personal friendship afterwards. Both men used
to attend the annual meetings of the national
organization of military telegraphers and my
father was more than once entertained at the
Carnegie residence in New York
While | on the Omaha Public Library
board I engaged in correspondence with Mr..
Carnegie at two different times to enlist his
favor for branch library or an enlargement of
the present main building His library subven-
tons were handled through secretary charged
with that part of his benefactions and admins
tered under rules and regulations with which
strictly applied proposal could not be made
to conform. Unless special exceptions were
to be made, the conditions excluded the con-
struction of branch Libraries or additions to
existing Libraries even if we could have met the
requirement OF stipulating an annual expendi-
ture equal to 10 per cent of the amount given.
These rules did not stand in the way of secur-
ing. Carnegie library for South Omaha, for
which | also eXerted my influence, and an
nexation has made that library branch of
the Omaha Public library-somethng we were
told the fund could not permit.
Mr.. Carnegie was one of the members of
the White House conference on the conserva-
ton of natural resources called by President
Roosevelt in 1907, to which | was appointed by
Governor Sheldon to represent Nebraska but
was not active in the discussions. His age was
even then beginning to show. I saw him two
or three times after that. He had apparently
grown steadily more and more feeble.
By coincidence the annual report of the
Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of
teaching came to hand at the same time as
the news Of the founders death This is the
fund set aside to provide retirement allowances
tor superannuated college professors for which
our Nebraska university foolishly failed to quail
lfy till it was too late. The report shows that
the annuity granted by special dispensation to
Chancellor f. Benjamin Andrews has been
passed along to his widow. The mortuary roll
for 1918 contained also names of some other
educators within personal acquaintance--ex-
Chancellor Chaplin of Washington university
at St. Louis, who delivered the address at one
OF our medical school commandments; Dr. E.
H. Spieke, under whose instruction l started
at ISbt,
Learned, who guided me into German literature
at the same institution And the pension roll
procla1ms the retirement from active COL
leglate service on allowance of Simon N Pat
ten, Pennsylvania veteran teacher of political
economy; President William F. Slocum of Colo
RADIO college, and quite a few others. The board
in charge of this fund announces a complete
change in the method of administration, in fact
Its conversion into an insurance endowment, by
which the benefits will be available on fixed
terms to professors and teachers who qualify
by taking out policies and paying part of the
cost themselves as they go along in the nature
of premiums for protection against disability
and death. Thus the charge of substituting our
higher educational institutions with tainted
money is wholly negatived, first by putting the
fund on a business rather than charity basis,
and now, by the death of the man who gave
the money and who might possibly have as
serted the claim to gratitude
Let me pay tribute to "Mogy." In his
limited sphere he has been real factor in the
life of Omaha for 20 years by activities that
have made him known far and wide. He
started his career here as newsboy for The
Bee. He always bg-hearted and open
handed-never hesitated to go out of his way
to do good turn for somebody-genial and
generous to fault He will be missed by MANY
more than many who achieved loftier heights
UtAaa~ fR1-rz0