Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-08-12
LIFE SKETCH
fcontinued from PAGE one)

tc Libraries. colleges and other institu-
tions should live after him, by estab-
fishing the Carnegie Corporation vita
fund Of s25.0oo.ooO.
One of his latest and greatest ideals
was the abolition of war, a hope that
he cherished in the face of interna-
tional conflicts. He gave $4,000, 900
toward an International Peace Fund.
and built the Peace Palace at The
Hague which WAS dedicated in 1913.
He gave s75o.ooo for the Bureau Of
American Republics al Washington.
His love Of music moved him to
equip hundreds Of churches and in
stitutions with pipe organs. He new
er gave directly any large sum to
religious purposes. OF his organ gifts
he said he would hold himself re-
sponsible for what the organ pealed
forth on the Sabbath. but not for
what might be said in the pulpit. One
Of his very earliest gifts. as tar back
as 1891. was the Carnegie Music hall
in New York. at a cost of $4,000, 600,
and as president of the New York
Philharmonic Society he spent his
money literally in furthering its
r A0CaAS- S1C axSo OdSAC0 ku0
Pittsburgh orchestra.
To the Allied Engineers Societies
he gave $4,000. 900. His small gifts
to colleges amounted to some $e0.-
0o0,o00 No man left at his death
such an unique and such a scattered
series of monuments to perpetuate his
memory.
In the background of these Is years
of philanthropy there is the familiar
story of Scotch thrift, a little luck.
! an6 steel. which made such generos-
ity possible.
Carnegie was fond of telling the
story himself. Rapidly covered it
was this: His first penny he earned
Unexpectedly as a child when he as
/ tonished his schoolmaster in Dun
fermline by reciting Burns long poem.
Man Was Made to Mourn" with
out q break. There is an anecdote
Of how. when asked in Sunday school
II recite a proverb from Scripture,
the young Scot unwittingiy forecast
his own fortune by giving the homely
( advice-"Look after the pence, and
the pounds will take care Of them
3 Andrew was II when his father. q
| master weaver. was brought almost
/ to destitution. The steam looms
drove him out of business. The FAM
lily numbered four. including Andy"
and his younger brother William.
The parents decided to emigrate to
! America. whence some relatives had
proceeded them with success. They
settled at Allegheny City. Pa. across
| the river from Pittsburgh. in 1S4S.
The father and Andrew found work
. in a cotton factory. the son as bob
bin boy. It was his first work. The
| salary was $l.20 q week. He was
soon promoted. on a slight advance,
to engineers assistant. He stocked
! the boilers and ran the engine in
the factory cellar.
| In those dingy quarters, where he
worked twelve hours a day. came
| the inspiration that later led to his
! library benefactions, he said. A Col
onel Anderson. possessed Of some
400 books, announced he would open
/ his library every, weekend and al
low boys to borrow any books they
| pleased. Carnegie was one Of the
most eager readers.
Only he who has longed as I did
for Saturdays to come" he has said,
can understand what Colonel An
| derson did for me and other boys #
Allegheny. Is it any wonder that I
resolved. II ever surplus wealth came
to me. would use 1t in initiating my
benefactor?"
At IA Carnegie emerged from the
| engine cellar and became q telegraph
| messenger. J. Douglas Reid, a
Dunfermline man, who had come to
America early. was head Of the Of
fee and he made Andrew his proteee.
| Telegraphy was then almost a new
thing. Nobody ventured to read the
| dots and dashes by sound. They were
| all impressed on tape. Carnegie ls
said to have been the third operator
In the United States to accomplish
the feat Of reading messages by
sound alone. He praetissd mornings
before the regular operators came
around.
-ons day q death message signal
came" he has related. before the
operators arrived. In those days
death messages were the most i'm
| portant messages We handled. L
ventured to take this one
He did 1t correctly and delivered
the telegram before the regular force
was on duty a8 all. IL won him pro-
motion to the key and soundee. when
the Pennsylvania railroad put up q
telegraph wire Of Its own he became
clerk under Divisional Supsrintend-
ent Thomas A Scott. His salary
jumped TO SIS q month. 'Mr. Scott,"
he observed. was then receiving $l3s
. month. and used to wonder what
on earth hs could DO with % mvrh
money"
Andrew was 10 when hi, father
died. and he became a once -
oread-winner for the family ~ !.
true capitalist He had been told hv
his trusted employer that 10 shsrrs
OF Adams Express stock could be had
for $s0o, and tt was good invest-
ment. At q family council that night,
Carnegie's mother decided she would
marriage her little home for $50.
The stock was bought. and Il
brought monthly dividends oe ! per
cent. sfEA
II can see that first ch6ek Of $40
dividend money now" he said when
he became q. retired ironmaster with
miiti0oR 1T was something new TO
IN u ua for none Of rs had ever re-
ceived anything but from toll"
Tha next step toward independ-