Evening star., 1939-09-19


CHARLES M. SCHWAB.
of the elder John D. Rockefeller and
Henry Ford, became an industrial
legend, built along the classic Ho-
ratio Alger theme of rags to riches.
The son of wool factory mill
hand, Mr.. Schwab quit So week
job as a grocery clerk to take la
borer's job driving stakes in steel
plant at Braddock, Pa, owned by
Carnegie Bros. & Co.
Gave Piano Lessons.
In the evening the 18-year-old boy
studied the steel business and gave
piano lessons to steelWorkers' chill
dren at so cents an hour In three
years he was manager of the plant
at $3.50 a month. At 81 he married
Emma Eurania Dinkey, daughter of
the first steel works chemist in the
United States.
Mr.. Schwab soon became labor
trouble shooter" for Andrew Car
negie, the steelmaster, who liked the
tall, husky young executive and
boosted him rapidly. He was only
35 in 1897 when he became president
of the Carnegie Steel Co. and in
three years raised its profits from
100000 to s4O,00O,0OO.
The late J. Pierpont Morgan made
him president ,of the newly-formed
United States Steel Corp. in 1901
but two years later Mr.. SchWab tore
up million dollar -a-year contract
because he said he was tired of hav-
ing too many Bosses"
Moved by his self-admitted mania
to be the handspring of any enter
prise he embarked upon, Mr.. Schwab
put S15,000,OO0 of his own money and
his limitless energy into the found
ing of Bethlehem Steel.
Built Wartime Empire.
With the aid of his protege, Eu-
gene Grace, Mr. Schwab built the
company into steel empire valued
in the hundreds of millions during
the World War and the postwar
boom period.
Mr.. Schwab, a super salesman him
self, sold S15O,000,000 worth OF war
supplies to Great Britain and $75,-
100000 worth to Russia. A business
legend credits him during that time
with spurning the worlds largest
bribe, reported sl00,00O,00O offer BY
the German government to stop
selling steel to the allies.
He sold millions of dollars worth
of naval armament to the United
States Government and was drafted
by President Wilson in 1918 to speed
the building of hundreds of ships as
director general of the Emergency
Fleet Corp.
Throughout life, Mr.. Schwab
played as hard as he worked and
seemed to get as much pleasure out
of giving away and spending his
money as amassing 1t.
He owned a 1.000-acre estate at
Loretto. Pa. his home town; villa
in France and a magnificent River
side Drive renaissance chateau
which cost him more than $4,000 900
to build and furnish. The chateau,
which contained private pipe
organ, was put up for sale recently.
Starter Retiring in 1882.
Mr.. Schwab crossed the Atlantic
ITO times in European jaunts. His
hobbies were golf and reckless brand
of bridge. He gradually had re-
linquished his business posts after
1882, but remained chairman of the
board of the Bethlehem Steel Corp.
AS he aged, he complained some
times of the burden of wealth, re-
called he had been happiest when
he and his wife lived in cottage on
a modest income and said:
Now we have many houses
mansions. But we don't own them.
They own US
Often Mr. SchWab philosophical
on his own success and attributed it
chiefly to luck.
The men at the top are no differ
ent from other men," he once said.
They've merely had more oppor-
tunity."
His associates, however, said Mr..
Schwab succeeded because better
than any man of his time he had
the knack of getting along with men.
His personality was made more mag
netic by overwhelming optimism and
self-confidence.
Typical was a statement he issued
on his list birthday, during the de-
preston.
II am an optimist by nature.
Something is bound to happen,
something unseen and unprophe-
sled, which will put us back on our
feet. It always has and it always
will ~