THE IMMIGRANT LAD WHO BECAME A KING OF INDUSTRY.
In November, 1837--the year in which Queen Victoria ascended the
throne--Andrew Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. His
father was a weaver, and before the invention of the steam loom, made
a comfortable, if modest, living. Andrew's mother early impressed
upon him that economy was a virtue, a lesson which he never forgot in
later days. On one occasion Mrs. Carnegie asked her children to
repeat a proverb from the Bible. When it came to Andrew's turn, he
stood up and said, "Take care of the pence and the pounds will take
care of themselves". While Andrew was mistaken in thinking this was
in the Bible, it shows how deeply it had been fixed in his mind.
One day Andrew's father came home very dejected. "Andy," he said, "I
have no more work." Up till that time all weaving had been done on
hand looms, and the introduction of the steam looms threw hundreds of
men out of work. Andrew never forgot how bitter and harsh his
father's words sounded. "No more work!" That meant no more money,
and poverty stared them in the face.
Andrew's father could not obtain work in the town. Hundreds of
others, like himself, were thrown out of work. It was no use moving
to another town for conditions were the same everywhere. After some
anxious days of planning together, the family decided that the only
thing to do was to follow the example of some relations and move to
the United States.
The Carnegies sold their hand looms and household belongings, and got
ready for their long voyage. There were only two children, Andrew
and his younger brother, Tom. Those were the days of sailing
vessels, and crossing the Atlantic meant a rough voyage of many weary
weeks and, after that, long and tiresome railway journeys. Andrew
was only eleven at this time.
The family reached Pittsburgh safely and Mr. Carnegie obtained work
at a cotton factory. Soon after this Andrew got a position as a
bobbin boy, at _one dollar and twenty cents a week_. He was
delighted to be actually earning money. At the end of the first
week, when his wages were put into his hand, he felt as happy as a
king. One dollar and twenty cents, earned by his own efforts; how
proud he felt!
The work was hard and the hours of labour very long. He worked from
early morning till late at night, with only an interval of forty
minutes for dinner. After a time he got another situation which was,
if anything, even harder. This work was to fire the boiler and run
the steam-engine which drove the machinery of a small factory. The
work was so hard that it soon began to tell upon his health. Night
and day he was haunted by the possibility of a calamity, and in his
sleep he would often put out his hand to test the water-gauge.
Those were dark days for the young Scotch boy, but he determined not
to bring his troubles into the home. He was blessed with a keen
spirit of determination to succeed and, no matter how hard he found
his work, he never complained. There was poverty in the home, but it
was honest poverty and he was not ashamed of it. He often had to
deny himself pleasures which other boys could afford, and had to wear
his clothes long after they had become shabby; but nobody ever heard
him grumble or complain.
When he became fourteen Andrew got a position as a telegraph boy at
_three dollars a week_. There was not a prouder boy in Pittsburgh.
Besides the advance in wages, the work was healthier. He was so
overjoyed with his position that soon he began to fear lest he should
lose it. He was not acquainted with the business section of the city
where he had to deliver most of his messages, but he overcame this by
using his excellent memory. He committed to memory the exact
location of all the business houses in the principal streets, so that
when a telegram was handed to him, he knew at once where it had to be
delivered.
His regular habits and attention to his work soon attracted the
attention of those over him and at the age of sixteen he was promoted
to the position of telegraph operator, at a salary of three hundred
dollars a year. This advance came at the right time, for Andrew's
father had just died and the burden of carrying on the home fell upon
Andrew's shoulders. Soon after this he accepted a position with the
Pittsburgh Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, at an increase of
ten dollars a month.
At this time something happened which did much to change his whole
life. Through the interest of his superintendent it became possible
for him to purchase ten shares in The Adams Express Company for five
hundred dollars. Andrew's business instinct led him to see that it
was a splendid opportunity, and his mother was just as anxious as he
was to make the venture. After a consultation they decided to
mortgage their little home and buy the shares. This little
transaction was destined to be the forerunner of many successful
business deals.
One day, while he was travelling on the railway, a man showed him the
model of a sleeping-car. Such things were at that time unknown, but
Andrew saw instantly that the invention was a good one, and made
arrangements for the inventor to meet the superintendent of the
railroad. The outcome was that a company was formed to build
sleeping-cars, and Andrew Carnegie was one of the number. Soon after
this he was made superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the
Pennsylvania Railroad.
Not long after he was promoted to this position the company began to
make experiments with an iron bridge. Up to this time all bridges
had been built of wood. The experiments with iron proved successful.
There had been so much delay on the railways by the bridges being
broken or burned that the cast-iron bridges were welcomed. Mr.
Carnegie, with his keen business instinct, saw at once that iron
bridges must displace the wooden ones. He formed a syndicate known
as The Keystone Bridge Works, and his first undertaking was to build
a bridge with a span of three hundred feet over the Ohio River. Thus
began the work of iron and steel constructions which Mr. Carnegie
followed up until he became known throughout the world as the "Steel
King."
Before many years had passed Mr. Carnegie not only owned his own
immense iron and steel works, but also a fleet of steamers which were
used to transport the iron ore across the Great Lakes. He built his
own railroad to convey the ore from the lake ports to Pittsburgh, a
distance of 425 miles.
In 1900 The Carnegie Steel Company was organized with a capital of
one hundred million dollars. The enormous concern gave employment to
45,000 people. One of the plants alone covers an area of
seventy-five acres. It is no exaggeration to say that it is by far
the greatest manufacturing concern of its kind in the world. When
Mr. Carnegie decided to retire he sold out his interest in the steel
works for two hundred and fifty million dollars. It was said at that
time that he could give away thirty-five thousand dollars a day and
never touch his capital. For many years he gave large sums of money
for public libraries and other enterprises which seemed to him to be
deserving of assistance.
Having worked his own way in the world, from a very humble beginning
to a position of great power and influence, Mr. Carnegie never had
much patience with lazy people. He would never tolerate around him
what are known as "dead heads". "Concentration," he said, "is my
motto. First, honesty, then industry, then concentration." He
expected every one in his employ to be anxious to do their best.
Throughout his life he was a man of good habits, and a non-smoker,
and attributed his vigor of mind and body to the fact that he avoided
anything which would undermine his health. The careful religious
training which he received in his humble home in Scotland had a
lasting influence for good upon his life. Clean living, honesty, and
devotion to his work, no matter how hard it was, made Andrew Carnegie
one of the foremost business men of his generation.