That Mr. Carnegie has lived up, in the past, and is still living up
to this radical declaration of independence from the practice of men
who have amassed fortunes around him, will be best shown by a brief
enumeration of some of his almost unexampled philanthropies. His
largest gift has been to the city of Pittsburg, the scene of his early
trials and later triumphs. There he has built, at a cost of more than
a million dollars, a magnificent library, museum, concert hall and
picture gallery, all under one roof, and endowed it with a fund of
another million, the interest of which (fifty thousand dollars per
annum), is being devoted to the purchase of the best works of American
art. Other libraries, to be connected with this largest as a center,
are now being constructed, which will make the city of Pittsburg and
its environs a beneficiary of his generosity to the extent of five
million dollars.
In his native land, Scotland, thrift is a virtue that is taught with
the alphabet; and, when the twelve-year-old “Andy” Carnegie came to
America with his father and mother, he was full of the notion of thrift
and its twin brother, hard work.