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The Age of Big Business; a chronicle of the captains of industry by Burton Jesse Hendrick
page 48 of 132 (36%)
opportunities for self-exploitation, and he even aspired to fame
as an author and philosopher. The staid business men of
Pittsburgh early regarded Carnegie with disfavor; his daring
impressed them as rashness and his bold adventures as the
plunging of the speculator. Yet in all its aspects Carnegie's
triumph was a personal one. He was perhaps the greatest
commercial traveler this country has ever known. While his more
methodical associates plodded along making steel, Carnegie went
out upon the highway, bringing in orders by the millions. He
showed this same personal quality in the organization of his
force. As a young man, entirely new to the steel industry, he
selected as the first manager of his works Captain Bill Jones;
his amazing judgment was justified when Jones developed into
America's greatest practical genius in making steel. "Here lies
the man"--Carnegie once suggested this line for his epitaph--"who
knew how to get around him men who were cleverer than himself."
Carnegie inspired these men with his own energy and restlessness;
the spirit of the whole establishment automatically became that
of the pushing spirit of its head. This little giant became the
most remorseless pace-maker in the steel regions. However
astounding might be the results obtained by the Carnegie works
the captain at the head was never satisfied. As each month's
output surpassed that which had gone before, Carnegie always came
back with the same cry of "More." "We broke all records for
making steel last week!" a delighted superintendent once wired
him and immediately he received his answer, "Congratulations. Why
not do it every week?" This spirit explains the success of the
Carnegie Company in outdistancing all its competitors and gaining
a worldwide preeminence for the Pittsburgh district. But Carnegie
did not make the mistake of capitalizing all this prosperity for
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