There was no difficulty in
obtaining partners and capital, and the Superior Rail Mill and Blast
Furnaces were built.
In like manner the demand for locomotives was very great, and with Mr.
Thomas N. Miller[24] I organized in 1866 the Pittsburgh Locomotive
Works, which has been a prosperous and creditable concern--locomotives
made there having obtained an enviable reputation throughout the
United States. It sounds like a fairy tale to-day to record that in
1906 the one-hundred-dollar shares of this company sold for three
thousand dollars--that is, thirty dollars for one. Large annual
dividends had been paid regularly and the company had been very
successful--sufficient proof of the policy: "Make nothing but the very
best." We never did.
[Footnote 24: Mr. Carnegie had previous to this--as early as
1861--been associated with Mr. Miller in the Sun City Forge Company,
doing a small iron business.]
When at Altoona I had seen in the Pennsylvania Railroad Company's
works the first small bridge built of iron. It proved a success. I saw
that it would never do to depend further upon wooden bridges for
permanent railway structures. An important bridge on the Pennsylvania
Railroad had recently burned and the traffic had been obstructed for
eight days.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163