He
suggested that the bank should refuse to discount more of our bills
receivable. He was alarmed to find that the amount of these bearing
our endorsement and under discount, was so large. Prompt action on my
part was necessary to prevent serious trouble. I took the first train
for Pittsburgh, and was able to announce there to all concerned that,
although I was a shareholder in the Texas enterprise, my interest was
paid for. My name was not upon one dollar of their paper or of any
other outstanding paper. I stood clear and clean without a financial
obligation or property which I did not own and which was not fully
paid for. My only obligations were those connected with our business;
and I was prepared to pledge for it every dollar I owned, and to
endorse every obligation the firm had outstanding.
Up to this time I had the reputation in business of being a bold,
fearless, and perhaps a somewhat reckless young man. Our operations
had been extensive, our growth rapid and, although still young, I had
been handling millions. My own career was thought by the elderly ones
of Pittsburgh to have been rather more brilliant than substantial. I
know of an experienced one who declared that if "Andrew Carnegie's
brains did not carry him through his luck would.
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