In ascending the Washington Monument he had seen the
Carnegie beams in the stairway and also at other points in public
buildings, and as he expressed it:
"It yust make me so broud dat I want to go right back and see dat
everyting is going right at de mill."
Early hours in the morning and late in the dark hours at night
William was in the mills. His life was there. He was among the first
of the young men we admitted to partnership, and the poor German lad
at his death was in receipt of an income, as I remember, of about
$50,000 a year, every cent of which was deserved. Stories about him
are many. At a dinner of our partners to celebrate the year's
business, short speeches were in order from every one. William summed
up his speech thus:
"What we haf to do, shentlemens, is to get brices up and costs down
and efery man _stand on his own bottom_." There was loud, prolonged,
and repeated laughter.
Captain Evans ("Fighting Bob") was at one time government inspector at
our mills. He was a severe one. William was sorely troubled at times
and finally offended the Captain, who complained of his behavior. We
tried to get William to realize the importance of pleasing a
government official. William's reply was:
"But he gomes in and smokes my cigars" (bold Captain! William reveled
in one-cent Wheeling tobies) "and then he goes and contems my iron.
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