4 Conservative.
A LESSON FOUND IN TREES.
Tliu village trees that stand like friends
To guard and bless each quiet street ,
Teach over with their changeful growth
A truth that all the years repeat.
Not morn complete are sturdy trunks
Bound close to earth by roots grown deep
Or mighty boughs that stand outstretched
Or with an arch majestic sweep
Than tiny stems and fragile leaves.
Each fllls its small but certain plaee
And grows to make the great tree grand
With flow of life and touch of grace.
Each humble heart may beauty wear ,
Eacli lowly soul may do its part ,
And make the homes beneath the trees
More beautiful than realms of art.
The mingled human lives that grow
Where men in fellowship abide ,
United for a common good ,
Wield influence benign and wide.
The great and lowly ones may blend
Their toil in wise , ennobling strife ;
Each aim toward fair perfection's grace
Uplifts them all to higher life.
MAHY FUKNCH MOHTOX.
ANDREW CARNEGIE , THE IRON
MASTER.
It was Pope , the poet and philosopher ,
who said , "The proper study of man
kind is man , " and surely the world af
fords no subject more worthy of study ;
nor is there anything more inspiring
than to review the successful career of a
self-made man , who by virtue of his
own elements , has risen from an humble
beginning to wealth , and high esteem
among his fellow-men. In our own
country , where there is no inherited
greatness , and comparatively little in
herited wealth , we find the best exam
ples of great , self-made men. The sub
ject of this sketch , Andrew Carnegie ,
stands prominently before us , and has a
just claim on high public regard.
In 1845 , there came to Pittsbnrg , Pa. ,
from Dunfermline , Scotland , a family
of Scotch weavers , by the name of Car
negie. "We first heard of Andrew two
years later as a "bobbin boy" in the cot
ton mill in which his father was then
employed. From "bobbinboy" we next
find him turned telegraph messenger in
the employ of the Atlantic and Ohio
Telegraph company , and later as tele
graph operator , in which capacity he
was regarded as an expert , being one of
the first to use the system , then new , of
reading the signals by sound. His ex
pert knowledge of telegraphy soon se
cured him the position of chief clerk to
the general superintendent , Thos. Scott ,
of the Pennsylvania railroad , and like
wise the position of manager of its
telegraph lines , from which situation ho
was soon after made superintendent of
the Pittsburgh division of that road.
IIlH Active Youth.
During his railway experience , Mr.
Carnegie was instrumental in bringing
about various important improvements
in the service , among which was the
adoption of the Woodruff sleeping car ,
the pioneer of the sleeping car business.
It was while still in the service of the
Pennsylvania rend that the discovery of
petroleum in Pennsylvania introduced a
new and wonderful factor into the com
merce of the country , and Mr. Carnegie ,
keenly alive to the situation , invested
his savings in the oil business , much to
his profit. Prom this investment was
formed the nucleus of his subsequent
wealth. "We now find him quitting the
railway service and devoting his atten
tion to the manufacture of iron and
steel , and his career may be said to have
commenced at this time , for it is aa a
great factor in iron and steel that Mr.
Carnegie first claims our attention.
While still a young man of thirty years
he was able to foresee that Pittsburg
was likely to become the great iron and
steel center of the country , and all of his
superb energies were at once devoted to
developing these industries. Beginning
with the organization of the Keystone
Bridge works , he soon followed with
Bessemer works for the manufacture of
steel rails , furnaces and rolling mills for
the manufacture of structural iron and
steel , finally extending his operations to
include the manufacture of armor
plate and all kinds of steel products , and
to cover every stage of the industry
from , the mining of the ores to the fin
ished products. So wide a field of oper
ations necessarily included likewise ex
tensive allied industries , such as coke
works , coal mines , iron mines , railway
and steamship lines for the transporta
tion of raw material and finished pro
duct , etc. All of these were soon estab
lished and developed like magic under
the hand of the master , until now , as
the century draws to a close , we may
well take national pride in the knowl
edge that the steel works established by
Mr. Carnegie in the Pittsburg district ,
are the greatest in the world , and that
their products may bo found in every
country on the globe reached by com
merce.
Employs 50,000 Men.
It is something of which to be justly
proud that an American citizen should ,
within the short period of time covered
by a quarter of a century , develop one
of our greatest industries so as to com
pletely surpass those of the old world.
But this is accomplished and the great
works of the Carnegie Steel company ,
and allied industries , employing today
upwards of 60,000 men , and transacting
an annual volume of business equal to
twice that of the Pennsylvania Railway
company , are the creation of the great
ironmaster , whose name they bear , and
to whom principally they belong.
A wise and good man once said that
ho would rather be the employer of 5-
000 men and feel that he furnished them
the means of gaining a livelihood , than
be president of the United States. What
then shall we say of him who employs
ten times that number and whose hand
has furnished the means by which each
is enabled to earn an independent living ?
Here is a true royalty , here is a magnifi
cence of estate greater than a throne.
As a just reward for well directed en
ergies , combined with integrity and
thrift , we find the subject of our sketch ,
the "weaver laddie , " with whom we
commenced , now grown great in wealth
second to few , if to any , in our country.
If a man secure great wealth by inherit
ance or by the discovery of some gold
mine , or by successful gambling in
stocks , we are prone to regard him as
undeserving of such good fortune , but
when a man acquires wealth by his own
mental or physical toil , creating and
producing , developing the latent re
sources of our country , to the everlast
ing benefit of mankind in general , as
well as himself , we can only applaud
and say , "Well done , good and faithful
servant , " and if further , such a man
finding his earnings to be greater than
are needed for himself and dependen
cies , proceeds to distribute his surplus
wealth by well bestowed public bene
factions , then the most envious among
us will be moved to say truly here is "a
man who loves his fellow-men and
would serve them well. " Early in his
career as a millionaire , Mr. Carnegie
announced the most remarkable and the
most wholesome doctrine , that all sur
plus wealth is a sacred trust in the hands
of the possessor for the benefit of his
fellow beings. In his address at Pitts
burg , on the occasion of the opening of
the magnificent library which his gen
erosity had created , Mr. Carnegie said :
"The conclusion forced upon me is
that surplus wealth is a sacred trust , to
be administered during life by its
possessor for the best good of his fellowmen -
men , and I venture to predict the com
ing of the day the dawn of which we
already begin to see when the man who
dies possessor of available millions which
were free and in his hands to distribute ,
will die disgraced. He will pass away
unwept , unhonored and unsung , as one
who has been unfaithful to his trust. "
And Mr. Carnegie not only asserts
this as his policy , but puts it in practice ,
of which we have abundant evidence ; it
is probably not too much to say that he
is today the greatest public benefactor
in our country. A most careful consid
eration of the best method of reaching
the public welfare has at all times char
acterized Mr. Carnegie's benefactions.
His favorite work has been the building
up of free public libraries and similar
educational institutions , and in this he
has not confined himself to grand mon
uments in the larger cities , but has
rather preferred to establish or aid free
libraries in the smaller towns and poorer
communities , where such advantages are
most needed. Over one hundred cities
and towns , mostly in the United States ,
are the beneficiaries of this great work
of philanthropy , to which Mr. Carnegie
has contributed within the past few
years more than $10,000,000 , the past
