Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie | Page 2

worth while to recognize that the history really was eventful. And strange. Nothing stranger ever came out of the Arabian Nights than the story of this poor Scotch boy who came to America and step by step, through many trials and triumphs, became the great steel master, built up a colossal industry, amassed an enormous fortune, and then deliberately and systematically gave away the whole of it for the enlightenment and betterment of mankind. Not only that. He established a gospel of wealth that can be neither ignored nor forgotten, and set a pace in distribution that succeeding millionaires have followed as a precedent. In the course of his career he became a nation-builder, a leader in thought, a writer, a speaker, the friend of workmen, schoolmen, and statesmen, the associate of both the lowly and the lofty. But these were merely interesting happenings in his life as compared with his great inspirations--his distribution of wealth, his passion for world peace, and his love for mankind.
Perhaps we are too near this history to see it in proper proportions, but in the time to come it should gain in perspective and in interest. The generations hereafter may realize the wonder of it more fully than we of to-day. Happily it is preserved to us, and that, too, in Mr. Carnegie's own words and in his own buoyant style. It is a very memorable record--a record perhaps the like of which we shall not look upon again.
JOHN C. VAN DYKE
New York August, 1920

CONTENTS
I. PARENTS AND CHILDHOOD 1
II. DUNFERMLINE AND AMERICA 20
III. PITTSBURGH AND WORK 32
IV. COLONEL ANDERSON AND BOOKS 45
V. THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE 54
VI. RAILROAD SERVICE 65
VII. SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA 84
VIII. CIVIL WAR PERIOD 99
IX. BRIDGE-BUILDING 115
X. THE IRON WORKS 130
XI. NEW YORK AS HEADQUARTERS 149
XII. BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS 167
XIII. THE AGE OF STEEL 181
XIV. PARTNERS, BOOKS, AND TRAVEL 198
XV. COACHING TRIP AND MARRIAGE 210
XVI. MILLS AND THE MEN 220
XVII. THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE 228
XVIII. PROBLEMS OF LABOR 240
XIX. THE "GOSPEL OF WEALTH" 255
XX. EDUCATIONAL AND PENSION FUNDS 268
XXI. THE PEACE PALACE AND PITTENCRIEFF 282
XXII. MATTHEW ARNOLD AND OTHERS 298
XXIII. BRITISH POLITICAL LEADERS 309
XXIV. GLADSTONE AND MORLEY 318
XXV. HERBERT SPENCER AND HIS DISCIPLE 333
XXVI. BLAINE AND HARRISON 341
XXVII. WASHINGTON DIPLOMACY 350
XXVIII. HAY AND MCKINLEY 358
XXIX. MEETING THE GERMAN EMPEROR 366
BIBLIOGRAPHY 373
INDEX 377

ILLUSTRATIONS
ANDREW CARNEGIE Photogravure frontispiece
ANDREW CARNEGIE'S BIRTHPLACE 2
DUNFERMLINE ABBEY 6
MR. CARNEGIE'S MOTHER 22
ANDREW CARNEGIE AT SIXTEEN WITH HIS BROTHER THOMAS 30
DAVID MCCARGO 38
ROBERT PITCAIRN 42
COLONEL JAMES ANDERSON 46
HENRY PHIPPS 58
THOMAS A. SCOTT 72
JOHN EDGAR THOMSON 72
THOMAS MORRISON CARNEGIE 118
GEORGE LAUDER 144
JUNIUS SPENCER MORGAN 156
JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN 172
AN AMERICAN FOUR-IN-HAND IN BRITAIN 210
ANDREW CARNEGIE (ABOUT 1878) 214
MRS. ANDREW CARNEGIE 218
MARGARET CARNEGIE AT FIFTEEN 240
CHARLES M. SCHWAB 256
THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE AT PITTSBURGH 262
MR. CARNEGIE AND VISCOUNT BRYCE 270
MATTHEW ARNOLD 298
WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE 318
VISCOUNT MORLEY OF BLACKBURN 322
MR. CARNEGIE AND VISCOUNT MORLEY 326
THE CARNEGIE FAMILY AT SKIBO 326
HERBERT SPENCER 334
JAMES G. BLAINE 342
SKIBO CASTLE 356
MR. CARNEGIE AT SKIBO, 1914 370

AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
ANDREW CARNEGIE

CHAPTER I
PARENTS AND CHILDHOOD
If the story of any man's life, truly told, must be interesting, as some sage avers, those of my relatives and immediate friends who have insisted upon having an account of mine may not be unduly disappointed with this result. I may console myself with the assurance that such a story must interest at least a certain number of people who have known me, and that knowledge will encourage me to proceed.
A book of this kind, written years ago by my friend, Judge Mellon, of Pittsburgh, gave me so much pleasure that I am inclined to agree with the wise one whose opinion I have given above; for, certainly, the story which the Judge told has proved a source of infinite satisfaction to his friends, and must continue to influence succeeding generations of his family to live life well. And not only this; to some beyond his immediate circle it holds rank with their favorite authors. The book contains one essential feature of value--it reveals the man. It was written without any intention of attracting public notice, being designed only for his family. In like manner I intend to tell my story, not as one posturing before the public, but as in the midst of my own people and friends, tried and true, to whom I can speak with the utmost freedom, feeling that even trifling incidents may not be wholly destitute of interest for them.
To begin, then, I was born in Dunfermline, in the attic of the small one-story house, corner of Moodie Street and Priory Lane, on the 25th of November, 1835, and, as the saying is, "of poor but honest parents, of good kith and kin." Dunfermline had long been noted as the center of the damask trade in Scotland.[1] My father, William Carnegie, was a damask weaver, the son of Andrew Carnegie after whom I was named.
[Footnote 1: The