Leadership

In reading the newspapers, where so much is taken for granted in considering things on a money standard, I think we need some of the sense of…

In my early days men acted just as they do now, no doubt. When there was anything to be done for general trade betterment, almost every man had…

Then, again, we had the type of man who really never knew all the facts about his own affairs. Many of the brightest kept their books in such a way…

My ideas of business are no doubt old-fashioned, but the fundamental principles do not change from generation to generation, and sometimes I think…

Many men of wealth do not retire from business even when they can. They are not willing to be idle, or they have a just pride in their work and…

Some of these men, however, are so absorbed in their business affairs that they hardly have time to think of anything else. If they do interest…

During the years when I was just coming to man's estate, the produce business of Clark & Rockefeller went on prosperously, and in the early sixties…

In 1865 the partnership was dissolved; it was decided that the cash assets should be collected and the debts paid, but this left the plant and the…

I had made up my mind that I wanted to go into the oil trade, not as a special partner, but actively on a larger scale, and with Mr. Andrews wished…

The story of the early history of the oil trade is too well known to bear repeating in detail. The cleansing of crude petroleum was a simple and easy…

These were the problems which confronted us almost at the outset, and this great depression led to consultations with our neighbors and friends in…

This enterprise, conducted by men of application and ability working hard together, soon built up unusual facilities in manufacture, in…

Several years ago, when asked how our business grew to such large proportions I explained that our first organization was a partnership and afterward…

We soon discovered, as the business grew, that the primary method of transporting oil in barrels could not last. The package often cost more than the…

One Hogmanay night[2] an old wifey, quite a character in the village, being surprised by a disguised face suddenly thrust in at the window, looked up…

My Grandfather Morrison was a born orator, a keen politician, and the head of the advanced wing of the radical party in the district--a position…

I have not passed so far through life without receiving some compliments, but I think nothing of a complimentary character has ever pleased me so…

As my father succeeded in the weaving business we removed from Moodie Street to a much more commodious house in Reid's Park. My father's four or five…

Dunfermline has long been renowned as perhaps the most radical town in the Kingdom, although I know Paisley has claims. This is all the more…

In the performance of these duties I was often late for school, but the master, knowing the cause, forgave the lapses. In the same connection I may…

This is something of a commentary upon the truth that war breeds war, that every battle sows the seeds of future battles, and that thus nations…

One of the trials of my boy's life at school in Dunfermline was committing to memory two double verses of the Psalms which I had to recite daily.…

My first business venture was securing my companions' services for a season as an employer, the compensation being that the young rabbits, when…

The arrival at New York was bewildering. I had been taken to see the Queen at Edinburgh, but that was the extent of my travels before emigrating.…

The great question now was, what could be found for me to do. I had just completed my thirteenth year, and I fairly panted to get to work that I…

Anything low, mean, deceitful, shifty, coarse, underhand, or gossipy was foreign to that heroic soul. Tom and I could not help growing up respectable…

Soon after this Mr. John Hay, a fellow-Scotch manufacturer of bobbins in Allegheny City, needed a boy, and asked whether I would not go into his…

One evening, early in 1850, when I returned home from work, I was told that Mr. David Brooks, manager of the telegraph office, had asked my Uncle…

The interview was successful. I took care to explain that I did not know Pittsburgh, that perhaps I would not do, would not be strong enough; but all…

I had only one fear, and that was that I could not learn quickly enough the addresses of the various business houses to which messages had to be…

The great event of the day in Pittsburgh at that time was the arrival and departure of the steam packet to and from Cincinnati, for daily…

There were at that time not half a dozen "carriage" people in the town; and not for many years after was the attempt made to introduce livery, even…

My position as messenger boy soon made me acquainted with the few leading men of the city. The bar of Pittsburgh was distinguished. Judge Wilkins was…

One great excitement of this life was the extra charge of ten cents which we were permitted to collect for messages delivered beyond a certain limit.…

With all their pleasures the messenger boys were hard worked. Every other evening they were required to be on duty until the office closed, and on…

Colonel James Anderson--I bless his name as I write--announced that he would open his library of four hundred volumes to boys, so that any young…

To Colonel James Anderson, Founder of Free Libraries in Western Pennsylvania. He opened his Library to working boys and upon Saturday afternoons…

In this way I became acquainted with the world that lay behind the green curtain. The plays, generally, were of the spectacular order; without much…

She encouraged her boys to attend church and Sunday school; but there was no difficulty in seeing that the writings of Swedenborg, and much of the…

This was a trying position for a boy to fill, and at that time I was not popular with the other boys, who resented my exemption from part of my…

On Sunday morning with father, mother, and Tom at breakfast, I produced the extra two dollars and a quarter. The surprise was great and it took…

Having to sweep out the operating-room in the mornings, the boys had an opportunity of practicing upon the telegraph instruments before the operators…

The operating-room of a telegraph office is an excellent school for a young man. He there has to do with pencil and paper, with composition and…

The lines in those days worked poorly, and during a storm much had to be guessed at. My guessing powers were said to be phenomenal, and it was my…

The Pittsburgh newspapers had each been in the habit of sending a reporter to the office to transcribe the press dispatches. Later on one man was…

Another step which exercised a decided influence over me was joining the "Webster Literary Society" along with my companions, the trusty five already…

I finally became an operator by sound, discarding printing entirely. The accomplishment was then so rare that people visited the office to be…

The result was I was engaged February 1, 1853, at a salary of thirty-five dollars a month as Mr. Scott's clerk and operator. A raise in wages from…

I do not wish to suggest that the men of whom I have spoken were really degraded or bad characters. The habit of swearing, with coarse talk,…

This formed the subject of our Sunday afternoon conferences for many a week. Was that true or not, and what was to be the consequence of Tom's…

Once introduced, of course, the subject remained with us, and one after the other the dogmas were voted down as the mistaken ideas of men of a less…

My mother took the steamer the next morning for East Liverpool, arriving at night, and through her brother there the money was secured. He was a…

This was my first investment. In those good old days monthly dividends were more plentiful than now and Adams Express paid a monthly dividend. One…

It was the custom of our party to spend Sunday afternoons in the woods. I kept the first check and showed it as we sat under the trees in a…

Mr. Scott was promoted to be the general superintendent of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1856, taking Mr. Lombaert's place; and he took me, then in my…

The strike became more and more threatening. I remember being wakened one night and told that the freight-train men had left their trains at Mifflin;…

"I must not be seen with you, but you did me a favor once and I then resolved if ever I could serve you I would do it. I called at the office in…

And here I made my first note, and actually got a banker to take it. A proud moment that in a young man's career! The sleeping-cars were a great…

"Well," he said, "Mr. Potts" (who was then superintendent of the Pittsburgh Division) "is to be promoted to the transportation department in…

The first regiments of Union troops passing through Baltimore had been attacked, and the railway line cut between Baltimore and Annapolis Junction,…