The Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company: A Romance of Millions (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from The Inside History of the Carnegie Steel Company: A Romance of MillionsThis book is the outcome of a magazine article undertaken at an editor's request. Having spent a number of years in the closest intimacy with one of the owners of the great steel works, and enjoyed exceptional opportunities of becoming acquainted with the men who had wrought their success, I entertained little doubt as to my fitness for the task. So recalling the stories I had heard the partners tell, and adding a few I found in the writings of Andrew Carnegie, I wrote my article, and found I had enough material left for a couple more. These also were written, and in due time published.To my surprise they brought an avalanche of dissent and protest. From distant Oregon and near-by Meadville, from Pittsburg and New York, came word from unknown correspondents that my conventional story was only a repetition of similar publishings, all faulty and all designed to glorify some individual at the expense of his associates. One letter contained an expression so vigorous that it has won a place for itself in this book: "They have filched their laurel wreaths from the tombs of the dead." Another assured me that what I had deemed honorable success was but the outcome of "Macchiavellian astuteness." I was told by one who had played an important part in the early history of the enterprise that "the bad faith, treachery, and chicanery that lie at the bottom of many great fortunes had their parallel in the history of the Carnegie interests." "Dear me!"About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com