in various ways I have adhered
strictly to this rule.

Such a course should commend itself to every man in the manufacturing
business and to all professional men. For the manufacturing man
especially the rule would seem all-important. His mind must be kept
calm and free if he is to decide wisely the problems which are
continually coming before him. Nothing tells in the long run like good
judgment, and no sound judgment can remain with the man whose mind is
disturbed by the mercurial changes of the Stock Exchange. It places
him under an influence akin to intoxication. What is not, he sees, and
what he sees, is not. He cannot judge of relative values or get the
true perspective of things. The molehill seems to him a mountain and
the mountain a molehill, and he jumps at conclusions which he should
arrive at by reason. His mind is upon the stock quotations and not
upon the points that require calm thought. Speculation is a parasite
feeding upon values, creating none.

My first important enterprise after settling in New York was
undertaking to build a bridge across the Mississippi at Keokuk.[29]
Mr. Thomson, president of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and I contracted
for the whole structure, foundation, masonry, and superstructure,
taking bonds and stocks in payment. The undertaking was a splendid
success in every respect, except financially. A panic threw the
connecting railways into bankruptcy. They were unable to pay the
stipulated sums. Rival systems built a bridge across the Mississippi
at Burlington and a railway down the west side of the Mississippi to
Keokuk. The handsome profits which we saw in prospect were never
realized. Mr. Thomson and myself, however, escaped loss, although
there was little margin left.

[Footnote 29: It was an iron bridge 2300 feet in length with a
380-foot span.]

The superstructure for this bridge was built at our Keystone Works in
Pittsburgh. The undertaking required me to visit Keokuk occasionally,
and there I made the acquaintance of clever and delightful people,
among them General and Mrs. Reid, and Mr. and Mrs. Leighton. Visiting
Keokuk with some English friends at a later date, the impression they
received of society in the Far West, on what to them seemed the very
outskirts of civilization, was surprising. A reception given to us one
evening by General Reid brought together an assembly creditable to any
town in Britain. More than one of the guests had distinguished himself
during