e or six leading manufacturers of Pittsburgh, who had combined to
build steel mills at Homestead, were willing to sell their mills to
us.

These works had been built originally by a syndicate of manufacturers,
with the view of obtaining the necessary supplies of steel which they
required in their various concerns, but the steel-rail business, being
then in one of its booms, they had been tempted to change plans and
construct a steel-rail mill. They had been able to make rails as long
as prices remained high, but, as the mills had not been specially
designed for this purpose, they were without the indispensable blast
furnaces for the supply of pig iron, and had no coke lands for the
supply of fuel. They were in no condition to compete with us.

It was advantageous for us to purchase these works. I felt there was
only one way we could deal with their owners, and that was to propose
a consolidation with Carnegie Brothers & Co. We offered to do so on
equal terms, every dollar they had invested to rank against our
dollars. Upon this basis the negotiation was promptly concluded. We,
however, gave to all parties the option to take cash, and most
fortunately for us, all elected to do so except Mr. George Singer, who
continued with us to his and our entire satisfaction. Mr. Singer told
us afterwards that his associates had been greatly exercised as to how
they could meet the proposition I was to lay before them. They were
much afraid of being overreached but when I proposed equality all
around, dollar for dollar, they were speechless.

This purchase led to the reconstruction of all our firms. The new firm
of Carnegie, Phipps & Co. was organized in 1886 to run the Homestead
Mills. The firm of Wilson, Walker & Co. was embraced in the firm of
Carnegie, Phipps & Co., Mr. Walker being elected chairman. My brother
was chairman of Carnegie Brothers & Co. and at the head of all. A
further extension of our business was the establishing of the Hartman
Steel Works at Beaver Falls, designed to work into a hundred various
forms the product of the Homestead Mills. So now we made almost
everything in steel from a wire nail up to a twenty-inch steel girder,
and it was then not thought probable that we should enter into any new
field.

It may be interesting here to note the progress of our works during
the decade 1888 to 1897. In 1888 we had twenty millions of dollars
invested; in 1897 more than double or over forty-five millions. The
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