the rest of the story. Andy Bianney interpretation of the term was his
success. In the Pittsburgh telegraph company for which he worked, he rose from
messenger to operator within 18 months of being hired. His business skills baffled
his admiring employer. His name was fast becoming known throughout the industry.
His well-deserved wages were remarkable by any standard of the day. But then came
the spring flood of 1852. Telegraph lines between Stuban Villa High on
Wheeling West Virginia went down. There was only one man that the company could
trust to take over the Stubanville office and supervise communications by river
boat until repairs could be made. That man was a boy named Andy.
16 years young. But this is the rest of the story. From the time Andy was very small,
there was room for only one hero in his life. His father will. Will was a weaver
of fine cloth. Andy's earliest fondest recollections were of his
dad working at the big hand. Luminous shop. The deafness with which he operated
the fascinating clattering contraption and the beauty of the clothy wolf made
Andy want to become a weaver himself someday. But times change,
manufacturing machinery was quickly replacing the craftsman of the weavers trade.
In fact, it was diminishing demand for Will's hand craftsmanship and the declining
family income that resulted that inspired Andy to take that job at the telegraph
company in the first place. Now, he's 16 and unmitigated success.
He's running the company office in Stubanville when he hears his father is passing through town.
Now Will has learned of a modest market for hand woven tablecloths in Wheeling
and Cincinnati and is on his way by river boat to make some sales.
So Andy goes down to the Stubanville dock that damp chilly spring night to surprise his
father to say hello and wish him well. But when the river boat pulls in and ties up
and Andy looks out, he sees his father sleeping on the open deck.
The old man awakens and sees Andy struggles to his feet, the two meet.
The boy instantly knows the matter. The fine sweet stoic hero of Andy's youth
is traveling down river like a homeless peddler, sleeping out in the cold spring rain because
he cannot afford a cabin. Well, Andy takes his father's hand and he said,
it'll not be long before you and mother shall ride in your own carriage.
And to this impossible dream of riches, the man who has spent his entire life
keeping his emotions inside answers, I'm proud of you son.
Now the world knows that Andy's dream of wealth did come true that he eventually
became the greatest steel tycoon of the 19th century. But something even greater was born
in Andy's heart one spring night on a dock in Stubanville, Ohio, an undying compassion.
That one day transformed him into the most extraordinary philanthropist of his,
or perhaps of any time when he became Andrew Carnegie.
For you see the record shows that the billion dollar Carnegie Corporation of New York,
which Andrew founded in 1911, that the billion dollar Carnegie Corporation continues to this day
to reach out to and meaningfully assist the poor. But you know what the Carnegie Corporation really is.
It's dad's carriage because now you know the rest of the story.
