Carnegie vs. Frick Pt. 2

            If it were a movie it would have been obvious to anyone that Carnegie and Frick would always have a rocky relationship.  Frick felt he had accomplished all he could in coke.  The future, he knew, lay in steel.  In 1885 Frick had a plan.  He sold the majority of his shares in the H. C. Frick Coke Co. with the intention of buying his way into Carnegie Steel.  When Andrew Carnegie heard of this plan he wrote to Frick counseling him to remain in Coke.  As he argued even if Frick were to become the Chairmen of Carnegie Steel, Frick would never be as satisfied as if he stayed with the company that he had build from the ground up and bore is name.  Frick politely thanked Carnegie for his advice and quietly bided his time.  

Frick knew what he wanted and he would get it too, if not today then tomorrow.

            Frick may not have had as long a wait as he expected.  In 1886 while Andrew Carnegie lay in bed sick with typhoid his brother Tom Carnegie, developed pneumonia and just 5 days later died.  Henry Phipps was moved to Chairman but everyone understood that it was only a temporary assignment.  Frick’s time was about to arrive.  By November 1 of that year Carnegie offered Frick a partnership.  He took Tom’s position as Principal Firm Manager while also remaining Chairmen of his Coke Company.  Once again conflict of interest was not a concept these men were familiar with.  It was not too long before there was a small inkling of what was to come.  In 1887 a Labor Strike at one of Frick’s Coke plant threatened the coke supply to Carnegie’s mills.  Carnegie, as majority share holder at in H.C. Coke Co. demanded that Frick settle with the workers and reestablish the supply of coke to his steal mills.  At the same time the other coke manufacturers were demanding that he hold firm less they have to match what ever terms he agreed to or face similar issues.  Unable to handle the situation as he wanted to Frick set out upon a novel solution.  He quit.  Carnegie was in Scotland, where he seemed to always be in times of difficulty, so Frick wrote to Phipps telling him that he could no longer handle the Company as he wished when the majority Stock holder, i.e. Carnegie, was making demands and not letting Frick run his company has he saw fit so they could have the company and he was going on vacation.  And he did.  He took Adelaide and his two children and sailed for Europe for several months while Phipps struggled to settle the labor strike and run a company he knew nothing about.  After a few months of basically ignoring a rain storm of telegrams and letters begging him to return to Pittsburgh from a number of company officers and share holders Frick finally accepted an invitation to come to Scotland and spend a few days with Carnegie.  The two men came to an understanding and shortly thereafter Frick returned to Pittsburgh and resumed control of H.C. Frick Coke Company probably to Phipps great relief.  The following year Henry Phipps had and enough.  He was ready to enjoy retirement.  Carnegie made David Stewart the Chairmen but almost immediately Stewart died.  Now there really was no other candidate, Carnegie turned to Frick. 

            Carnegie felt that now he really did have a managerial genius at the head of Carnegie Steel and in Frick he did.  Carnegie and Frick worked well together.  Both were obsessed with controlling costs while willing to use a certain amount of duplicity to make things work out the way they wanted.  When they learned a rival company was using a new way of making railroad rails that would be able to severely cut costs and thereby reducing prices which would allow the owners of the process to undercut Carnegie Steel, Carnegie wrote to the rail road companies warning that the new process was dangerous and could lead to failure of the rail line.  Almost immediately orders dried up and the company’s investors become desperate to sell.  Enter Frick with a very generous offer to take their plant and new process off their hands for basically cost.  Almost immediately the new process was put into place at all the Carnage steel mills.  Questions about the safety of the new processes seemed to evaporate into thin air.  Things were going well and then the Labor contract a Homestead expired….

I Would Like an H Please

            Founded in 1758 by General John Forbes Pittsburgh is listed as one of the most frequently miss spelled American cities.  General Forbes named the new settlement after the English leader William Pitt the Elder 1^st Earl of Chatham.  Forbes simply added the Scottish –burgh to Pitt’s name and most likely pronounced it in the Scottish fashion Pitts-burro, think Edinburgh in Scotland, burgh being a common ending meaning town.  When the town was formerly created in the 1794 Acts of Legislature the h was included in the spelling.  Again in 1804 when Pittsburgh was incorporated as a borough the h was maintained.  (The distinction between a Town and a Borough is extremely confusing and convoluted so we will just move on.)  In 1816 when Pittsburgh was finally incorporated as a city a printing error caused the h to be left off though we are told the original charter did include the h.  This caused serious ramifications for the spelling of Pittsburgh later made even more difficult because the original charter was destroyed in the 1882 Court house fire and could not be used for confirmation of the correct city spelling.  Thanks to a real lack of spelling consistency among the populous during the 19^th century it was not uncommon to find the h left off Pittsburgh in various publications such as news papers and directories.  The h however was always included in municipal documents.  It wasn’t until the United States Board on Geographical names decided in 1890, in an effort to standardize the spelling of city names, that any city or town using the Scottish ending –burgh would drop the h, this helped end the confusion between towns using the German spelling of –burg and those using the Scottish –burgh.  The Board went even further than simply making a blanket statement regarding all cities and towns ending in –burgh however when it singled out Pittsburgh citing the 1816 printed charter which spelled the name Pittsburg.  The board claimed that it was in fact an error with the Post Office that caused it to be spelled Pittsburgh in the first place and the city had always been Pittsburg.  The Boards decision was only compulsory for government agencies.  Many citizens, institutions and the city its self rejected the loss of the h.  There was considerable pressure from the citizens for the board to change the spelling back.  Finally in 1911 the renamed United States Geographic Board bowed to political pressure from Senator George T. Oliver and reversed its decision giving the h back to Pittsburgh.  The h is something that has become beloved in Pittsburgh.  The name simply looks wrong to anyone from the area spelled Pittsburg, and in fact I find it quite difficult to type it that way.  To Pittsburghers the city is frequently simply PGH and most of us are confused to discover our air port code is PIT.  Even the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority’s brand of bottled water is PGH²O.  To those cities and towns who lost their h and never got it back we sympathize and say fight for your h. 

To Give the Lady the Wall

            A hundred years ago good manners were a sign of wealth and breeding.  Probably hundreds of books were written on the subject.  These gave advice on every situation one could possible encounter and were indispensable for the newly rich who wanted to enter into High Society.  Demonstrating proper etiquette was a good way to indicate that you belonged.  Having the right amount of money was not enough.  In a lot of ways High Society in America was even more conscious of their behavior than their European counterparts.  Europeans used the age of their family lineage as the determining factor in deciding who belonged to the “in” crowd.  For Americans this was not really a very viable option.  With the country only 100 years old bragging of their long familial lineage was not that impressive. Organizations like The Daughters of the America Revolution certainly tried, and continue to do so today, but with mostly limited success.  Money and lots of it was, and continues to be, the first factor in considering who are “the best people.”   Once this primary consideration met then families could move onto establishing their identities as members of High Society.  Good Breeding was identified with good manners.  Someone who was ill bread would demonstrate this through their lack of knowledge regarding proper etiquette.  Frequently fathers who founded great family fortunes employed tutors to educate their children in the etiquette of High Society.  Gaining entry for their offspring into a club they themselves could never really hope to belong. 

            Good Etiquette dictated every situation and every action of someone’s life.  Nothing would so quickly mark an individual as a member of the best people as their conversation.  The art of conversation was considered one of the most important skills one could possess.  To be able to properly carry on a conversation required one to be witty, intelligent and demonstrate some knowledge of what is going on in the world.  Even expressions of strong emotions whether it be anger, boredom or even passion were strongly discouraged.  Presenting the appearance of being pleasantly cheerful regardless of ones true feelings was absolutely essential.

            Even greeting someone on the street was fought with possible pit falls for the uninitiated.  For example when greeting a gentleman with whom a lady is acquainted, regardless of the level of intimacy, a lady would give a small bow which the gentleman would return.  Failing to return the greeting was the height of rudeness.  If a gentleman wishes to speak with a lady with whom he is acquainted, because of course he would never venture to speak to a lady whom he has never been introduced, when he encounters her on the street he would not detain her but turn and accompany her in the direction in which she is headed for the duration of their conversation then return to his own destination.  A lady should never stand on the street to converse with a gentleman.  To be seen doing so could lead to speculation regarding her character.  When walking with a lady the gentleman should always “give the lady the wall” thus placing his person between the anything that may be splashed up from the street by passing vehicles and the lady.  It is easy to forget in our day of modern sewer systems and storm drains just how truly disgusting the streets could be.

            When one thinks of complicated etiquette noting strikes fear into modern society quite like being seated at an extremely formal dinner which seems to be include every possible version of silverware and dishware available.   This was no less true at eh turn of the 20^th century when an average small family dinner, among those who could afford it, included a minimum of five courses and a large formal dinner could last for several hours and include dozens of courses.  Using the wrong fork with the wrong dish or even holding the utensil incorrectly could mark a person as one who didn’t belong.  It was considered essential that this be part of the educational curriculum for children of high society. 

            Although we like to think of ourselves has having moved beyond these measures of breading and on to the more enlightened idea of judging a person for themselves we have not.  Etiquette is still a powerful indicator of who belongs and who does not.  Those who forget this do so at their peril. 

In The Beginning

I am writing my first book.  I still find that statement to be rather pretentious.  To get over this idea my husband suggested that I blog about what I am doing.  Although I think he is crazy I have my whiskey sour and am going to give it a whorl.  I am writing my first book and this blog is intended as a way to practice writing as well as give me an outlet to explore the things I find and stop driving my family crazy talking about all the things I find fascinating.  I mostly started writing my book to release the creative energy that had built up since I finished grad school.  I have found that this is a wonderful way to utilize all the research skills I developed in school, while at the same time the freedom to write and research what I want rather than have it dictated to me by my professor is amazing.  My book is set in turn of the century Pittsburgh Pennsylvania.  The last century that is.  I picked Pgh (for so the locals abbreviate it Pittsburgh being rather cumbersome for continued writing) for two reasons.  First it hasn’t been over done.  The last thing the world needs is yet another book about vampires.  Secondly I live here.  I moved here five years ago immediately after I got married.  Literally the day after we returned from our Hawaiian cruse we put all our stuff in a truck and moved across the country to Pgh.  It is a truly beautiful place whether the hills are covered in green leaves or snow, for a girl from Orange County California it is an almost magical place of seasons and weather. 

           

            As for the time period there was really only one choice.  It had to be some time during the heyday of Pgh.  As a trained historian I have always been attracted to earlier times.  I am thankful for modern medical care and can not go more than 20 minutes with out checking my cell but love the perceived glamor of so called earlier times.  I have mentally divided the history of Pgh into 4 periods.  The beginning, the discovery of Pgh by George Washington to the end of the Civil War, Industrialization, the time of Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick among others, the rust belt years and rebirth i.e. the last 15 years.  For me the choice of the industrial age didn’t even require thought there is so much going on in the period that the options are almost unlimited.  While I am working on my first book really it’s a series of books.  Mysteries to be specific.  Mysteries are my favorite kind of relaxation reading.  I love the puzzles and the unlimited possibilities available to the mystery author.  So far I have solid plot lines for 3 books and ideas for 4 more.  The more research I do into the area and the period the more ideas come to me.  

            So now I spend my free time thinking about writing and researching.  It has been a great distraction from my every day job and if some day it is published great, but really I am doing it for myself.  It is my intention to blog about what I learn and anything else I find that interests me weekly.  Check back for more to come.