Read Online My Story by Elizabeth J. Hauser - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Elizabeth J. Hauser
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for Mark Hanna to teach me that.
When I read Henry George I came to a realizing sense of the menace of Privilege, and what I saw at Johnstown, following the flood of 1889, caused me to realize the menace of charity â a fact not so commonly recognized, I believe, as the dangerous power of Privilege and not alwayscorrelated with it in the mind of the student of social conditions.
JOHNSON COMPANY WORKS
Taken during early history of company when Mr. Johnson was connected with it
RECENT PICTURE OF JOHNSON COMPANY WORKS
Town of Moxham, Seventeenth Ward of Johnstown, Pa.
It was a new invention which led to my going into business in Johnstown. I had invented a girder groove rail, or thought I had. Subsequent developments showed that a similar rail had been made earlier in England. Mine was a steam railroad T rail with a street railroad wearing surface. Attempts to manufacture these rails from iron at Birmingham, Alabama, and Louisville, Kentucky, had failed so completely as to cripple the concerns that had made the experiments. There were insurmountable mechanical difficulties in using iron, and our failures led us to look for a firm which would manufacture them for us from steel. We proposed making these rails for the market as well as for use in our street railways.
Just as I thought I had invented the rail, so my associate, Arthur J. Moxham, thought he had invented the best process for rolling them. Both the rail and the manufacturing process, therefore, were protected by patents, not very strong patents, to be sure, but they served as a good business bluff and kept others out of the field.â Special privilege again! Not typified by a friendly train conductor this time, but by the patent laws of the United States! â In due time we were so strongly entrenched in a business way that we didnât need patent protection.
We selected the Cambria Iron Company at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as the concern which should manufacture our rails. We wanted to make the best possible terms with them. Realizing our importance as customers, they were eager to meet us half way. We exchanged courtesies at a lively rate. Mr. Moxham and I were frequently entertained by them at the club and invited to the housesof the officials to dinner and other social affairs. I managed to get out of these engagements whenever possible, leaving the social responsibilities to Mr. Moxham who was admirably qualified for them. He was a delightful entertainer. It was when our negotiations had reached a critically important stage that, returning from a dinner at the home of one of the Cambria officials one night, he found me playing checkers with the bootblack at the club. This was too much ! If I would leave the social amenities to him, I might at least so conduct myself in his absence as not to scandalize the community and jeopardize our interests. He scored me roundly for my exhibition of bad taste, âif not disgraceful conduct.â When he was at the height of his indignation, I broke in with my defense:
âBut Arthur, you donât know what a hell of a good game of checkers this boy plays!â
Happily the checker game didnât interfere with our negotiations, and presently the day on which we were to sign the agreement came round. We approached the conference in fear and trembling, for in our minds there had arisen the question of how long the contract should run. We wanted a short contract but were perfectly sure the Cambria people would hold out for a long one. To our surprise D. J. Morrell, the president, suggested a contract terminable at the will of either side on three monthsâ notice. This was exactly what we wanted but I couldnât refrain from asking Mr. Morrell why his side proposed such terms. His answer taught me a lesson which I never forgot.
He said that in making contracts with the public for franchises or public rights or grants, one should strivefor a long time contract or one in perpetuity if possible,
When I read Henry George I came to a realizing sense of the menace of Privilege, and what I saw at Johnstown, following the flood of 1889, caused me to realize the menace of charity â a fact not so commonly recognized, I believe, as the dangerous power of Privilege and not alwayscorrelated with it in the mind of the student of social conditions.
JOHNSON COMPANY WORKS
Taken during early history of company when Mr. Johnson was connected with it
RECENT PICTURE OF JOHNSON COMPANY WORKS
Town of Moxham, Seventeenth Ward of Johnstown, Pa.
It was a new invention which led to my going into business in Johnstown. I had invented a girder groove rail, or thought I had. Subsequent developments showed that a similar rail had been made earlier in England. Mine was a steam railroad T rail with a street railroad wearing surface. Attempts to manufacture these rails from iron at Birmingham, Alabama, and Louisville, Kentucky, had failed so completely as to cripple the concerns that had made the experiments. There were insurmountable mechanical difficulties in using iron, and our failures led us to look for a firm which would manufacture them for us from steel. We proposed making these rails for the market as well as for use in our street railways.
Just as I thought I had invented the rail, so my associate, Arthur J. Moxham, thought he had invented the best process for rolling them. Both the rail and the manufacturing process, therefore, were protected by patents, not very strong patents, to be sure, but they served as a good business bluff and kept others out of the field.â Special privilege again! Not typified by a friendly train conductor this time, but by the patent laws of the United States! â In due time we were so strongly entrenched in a business way that we didnât need patent protection.
We selected the Cambria Iron Company at Johnstown, Pennsylvania, as the concern which should manufacture our rails. We wanted to make the best possible terms with them. Realizing our importance as customers, they were eager to meet us half way. We exchanged courtesies at a lively rate. Mr. Moxham and I were frequently entertained by them at the club and invited to the housesof the officials to dinner and other social affairs. I managed to get out of these engagements whenever possible, leaving the social responsibilities to Mr. Moxham who was admirably qualified for them. He was a delightful entertainer. It was when our negotiations had reached a critically important stage that, returning from a dinner at the home of one of the Cambria officials one night, he found me playing checkers with the bootblack at the club. This was too much ! If I would leave the social amenities to him, I might at least so conduct myself in his absence as not to scandalize the community and jeopardize our interests. He scored me roundly for my exhibition of bad taste, âif not disgraceful conduct.â When he was at the height of his indignation, I broke in with my defense:
âBut Arthur, you donât know what a hell of a good game of checkers this boy plays!â
Happily the checker game didnât interfere with our negotiations, and presently the day on which we were to sign the agreement came round. We approached the conference in fear and trembling, for in our minds there had arisen the question of how long the contract should run. We wanted a short contract but were perfectly sure the Cambria people would hold out for a long one. To our surprise D. J. Morrell, the president, suggested a contract terminable at the will of either side on three monthsâ notice. This was exactly what we wanted but I couldnât refrain from asking Mr. Morrell why his side proposed such terms. His answer taught me a lesson which I never forgot.
He said that in making contracts with the public for franchises or public rights or grants, one should strivefor a long time contract or one in perpetuity if possible,
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