Thomas Mellon Andhis Times

details for 126 of the steel industry executives reveals that only deserve mention. The discussion ofblast furnace technology fails eight were bornoutside the United States. (Inthe 19th century to recognize that as long as 20 years ago there were furnaces volume, 15 out of 66 were foreign-born.) Ofthe remaining 118, overseas which had already reached a daily production of 10,000 the birthplace of 20 was inor near Pittsburgh, 11came from the tons of iron.In the discussion of continuous casting, itis recog- Chicago area, three from Youngstown, and 84 from elsewhere in nized that the U.S. industry fellbehind some of its leading rivals the nation. but there is no adequate consideration of what happened inthe Another feature of interest is the way inwhich some leading 1980s. executives have migrated from company to company. Avery The book is illustrated well withblack and white photo- Adams, during 40 years inthe industry, worked for seven different graphs, though they are often not particularly good reproductions. firms. He began withTrumbull Steel, then went toRepublic, Most of the articles have useful listsof publications and references. which took over his old company. From there, he moved on to Where appropriate, the location of the archives of leading indi- Carnegie-Illinois, toInland, toUS Steel and then toPittsburgh viduals is indicated. Steel before finishing his career atJones &Laughlin. Tom Girdler, Itis all too easy for a criticto see loopholes and to carp about well-known for his vigorous style and aggressive attitude to New any work of scholarship. This reviewer does recognize, however, Deal policies, worked for Buffalo Forge, Oliver, Colorado Fuel and that the encyclopedia represents a tremendous achievement on the Iron, Atlantic, andJones &Laughlin, and then became chairman part of both the editor and his authors. They are to be warmly and later president of Republic Steel. Ben Fairless, who dominated congratulated on a book which for many years to come willbe US Steel inthe critical period of World War IIand the early post- used and enjoyed by all who continue to be fascinated by the great waryears, began at Central Steel Co., then joined Republic when story of the American ironand steel industry. @ itmerged withCentral, risingto its executive vice presidency in the 1930s, before moving to Carnegie-Illinois in1935. Incomplete Thomas Mellon and His Times contrast, and representing a different philosophy of management, Thomas Mellon Charles M.Schwab's five successors as chief executive of Pittsburgh: University ofPittsburgh Press, 1994 (reprint). Preface (by Paul Mellon), Bethlehem Steel (Eugene Grace, Arthur Homer, Edmund Martin, foreword (by David McCullough), introduction (by Mary Louise Briscoe), maps. Stewart Cort, and Lewis Foy) spent the—whole of their working Pp. 478. $35. lives —a combined total of 235 years withthat one company. Bethlehem's 20th century management has contrasted by Hax McCullough sharply withthat of US Steel inat least one other respect. Until the 1980s, top control at Bethlehem was inthe hands of steel men Thomas Mellon (1813-1908) was a gifted, resourceful who lived in the area of the plant and corporate head offices at man who looked upon parenthood as a responsibility which Bethlehem, Pa. Ultimate power at US Steel, however, was exer- Judgegentlemen were to assume and from which they were not to cised from New Yorkuntil the headquarters was moved to wander. Knowledgeable sons who wouldbecome leaders in Pittsburgh. Much more significant, the chief executives of USS the community were his goal, and leaders they became. That he were largely drawn from the worlds offinance orlaw. For only chose torecord his experiences and judgments as guidelines for seven of its first 50 years was itheaded by men trained and reared the future isvery much incharacter. His wide-ranging, authorita- insteel (Schwab and Farrell); over its whole 94-year history, non- tive story of his lifeand achievements is a unique document of steelmen have headed itfor 64 years. significant value for those interested inthe history of Pittsburgh. It There are separate essays dealing with "basing point pricing" may make many rethink what they were taught. and the "Pittsburgh Plus" system. While stressing that the latter Never one to postpone necessary action, Judge Mellon's policy inparticular stirred up resentment among steel consumers superb autobiography was firstprinted in1885 by Wm. G. distant from the basing point, the encouragement which "phan- Johnston &Co. exclusively for his family and friends. Since then, tom freight" provided forgrowth of—steel products inthese same only a few have read itand had a chance to learn about this areas — the "Judge Gary umbrella" is not sufficiently empha- extraordinary man and his considered judgments (not all to our sized. taste today) about work, motivation, frugality, justice, knowledge, The entries dealing withprocesses and technology are not religion, travel, and history. whollysatisfactory. Those on the open hearth furnace, rolling Ifirst read this splendid book in1969 inan original edition at mills,and the hot stripmillare too short to do justice. The latter Mellon Bank's library. Ithen bought a photographic reproduction inparticular inadequately covers a triumph of technical innovation in1970 from the Kraus Reprint Co. But this University of Pitts- that has been by far the most important change insteel finishing burgh Press reprint gives us all the opportunity to know this solid, inthis century and which was unquestionably a remarkable self-made pioneer. The newedition is both handsome and fullof American achievement inresearch and development. Though riches. Thomas— Mellon showed himself as literate, perceptive and attempts toroll sheet steel continuously at US Steel's millsproved dynamic a man of greatness whose life was patterned with alley, by tobe a blind— attempts inthe first decade of the century — Hax McCullough is the author of One Hundred Years ofBanking, Mellon's Bank centennial CM. Bray firstat McKeesport, Pa., and later at Mercer, Pa. history that the bank published in1969. He writes frequently for Pittsburgh History. Pittsburgh History, 184 Winter 1996/97 pride after the ideals of Benjamin Franklin. Mellon writes: can produce good effects/' People had to search out the whole Itwas about a house, my fourteenth year, at neighbor's when truth,he notes, a fact that he had learned as a judge fromlistening plowinga field we had taken on buckwheat, his farm for that I to glib attorneys present half-truths. "Never waitfor something happened upon a dilapidated copy of the autobiography ofDr. better to turn up," Mellon writes. "The time and place to begin Franklin. Itdelighted me witha wider view of lifeand inspired — the battle is just at once, and wherever you find yourself." me withnew ambition turned my thoughts into new Having as an attorney charged channels. Ihad not before imagined any other course oflife served who had only moderate fees, a sense in an opinion superior to farming, but the reading of Franklin's lifeled me to he shows of humor voicing of the legal question this view. For so poor and friendless a boy to be able to profession heldby many who thought they were overcharged. become a merchant or a professional man had before seemed "The pearly shell foryou and me; The oyster is the lawyer's fee. It an impossibility;buthere was Franklin, poorer than myself, was often mybest policy to leave the amount of the fee to the who by industry, thriftand frugalityhad become learned and client himself." This approach pleased the client, and Mellon often wise, and elevated to wealth and fame. The maxims of "poor earned more than he would have charged. Richard" exactly suited my sentiments. Iread the book again Thomas Mellon's loyalty to and effectiveness for his clients and again, and wondered I if might not do something in the earned him important cases and wonhimlifetime friendships. His same lineby similarmeans. Ihad willand energy equal to the rise as an attorney was rapid, yet when he found the pace too occasion and could exercise the same degree of industry and demanding he left the profession. At age 46, perseverance. the of he was nomi- nated for and elected to a 10-year term as associate judge of the Judge Mellon had respect for his ancestors and family and Court of Common Pleas. Inhis autobiography, he recounts several wrote forunborn descendants he hoped would learn fromhim ofhis most interesting cases. After retirement and a testimonial about the good that comes fromhard work. To Thomas Mellon, banquet at the Monongahela House, he "concluded to open a "Industry and thrift withreasonable judgment to guide, will banking house." He did this inPittsburgh onJanuary 1, 1870, always prevail." DoingFranklin's "a penny saved is a penny under the name of TMellon &Sons Bank. philosophy earned" one better, he writes, "The disability to retain Chapter Vof Thomas Mellon and His Times describes the is as as bad the want ofability to acquire." Money was tobe delight and conclusions made by a boy of 10 onhis first trip alone earned for what itcould do and so that funds would be available to Pittsburgh from his parents' farm at Poverty Point, when of needed. "The best aim the professional man is ... the Westmoreland County. Itwas early spring and the young man was acquisition of means for a livelihood and ultimate independence wide-eyed and curious. Filled withwonder, he stopped for a rest through fair and honorable professional industry." With this in on a hillto look at the panorama. He admired a great meadow mind, Mellon was very successful as an entrepreneur and as a below, the largest he had ever seen, and the Negley home and its student, teacher, Latin attorney, judge and bank founder. He knew orchards. Great expanses of grass stretched as far as he could see, how to make money and how to make itgrow.

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