Thomas
A. Scott, superintendent of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania
railroad, took an aide with him when he went to Washington to become an
assistant secretary of war. Speaking with a soft Scottish burr, his twenty-six
year old companion quickly showed himself to be an expert in telegraphy. Soon
Andrew Carnegie was put to work coordination rail and telegraph lines of the
Union.
Serving
as a civilian executive in the military transportation section of the War
Department, Carnegie was never forced to dodge Confederate bullets. He
considered establishment of the telegraph office frequented by Lincoln to be
one of his greatest contributions to the war effort.
Entering
the iron and steel business in 1865, within one-quarter of a century he had
gained controlling interest in the U.S. Steel Corporation. Then the former
worked for the War Department sold out and devoted the rest of his life to
distributing his fortune among countless public libraries and other charitable
enterprises.
