“Well, Colonel,” said my brother, “it means that nothing more is to be added.”

“All right, Thomas,” said the Colonel, entirely satisfied.

There is much in the way one puts things.  “Nothing to be deducted” might have caused a dispute.

[Illustration:  THOMAS MORRISON CARNEGIE]

He was made furious one day by Bradstreet’s volume which gives the standing of business concerns.  Never having seen such a book before, he was naturally anxious to see what rating his concern had.  When he read that the Keystone Bridge Works were “BC,” which meant “Bad Credit,” it was with difficulty he was restrained from going to see our lawyers to have a suit brought against the publishers.  Tom, however, explained to him that the Keystone Bridge Works were in bad credit because they never borrowed anything, and he was pacified.  No debt was one of the Colonel’s hobbies.  Once, when I was leaving for Europe, when many firms were hard up and some failing around us, he said to me: 

“The sheriff can’t get us when you are gone if I don’t sign any notes, can he?”

“No,” I said, “he can’t.”

“All right, we’ll be here when you come back.”

Talking of the Colonel reminds me of another unusual character with whom we were brought in contact in these bridge-building days.  This was Captain Eads, of St. Louis,[26] an original genius minus scientific knowledge to guide his erratic ideas of things mechanical.  He was seemingly one of those who wished to have everything done upon his own original plans.  That a thing had been done in one way before was sufficient to cause its rejection.  When his plans for the St. Louis Bridge were presented to us, I handed them to the one man in the United States who knew the subject best—­our Mr. Linville.  He came to me in great concern, saying: 

“The bridge if built upon these plans will not stand up; it will not carry its own weight.”

“Well,” I said, “Captain Eads will come to see you and in talking over matters explain this to him gently, get it into proper shape, lead him into the straight path and say nothing about it to others.”

[Footnote 26:  Captain James B. Eads, afterward famous for his jetty system in the Mississippi River.]

This was successfully accomplished; but in the construction of the bridge poor Piper was totally unable to comply with the extraordinary requirements of the Captain.  At first he was so delighted with having received the largest contract that had yet been let that he was all graciousness to Captain Eads.  It was not even “Captain” at first, but “‘Colonel’ Eads, how do you do?  Delighted to see you.”  By and by matters became a little complicated.  We noticed that the greeting became less cordial, but still it was “Good-morning, Captain Eads.”  This fell till we were surprised to hear “Pipe” talking of “Mr. Eads.”  Before the troubles were over, the “Colonel” had fallen