to “Jim Eads,” and to tell the truth, long before the work was out of the shops, “Jim” was now and then preceded by a big “D.”  A man may be possessed of great ability, and be a charming, interesting character, as Captain Eads undoubtedly was, and yet not be able to construct the first bridge of five hundred feet span over the Mississippi River,[27] without availing himself of the scientific knowledge and practical experience of others.

[Footnote 27:  The span was 515 feet, and at that time considered the finest metal arch in the world.]

When the work was finished, I had the Colonel with me in St. Louis for some days protecting the bridge against a threatened attempt on the part of others to take possession of it before we obtained full payment.  When the Colonel had taken up the planks at both ends, and organized a plan of relieving the men who stood guard, he became homesick and exceedingly anxious to return to Pittsburgh.  He had determined to take the night train and I was at a loss to know how to keep him with me until I thought of his one vulnerable point.  I told him, during the day, how anxious I was to obtain a pair of horses for my sister.  I wished to make her a present of a span, and I had heard that St. Louis was a noted place for them.  Had he seen anything superb?

The bait took.  He launched forth into a description of several spans of horses he had seen and stables he had visited.  I asked him if he could possibly stay over and select the horses.  I knew very well that he would wish to see them and drive them many times which would keep him busy.  It happened just as I expected.  He purchased a splendid pair, but then another difficulty occurred about transporting them to Pittsburgh.  He would not trust them by rail and no suitable boat was to leave for several days.  Providence was on my side evidently.  Nothing on earth would induce that man to leave the city until he saw those horses fairly started and it was an even wager whether he would not insist upon going up on the steamer with them himself.  We held the bridge.  “Pipe” made a splendid Horatius.  He was one of the best men and one of the most valuable partners I ever was favored with, and richly deserved the rewards which he did so much to secure.

The Keystone Bridge Works have always been a source of satisfaction to me.  Almost every concern that had undertaken to erect iron bridges in America had failed.  Many of the structures themselves had fallen and some of the worst railway disasters in America had been caused in that way.  Some of the bridges had given way under wind pressure but nothing has ever happened to a Keystone bridge, and some of them have stood where the wind was not tempered.  There has been no luck about it.  We used only the best material and enough of it, making our own iron and later our own steel.  We were our own severest inspectors, and would build a safe structure or none at all.  When asked to build a bridge