BANKERS AND MERCHANTS 357 



multi-millionaire was an uncoined word. Ex- 

 cepting the Standard Oil, the Western Union 

 was the most ruthless monopolist in the field and 

 from Wall Street to our construction camps it 

 was in line of battle before us making attacks 

 which never ceased. To the very hour when the 

 panic struck I had overtures from the enemy, 

 but I had pledged myself never to follow in the 

 wake of my predecessors who one after another 

 had challenged the Great Monopoly only to sur- 

 render to it in the end. 



The big telegraph company had made ene- 

 mies right and left and powerful interests 

 were ready to cast their lot with us soon as they 

 were convinced of our permanence and inde- 

 pendence. The Wall Street end of the work 

 held me down w T hen I needed the time to develop 

 such alliances. I needed help in the field of 

 finance, a man of imagination who could solve 

 new problems as they arose, the kind of man one 

 meets in a blue moon. I wanted yet more a man 

 of technical experience who could measure up to 

 the demands of the great work I dreamed of ac- 



