At an early day John A. Roebling recognized the business ability of his son Ferdinand. He often told me that he was the only one of his sons who had the true genius of the merchant. When the Civil War broke out his services were so valuable that his father refused to let him go.

At that time wire rope was still made on the old rope-walk. The amount was small, only 700 tons being the annual output when his father died. The office work could still be done by "F. W."-and a helper-his cousin Riedel-and later Harris. In fact, the elder Roebling thought his rope factory was big enough; he had no desire to extend. But with his death in 1869 a new spirit began to prevail. The rope-walk, with its limited capacity, had been replaced by rope machinery in a compact building; it became imperative to capture and retain the new business coming along. For a time "F. W." and Charles Swan ran the business, the only competitor being the Hazard Company.

The introduction of Bessemer steel became a new factor, as it bid fair to replace Swedish iron entirely. Its use brought in new problems which had to be learned by hard experience. In 1871 Charles Roebling left college and entered the business as an active member. "F. W." retained the commercial end of it with Charles as the manufacturer and builder, as he is today. Mr. Swan retired shortly afterwards. New problems came pressing along. Galvanized wire had been frowned on by the elder Roebling; he would have none of it. The horizontal Smith machine (brought over from England in i868 by "W. A. R.") was also condemned because it put a twist in the wire with every revolution. It was not used during the lifetime of the elder Roebling, whereas today, it forms one-half the rope machinery. About the last rope made on the rope-walk was a No. _o elevator rope. The attempt was not very successful, the wire being too fine for the long stretch. On the new strand machines they were made easily and have remained our chief standby to the present day. After the art of galvanizing had been somewhat perfected, the next step was to replace the old oiled telegraph-wire with galvanized wire, thereby opening up an endless vista for the sale of that wire which still continues.

Here Ferdinand's talents came into special play, in getting orders, making contracts, cultivating friendly relations with the many new companies constantly springing up, and sometimes taking stock in payment, which did not always prove remunerative.

Enlargements and increases became the order of the day, made entirely out of our own profits, no outside capital ever being required.

A change in the tariff made it advisable to make our own charcoal iron, all of which had to be learned through costly experimenting. The original rolling-mill had already been removed and improved; a new huge wire-mill was erected on Elmer Street. Fortunately this was not all done in a day, but the responsibilities, the thinking and planning, went on all the time. Competition grew and had to be fought, in which particular respect Ferdinand was a good fighter.

With the good news came also bad news. The fine wire-mill, erected to make binder wire, suddenly found itself out of business and without orders. Nothing daunted, a wire-cloth factory was immediately determined on to consume the fine wire. A great success at first as regards profits, it gradually dwindled down to a 10 per cent or 5 per cent basis, after all the original looms had long ago been junked. But today the output of fine wire must be nearly fifty-fold what it was then. The old bathhouse office had been long before exchanged for the Roebling dwelling-house, giving ample room for the increased commercial and bookkeeping demands.

I wish, however, to say right here that this fragmentary account of the early history of the Roebling plant is only introduced incidentally for the purpose of showing how Ferdinand's mind rose to the occasion, how no opportunity for advancing the business was neglected, how old processes were perfected, and how quickly new ones were adopted and the old ones scrapped.

Inseparably interwoven as his activities were with those of his great brother Charles, he still had a most distinctive personality of his own which he never failed to assert, always towards a common end with but few mistakes, as business matters go. Sometimes the sober second thought neutralizes a mistake; such, for example, as throwing our business away to the United States Steel for a song.

Then again it is so easy to jump into a new speculation and so difficult to withdraw without great loss, such as the faculty of cutting a loss, which is seldom exercised at the right time, until you are an old man, and then it is too late.

As business grew and prospered Ferdinand's mind broadened and looked farther into the future. To swim with the current is easy, but to weather the periodic reverses which always come, only aroused in him a dogged resolution to fight it out. When sunshine appeared again after reverses he was one of the first to recognize it and take advantage of the new conditions.

At home Ferdinand was a most genial host. When you had crossed his threshold all antipathies were forgotten. While just and fair to his office force, he had the faculty of making them understand their position and their duties.

Although never an office-holder, he took a most active and personal interest both in local and national politics, and always regretted that he had not become United States Senator, a position for which he was eminently fitted. He took great pride in being a delegate to the national presidential conventions. He became intimately acquainted with the prominent men of the Republican Party; his advice was listened to with respect.

Too often antagonism ends in lifelong animosity. Of that he had his share. While not a public speaker, he could talk well and to the point about business affairs in the business meetings of the many combines that sprang up some twenty years ago. A supersensitiveness, where no slight was intended, has cost him n_.any a pang.

The secret of success in many a business consists in the ability of weathering hard times, of keeping your organization intact, in keeping your working men employed, even at a small loss. That he always looked out for. In later life his optimism was tempered by considerable caution.

History teaches us that no man can be great unless a certain amount of vanity and self-esteem enters into his composition. Of that Ferdinand certainly had more than a trace. To be important you must first of all have a good opinion of yourself. It is necessary in order to impress others.

He had the pleasure of seeing branches of the business, which commenced with the humblest beginnings, develop into the most important departments, such as the Flat-Wire Shop Department, for example. The Insulated-Wire Department, on the other hand, has had a very chequered career.

When the great addition to our plant was begun at "Roebling" (the creation and chef-d'oeuvre of Charles Roebling) it also became necessary to establish new stores, new agencies and connections-in fact, to do a world-wide business; all of which Ferdinand attended to with the skill and judgment born of long experience and intuitive knowledge of the character of men. The office itself was doubled in size and new methods of bookkeeping were introduced. This work expanded so much that it was no longer possible to give the vital personal touch to every new proposition. The problem could only be solved by the introduction of separate departments, as it is today.

Any allusion to distinctly personal characteristics is always a delicate matter. I am a great believer in heredity. Fully nine-tenths of our qualities are the consequence of direct inheritance; the other tenth comes from experience, from contact with the daily business surroundings, usually forced upon you by circumstances and also by chance. Chance plays a large part in our progress through life. In my brother's mental attributes I could see the combination of a father's terrific energy, tempered by the calm and good sense of a devoted mother.

To get ahead of a competitor, by even one year, he considered good policy. He knew that conciliation and cooperation produced better results than an open fight to the death.

From one great trouble which besets most corporations he was happily freed. I mean the matter of funds. Owing to his own conservatism, coupled with that of his brothers, there were always ample means at hand for enlargements, improvements, and for experimenting, the latter being an important item. I do not wish to convey the impression that every venture was a success. A very few were bonanzas; others were disastrous failures, persisted in until utterly hopeless. In others again profit was sacrificed to gain reputation.

When two disastrous fires had visited our plant, I was struck by the philosophic calm with which Ferdinand received the news. I could not quite understand it. It must be that with advancing age the mind realizes that you cannot control everything and must bow to the inevitable.

There is one other point in which I am sincerely grateful to him: during the years that I was incapacitated by illness, he carefully and honorably preserved my interests in the business, which meant a great deal to me and mine.

As time goes by, our memories retain only the good; the other things fade away.

What death really means I do not understand, and do not want to. We enter life without knowing it, and leave it unconscious. Cut off thus at either end, all we can do is to obey the dictates of the infallible conscience with which we are endowed by nature.

But who succeeds in doing that?

(Written in loving memory by his brother.)

Trenton, N.J. April 15, 1917.