Pullman listened attentively, but he was not wholly convinced.
Finally he asked, “What would you call the new company?”
and Carnegie replied promptly: “Why, the Pullman Palace CarCompany, of course.”
Pullman’s face brightened. “Come into my room,” he said.
“Let’s talk it over.” That talk made industrial history.
This policy of remembering and honoring the names of hisfriends and business associates was one of the secrets of AndrewCarnegie’s leadership. He was proud of the fact that he could callmany of his factory workers by their first names, and he boastedthat while he was personally in charge, no strike ever disturbedhis flaming steel mills.
People are so proud of their names that they strive to perpetuatethem at any cost.
For many centuries, nobles and magnates supported artists,musicians and authors so that their creative works would bededicated to them.
Libraries and museums owe their richest collections to peoplewho cannot bear to think that their names might perish from the memory of the race. The New York Public Library has its Astorand Lenox collections. The Metropolitan Museum perpetuates thenames of Benjamin Altman and J. P. Morgan. And nearly everychurch is beautified by stained-glass windows commemoratingthe names of their donors. Many of the buildings on the campusof most universities bear the names of donors who contributedlarge sums of money for this honor.
Most people don’t remember names, for the simple reasonthat they don’t take the time and energy necessary to concentrateand repeat and fix names indelibly in their minds. They makeexcuses for themselves; they are too busy.
But they were probably no busier than Franklin D. Roosevelt,and he took time to remember and recall even the names ofmechanics with whom he came into contact.
The Chrysler organization built a special car for Mr. Roosevelt,who could not use a standard car because his legs were paralyzed.
W. F. Chamberlain and a mechanic delivered it to the WhiteHouse. I have in front of me a letter from Mr. Chamberlainrelating his experiences. I taught President Roosevelt how tohandle a car with a lot of unusual gadgets, but he taught me a lotabout the fine art of handling people.
“When I called at the White House,” Mr. Chamberlain writes,“the President was extremely pleasant and cheerful. He calledme by name, made me feel very comfortable, and particularlyimpressed me with the fact that he was vitally interested in things Ihad to show him and tell him. The car was so designed that it couldbe operated entirely by hand. A crowd gathered around to lookat the car; and he remarked: ‘I think it is marvelous. All you haveto do is to touch a button and it moves away and you can drive itwithout effort. I think it is grand—I don’t know what makes it go. I’dlove to have the time to tear it down and see how it works.’