Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America’s Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster

by Al Roker

“ Reads like a nail-biting thriller.” — Library Journal, starred review A gripping new history celebrating the remarkable heroes of the Johnstown Flood—the deadliest flood in U.S. history—from NBC host and legendary weather authority Al Roker Central Pennsylvania, May 31, 1889: After a deluge of rain—nearly a foot in less than twenty-four hours—swelled the Little Conemaugh River, panicked engineers watched helplessly as swiftly rising waters threatened to breach the South Fork dam, built to create a private lake for a fishing and hunting club that counted among its members Andrew Mellon, Henry Clay Frick, and Andrew Carnegie. Though the engineers telegraphed neighboring towns on this last morning in May warning of the impending danger, residents—factory workers and their families—remained in their homes, having grown used to false alarms. At 3:10 P.M., the dam gave way, releasing 20 million tons of water. Gathering speed as it flowed southwest, the deluge wiped out nearly everything in its path and picked up debris—trees, houses, animals—before reaching Johnstown, a vibrant steel town fourteen miles downstream. Traveling 40 miles an hour, with swells as high as 60 feet, the deadly floodwaters razed the mill town—home to 20,000 people—in minutes. The Great Flood, as it would come to be called, remains the deadliest in US history, killing more than 2,200 people and causing $17 million in damage. In Ruthless Tide , Al Roker follows an unforgettable cast of characters whose fates converged because of that tragic day, including John Parke, the engineer whose heroic efforts failed to save the dam; the robber barons whose fancy sport fishing resort was responsible for modifications that weakened the dam; and Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, who spent five months in Johnstown leading one of the first organized disaster relief efforts in the United States. Weaving together their stories and those of many ordinary citizens whose lives were forever altered by the event, Ruthless Tide is testament to the power of the human spirit in times of tragedy and also a timely warning about the dangers of greed, inequality, neglected infrastructure, and the ferocious, uncontrollable power of nature.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Audiobook, Historical, Book Club, Science

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Al Roker is an American weather forecaster, journalist, television personality, actor, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's Today.

Reviews

[Natch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Here's what Gary Provost wrote about writing -

“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”

This is how this book is written -

"In the spring of 1889, when an event whose only comparisons were biblical descriptions of the awful Last Day of Judgment came rushing into Johnstown, few people in the valley knew for certain who belonged to the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, the private retreat up on the mountain, with its marvelous, sparkling artificial lake. Almost all of the club's members lived in Pittsburgh, not Johnstown, and they weren't the kind of men who wanted their private affairs bandied about for all to see."

Whew! It's a long series of paragraphs of run-on sentences. And, what's more, they're repetitive. For example, one section reads -

"Yet those even those human alterations of nature, with so many unintended consequences, don't give us the ultimate cause of the sudden, horrific loss of life, and the stunning loss of so much else nature and human-made, that occurred so fast when the towering monster that became the Great Johnstown Flood was unleashed.
[New paragraph w/short sentence] Nothing like that horror would have occurred had the dam at the South Fork Creek...not let go, all at once...
[New paragraph beginning] Had the dam up on the mountain not broken..."

Ugh.

This could have been a really great book. The premise is interesting - a flood of biblical proportions which wiped out a town and saw the formation of the Red Cross as a consequence - but the run-on sentences and repetitive writing is just exhausting.

More nitpicky is the way the book frames the characters. It's very antiseptic. For example, one of the first characters introduced is Gertrude, the mischevious 6-year daughter of James Quinn, a wealthy dry goods proprietor and one of the few people in town worried about the dam's collapse. In describing her background and lead-up to the flood, the author introduces elements of first person - for instance, calling her father "papa" - but leaving the story third person and focusing on the relationships between her and her family members from a very outsider perspective. It feels more like a news report about some people affected by the flood instead of a living, breathing story about their experiences. I can't fault the author for that. He is a news reporter by training. But, it makes the story less engaging.

Overall, this wasn't really a book for me.

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review. All my opinions are my own.
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A fascinating subject and important to know about but the writing is so-so and sometimes not easy to get through.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This copy is a 2.5 star read. The only feature that enabled me to round it up was the photos and reprints of cartoons and other graphic memorabilia from the era itself.

Non-fiction reads in the last 5 years have been my favorites. Many of them with excellent prose, research and 5 star focus to the title and the issue. And I am being very generous in giving this Johnstown Flood study the full 3 stars.

It's the writing itself and the order of organizations in the telling. BOTH!

But with such a tragic and horrific (historically fatal counts with so many innocents gone) event- the drone on and on quality would be the last factor you would think may be a problem. You'd think. But no- even this kind of tension and terror becomes like reading manufacturing storage quantity lists or some kind of inventory for dry goods lockers. And it does not flow. All declarative clipped (usually short to shorter) sentences of fact or placement or background information.

Even the blame which is trotted out endlessly is also declared in such mundane lists.

Gertrude's "eyes" and stories of individuals barely made a dent in those above reading features.

It gave me information and the graphics were good. Writing was not.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'll start with the good. I was happy to see that a new book about the Johnstown Flood of 1889 was being released because people may not know about this horrific historical event.

Unfortunately that's all the good I can say about it. The first thing that troubled me was the writing. It tries too hard to be dramatic when the events are dramatic enough in themselves. It tries too hard to be relatable by creating fictitious thoughts and feelings for real people, which is great in historical fiction but not appropriate in non-fiction works. And my main frustration was the confusing writing with its overuse of commas in long and awkwardly worded sentences.

My second complaint was that the facts presented weren't always correct. The author incorrectly stated that "in 1879 the members of the South Fork Club determined to dam up a river and make a beautiful mountain lake." The dam was actually constructed several years before that by the state of Pennsylvania as part of the canal system. Not only does the author repeatedly state this erroneous detail, he then goes on to write Daniel J. Morrell’s imagined reaction to the South Fork Club members creating the dam. This was the point that I abandoned the book.

The book does have a bibliography, though it comprised almost entirely of websites (some reputable like the Johnstown Area Heritage Association but some not like one from blogspot!), not archival information.

If you are looking for a factually accurate, engrossing, and well written book based on solid research and interviews with survivors of the Great Flood (including my great-grandfather!) check out The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough.

[Lianne JM · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent excoriation of capitalism and I was thoroughly engaged.

“The horror of the disaster, the worst ever seen in the US, was making its painful losses and thrilling rescues front-page news anyway, but the story of the industrialists’ heedlessness, in their pursuit of fun, leisure, and the restoration of their souls, wiping out the lives of people who worked below in the very industries that made the millionaires’ millions, was so genuinely outrageous, so truly stark, that outrage flowed freely from the pens and banged hard from the typewriter keys” (p. 251 of hardcover)

This book bridges genres between history and human interest. If you are purely interested in history, the human interest might frustrate you. If you’re not much of a history person, you may find certain parts a little dense. The only part of this book I really didn’t like was the opening, which I found to be very manipulative. There was one part during the history of the steel industry where I skipped a couple of paragraphs because it was too dense for me (I am not a history person in general). And if you’re super into capitalism, I doubt you’ll like this book :).

Overall, I found this book completely fascinating. The actual account of the flood was gripping and terrifying. He really drives home the measure of the disaster and where the blame for it lies: it is an “unnatural disaster,” and if you are like me you will be thoroughly and appropriately outraged at the degree of criminal negligence that caused the flood to happen. The book is also a very critical examination of capitalism in general. It’s a story of how the richest among us get rich off of conditions which destroy the planet and create horrible living conditions for workers, and then use their money to escape into nature that hasn’t been destroyed yet—in this case, at the cost of thousands of lives.

If you are reading the reviews of this book you will see an accusation of inaccuracy regarding when the dam was first built. However, the inaccuracy referenced is addressed in the book in detail. Roker KNOWS there was a dam at the site previously, and that it was built over (pgs. 68-70 of the hardcover edition). I resent this false accusation not only because it’s wrong but also because this book is THOROUGHLY researched to a degree that I find awe-inspiring. I have so much respect for Roker for telling this story so well.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: "Johnny, who made the world?" The Sunday School teacher asked. That was easy. "The Cambria Iron Company!" the boy replied. That's the story they like to tell, anyway, in and around Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in 1889. Little Gertrude Quinn was only six that year, and even she, like the fictitious Johnny, knew how important iron and steel and the Cambria Works were to the life that she, her family, and everybody they knew were living here in the deep valley of the Conemaugh River under the abrupt rise of the Allegheny Mountains.

Premise/plot: Ruthless Tide is a new nonfiction book about the Johnstown Flood. The first third is about what led to the disaster. The iron and steel industry. The erosion of the land. The building of the dam and lake. The selfishness then negligence of the sports club. This section includes mini-biographies of men like Andrew Carnegie, Daniel J. Morrell, Benjamin Ruff, Henry Clay Frick, etc. The second third is about the disaster itself: first the flood, then the dam breaking, and finally the fires that burned as a result of the destruction. This section introduces or in some cases reintroduces readers to the men, women, and children of the town(s) in the path of the monster. It is a limited account, but, better to follow a few accounts that are based on published accounts than to follow hundreds of fictional accounts. The last third is devoted to the aftermath of the disaster. It's titled" Justice and Charity." Here readers see the Red Cross stepping into the scene of a disaster and gaining attention and respect for their relief response. Also readers read not of the justice of the legal system but the injustice of it.

My thoughts: I read this in one evening. I found it an interesting read. I've read reviews criticizing the writing, but for me I wasn't paying attention to the writing but to the content.

Do I ever read a book and count the words in a sentence? Do I ever consider the length of the sentences in any given paragraph? Am I hyper-critical of any writer? Oh, that sentence would have sounded better if it had had seven words instead of five.

Perhaps just perhaps people are super-critical of the "writing" because of the author being a celebrity, Al Roker.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating story of a "natural" disaster, that really wasn't natural at all. Mr. Roker skillfully weaves together historical facts, personal stories, and the devastation caused by the Johnstown Flood. It is a cautionary tale, just as relevant today, of how the decisions of a few wealthy individuals can cause a disastrous calamity for thousands of innocent people. It also details the start of the steel and rail industries, and the terrible working conditions endured by the average worker at that time. The book also brings out how the aftermath of flood was the start of many changes in laws and liability that are, thankfully, still in place today. The Johnstown flood was an disaster of epic proportions that clearly shows how fragile our environment is to interference by humans. It was an eye-opening and enjoyable read.

[Mitzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

People, in general, do not realize what our country has gone through in its short history; hence, the importance of writing and reading about our history. This story is a prime example. Well done!

[Darcie Saunier · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because this is such an incredible story. I have read several of the very few books on this topic, have visited the sites in and around Johnstown, and have watched the documentaries. All I keep coming back to is this – Is the author seriously blaming capitalism as a whole, technological progress, and wealth for the flood? Why does the author, who himself has a net worth of $30 Million, keep pointing a finger at Andrew Carnegie personally and insinuating that his wealth and success made him evil? The author mentions almost in passing, that it was a spring of unusually heavy snow and rain, the likes of which no one had ever seen before, but dwells on Carnegie’s wealth. Did that wealth not help create the famous American steel industry which served to elevate the United States to world power status, bring thousands of steel jobs to Americans, create entire communities which created more non-steel jobs for Americans, assist in numerous technological advances that we take for granted today, bring libraries to hundreds of communities without them, and fund philanthropic organizations that are still in existence? Did he not share that success by giving back to society time and time again? There were 99 other members of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club that could have stepped in – congressmen, attorneys, engineers, bankers, CEOs of business and industry – yet the author keeps pointing at Carnegie. Yes, of course, there was outright negligence when it comes to the integrity and maintenance of the South Fork Dam, but it could have been any group's dam, from a simple farmer damming up the river to that of big business. Does the author know every detail about every organization that he belongs to and would he be willing to accept personal blame if one of those organizations suffered a similar fate?

The Johnstown flood is, by all means, an absolutely incredible story, but the author relates that story in such a sensationalistic manner that it is almost insulting to read. It is as if the author felt the reader must be constantly wowed by the horrific drama of it all, like a reality TV show, in order to keep the reader’s attention. Plus, the author goes way off topic to discuss in depth the birth and rise of the steel industry, how to actually make steel, Andrew Carnegie’s personal biographical information, and even Eastern European immigration of the mid- to late-19th Century.

I really don’t like to tear apart someone else’s art, but this one really rubbed me wrong. However, read it and decide for yourself.

[Maxine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetitive, overwrought. Cringey overuse of the adjective "literally". Positive: the acknowledgement that the committee that planned the cleanup and recovery was not a representative group of people but was made up of well-off white men. I did stick with this one all the way through, but had to go to the audiobook after 2 chapters because the writing, the word choice, the "literally"s were making me want to poke my eyes out. Roker may be a journalist, but is not a writer. Am going to read the McCullough book to compare.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting subject matter, horrible writing.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Roker has a way of writing engaging tales of tragedy especially when people and weather clash. In this case, it was a wet summer and three low pressure areas converged over the area of the South Fork/Little Connemaugh River watershed in Pennsylvania in May of 1889. Nearly a foot of rain fell in less than a day and the clay and earth dam that held back the South Fork reservoir had not been maintained and repairs were done by those unfamiliar with required dam construction. And it broke. Twenty million tons of water rushed down the river valley, scouring the hillsides clear of buildings, railroads and trees. Bridges over the river only held back the mass of debris for a short period of time before crumbling and joining the rubble and detritus. The small towns lining the river were wiped from the face of the earth and the city of Johnstown itself suffered catastrophic damage. Thousands died.

This was a time of wealthy industrialists and investors that created corporations and monopolies with little concern for the laborers or environmental damage. They also bought into the idea of mountain air and nature was restorative especially when compared to the coal dust and soot that blackened nearly everything else. In this case, well known industrialists - congregating around Carnegie's mountain retreat and the resort he had newly expanded for his guests - were lured into their own exclusive club. Summer cottages built to house the elite and their families in order to hunt, fish and sail with others of their genteel station, undisturbed by outsiders. So Benjamin Ruff succeeded in buying the land where sat an old neglected feeder lake for the now abandoned canal system. Years before it had suffered a partial collapse but the new owners ordered workers to repair, dismantle and fill in any openings - like the sluice gates and overflow culvert. No repairs were done to the packed earth structure so when the rain poured down, it would fail. So it would be repaired. Next storm and it failed and repaired and failed and repaired and finally it seemed to hold. At least until that day in May of 1889.

Roker does a great job of trying to connect his readers with the people that survived or had stories of those that were lost. Little Gertrude Quinn who was traumatized by her aunt forcing her to stay behind when her father had said to leave with the other children along with her near miraculous survival. Victor Heiser who later became a doctor who wanted to save lives from preventable diseases - he succeeded. The Reverend David Beale who volunteered his church for use as a morgue and was rebuked for failing to ask permission. Clara Barton and her American Red Cross who showed how to provide assistance - bookkeeping and accounting plays a big part.

Due to the people of Johnstown being unable to collect any damages - the club had few assets and legally suing the members was implausible - liability law in the United States was changed. The acceptance of Ryland ruling - if property owners change something from natural to unnatural like the changes caused by mining, oil, gas and rail companies - along with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act working to break the monopolies held by these select men and companies as well as the successful labor organization movement that protected workers. Rights and rulings that we take for granted today came out of that terrible day.

2020-200

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Johnstown Flood was the most devastating in U.S. history killing thousands of people. It was also a completely unnecessary tragedy, because it was not the result of nature, but of the failing of a poorly constructed dam. The dam was made to create an artificial lake to provide fishing for wealthy elites such as Andrew Carnegie. It’s spillways, a safety feature, were blocked to keep the fish from escaping. There were many signs for years that the dam was a disaster waiting to happen, but these warning signs were ignored because repairing the dam would have been expensive. When unusually heavy rains overpowered the dam, the escaping waters kill thousands and devastated the valley beneath it. And when survivors tried to sue the wealthy people responsible, the nineteenth century court system protected the rich. It was, however, one of the inspirations that led to early twentieth century progressivism and efforts to regulate industry.

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruthless Tide: The Heroes and Villains of the Johnstown Flood, America’s Astonishing Gilded Age Disaster was written by celebrity NBC meteorologist Al Roker. Drawing on various secondary sources, Roker gives an overview of the causes and the aftermath of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. This book is easy to read and seems to be accurate. However, if you are looking for the definitive account of this disaster, I suggest The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough.

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

The start, which addresses the question of how the flood happens, I found dull and drawn out. The answer is obvious pretty quickly, after all. The rest of it is a sensational account of the terrors of the flood, which isn't boring but what follows is terrible. The aftermath of the flood is full of petty behavior, lies, blame-shifting, and no accountability. It's historically accurate, I'm sure, but still a painful read.

[Margie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and researched history of the Johnston flood in Pennsylvania. The background material on the building of the dam, and the neglect of the members of the Sports Club, to maintain the dam properly, was interesting, but a bit too detailed for my taste. I felt like I was in school, reading a textbook. I didn’t need so much background on the robber barons of the Gilded Age. The best part is the middle section of the book. This focuses on the real events of the day of the flood was spellbinding. All of this is based on well documented. survivors stories.

[Patty Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well written. Roker brought to life the emergent issues of the day and the importance of decisions and their consequences. Today Johnstown is a strong, proud and beautiful community with a unique history.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read about the Johnstown Flood as a teenager many years ago, and I wish I could remember what book it was. I remember very vivid descriptions, but I don't remember the man-made component of the disaster. Al Roker's book is quite clear on how the decisions of a few, magnified the disaster. Of course, it's written from today's perspective. We have learned a lot about the human impact on the environment over the course of the last century, so while it's clear to us now,that the decision to create a lake without reinforcing the dam or building spillways, was a catastrophic mistake, it wasn't so clear at the time.

[Laurene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruthless Tide begins with the story of Gertrude Quinn, who was a resident of Johnstown, when she was six years old, and her family. It then leads the reader into the background of the men who would one day lead America in the steel industry. It is when the lives of the Johnstown town people intersect with the leaders/monopolizers of the steel industry the story takes off in a downward spiral.

[Bill Vocke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about an American tragedy

Al Roker weaves a great story of what led to the flood, the experience of those who lived and died in it, and the aftermath. The Johnstown Flood was a major event in Pennsylvania history and it’s good to look back to see how greed and carelessness can have tragic consequences.

[Lowell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fast read. Very personal in style, a good supplement to David McCullough's work.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an intriguing account of a devastating flood in the 1800's, and how it changed the United States in ways I never realized. The book is well researched, and Mr. Roker gives a harrowing account of the flood, the devastation afterward, and changes in laws and policy that affect us to this day. I enjoyed the book!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating telling of an event in American history that I've never heard of. The first third was kind of slow going for me. A lot of back story and set up. The second third was a great page turner. The last was interesting, & heart breaking. I feel like I learned a lot from this book.

[Lisa Roberts]

state non fiction red for Pennsylvania

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was well written and expanded greatly on David McCullough's excellent "The Johnstown Flood." Other reviewers were critical, but I really appreciated Roker's backgrounding on the steel and railroad industries, and especially the involvement of Tom Johnson, a would-be monopoly capitalist who opened his eyes to see the dangers of unfettered capitalism. He established a streetcar rail factory in Johnstown in his monopolist days; open-minded reading and witnessing the devastation in Johnstown caused by cavalier malefactors of great wealth changed him; he went on to become one of the most progressive big city mayors (in Cleveland) in American history. This is just one of the many fascinating sidelights to this compelling telling of a major tragedy.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Learned so much.

[Kelly Audiogirl.booking.it · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning something about a true story in history but wish it had been a longer essay article rather than a book. It dragged on and really only finished it because it was a book club book and I felt obligated. I found the actual description of the flood to be very good.. but that was only 4 chapters out of 17!! So unless you really have a lot of patience and fascination about the minutia of 1850's Pennsylvania I recommend skipping this one! BUT that is just my opinion!

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[Cammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The true story of the 1889 Johnstown Flood— heavy history/background chapters at the beginning, but the chapters about the flood and its aftermath were spellbinding. After reflecting on the opening historical chapters that I had to slog through, I suppose they are necessary to create the social class divide that is present between the elite who created the private lake with a faulty dam and the working class/immigrants who became the victims of the Johnstown Flood.

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book received from Edelweiss.

*Review to Come*

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know who Al Roker was before reading this book. Yeah, I’ve seen him on television but,so what? Ruthless Tide by Al Roker me simply amazed me. This man is an extremely talented writer and, obviously, an amazing researcher. He weaves from one scenario to another, transversing time, location and peoples with an amazing ease and clarity. This book was harder to put down than some of the best fictional books I’ve ever read!
And I’ve read a lot over the last 50 years.
Nonfiction is not my first genre of choice, but I picked up this book because I had a friend who grew up in St. Michael’s, a tiny little town in the Johnstown area. She had great animus towards Carnegie and his cronies because of her area’s history, which sparked my interest in the horrors and injustices of the Great Johnstown Flood. I’ve been to the dam site and seen the dramatic displays and the simple short movie shown there. After my husband and I entered the theater, four teenage boys came in and sat behind us. I thought, “Oh boy, here goes all kinds of jeers and laughter during this movie.”
Let me tell you - you could’ve heard a pin drop throughout the movie and then, for a few moments afterwards. This movie drags you right into the flood. The movie alone is reason enough to make the trip, and then, there is so much else to see and do.
My husband and I made several trips to the Johnstown area and stayed at a lovely little inn nearby named the Dillweed Bed and Breakfast, actually in the tiny village of Dilltown. This charming B&B is near a great bike trail, the Ghost Town Trail. This makes for a great little weekend getaway that isn’t too far from Pittsburgh.

I’ve been wondering how these men-especially Andrew Carnegie, who had worked under such extreme conditions, did not maintain any compassion for the laborers. Finally Tom L. Johnson comes along. Some hope for humanity.

Our weather in southwestern PA has always been pretty weird.
I remember coming home from a Los Angeles vacation in February.
The first weekend back, my friend and I tooled around in her sweet little alpha Romayo with the top down. Yes - in February. The very next weekend there was a huge snow and we were shoveling… and shoveling ….

One thing that I think was beyond atrocious was that the clubhouse of the millionaires association opened that very same summer of 1889, far above the utter devastation and complete wreckage of men, women and children’s lives. Thousands and thousands people. Men who had lost everything, women who had suffered the devastating loss of their children and husbands, and yet, now alone, still had to take care of surviving children with no house, no food and no income. Orphaned babies and young children who had been ripped from the arms of their parents and thrust into a world that must’ve been so much more frightening than any imagined closet monster.
Remember there was no such thing as the “Wellfare program” which is labeled “entitlements” by today’s millionaires, who have taught others to despise those that need help.
Is that summer at the club the most atrocious? Or is it that only three years later, with Carnegie’s full support, Frick hired mercenaries to stop workers, in the Homestead steelmill, from organizing to receive safer conditions and better wages. Their goal was also to stop child labor, and overworking that led to dangerous conditions in already dangerous jobs for those men, and for the abuse of women and children who slaved in the intense heat, grime and danger for even lower wages then the men. Even when this confrontation turned into a bloody battle, Frick did not negotiate to end the fighting. The governor came in with 6000 troops. How does that happen? Well, these rich and powerful men, Frick and Carnegie and his cronies, pretty much owned, in one way or another, a lot of the country and were tightly connected everywhere.
The rich rule and rule they did. Frick and Carnegie and the other grand tsars of business won. They won the right to do as they chose with their companies and their laborers lives.