"They are mighty smart men," said the despairing W.H.Vanderbilt, in 1879, when pressed to give his reasons for granting rebates to the Rockefeller group.

"I guess if you ever had to deal with them you would find that out." In Rockefeller the corporation possessed a man of tireless industry and unshakable determination.

Nothing could turn him aside from the work to which he had put his hand.

Public criticism and even denunciation, while he resented it as unjust and regarded it as the product of a general misunderstanding, never caused the leader of Standard Oil even momentarily to flinch.

He was a man of one idea, and he worked at it day and night, taking no rest or recreation, skillfully turning to his purpose every little advantage that came his way.