Comments by "David Himmelsbach" (@davidhimmelsbach557) on "How They Got Rich!" video.

  1. Patrick -- some errors -- some omissions. Rockefeller's break out was due to standardizing the oil fractions during distillation. ( His scheme lives on as the API standards, stuff like Diesel #2, etc.) All of his plants were DISTILLERIES not refineries. (It would take until the 20th Century for oil Refining to be established by chemical engineers.) In the trade, a distillery is insultingly referred to as a 'tea pot.' Rockefeller was the First to understand that THE critical element of Kerosene production was the elimination of Gasoline. It was Gasoline, blended in with Kerosene, that was Burning Down Homes and Factories. Rockefeller got the Fire Insurance Industry to be his wing-man. They informed their insureds that their policies would be cancelled if they used anything other than Standard Oil Kerosene. THAT'S what caused the Cleveland massacre! He was also willing to fund lawsuits against distillers who dumped oil contamination -- causing tremendous harm to fisheries, farms, water supplies. Sellers bailed when they got the word from their own attorneys that the jig was up. You are incorrect about Carnegie making it Big in Structural Steel. He made most of his Big Money selling Steel rails to the industry even in 1899. How so? The rails laid until steel came along had all to be ripped up and remelted -- after three-years in service. They were just too soft. This deficiency became very pronounced as locomotive weights rose every passing year. Steel rail became a requirement. Bethlehem Steel was established precisely to address Structural Steel... because Carnegie's top operating officer was turned down by the top brass when he pitched his scheme to branch out -- to build an entirely new steel works just for I beams. It was Bethlehem that built the San Francisco Bay Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge -- and a slew of others. Bethlehem got the cream of the crop -- top dollar. Carnegie made bank with Barbed Wire. Like rail, the production runs were epic -- idiot simple for the technology of the time. He also made bank by cranking out Nails, Spikes... even horse shoes. Carnegie made the Big Break towards the Open Hearth Process -- which could produce MUCH superior steels. Naturally, the rail road industry immediately spec'd Carnegie steel for their locomotives, all rolling stock. Carnegie's business specialized in selling Large to Big Business.
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