sville. Society, of course, was interested in the marriage of
Gertrude, business men in the return of so skilled a manufacturer as
George Ingram, and many workmen, still unemployed, hoped that their old
superintendent whom they loved would find or make positions for them.

The continued absence of Colonel Harris the financier aided George Ingram
in certain important negotiations which he proceeded quietly to make,
viz., the purchase in the suburbs of Harrisville, in fifty parcels, of
4,000 acres of contiguous land, that had both a river and a lake front.
While these purchases were being made, agents were dispatched into
several Ohio counties, and more than 20,000 acres of well tested coal
lands were secured. When it was learned that all these lands were bought
in the name of George Ingram, and paid for in cash, the wisacres of the
city began to say, "I told you so; these monopolists having visited
England have adopted foreign ideas, and now they have returned to buy and
hold our valuable lands." George Ingram was reticent, as most successful
business men are, for he gave attention to business. "Talkers are no
great doers," wrote Shakespeare.

The offices of the old Harrisville Iron & Steel Co. had been rented to
other parties, so a suite of rooms near by was occupied by George Ingram
and his five assistants. It had leaked out, however, that Ingram had
given orders for twenty millions of brick and a large quantity of
structural iron and copper tubes, all to be delivered within four months.
The order for copper tubes puzzled even the wisest in Harrisville. Later,
when a thousand laborers were set at work on the river front of
his purchase, building extensive foundations, it dawned upon the
expectant that a gigantic plant for some purpose was to be erected near
Harrisville. Newspaper reporters found it difficult to reach George
Ingram, even with a card, which would be returned with the reply "Busy
to-day. Please excuse me."

In the meantime Harrisville agreed to create a more available harbor, and
to establish dock lines, not less than 500 feet apart, and in three years
to dredge the river to a depth of 25 feet for five miles back from the
lake.

George Ingram in his own mind had settled three vital points; that
Harrisville was one of the most favorable producing and distributing
centers in America; that he would so design and build a manufacturing
plant as to minimize the cost of production; that he would attempt to
h