enough to run the gantlet
of Mr. Rogers' tremendously high standard, the promoter, after he has
set forth his plans and estimates, hears with astonishment these words:

"Wait while I go upstairs. I'll say Yes or No upon my return."

And upon his return it is almost always "Yes." If the project, however,
does not come up to his exacting requirements, it is turned down without
further ado or consultation with any of his associates.

Those intimate with affairs at 26 Broadway have grown curiously familiar
with this expression, "I am going upstairs." "Upstairs" means two
distinct and separate things. When a matter in Mr. Rogers' department is
awaiting his return from "upstairs," it means he has gone to place the
scheme before William Rockefeller, on the thirteenth floor, and laying a
thing before William Rockefeller by Mr. Rogers consists of a brief,
vigorous statement of Mr. Rogers' own conclusions and a request for his
associate's judgment of it. William Rockefeller's strong quality is his
ability to estimate quickly the practical value of a given scheme. His
approval means he will finance it, and William Rockefeller's "say-so" is
as absolute in the financing of things as is Mr. Rogers' in passing
upon their feasibility. It does not matter whether it is an undertaking
calling for the employment of $50,000 capital or $50,000,000 or
$500,000,000, Mr. Rockefeller's "Yes" or "No" is all there is to it. He
having passed on it, Mr. Rogers supervises its execution.

The other "upstairs" is one that is heard every week-day of the year
except summer Saturdays. At 26 Broadway, just before eleven o'clock each
morning, there is a flutter in the offices of all the leading heads of
departments from Henry H. Rogers down, for going "upstairs" to the
eleven o'clock meeting is in the mind of each "Standard Oil" man the one
all-important event of every working day.

In the big room, on the fifteenth floor, at 26 Broadway, there gather
each day, between the hour of eleven and twelve o'clock, all the active
men whose efforts make "Standard Oil" what "Standard Oil" is; here also
come to meet and mingle with the active heads the retired captains when
"they are in town." Around a large table they sit. Reports are
presented, views exchanged, policies talked over, republics and empires
made and unmade. If the Recorders in the next world have kept complete
minutes of what has happened "upstairs" at 26 Broadway they must have
tremendously large