| had
been returned to its stockholders in 1908, and the British Company
was counted as just another mistake. Yet before his death on March
12, 1914, he was to see it established on a sound financial basis
and taking a leading position among electrical manufacturers. His
conception had been in error only in being ahead of its time.
 As
a man, Westinghouse had the advantage of imposing physical stature
matching his powerful mind, high spirits and perfect health. It
has been said that to watch him walking through the works was to
an observant man a liberal education. He was primarily mechanically
minded, and he made no fundamental electrical inventions. But he
could grasp their importance, and he would devote his whole energy
to their commercial development and production. His main strength
lay in ability to collect a brilliant team of engineers and to stimulate,
combine and direct their work. He respected and liked his men and
won their loyalty in return; he founded benefit associations and
pension schemes and is credited with the introduction into America
of the Saturday half holiday. In the Westinghouse Memorial erected
in 1930 at Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, the emphasis is rightly laid
on the things of steel and power that he created and on those who
worked with him. The inscription reads:
| "George Westinghouse • Union Soldier • Citizen
of Pittsburgh • Founder of the Westinghouse Industries
• Benefactor of Humanity through his Labors and Inventions
• 1846—1914 • Erected by Westinghouse Memorial
Association of 54251 Members who served with him in the Army
of Industry". |
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