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TELESCOPE Page 43 The barge GEORGE H. CORLISS under tow. McDONALD Coll./DOSSIN MUSEUM came to him because he could plan and superintend the construction of the best ships for us." At length, Mather was convinced that Rocke- feller would have his fleet anyway, and Pickands-Mather might as well enjoy the commission as anybody. Rockefeller concluded, "He spent only a few minutes in the house, during which time we gave him the order for $3,000,000 worth of ships, and this was the only time I saw him. But Mr. Mather was a man of high business honor, we trusted him implicitly although he was a compe- titor, and we never had occasion to regret it, What followed was one of the clas- sic tales of lake history. Samuel Mather chose to conceal the magni- tude of his proposed fleet. Mather invited competitive bids among the shipyards in a way suggesting that his client contemplated a steamer or two and a barge or two. At this mom- ent in the fall of 1895, the ore trade was booming for the first time in two years. Wild rates from Duluth rose to $1.50 a ton on ore cargoes. Lake shipyards had suddenly come alive with orders for twenty ships or more, and since spring the price of a new ship had risen twenty-five percent. Bidding for a dozen more ships just then would have raised ship prices the value of at least one of those ships, especially if anyone dreamed that the wealthy Mr. Rockefeller wanted them. So the shipbuilders went back to their offices to figure closely the current costs of building one or two of the largest ships on the lakes. They returned to Cleveland to pre- sent their bids. As Rockefeller re- called) "At last the critical hour came, and about the same moment each gentleman received a little note from Mr. Mather, conveying to him the tidings that to him had been awarded a contract sufficient to supply his works to their utmost