Andrew Carnegie （1835-1919， American industrialist and philanthropist ）began to work， when he was only twelve years old， as a bobbin boy in a cotton mill. He worked from six in the morning until six at night， putting thread on the bobbins that were used in the weaving machines. He earned 20 cents a day， or ?1.20 a week.

Andrew was determined to become something better than a bobbin boy. He worked very hard， and in a few months He was given a new job at ?1.65—putting coal into the furnace that provided the steam power for the looms. The work was hard and dangerous because the boiler might explode and kill him if he were not careful， but extra money was needed in the carnegie home.

Later， Andrew became a messenger boy for ?2.50 a week. This was very good pay for a boy of fourteen. He was smaller than the other four messengers， but he was the fastest of all. Soon he was earning ?3.00 a week. When he was not running around town with messages， Andrew learned to understand the morse code. Finally， he studied well enough to become a telegraph operator， earning ?25 a month. He was then sixteen years old.

And rew carnegie， one of the richest americans ever， prac-tically Became allergic to money as he grew richer and older. He was offended， he said， just by the sight and touch of it， and never carried any. Because he had no money with him with which to pay the fare， carnegie was once put off a london tram.

安德魯·卡內(nèi)基（1835-1919，美國工業(yè)家和慈善家）十二歲開始工作，在一家棉紡廠當(dāng)線軸工。他從早上六點鐘工作到晚上六點鐘，把線纏到織機(jī)用的線軸上。他一天掙二十美分，也就是說，一星期掙一美元二十美分。

安德魯決定要當(dāng)個比線軸工稍微體面些的工人。他努力干活，幾個月后，有人叫他干一種新活兒——給為織機(jī)提供蒸汽動力的爐子加煤，一星期掙一美元六十五美分。這個活兒又辛苦又危險，因為要是他不小心，這鍋爐也許會爆炸，把他炸死，但卡內(nèi)基家里需要額外的收入。

后來，安德魯成為一名小郵遞員，每星期掙二美元五十美分。在對一個十四歲的男孩來說已是很優(yōu)厚的工資了。他比其他四個郵遞員個子矮些，但他是他們中間跑得最快的一個。不久，他每星期就掙三美元了。安德魯要是不在鎮(zhèn)上四處送電報，他就學(xué)著認(rèn)識莫爾斯電碼。最后，他因為學(xué)得很好而當(dāng)上了報務(wù)員，每月工資二十五美元。那時他才十六歲。

安德魯·卡內(nèi)基是美國歷史上最富有的人之一，然而隨著財富和年齡的增長，他幾乎對錢感到厭惡。他說，他只要看到錢或者接觸到錢就生氣，因此身上從來不帶錢。有一次他因為沒有錢買車票，被從倫敦的一輛電車上轟了下來。