ng demand for steel rails, was a major force inthe expansion of the steel industry and increased the railroad mileagein the United States from less than 93,262 miles (150,151kilometres) in 1880 to about 190,000 miles (310,000 kilometres) in1900. Technological advances, including the utilization of theBessemer and open-hearth processes in the manufacture of steel,resulted in improved products and lower production costs. A seriesof major inventions, including the telephone, typewriter, linotype,phonograph, electric light, cash register, air brake, refrigerator car,and the automobile, became the bases for new industries, whilemany of them revolutionized the conduct of business. The use ofpetroleum products in industry as well as for domestic heating andlighting became the cornerstone of the most powerful of the newindustries of the period, while the trolley car, the increased use ofgas and electric power, and the telephone led to the establishment ofimportant public utilities that were natural monopolies and couldoperate only on the basis of franchises granted by state or municipalgovernments. The widespread employment of the corporate form ofbusiness organization offered new opportunities for large-scalefinancing of business enterprise and attracted new capital, much of itfurnished by European investors. Over all this industrial activity,there presided a colourful and energetic group of entrepreneurs,who gained the attention, if not always the commendation, of thepublic and who appeared to symbolize for the public the new classof leadership in the United States. Of this numerous group the bestknown were John D. Rockefeller in oil, Andrew Carnegie in steel,and such railroad builders and promoters as Cornelius Vanderbilt,Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Henry Villard, and James J.Hill. The dispersion of industryThe period was notable also for the wide geographic distribution ofindustry. The Eastern Seaboard from Massachusetts toPennsy...
