In 1882, faulty wiring beneath the library table sparked a fire that gutted much of the room. Edward H. Johnson, the Edison manager who had overseen the installation, left this account of arriving to face Morgan amid the wreckage:

“It was a dismal scene…. Suddenly I heard footsteps and Mr. Morgan appeared in the doorway with a newspaper in his hand and looked at me over the tops of his glasses.

“‘Well?’ he said.

“I had formulated an explanation, and was prepared to make an elaborate excuse. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, Mrs. Morgan appeared behind Mr. Morgan, and as I caught her eye she put her finger on her lips and then vanished down the hall. I said nothing but looked at the heap of debris.

“After a minute’s silence Mr. Morgan said, ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?’

“I answered, ‘Mr. Morgan, the trouble is not inherent in the thing itself. It is my own fault, and I will put it in good working order so it will be perfectly safe.’

“He said, ‘How long will it take to fix it?’

“I answered, ‘I will do it right away.’”

Edward H. Johnson, “Personal Recollections of Mr. Morgan’s Contribution to the Modern Electrical Era,” November 1914. Morgan Library Archives, New York, New York.