Roebling was a contrasting character to Charles Ellet. Whereas Ellet embellished his proposals with fanciful words and deeds, Roebling presented papers filled with meticulous calculations and drawings. The elder engineer was stern and driven to achieve, taking a scientific approach to all interests. Rarely did he show emotions in his dealings, even to his closest associates. However, he dared to confront his detractors and make bold exaltations about his work. He openly called European suspension bridges—including American suspension bridges built with European techniques—weak, and occasionally sniped at Ellet's and Stephenson's works. He announced that his Brooklyn Bridge, when completed, "will not only be the greatest bridge in existence, but it will be the greatest engineering work of this continent, and of the age." Roebling's history with Ellet started before the bidding for the Niagara Suspension Bridge, early in their careers. During the bidding for the Schuylkill Suspension Bridge project, Ellet had written a proposal that was published in the "American Railroad Journal". Mistakenly believing Ellet had won the contract, Roebling wrote to offer his congratulations and requested to be Ellet's assistant. He received a formal reply without any reference to his request, and his subsequent letter was ignored. When Roebling learned that a contractor had won the bid, he successfully applied to be the contractor's chief engineer. Ellet, however, persisted with his tactics and snatched the project away from the contractor; he promoted himself to the bridge company and offered to accept land instead of cash as payment. From then on, Ellet and Roebling became rivals, vying with each other for suspension bridge projects in North America. Roebling learned from their rivalry. His losses to Ellet showed him that he needed to promote himself and gain backers to effectively secure the contracts he desired.