The Republican., 1894-07-05
A DAY AT HOMESTEAD.
Experience of a Workman on His
First Day in the Great
CarnpOia nort<S

acUlYe anC Wiling. L nave been
about machinery all my life, and
want work badly"
He touched a button, and boy
appeared. "Show this man down to
the converting mill and ask Fred if
he can do anything for him. Good
morning." he said, and my inter
view was over.
/ put on my new overalls and jun
per, and followed my guide down
through the mills. We made our
way through piles of stock, raw ma
terial, rolls, ETC.. and came at last to
the huge converting mill. The su-
perintendent was found, and the
word delivered. He glanced at me
a moment, then said, not unkind-
lY: "You look good and strong;
jump in and help those fellows on
those vessels.
| hardly knew what he meant; but
through the smoke and steam | saw
some men beneath one of the vessels,
or converters, working with sledges
and bars to get the bottom off. The
mill with its ponderous and massive
cranes, the immense vessels all COW
cred With black scale and SCOT, the
flying sparks, the roaring flames, the
lights coming and gong, the air fill
ed with steam and smoke, and,
fualIy, the shfill and deafening
noise, awed, confused ,and even dis
concerted me more than | should
have liked to acknowledged.
| seized a sledge lying near and
dumped in" We at last got the
"keys," as they called the wedges
which hold the converter together,
and by the help Of hydraulic ram
took the bottom off. This left Il
white-hot opening eight feet in
diameter and about six feet from
the ground, under which we must
work. 1t seemed to me as though
the skin on my neck and hands
would burst with the heat. Nv
clothes even steamed and smoked.
How [ wished | had been anywhere
under the sun (good old So), rath-
er than uner this tiendishly hot sun
hanging so very near us.
When We had the new bottom on
we went up to the platform above
the converters, and drove the keys
home more securely, and stopped
any small hole there might he with
''ball stuff
A shriekiug engine passed by me
and swiftly poured into the conver-
ter cheat of iron. Then the
blast was turned on, and cloud of
yellow and saffron flame, mixed
with sparks and small particles of
metal, rushed out of the mouth of
the converter into the air. One Of
the men caught me by the arm
and pulled me away Just IN time to
save me from being seriously burn
ed; for | was not expecting the
flame.
By noon | was so tired | could
hardly stand, but stuck to it for
all ! was worth. During the after
noon | frequently fell down because
my knees were too weak to hold me
up. My hands were burned and
blistered, and my new overalls with
holes burned by flying sparks.
About 4 o'clock in the afternoon,
while working under the platform,
was startled to see stream of red
fire run over the edge of the plat
form and strike in the midst of
some workmen. AS it touched the
wet ground it exploded with a re-
port like that of q cannon. The
molten metal flew in every direc-
tiOn. Many workmen were burned
more or less severely; and in the
case Of one poor fellow-it makes
me sick still to think of 1.-THE
steel came down directly on his
head and back. We got him out of
the steam and smoke, and tenderly
cut his burning clothing from him.
AS we placed him on the stretcher
the burned flesh dropped from his
bones.
When | was relieved at six o'clock
it seemed as if 1t would have been
utterly impossible for me to live in
that mill another hour. | dragged
myself to my room and went to bed
at once. All that night | tossed
and turned my aching bones, try
ing to get into some position less
painful than the last. | was to-
tured by thousand grotesque fam
cies, and by the picture Of the poor
fellow who was burned so badly.
AT last | got into an uneasy
browse, but | felt as if | had not
been asleep a minute when my
alarm clock announced to me that
it was 4:45 and that | must get up
to my $40 breakfast. Oh, the
misery of that rising and gong to
the mill! Every bone and sinew
seemed as If made of redhot iron,
and the Joints as if rusted together.