The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-07-11
In the Steel Mills.

Monongahela river to see Homestead and
its iron mills. The town, UNANIMOUSLY his
toric already, sprawled over the irregular
hillside, circled by the cold gray river On
the flats close to the waters edge there
were masses of great Sheds out of which
grim smokestacks rose with desolatel
effect like the black stumps Of q burned
forest of great trees Above them dense
clouds of sticky smoke rolled heavily
away
Higher up the tenement houses stood In
fingy rows, alternating with vacant lots.
Higher still stood some Queen Anne COT
tages, toward which slender sidewalks
climbed like goat paths.
The streets of the town were horriblei
the buildings were poor; the sidewalks
were sunken, swaying and full of holes, and
the crossings were sharp edged stones set
like rocks in river bed. Everywhere the
yellow mud of the street lay kneaded into
sticky mass, through which groups Of
pale, lean men slouched in faded gar
ments, grimy with the SCOT and greases
of the mills.
The town was as squalid and unlovely
as could well be imagined, and the people
were mainly of the discouraged and sullen
type to be found everywhere where labor
passes into the brutalizing stage Of severi-
W. ~ httu WIG uloOTBdulLtu anu luCOutT-
ent effect of town which has feeble pub
lie spirit Big industries at different eras
have produced squads of squalid tenement
houses far from the central portion of the
town, each plant bringing its gangs Of
foreign laborers in raw masses to camp
down like an army around its shops.
Such towns are sown thickly over the
hill lands of Pennsylvania, but this WIS
my first descent into one of them. They
are American only in the sense in which
they represent the American idea of bust
ness.
The Carnegie mills stood down near the
river at some distance from the ferry land
ing, and thither l took my way through
the sticky yellow mud and the gray fall
ing rain.
The converting mill was the most gor-
geous and dangerous of all. Here the crude
product is turned into steel by the Besse-
mer process. 1t also was a huge, shedliks
building open on two sides. In the centert
stood supports for two immense pear shap-l
ed pots, which swung on pivots 10 or 1al
feet from the floor. Over each pot was a,
huge chimney. Out of each pot roared
alternately ferocious geyser of saffron
and sapphire flame, streaked with deeper
yellow. From it light streamed-a light
that flung violet shadows everywhere and
made the gray outside rain a beautiful blue.
A fountain of sparks arose, gorgeous as
10000 rockets, and fell with beautiful
curve, like the petals of some enormous
flower Overhead the beams We're glowing
orange in base of purple. The men were
yellow where the light struck them, violet
In shadow. Wild shouts resounded amid
the rumbling of an overhead train and
the squeal of swift little engine dartng
In and out laden with the completed cast
ings. The pot began to burn with a,
whittier flame Its 1uttering, humming
roar silenced all else
1t Is nearly ready to pour, " said my
companion. The carbon is nearly burnt
away.
why does it burn SO ferociously"
Through the pivot blast of oxygen
Is delivered with an enormous pressure.
This unites with the silicon and carbon
and carries it away to the surface. He'd
better pour now, or the metal will burn. "
Underneath the other pot men were
shoveIlng away Stag In the rain OF falling
sparks. They worked with desperate haste.
10 their wrists dangled disks of leather to
protect their hands from heat. 1t was i'm
possible to see what manner of men they
were. They resembled human beings only
in form.
A shout was heard, and a tall crane
swung glSahtlc iaule under the convert
ing vessel, which then mysteriously up
enGsd' exploding like cannon prodi-
gio-S discharge of starlike pieces of white
hot Stag. The blowers on their high plat
form across the shed sheltered themselves
behind wall.
drew back into the rain. They call
this the dcathurap, shouted my compan-
ion, smiling al my timid action.
Down came the vessel until out of 1t
streamed the smooth flow OF terribly beau
tiful molten metal. AS 1t ran nearly emp
ty and the ladle swung away the dripping
Stag fell to the ground, exploding, leaping
viclously, and the scene became gorgeous
beyond belief, with orange and red and
green flame.
Into this steam and smoke and shower
OF sparks the workmen leapt and were
dimly seen preparing for another blast
prying off crusted Stag, spraying the ladle
and guiding the cranes
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