The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1894-07-19
In THE STEEL MILLS.
a woRkAAMs ACCOUNT OF his
FIRST DAY AT HOMESTEAD.

Awed By the Dcafening Noise and Roaring
flsanes Z nd Blistered by the Terrible
Heat-Th< Fate of One Poor Man Tossed
with Aching Boncs at Night.
When ! went to the superintendent
and asked for work. he said. "What
can you dor"
Anything. l am large, strong, ac-
tive and willing. have been about
machinery all my life and want work
badly"
He touched button, and boy APP
peared Show this man down to the
converting mill and ask Fred if he can
do anything for him. Good morning"
he said, and my interview was over.
put ON my new overalls and jumper
and follow ed my guide down through
the mills. We made our way through
piles Of stock. raw material. rolls, etc,
and came at last to the huge converting
mill The superintendent was found
and the word delivered. He glanced at
me = moment; then said. not unkindly.
"Youel look good and strong. Jump in
and help those fellows there on those
vesselS"
hardly knew what he meant, but
through the smoke and steam / saw
some men beneath one of the vessels. or
oonverters, working with sledges and
bars to get the bottom off. The mill,
with its ponderous and massive cranes,
the immense vessels all covered with
black scale and SCOT, the flying sparks,
the roaring flames. the lights coming
and going, the air filled with steam and
smoke, and, finally. the shrill and deaf
ening noise, awed, confused and even
disconnected me moro than / should
have liked to acknowledge.
Iseized a sledge lying near and jump
I'D in. We ut last got out the "keys,
as they call the wedges which hold tho
converter together, and by the help of
n hydraulic ram took the bottom of.
This left a white hot opening s feet i'll
diameter and about 6 feet from the
ground, under which we must work. 1t
seemed to n lie as though the skin on my
neck and hands would burst with the
heat. My clothes even steamed and
smoked. How wished had been any
where under the sun--good cid Sol
rather than under this fiendishly hot
sun hanging SO very near MS!
When we had the new bottom on, we
went up to the platform above the con-
vertcrs and drove the keys home more
securely and stopped amy small hole
there might be with ball stuff.
A shrieking engine passed by me and
swiftly poured into the converter a
heat 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 b ing seriously burned, for /
was not exp Getting the fame.
By noon / was SO tired / could hardly
stand, but l stuck to it for all was
worth. During the afternoon frequent
II fell down because my knees were too
weak to hold me up. My hands Were
burned and blistered, and my new over
alls were filled with holes burned by
flying sparks. About 1 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
yorkmen. As it touched the wet ground
il exploded with report like that of a
cannon. The molten metal flew in every
direction. Many workmen were burned
more or less severely, and in the case Of
one poor feIlow-it makes me sick still
10 think OF It'll the steel came down di.
rectly on the head and back. We got
him ont of the steam and smoke and
carefully ant tenderly cut his burned
clothing fro M him. As we placed him
ON the stretther the burned flesh drop
ped from his bones.
When was relieved at o'clock, it
seemed as it it would have been utterly
impossible for me to live in that mill
another hou r. ] dragged myself to my
room and " ent to bed at once. All that
night / tos sed and turned my aching
bones, tryin q to get into some position
less painful than the last. 1 was tor
tured by a thousand grotesgue fancies
and by the picture Of the poor fellow
who was bu rned 50 badly. At last got
into an uneasy browse, but felt as if !
had hot been asleep 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
Using and going to the mill! Every
bone and sinew seemed rs if made Of
redhot iron. and the joints as if rusted
together
1t was dark. foggy nlornlng, l found.
when, having desperately got mp enough
will power to dress, / tuinbled out t.
my boarding house. The Pittsburg
smoke and fog are proverbial, but l
ieally think that on that particular
,aorning one might have cut tangible
chunks out of the black, wet air. The
board walks in Homestead are never III
repair, and on the way to the mills I
stumbled along through mud and stones;
over boards and into holes, carrying ~
my hand ray tin dinner bucket, which
contained my midday meal.
On my first Sunday ws refined tho
convert,r. and it became my duty TO
stand up jn the inverted vessel and
hand MP the ball stuff and limestone
with which TO refine II, The vessel had
been left to cool simply over I:ght, and
I suppose the temperature of the dry aif
inside Of it stood at about 140 degrees.
I worked al hard as / could, but near
noon tainted, for the first time in my
life.
My experi ence at Homestead was the
experience df the majority of wOrkmen
there. bmestead as Seen by One Of
Its WORKING NJ in McClure's Magazine.
GREElEY1S MANNERS WE'RE BAD.
But They Were Forgiven For His Fine Att
er Dinner Speech.
The genial old philanthropist, Horace
Greeley, we Int to New Orleans after the
south had taken him to her heart in
grateful recognition of his action In 60
ing ON the jeff Davis bail bond, and the
people were anxious to show him every
attention i'm their power