The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1902-01-24
A PRIVATE POLICE FORCE.
Three Hundred Men COnstantly Em-
Dloyed to Maintain Order ut
the Carnegie Mills.


the Carnegie Mills.
The police department of the Car
negie Steel company, constituent OF
the colossal United States Steel cor
poration, is almost as large as that
of the city of Pittsburg, Pa. Three
hundred well-equipped men, uni
formed and armed and differed by SER
geants, roundsmen, lieutenants, cap
tains and a chief, constitute the Car
negie Company's Coal and Iron police
force. They guard the property and
employees Of the big company, make
arrests, attend to the injured, conduct
visit ors through the mills, and in cases
of fire they serve as firemen, says the
Chicago American.
The Coal and Iron police are sworn
in under Pennsylvania state law,
which empowers railroad compa mics
to employ police of their own. A sup
plement to this act extended this
power to all corporations, firms or in
Gividuals owning, leasing or being in
possession of any colliery, furnace or
| rolling mill. Under the act the gov
ernor of the state, upon application,
issues commissions to the policemen
upon appointment. They take oath
before the recorders of the counties
through which the railroad or other
property to be protected extends.
After being commissioned these po-
1icemen have just as much authority
to make arrests as the duly authorized
members of metropolitan police
force.
Were the Coal and Iron police to ap-
pear on the streets Of New or Chicago.
or any other big city, they would
scarcely be recognized apart from the
police on duty there. They wear
;dentically the same uniform and he'll
met. The patrolmen have blue blouses,
and in winter wear long, heavy over
coats, ornamented with brass buttons.
| The captains and lieutenants have gold
bands around the rim of their caps. On
each mans breast is displayed a small
metal shield with the words: Goal
and Iron Police, Carnegie Steel COM
pany," engraved on it.
In the mills and furnaces the police
| patrol beats and preserve order in just
| the sam manner as the police of a city
patrol the streets. And, all things con-
| sidered, the city policeman's work is
| preferable. Many of the employees Of
the big steel mills, especially the Ia
borers, are foreigners, unable to I'M
| derstand the English language, and
| frightened of nothing save man
wearing brass buttons on his blouse.
| Fights among the foreigners are of
| frequent occurrence. and when they do
| quarrel they generally resort to vio-
lence. Pieces of iron, spikes, bars and
OF her tools are always within reach in
steel mill, and the belligerents read
! lily use them in belaboring one an
| other,
Here is where the big, burly Coal and
| Iron policeman, armed with mace and
| n revolver, is most needed. He separ-
ates the combatants and sends them
back to work or to the hospital, ac-
| cording to the extent of their injuries,
| and restores order.
Often fight between two laborers
precipitates small riot owing to the
eagerness of friends of both men to
take hand in the fray. Then the po-
liceman, wisely judging that his in
dividual efforts will never stop fight
in which probably dozen men are
concerned, sends in a riot call, and the
| reserves are sent to his assistance.
Another important part of the po-
&c 1,1fyy ic IN hn
| movements of the injured. If a work
man is cut or bruised by the machinery
or molten metal workmen drop their
! tools and rush to his assistance. BY
this time a policeman is on the spot.
The hospital corps with stretchers or
| ambulance hurries as fast as power
can take them, and under the super
vision of the intelligent bluecoat the
poor, limp form is tenderly carried to
the emergency hospital. There the pa
| trent Is as comfortable as his case al
! lows him to be. If there is prospect
of long siege of convalescence or a
| difficult opera ton to perform he is
taken to one of the city hospitals. OPP
| erations, however, can be performed
| at the hospitals at the mills. Each
| works has it's own emergency hospital.
The Coal and Iron police figured con-
| spicuously in the homestead riots. At
| that time they were not uniformed, and
| their presence at the mills had little ef-
feet in ovcrawing the unruly element
among the foreigners. The police were
able to maintain order with much
| greater ease after the uniforms were
| distributed.