New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1907-03-24
GARY--FIAT CITY.
= Noe Being Built to Order by z. S.
Steel Corporation.
by Daniel Vincent Casey.


hunters set blinds year ago the fat city Of
Gary is rising among the scrub oaks TO house
fifteen thousand workmen their fifty thousand
kinsfolk and tradesmen.
Town and plant have only one purpose-to
make steel in greater quantities and at lower
cost than Il is made anywhere else in the world
Here IS a city-to-be whose every detail answers
10 the cali OF business.
How il IS taking shape at Gary. where Lake
Michigan crowds furthest south into Indiana
how three thousand builders making mock
OF winter with dynamite and parboiled concrete
wind shields and other cunning devices-how
waste land three miles from a postofice has
been given value Of $40 front foot-these
are details Of progress well worth the telling.
What IS the reason for Gary? What is the
plan OF this SIOO.OOOO0O made-to-order city Of
concrete and steel. with its twelve square miles
Of raw material and its ultimate yearly produc-
zion Of S70OO0OOO I'm new wealth? Why was
Il set down on a remote shore. five miles from
q harbor. only dozen miles from another huge
plant owned by the same corporation and de-
voted to the same ends? Why was it deemed
necessary 10 tie up millions in a town which is
costing $4,000 day TO build. whose first sub
division viii have tventy-seven miles of paved
streets, with water. gas and electric service
mains as well as sewers, available TO every lot?
Answer 10 these questions involves the STRAIT
eEv and mathematics Of big business'-here
applied with a knowledge and understanding Of
conditions and resources possible only with an
organisation OF specialists. For element
which would contribute 10 economy OF manu-
Sacture ana maximum Of output was neglected
sn the placing and designing Of this Gary plant.
Each was Notwithstanding of raw ma
terials. distribution of product existing and fut-
ure markets, labor supply and efficiency of
z-f-fof For ,rv,1ir1
ated eKpansion-and the plan developed
with the care and certainty Of a chemist COM
pounding a familiar formula. So far it is
possible in a human undertaking. chance was
eliminated
Assembling of materials and distribution
OF product were matters Of transportation.
Look at the map and you viii see why choice
Of location for the plant limited to
Chicago fits vicinity. The central market Of
the richest industrial region Of the country. the
railroad hub Of the continent. itself voracious
consumer Of structural steel, and the point
where the shortest lake Journey could be linked
with the shortest haul from Virginia coke ovens
and Illinois coal shafts. it had the added ad-
vantage Of being the supply focus Of the cor.
poration's system of subsidiary mills-Inanu-
featuring sheet steel tin plate, bridges, struct-
ural iron, wire and wire products in continu-
Gus chain Of twenty plants in Ohio, Indiana,
Illinois and Wisconsin. Growth of this inter
company market and the enormous demand of
Western lines for rails and bridges dictated the
location of the plant within the Chicago rail-
road zone where rates would be most advan-
tageoUs.
Twenty-siX miles from the mouth of the Chi
cago River land cheap-and approximately
twelve square miles purchased before the
corpOr atoms intentions were dvulged Six
miles OF lake frontage, with five Eastern trunk
lines crossing the tract-twO OF them distinct |
lively coal roads-Inade easy the wedding OF lake
y, Obi - rFluFa 81
and furnished outlets for steel TO mills and mar
l1ets East and South For Western and North |
ern shipments facilities were equally ideal
Half mile ofshore the lake was deep enough /
20 float the cOplpanys biggest ore carrier. Con- |
struction OF a harbor, then. was mere matter l
OF eXcaVatlng sllp building DreakWater ana |
dredging channel-ail in sand, which is the |
easiest Of materials 10 move.
Yet that sand had the merit Of packing so
hard three feet below lake level that piling
Unnecessary for the gigantic concrete mOnOliths
Of the furnace Foundations Hydraulic Jets had
even TO be employed in driving the piles for the
temporary retaining walls of the slip
When completed. this harbor viii be a mile
long, two hundred and fifty feet wide, with con-
crete docks and twenty-five feet of water.
Site. room for growth and adequate transpor- !
tation assured, The company's strategists turned
10 the important twin problems Of labor supply |
and efficiency Of worknen, both questions vital
TO the largest success Of the mills
Starting a plant five miles from the nearest |
town, II was inevitable that the thousands en- |
ployed would settle nearer find other jobs.
Weighing the conditions, the management de-
termned 10 shoulder the burden Of building the
prospective city
First, 10 assure attractive town reasonable
rents and municipal comforts and conveniences
as the means of binding employees permanently
70 the works thereby increasing individual eff
cheney.
Second. TO combat the hostility of trades
unions-the Gary mill is TO be an open shop
ana this was the reason, already mentioned, for
wishing 10 establish IL outside of Chicago-by
omeTing material advantages likely TO weigh
against labor anathemas- OF these 60-cent gas.
water and electric light at parallel low rates
and opportunity 10 buy a home on terms pos
Hible even TO day labOrers the most urgent |
A third motive lay IN the cOmpany's desire TO |
colonize its supeTintendents fOrernen and Office !
employees near the works-a thing 10 be realized |
only by providing quarters desirable or even |
better than they could find in neighboring towns |
A model town" in the best-the nunicipal en- |
Bineering-sense. Gary differs from Europe's
garden cities" and Americas Pumans bv nut
ting a premium property holding and elini- |
mating company control OF municipal affairs It |
mas us council mayor, school board political |
parties, and II viii come near self-goyerOrnent f.,
as the average American town. Barring the re- !
strtctions in the deeds and the supplying ~ |
water, gas and electric current in bulk 10 the |
municipality at about cOst-solely 10 reduce Nv
ing expenses and anchor its employees TO the |
work with the chains or self-interest-.he COM
panys connection with the town viii cea.c when !
SITS lots sold | {
Paternalism has place in Gary
One paragraph VIII 10 indicate the en- | ,
fineeFing plan OF the town. Business blocks in |
the llrst subdivision limited by contract 10 |
Two thoroughfares one hundred feet wide Res |
aoence streets are sixty feet. Alleys thirty feet
wide and paved, contain all sewers water and |
gas mains, electric and telephone conduIts ne |
sign and cost Of houses and stores must conforD