The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-10-05


ing ana repairing machinery. But m
spite Of that Internal flames ana On
believabie messeH Of incandesceat Kfgans
ticfsm In molten OF radiant metal played
hither and yon In the grip of titanic
machines. at the levers Of which stood
hundreds Of pale vuicans and Tubal
Gains In spectacies.
The mills were running. So were the
furnaces. But In, between, both in fur
mace and mill, there we're many big
gaps. 3. r. Watson, more brawny than
any OF hts men. yet with the ineradicabls
stamp Of the technical school man In
MS eyes, on his brow and jaw. In his
very brier pipe and the grave plod Of
his walk. took ~ party OF reporters
through the mill this morning. He IL
assistant general superintendent.
Shows Mig Plant Operating.
See what you can, make your own
said.
And wen he might be proud Of the
way the vast and complicated mech
anisni Of the plant has been made to
function, considering tho circumstances.
Row after row Of open hearth fur
naces shed their fierce heat under the
sheds and spewed from time to time
| their terrific mess OF pottage. Ingot
after fngot came out of the underground
heating beds which made the floor plates
! almost unbearabie through heavy shoes.
Rolling mill after rolling mill caught the
| ingots and whisked them the weight Of
tons and the temperature of hell, back
and forth beneath the Missing rolls as a
couple Of boys would play toss with a
| sponge. .f .t
And through the sheds, grazing ladies'
/ IAao -
that could lift city, whistlng shrilly
lest they knock down a workman or a
reporter. whirled nervous: busy little
narrow gauge railroad engines with a
string of cars carrying enough liquid
| steel to build q skyscraper--or a basket
| Of bread and ham for overtime work.
ers' lunch. That, with the gaps men,
| toned, spreads over some ESQ acres
along the Monongahela River.
Man power Is short in the mills. It
| shows In the fact that the crews of the
mills are making their own repairs. II
shows in the unswept and uncleaned sec
tons of floor space. But the fact re-
| mains that steel is being made in all Of
the three big centres.
Turning Out Half Capacity.
Allowing for the du1lness of Saturday,
1t would seem that the Homestead plant
Is working a little better than so per
cent of Its capacity. Judged by the
same scale, Duquesne Is producing about
IS per cent. Charlton is doing but rs
| per cent. A general average for the big
plants in the district would be about
4 IS per cent.
The men who have reaped the big adj
vantages from the. steel strike are the
new men just taken into the mills who
have remained loyal to the companies.
Many were returned soldiers and the
bosses soon found that army training
had fitted them for advancement. Some
are holding Jobs left by strikers which
otherwise would have taken them years
to attain.
| Workers In the mills insist that few OF
\ the strikers have returned and that the
new men are from other districts. They
| look upon the strikers with scorn and
insist that they have been terrorized into
the strike. The officials say that the
strikers will not be Disseminated against
| when they return. but that they will
have to abide by the new seniorities es-
tablished during their absence.
Announcement was made to-day at the
national strike headquarters that the
i paying OF strike BENEFITS would be dis
cussed when the twenty-four interna-
tional presidents Of the national strike
committee meet the Executive Council OF
the American Federation of Labor in
| Washington on Monday.
Suits were begun to-day against the
State police and deputy sheriffs for "un-
lawful acts" Assaults on two residents
OF Homestead said to be non-strikers
were made the basis Of the actions
Other suits will be filed.