New-York tribune., 1919-10-10
Trumbull Plant at Warren,
With 5000 Men, Is the
First to Resume Opera
tion iii the Valley
More Gains in PITTSBURGH
Leaders Grow Nervous and
Issue Statement Saying
That Defeat Is Impossible
By Theodore M. Knappen

PITTSBURGH, Oct. with vr-
tually all of the Pittsburgh district
steel mills continuing their stubborn
advance toward normal production to-
day the operators were cheered by
the news that the first break in the
complete shut down Of the Mahoning
valley came this morning, wnen the
Trumbull Steel Company. of Warren,
Ohio, resumed in part. Fifty thousand
men have been out, of work in that
valley since September %. and it is
the greatest stronghold of the strikers
IN the whole far-fung steel battle line.
The attitude of the Mahoning op-
orators has been one of waiting for
some one to make the start, and
others are expected to follow suit
within few days. The strikers scored
partial offset to-day in the closing
OF the Wheeling Iron and Steel Com
pany at Yorkville, which employs 1900
men.
Men Voted to Return
An encouraging feature of the Trum-
bull company resumption. from the
standpoint of the manufacturers is
that the men, 5000 in all. took the
initiative and voted to return, with
status would be determined by the gen
eral issue of the strike
Statistics of production at the
Homestead and Edgar Thomson plants
of the Carnegie Company, confiden-
tally disclosed to-day, show steady
gains for every day this week and re-
fiect the daily gain in man power the
company has been reporting.
The Carnegie Company announced to-
night that it had blown in another blast
furnace in the Carrie group and would
open up the sixth tomorrow. The re-
naming one is being refined. 1t was
also stated that the eighth blast fur
mace was blown in at the Edgar Thom-
son works to-day, leaving only three
Idle there. The Neville Island blast
furnace was added to the operating list
About 500 men o-day Joined the work
ing forces of the four big Carnegie
plants in the Monongahela Valley
At New Castle the Carnegie plant
very other department operating.
This fact, together with statement
from the American Sheet and Tin
Plate Company plants at New Castle
nd Shenango that ffty-nlne out Of
sixty hot mills are now running shows
now completely the power of the
atr:ke has waned in that section. At
re Sharon plant of the American
company twenty-threc out of thirty
ne strikers are practically all back
t work.
How Production Was Cut
Figures available TO- day for the first
me show what stunning biow the
strike delivered. Out OF 266 blast fur
aaces operating in the whole country
N September %, only 100 were still
going on September 80. OF those that
wcnt down, az were in Ohio, which the
strike swept like an avalanche; 1S in
Pennsylvania. Is in Illinois, IL in In
diana and 10 in New York. Although
these furnaces were down" only eight
days in September. the total produc-
ton of pig iron fell from 2,742 coo
tons in August to 2,424,212 tons in
September, and from daily capacity
If SO $50 tons to an actual output of
$4,000 tons
Pennsylvania furnaces show that the
companies are gaining in common la
hor. wherein the strike was strongest
and which aft cted the blast furnaces
more than any other department.
In view of their progress, steel mer
Eere regard the proposal Of Samue
Gompers to the industrial conferenc;
n Washington to-day that the strike
pe called off, the men be taken bach
and the issues left to adjustment by I