The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1919-09-23

pulse OF the steel industry can be felt.
where thousands Of hob-nailed feet tread
daily in and out of the monster mills.
that the eyes of the country are cast
| today.
MILLS LOOK GHosTLY
The scene In the worlds biggest and
most famous steel mill took on a diff
ferent aspect. 1t looked more like
funeral. The humdrum OF life. the
clanking Of the steel. the pouring OF
ladies', the firing of furnaces. the chug
of the engines and the click of the ma
chinery was gone. Even last night the
mill took on sad, CHASTITY appearance.
The red glow OF tho huge furnaces.
which have Illuminated the heavens and
has warmed and frightened the hearts
of residents Of Gary and miles of sur
rounding country ever since the steel
city came into existence some twelve
years ago. was keenly felt in its absence.
EVERYTHING rs ORDERLY.
There has been no violence nor even
attempts at violence. Even those going
| into the mill to take the places of the
strikers have not been moIested Even
the pickets who patrol the area in front
CT the great silent foundries have caused
no trouble. We do not want any vio-
| lence. trouble. or anyone to destroy a
bit of property" are the instructions
given out to the strikers by the labor
leaders. Leave your revolvers. knives.
and other weapons at home" and they
are abiding BY the orders in every de-
tail.
FEW ENTER THE MILLS. :
Silently. the thousands of strikers
watched the small bands Of worknlen go
into the mill between four and 1--WE
yesterday afternoon. Few of them were
foreign born Sand 50 far that class OF
workers have shown that they are stick
Ing together in a body. OF course. there
are some that have broken from their
ranks. but the number is small. The
majority OF the workmen that can be
seen going into the mill are members
of the colored labor unions. the balance
being made UP of a small scattering OF
white workers and foremen.
TRYING TO KEEP INDUSTRY ALIVE.
This is the little army that is at
tempting 70 keep the steel Industry in
Gary alive. Those coming out or the
mill at the Virginia street gate were
escorted through the ranks OF the watch
ing strikers by force of deputies and
police.
That the Gary works is practically
shut down is even admitted by some of
the steel company officials. They esti
mated yesterday that the plant was
operating from thirty-lve to forty per
cent capacity. but this is thought 70 be
rather high. Labor leaders Law claim to
having pulled ninety-five per cent Of
the workmen out OF the mill. Others.
who have closely observed the situation
and are neutral in their decision. esti-
mate that about fifteen TO twenty per
cent Of the employees are back Yester-
day and today being one of the regular
pay days. II has been dif7cult to esti
mate the men coming in and going out
q the plant, as some of them 20 for
their checks and then return to their
homes
According TO reliable information re-
ceived from an employee of the Gary
works yesterday evening the various
mills were practically shut down and
the men who We're at work were en-
ployed largely in the coke ovens and
blast furnaces. Only four out 81 twelve
blast furnaces are being operated and II
conditions do not improve Il is likely
that two more Will be taken off. leaving
two which viii be necessary for furnish
ing the city Of Gary with water power
fuel and electricity. The steel company
as well as labor officials state that in no
event will the strike cut the residents
from this supply.
AT number one open hearth Yesterday
only one heat was tapped. II is said In
open hearths number two. three and
four. a total of eight heats were tapped.
causing a daily deficit of about SO heats
\ less number is expected today. The
heats were tapped out by several melt
ers, foremen and department heads. out
Of the army of little "dinkey" engines
which chug all over the plant. only one
was seen running yesterday. Two en-
gines from the E. j. & F. were in opera
ton. An effort was made to roll a heat
in one of the mills yesterday morning
a roll was broken and they finally gave
up in despair. it is reported 1t is esti-
mated that in the neighborhood of 900
men reported TO work az the Gary
works.
There was a noticeable increase in the
number OF workmen going into the plant
on the morning shift today Many re-
ported for work yesterday. but finding
the departments practically shut down
they returned to their homes gain. An
announcement made from the general Of
fees last night to the effect that many
calls were received from workmen yes
terday that they remained away yester-
day only on account Of fear and IL they
knew they would be given protection.
they would only be glad to return to
work. Many of the men in that class.
encouraged by the absence of violence
yesterday. returned to work today.
in the neighborhood of 100 colored work
men got off at the mill gate to report
for work. They failed to pay any atten-
ton to the picketers as the car passed
them at the restricted picketing area
south of the q. & o. tracks. Other street