Omaha daily bee., 1920-01-31
By RAY STANNARD BAKER.
Article TI.

oy ANkA ~ 80 ~~>~~
Article XI.
This article is an interlude, but
like any well-regulated interlpde, the
play cannot somehow go on without
il.
/ should like to step out for mo-
ment before the next act-like some
prologue--and with my thumb point
ed backward at the obscured actors
upon the stage (who take themselves
so seriously) take you, the audience
into my confidence for moment.
| have already exhibited as best
| could, some of the forces at work
in the present industrial unrest, some
OF the leadership, some of the mort
evident and general devices OF re-
form. The plot and the protagon-
lists, the conflict and the crisis, are
more or less made clear. Something
of the high theme, the motif, the
| spirit, is yet wanting.
| can perhaps best indicate one
part at least of the theme or the
motif by describing my own frs.
vivid impressions upon visiting a
steel town.
I went down to the city of Gary
in snowstorm. A cold raw wind
was blowing off the lllipois prairies
The train was cold. The city | hao
just left behind was cold. 1t was
cold and darkened at night. Some
of .he factories were closed; the
stores, although at the height of the
holiday rush, were open only part oi
the time. ] was going from a city
suffering from a coal strike to a city
suffering from a steel strike.
1t is an hours journey from Chi.
cago to Gary. Gary is one of the
magic cities of the world. 1t has to.
day about $4,000 people, and broad
well-paved streets and fine public
buildings and a school system with
an international reputation. No stee
mills in the worl equal in modern
| Improvements those at Gary. Ane
yet Is years ago, as | have al
ready said, the place where Gary
now stands was desolate waste oi
sand dunes. Wild ducks, flying il
from the lake settled in the sluggish
inlet and were undisturbed; ifoxe:
skulked among the scrubby oal
trees. One of the great steel mas
ters, coming to look over the site
of the future city, was lost among
the dunes near the present Location
Of the Carnegie library.
City Presents Industry.
1t was big, free, bold thing to dc
the building of Gary. 1t was wei
and truly dreamed. This was the one
spot here at the foot of Lake Michi
gan, where the ore from northern
ranges, foated down in huge. tubby
cargo boats, could most easily anc
cheaply meet the coal from south
ern mines and to be fused into steel
The mills could take advantage if
distributing their product, of the
network of railroads centerins
around the southern loop of tht
lakes. They had near at hand tn,
vast human reservoir of Chicago
upon which to draw for their labor
How we'll thought out; how won
derfully achieved!
l went to Gary, not alone be
cause it was one of the chief cen
tiers of the steel strike, but becaus'
among all the cities in America thu
entire industrial scene nowher'
more vividly presents itself.
| Consider what an opportunity thi
magic city offers the observer. Fo
here industry has had a clear field
no limiting traditions; no restric
tions. Here, if anywhere, Ameri
can industry is to be seen exactl,
as it most desires to be seen. |
has had scope and space, unlimite,
money, time, power-every ingredi
ent for miracle making-to Civ
form and fashion to its utmos
dream. Here we have it, then a
Gary-the life-like portrait of Amer
lean industry, delineated by its owl
bold hands.
Let us look at it narrowly, 70
like any great masterpiece it is a
enlightening for what it cunningL
conceals as for what it easily dis
closes. There is character here, Ger
tain1y-a kind of stark power, a kin
of bold originality. Huge an
alert, irascible yet strong" Is
grim? Well, Vulcan is toiling a
: his blazing forges. Is it benevo
lent? Is it cruel? And is there nc
something strange about the eyes
Is it SO nakedly American that W
should hesitate to draw the curtai
and exhibit it to a visit or fror
Mars.
| City Dominated by Mill.
] Ihad confidently expected when
went to Gary to be chiefly intereste
in the men and women there; II
workers, the bosses. the observiu
newspaper editors. the merchant
lawyers, teachers; but curiously
was not. vent, indeed, first of a
!, to see the men of the town, many {
.hem hot with the passions engel
, dered by the strike. | saw the III
cxpectedly comfortable homes {
some of the workers. and the woi
( derful schools, and the library, an