Evening star., 1920-02-01
Article XL


BY RAY STANNARD BAKER.
"HIS article is an interlude. but.
like any well regulated inter-
lude. the play cannot some
how go on without it.
7 should like to step out for mo-
ment before the next act--like some
prologue-and. with my thumb point
ed backward at the obscure actors
upon the stage (who take themselves
so seriously), take you-the audi
ence-into my confidence for a mo-
ment.
have already exhibited. as best i
could. some of the forces at work in
the present Industrial unrest. some OF
the leadership, some of the more evil
dent and general devices of reform
The plot and the protagonists. 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 first vivid i'm
pressions upon visiting steel town
went down to the city of Gary in
a snowstorm- A cold. raw wind was
blowing of the Illinois prairies. The
train was cold. The city I had just
left behind was cold. 1t was cold and
darkened at night Some of the fac
tories were closed the stores. al
though at the height of the holiday
rush, were open only a part of the
time. I was going from city SUI
fering from a coal strike to city
suffering from a steel strike.
IT 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 steel
mills in the world equal in modern
improvements those of Gary. And
vet. thirteen years ago. as I have
already said, the place where Gary
now stands was a desolate waste of
sand dunes Wild ducks, flying in
from the lake. settled in the slug
gish inlet and were undisturbed;
foxes skulked among the scrubby
oak trees, One of the great steel
masters. 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.
II was a big. free. bold thing to do
the building of~Gary. It was well
and truly dreamed. This was the one
spot, here at the foot of Lake Michi-
gan. where the ore from northern
cargo boats, could most easily and
cheapIy meet the coal from southern
mines and be fused into steel. The
mills could take advantage, in dis
tributing their product, Of the net
work of railroads centering around
the southern loop Of the lakes. They
had near at hand the vast human
reservoir Of Chicago upon which to
draw for their labor. How well
thought out; how wonderfully
achie
went to Gary, not alone because
It was one Of the chief centers Of the
steel strike, but because among all
the cities in America the entire indus
trial scene nowhere more vividly pre-
sents itself
Consider what an opportunity this
magic city offers the observer For
here industry has had a clear field: no
limiting traditions. no restrictions.
Here, il anywhere. American industry
is to be seen exactly as it most de-
sires to be SEEN It has had scope and
space. unlimited money, time, power
every ingredient for miracle-mak-
ing-to give form and fashion to its
utmost dream. Here we have it, then.
at Gary-the lifelike portrait of
own bold hand.
Let us look at it narrowly. for. like
any great masterpiece. it is as en-
Tightening for what it cunningly con-
ceals as for what it easily discloses
There is character here. certainly
kind of stark power. kind of bold
originality. Huge and alert, irascible
yet strong" Is it grim? Well, Vulcan
is toiling at his blazing forges. Is it
benevolent? Is it cruel? And is there
not som mething strange about the eyes?
Is II so markedly American that we
should hesitate to draw the curtain
and exhibit it to visitor from Mars?
City Dominated by Mill.
l had confidently expected when
went to Gary to be chiefly interested
in the men and women there: the
workers, the bosses, the observing
newspaper editors, the merchants,
lawyers, teachers; but curiously, I
was not l went, indeed. first of all
TO see the men of the town, many of
them hot with the passions engen-
dered by the strike. / saw the un-
expectedly comfortable homes Of some
of the workers, and the wonderful
schools, and the library. and the post
Office. and the Y. M. c.. A. building
L sat with the strikers in the dingy
coop they called headquarters /
talked with mill officials and watched
with some wonder the soldiers who
were protecting the town. but every
where l went, during every moment
of the time, the center of the scene
was occupied with the stupendous
spectacle of the mill. Its tall. slim
stacks. plumed with strange-colored
smoke, it's broad -shouldered blast
furnaces, it's portly ore piles. domi-
nate the town. At night the fare
of its converters signal the very
heavens; and no one can escape the
sound of its brazen voices.
When I had been inside the prin-
sipal mill and had seen with my own