The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1926-06-23
THE FIRST PRIZE WINNER.
ILLINOIS STEEL
SEEKS TO HIDE
BLAST CAUSES
Cover Up Number of
Workers Killed
BY a Worker Correspondent.

GARY, Ind, June 2O.-Oficials of
the Illinois Steel Company, subsid
larry Of the Gary-controlled United
States Steel Corporation, and the city
authorities of Gary are. throwing a
cloud of mystery around the accident
which occurred in the by-products
plant last Monday and which re-
suited in the death and manning of
large number of workers, most of
whom were Negroes and foreign-born.
Company Hides Real Facts.
The concensus of opinion of the
many individual workers interviewed
by The DAILY WORKER reporter is
that great many more workers were
killed and injured than has been Off
cially reported by the steel corporation
and its agents, the Gary newspapers
and the civil authorities.
81 am sure there were more killed
than what is given out. There were
three or four hundred men working in
the plant, which was completely de-
stroyed by the explosion" declared
one of the workers in another depart
ment ut is not possible that the
number Of killed and wounded can be
as low as what the company hands
out"
Company "Forgets Dead"
Another worker, who was an "old-
timer" at the plant and knew how the
company acted in such cases, de-
clared: There must be more than
IL killed. / know of many accidents
and deaths that happened in the steel
mills here and there was not peep
from the company. I'm confident that
there were at least 80 killed in that
department.
when anyone is killed or hurt in
the shops the company does not both
er to report them. They just forget
them They're doing the same thing
now. You can't learn how many
were killed, as the company is damned
wise. 1t ships out the bodies as fast
as it can"
100 Unaceounted For.
"My foreman came into our depart
ment after the explosion and told us
there were at least 100 cards in the
time rack at the by-products plant
whose holders were unaccounted for"
stated an aged Negro worker, who
begged The DAILY WORKER report
err not to mention his name, as he
feared the terror rule of the steel
trust.
81 know of at least rs that were
killed in that department" confded
another worker.
my brother worked in that by
products plant. So far l have been
unable to locate him." declared Ne
gro porter on the New York Central
railroad.
Gases IntoIerabIe.
weeks before the explosion came,
the gases in the by-product plant be-
gan to be unbearable," declared sew
eral workers when asked what caused
the explosion. 1.-THE fellows we're
afraid to kick. If you kicked you lost
your job. Jobs were scarce and hun
dreds waited outside the gates for a
chance to get job.
Nobody could work in the by-prod-
ucts plant very long. The work was
too hard and the gases too much for
anyone. Only Negroes and foreign
ers' were employed in that depart
ment."
Mostly Negroes from South.
Most of the Negroes that worked
in that department had just come
from the SOUTH" declared one Negro
worker, who had worked in the by
products plant several weeks before
the explosion. Down south they
were farmers or share-croppers. They
came north to get away from the rot
ten conditions down there. There
they had to live under most miserable
conditions and live in fear OF lynch
mobs. They came north to escape
those wretched conditions.
Seek Big Money.
"They came north thinking they
could get big money. They came
here and were forced to go to work
in the steeel mills here. They found
wages to be very low. They had TO
work ten hours a day. They were
also forced to live in taxpayer shan
ties that were in many cases worse
than what they lived in down south.
Most OF the Negroes that worked
in that shop are without families or
relatives here. They had no real ad-
dresses here. They lived in hotels
and cheap rooming houses. Many OF
them wanted to make a few dollars
so they could get out Of Gary and try
their luck somewhere else. The names
of many OF them will never be known"
Workers. Resentment Aroused.
The negligence of the steel corpo-
ration and its utter disregard for the
lives Of the workers has caused a
widespread resentment among the
workers OF all races in Gary. The
resentment against this subsidiary OF
the steel trust has increased because
OF the high-handed methods used by
company officials and their servants