USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Braddock > The unwritten history of Braddock's Field (Pennsylvania) > Part 10
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Of course, to his superior officers he turned quite a different side, and would blandly take credit for anything and everything that came along, but this democracy was real, and not an assumed trait of the man. Gold or titles have never confused or blurred his vision. To him, regard- less of wealth or title, every man is still just a human being whom he judges on his own intrinsic value as a man.
He has the sensitive, visionary soul of a great artist, and his con- summate tact has arisen from his innate desire to see things "go smooth- ly.". He always hated "scenes," arguments, or disturbances of any kind. Only a few years ago I heard this lord of millions-yes hundreds of mil- lions-explain and apologize and explain again when he had unwittingly,
(1) An old employee; now Accident Clerk at the works.
:
CHARLES M. SCHWAB.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
by the good-natured use of a pet nickname, affronted a choleric old em- ployee of former days. Although, in the eyes of those present, Schwab had not been guilty of the slightest faux pas, he seemed exasperated to his very soul by an apparent blunder. For the man has perfect tact; he is an artist, and the instrument on which he plays is men.
The band which he organized at the steel works is giving a con- cert, and standing in the crowd Schwab discovers a lady of mature years. He is distinctly annoyed by the discomfort so elderly a person must be in, and finally going out he invites her in, and gives her a chair.
He is good-natured and big hearted: He and Cosgrove are passing through the mill, when a laboratory employee(1) throws a snowball at one or the other which hits Schwab. Schwab's temper flames up, and the man immediately seeks employment elsewhere. However, the laboratory needs the man, and Cosgrove has the temerity to take the question up with Schwab. "Oh well, take him back, I don't care. But explain to the darn fool that I can't have every Tom, Dick and Harry on the plant firing snow- balls at me. Look how many thousand men there are here!" a true and ·just plea.
The labor world is violently disturbed, and every now and then a committee of men comes up from the mill to demand higher wages. Schwab's first and only thought is to avoid a scene, or any rupture of harmony. He welcomes the men cordially, naturally, gracefully; he gives everyone a chair and passes around a box of fine cigars. There is in his manner no trace of superiority, hostility, or suspicion. He talks with the men about their work, their families, their hobbies, and relates jokes that occur to him. The men are pleased and rather surprised at the pleasant- ness of their visit. Time passes. The men mention their complaint in a casual way. Schwab listens to them courteously, sympathetically, and frankly explains the situation as man to man, not as employer to inferior. If he can do anything for them he promises to do it; if he can't, he ex- plains just why he can't. He inspires the confidence of the men, and they believe what he tells them. Shortly, taking another cigar, they file out to the accompaniment of cordial "good-byes." Frequently there has been no wage increase, but likewise,-and what is more important to Schwab-no unpleasantness.
C. M. Schwab's operating staff consisted of the following men :- James Gayley, Superintendent Blast Furnaces; M. Killeen, Asst. Supt.
:(1) Edw. F. Shultz related this incident to me regarding himself the other day.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Furnaces ; Thos. Cosgrove, Supt. Transportation; H. W. Benn, Supt. Con- verting Works; S. A. Ford, Chief Chemist; H. B. A. Keiser, Chief En- gineer; Rich. Stevens, Master Mechanic Blast Furnaces; Thos. James, Master Mechanic, Steel Department; Geo. Nimon and A. McWilliams, Foremen Carpenters; Conser McClure, Roll Designer; John Noey, Super- intendent Boilers; John Hutzen, T. H. Lapsly and D. L. Miller, Supt. Blooming and Rail Mills; C. C. Teeter, Chief Clerk; Thomas Addenbrook, Foreman Masonry; Roger Bowman, Supt. Finishing Department; Elec- trician, Wm. Pierce and C. M. Tolman; Secretary, Otto Rhinehart.
In 1890 the old Blooming Mill, with 36" three-high train (operated by 36 x 72" engine) was changed to a three-high 40" mill, C. Mercader be- ing the supervising engineer for that work. The plant at that time con- sumed about 25,000,000 gallons of water daily, and there were five main pumping stations. The Electric Light Plant(1) contained three Brush 65-light dynamos, running about 175 arc lamps. Power was provided by three 11 x 22" Buckeye engines. There was a locomotive repair house measuring 54 x 124 feet, and whereas the original plant had had but one broad gauge and one narrow gauge locomotive for yard service, the plant now boasted 12 broad gauge and 14 narrow gauge locomotives.
Meanwhile the development of the Blast Furnaces continued, two more blast furnaces being blown in:
Furnace "H"
February 27, 1890(2)
Furnace "I"
August 14, 1890
The whole battery of blast furnaces produced. during Schwab's ad- ministration, an average of 54,782 tons of iron monthly.(3)
Only one rail mill was operated during his term of office, the new mill having entirely superseded the old one, which now became known as
(1) In January, 1881, Wm. Pierce took charge of the electrical department, and continued until 1892, being superseded by C. M. Tolman, a college man. The electri- cal equipment in 1880 consisted of one two-light Brush Arc Dynamo installed at the Furnace Machine Shop; it was driven by a line shaft and was the first electrical ma- chine installed at this plant. In 1882 the second lighting plant was installed at the "A" Furnace, consisting of a 45-lamp arc machine, and the third plant was built near the present location of the "B & W." boiler house, consisting of two 65-Lamp Brush arc machines. In 1891 there was installed one 75 K. W. 60 cycle A. C. generator driven by a Porter-Allen engine. During this year the first motor driven soaking pit crane ever built in America was installed at Edgar Thomson, and one of its motors is still in service at the Furnace Department.
(2) Each 22' diameter of bosh and 90' high. They had 7 stoves, each 78' 6" x 21'. Cast houses were 54 x 180'. Engine house had five E. P. Allis engines, each having a steam cylinder of 40" diameter, and 60" stroke. 24 boilers furnished the steam supply, each 28' long, 54" diameter, with two 18" flues. The "F & G" and "H & I" batteries were connected with a steam pipe.
(3) A Gates Mastodon crusher was used for crushing limestone. It had a ca- pacity of 800 tons per day.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
"No. 2 Mill." The new mill produced an average of 26,051 tons monthly, as compared with less than 15,000 tons produced by the old mill in its best days.
The plant now employed about 3,500 men, and produced on an average of 1,550 tons of furance iron per day. The record for a single blast furnace was 457 tons for 24 hours, and the best daily rail record 1,417 tons.
Like his predecessor, Schwab was very generous, and gave churches in his town of every denomination many a helping hand. More than one church building, in fact, stands today as a memorial of his generosity and breadth of religious viewpoint.
To the traditions of the office that he held, Schwab added the en- couragement of the arts, and at his own expense equipped and organized a fine brass band. Floyd St. Clair, one of his employees, became the leader of this band, and later made a name for himself in the world of music.
After the fatal riots at the Homestead plant in 1892, Schwab, who. was well known and liked by the Homestead men from his former work there, was asked to take sole charge of the wrecked organization of that concern. This work he undertook (with the greatest success) October 1, 1892, and James Gayley, Superintendent of the Blast Furnaces, became General Superintendent.
ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES GAYLEY.(1) (OCTOBER 1, 1892-FEBRUARY 28, 1895.)
James Gayley was probably the greatest technician who ever filled the superintendency. His record at the Crane Iron Works (Catasauqua, Pa.) Missouri Furnace Co., (St. Louis) and E. & G. Brooke Iron Co., (Birdsboro, Pa.) had attracted the notice of Captain Jones, and in 1885 he came to Edgar Thomson as Superintendent of the Blast Furnaces.
In this capacity he made a record as an economist, and reduced the coke consumption to a point that has been little if any excelled since that time. He invented the bronze cooling plate for blast furnace walls, the auxiliary casting stand for Bessemer steel plants, and was the first to use the compound condensing blowing engine with the Blast Furnace. He
(1) Born 1855 at Lock Haven, Pa. Graduated as mining engineer from La- fayette College 1876. Subsequently became first vice president of the U. S. Steel Cor- poration. In 1904 and 1905 was President of the American Institute of Mining En- gineers, and from 1905 to 1911 President of the Board of Directors.
JAMES GAYLEY.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
also invented the dry-air blast, for which the Franklin Institute awarded him the Elliott Cresson medal.
Under his superintendency the Blast Furnace Department had com- manded the notice of the whole metallurgical world, and by his wise selec- tion of stock, and general management, with certain other favoring con- ditions, (1) his furnaces made record productions. Gayley, in fact, was to the blast furnace what Jones had been to the rail mill.
Brilliant and intellectual as he was, the spirit of education and en- lightenment found in him a willing disciple. Not only was he a keenly commercial and technical steel-master, but he was also imbued with the inspiring, uplifting, educational fire that in other days animated such men as Sturmius, Rabelais, Montaigne, Ascham, Mulcaster, Pestalozzi, and Rousseau. Far in advance of his time, he was interested heart and soul in the instruction and education of his men, and under his auspices the finest lectures were delivered, gratis, for them in Braddock Carnegie Free Library. Some of the printed reports of these lectures are still extant, and are the finest brochures obtainable on their respective subjects. (2) Mrs. Gayley, on her part, gave frequent talks on household economy and domestic science.
Never was there a more sincere, earnest, or conscientious man in the superintendent's chair.
The use of molten iron, together with Ferro Manganese, had origi- nated at Edgar Thomson, but under this administration the process was abandoned. (In this connection it should also be noted, in the metallurgi- cal line, that the direct process, i. e., using molten iron direct from the blast furnaces, was first used in America at this plant according to Mr. H. W. Benn, who believes it began in 1881 or '82. He also states that Edgar Thomson was the first plant to cast on cars successfully.)
Mr. Gayley's operating staff consisted of D. G. Kerr, Supt. Fur- naces; Rich. Stevens, M. M. Furnaces; Thos. James, M. M. Steel Depart- ment; C. M. Tolman, Supt. Electrical Department; John Noey, Supt. Boilers; H. W. Benn, Supt. Converting Works; Geo. Nimon and A. Mc-
(1) The Edgar Thomson metallurgist, Mr. J. D. Lewis, states that while the ore in Gayley's time ran sometimes as high as 64 and 65 per cent iron, it now only runs about 50 and 51 per cent. Again, low Silicon iron seems to have been acceptable in those days, and low Silicon permits low coke practice. These conditions, however, in no way detract from Mr. Gayley's accomplishments, for the simple reason that in the day when he won his fame his competitors had, for the most part, the same materials to work with.
(2) The lecture on the geological history of the Pittsburgh district is far bet- ter than anything that can now be obtained from the State Geological Department.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Williams, Foremen Carpenters; Thos. Cosgrove, Supt. Labor and Trans- portation ; Conser McClure, Roll Designer; C. C. Teeter, Chief Clerk; Thos. Addenbrook, Supt. Masonry ; D. L. Miller, Supt. Rail Mill; Wm. Con- nor, Superintendent Foundry ; G. E. Harris, Supt. Finishing Department; Chief Draughtsmen and Engineers: H. B. A. Keiser, E. E. Slick, F. Du- Peyster Thompson, and Jno. F. Lewis; Secretary, James E. Mitchell.
Gayley had charge of the plant during the panic years that followed Grover Cleveland's election in 1892. Times were very bad, labor was rest- less, and the Carnegie officials exacting in their demands, and his position was extremely difficult.
Not content with obliterating groves of trees, township roads, and whole rows of dwelling houses, the expanding plant now turned back the very streams from their courses, and in 1893 Turtle Creek's course was moved 1,125 feet east from the old bed back of the Converting Mill to its present location. On May 12, 1891, Carnegie Bros. & Co. had purchased about 71% acres of land from John Dalzell, chiefly in what is now the Un- ion Railroad Valley yard, and on December 28, 1891, 12 additional acres from Wm. J. Mckinney (on the site of the present O. H. plant) and again on July 13, 1892, the Carnegie Steel Company (note the change in name) (1) Limited, secured about 11 acres from Wm. F. Knox in the Union Railroad main track yard and Turtle Creek district.
With this expansion in territory the way was clear for an exten- sion that the plant badly needed, viz: a Foundry Department, and under Mr. Gayley the entire Foundry Department was constructed.
No. 1 Foundry commenced operation July 11, 1893, producing during the remainder of that year 1893 tons. This was probably the first foundry of the kind to make ingot moulds sucessfully with direct molten metal from the furnaces.
No. 2 Foundry commenced operations January 11, 1894, and is used for making general iron castings, and the third and last foundry commenced foundry work March 19, 1894, producing brass and bronze castings. The original Brass Foundry of Mr. Gayley's time was very small, and has since been torn down.
Of this new department, Mr. William Connor, formerly of the Mackintosh & Hemphill Co., became Superintendent.
During Mr. Gayley's administration the abandoned old mill was
(1) The Carnegie Steel Company, Limited, was formed July 1, 1892, and was a coalition of Carnegie Brothers & Company, Limited, and Carnegie, Phipps & Company, the capital being $25,000,000.
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again brought into use, producing some 32,000 tons of rails, and entering upon a second lease of life.
Mr. Gayley's exhaustive technical knowledge was desired by the officials in the City Office, and he was accordingly given the post of Ore Agent March 1, 1895, being succeeded at Edgar Thomson by Mr. Thomas Morrison, General Superintendent of the Duquesne Works.
ADMINISTRATION OF THOMAS MORRISON. FEBRUARY 28, 1895-MAY 31, 1903.
Thomas Morrison was first of all a great mechanician and rail mill man, next a great financier, but withal a hard, practical, common sense man of business, blunt, direct, and outspoken, four square with the world. He had the usual distaste of the man with a mechanical turn of mind for the vagaries of words and phrases and the confusion of official papers. As a rule, he did not dictate his correspondence, being impatient with such affairs, and turning with more cheerfulness to problems of a mechanical or operative nature. He was a strict, fair, and just disciplinarian, and . when he left we find his men presenting him with a fine watch and hearti- ly expressing their conviction that he had given everyone a fair deal.
With Mr. Morrison from Duquesne came Mr. G. E. F. Gray(1) as Chief Clerk, who had served in that capacity at Duquesne and Home- stead, and was eminently fitted for that position by integrity of charac- ter and broad, conservative judgment. This position Mr. Gray has held ever since.
Mr. Morrison's operating staff was as follows :- Assistant Gen'l Sup't, Chas. E. Dinkey ; Supt. Blast Furnaces, D. G. Kerr, Geo. Crawford, and H. A. Brassert; Master Mechanic Furnaces, Rich. Stevens, Jno. F. Lewis, A. E. Maccoun; M. M. Steel Department, Thos. James; Chief Electrician, A. E. Maccoun, following C. M. Tolman; Supt. Boilers, John Noey ; Supt. Converting Mill, H. W. Benn; Supt. Carpenters, etc., A. Mc- Williams and Reuben Abbiss; Supt. Foundry, Chas. E. Dinkey and Geo. England; Chief Inspector, E. B. White; Chief Engineers, E. E. Slick and Sydney Dillon ; Chief Chemists, F. L. Grammar and C. B. Murray ; Supt.
(1) Passenger service, Pennsylvania Railroad, January 18, 1873, until October, 1879. With Dithridge Chimney Company, 17th Street, South Side, Pittsburgh, from October, 1879, to September, 1881; Inspector and Clerk, Edgar Thomson Works, September 14, 1881. to October, 1886; Chief Clerk, Homestead, October, 1886, until December, 1887; Chief Clerk, Duquesne Works, January 1, 1888, until March 1, 1895; March 1, 1895, Chief Clerk Edgar Thomson Works.
THOMAS MORRISON.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Blooming and Rail Mills, D. L. Miller; Chief Clerk, G. E. F. Gray ; Super- intendent Finishing Department, Geo. E. Harris; Superintendent Ma- sonry, Thos. Addenbrook; Roll Designer, Conser McClure, L. W. Nageley, F. H. Ghrist; Secretary, James E. Mitchell; Supt. Transportation and Labor, Thos. Cosgrove.
No. 1 Foundry was enlarged early in Morrison's administration (1899) and in 1898, No. 2 Foundry first began the manufacture of iron rolls. The Brass Foundry was torn down in 1902, and the old Power House was converted into the present Brass Foundry, employing about 65 men, and practically bringing the foundry to its present status.
On August 20, 1895, only a few months after Morrison had as- sumed charge, occurred the distressing explosion at "H" Furnace, where- in six were killed and eight badly burned. If it had been possible, this furnace would have retrieved itself during his term, however, for it com- pleted a nine-years' run on a single lining for over 1,000,000 tons, being the first blast furnace in the world to accomplish such a feat.
During the early part of 1897, the mills' electrical demands had in- creased to such an extent that a new power house was built on the site of the present plant, the Foundry power house and Mill lighting plant be- ing dismantled. The equipment of the new power house consisted of one 800 K. W. generator, a 400 K. W. generator moved from the Foundry, two 75 K. W. lighting machines and one 150 K. W. lighting machine. The old 250 H. P. generators of the Foundry power house were moved to No. 1 Rail Mill finishing yard, and subsequently scrapped.
A vital improvement effected by Morrison was the double furnace bell, forestalling the escape of gas in charging, which, together with the first automatic skip hoist in America, was put on Furnace "F" in August, 1897. This innovation did away with the necessity of men going on top of the furnace during regular operations.
A great number of electrical installations were put in during this period, perhaps the most noteworthy being the installation on the "B" Furnace, March 9, 1898, of the first electrically driven skip hoist in the world. This proved such a success that Morrison subsequently changed the following furnace skips to electric drive :-
Furnace "I", December 4, 1898.
Furnace "A", March 28, 1899. Furnace "G", September 26, 1899.
Furnace "E", December 5, 1900. Furnace "D", December 4, 1901.
·
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` THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Furnace "K", December 5, 1902.
.Furnace "J", February 16, 1903.
A revolutionary installation was the pig machine, installed at the furnaces 1898. Previous to this the furnace iron had been cooled in chill moulds. The pig machine is an endless moving chain of pig moulds into which the iron is poured from the ladle, passed under water, and cooled.
Again, the blowing engines at the Furnace Department, which formerly had had single cylinders, and were run high pressure, with air tubs equipped with leather valves, were changed at the "A, B and C" in 1896 to independent compound condensing engines, and at the "D and E" to compound condensing steeple engines in 1897. The old type of en- gine has since been displaced throughout the plant as a result of this campaign.
The greatest plant development in steam economy, however, of this or any other administration was the replacement in 1895 of the old style tubular boilers by the Cahall water tube type. The "A, B and C" boiler house was rebuilt in 1896 and 1897, the "D and E" in 1897 and 1898, the "H and I" in 1902, and the "J and K" in 1902 and 1903. A second great economy effected was the connection of the Mill and Furnace Departments June, 1899, with a 24-inch steam line, thus allowing the removal of most of the coal fired boilers at the mill, and the use of gas fired boilers at the furnaces.
The Union Railroad interlocking plant was thrown into service in Bessemer yard October 26, 1897, and the first train brought in from North Bessemer on that date, which marks an epoch in the transportation system of the plant.
Under Mr. Morrison the first Weiss central condensing plant in this country was established at the Power House 1897. Since that time this type of central counter-current condenser has been installed at all the Blast Furnace steam blowing engine rooms and at all the departments of the mill where steam is used.
In this period of centralization, the Furnace Laboratory and Steel Works Laboratory were combined (1897) and the present laboratory erected, C. B. Murray being appointed chief chemist.
In 1899 the present Converting Mill building, housing four 15-ton converters, was erected for the plant by the Keystone Bridge Company, the building being 165 x 781/2 x 31 ft. high, fully equipped with the latest electric and automatic devices throughout. The previous year (1898) the Blooming Mill had been again rebuilt, although still remaining a 40-inch
G. E. F. GRAY.
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THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
mill. Furnace "K" was completed and blown in December 5, 1902, and the "J" on February 16, 1903, each being 90' 10" high, the "J" having a 15' hearth while the "K" hearth is 15' 6".
The cry, which had been all for "tonnage" for years past, now be- gan to turn toward "quality." With this in mind, Morrison installed what was known as the "Kennedy-Morrison process" in the rail mill December 5, 1900, which consisted of a cooling bed between the leader pass and the finishing pass, the idea being to put a harder surface upon the rail.
January 8, 1902, an addition was built to the power house, and the second 800 K. W. compound wound D. C. generator, driven by a vertical cross-compound Allis engine was installed. At this time we note that the second lighting line was run to Braddock, (the first line having been run 1894 or thereabouts).
The terrible Furnace "I" accident occurred March 31, 1903, the furnace "slipping" and dust collector blowing out. Nine men were killed in this disaster, and five badly burned.
Late in this administration Mr. W. J. Vance, Chief Shipper, re- signed, and Mr. W. L. Miller assumed the duties of that office, which he is still creditably performing.
One of the most important and far reaching innovations of this progressive executive was the weekly meeting of department superin- tendents for the noon hour meal (generally held on Wednesdays) whereat the difficulties and troubles that beset each department are fully thrashed out for the instruction of all, and thorough harmony and understanding secured throughout the organization. This weekly dinner Mr. Morrison inaugurated October 18, 1899, and it has been most profitably continued ever since. The minutes of these meetings form a most valuable and ac- curate record for the plant, and it is greatly to be regretted that such a record was not to be obtained for the whole life of the organization.
I regret that lack of space forbids more detail of this vigorous man's term of office. Suffice it to say that under Morrison the plant smashed every record it had ever made, and on reviewing the administra- tion no point appears wherein he did not surpass his predecessors in pro- duction. Roughly speaking, the amazing truth is that the plant was speeded up 70 or 80 per cent. While the mills had previously been pro- ducing around a quarter of a million tons of rails per annum, under Morrison they put out half a million or so.
Plain spoken and matter of fact as he was, it is the achievements of the man that strike our attention far more forcibly than the reserved
THOMAS JAMES.
D. L. MILLER
THOMAS H. MCDONALD.
HARRY W. BENN.
THOMAS COSGROVE.
A. J. BOYLE.
A. J. PREUSSE.
8
JOHN RINAARD.
.
CHAS. E. DINKEY, Whose term of service as General Superintendent exceeds all others.
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THE. UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
and unassuming personality which he presented to the world. I have tried to portray, roughly, in a non-technical manner, the results of his regime, and have been most fortunate if I have succeeded in conveying any idea of the cold brilliance of his administration.
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