USA > Pennsylvania > Allegheny County > Braddock > The unwritten history of Braddock's Field (Pennsylvania) > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29
ADMINISTRATION OF CHAS. E. DINKEY.
June 1,1903
Big executives have a weakness for the man who can get things done, and in June, 1901, Thomas Morrison had brought up the young man who had charge of the Foundry Department and placed him in his own office as Assistant General Superintendent. Two years later, after the formation of the United States Steel Corporation, when Mr. Morrison's extensive personal business demanded all of his time, he recommended his assistant, Chas. E. Dinkey, as his successor.
In the American Manufacturer years before, on October 4, 1889, Jos. D. Weeks had declared that the superintendency of the Edgar Thom- son plant demanded greater executive capacity than the presidency of the United States. There now entered that superintendency a man trained under four executives of such caliber, and who, naturally of a reflective turn of mind and keenly observant, brought to that office the noblest qualities of those that had gone before: The force and driving power of Jones, the shrewd tact and generalship of Schwab, the chemistry and de- tail of Gayley, and the sound common sense and business acumen of Mor- rison. In him each of these qualities of his predecessors still lived on in one master executive. (1)
For his assistant, Chas. E. Dinkey chose John F. Lewis,(2) who was eminently fitted for such promotion by a rigorous course from early boy-
(1) A more complete account of Mr. Dinkey and his methods is given at the con- clusion of this chapter.
(2) His service record at Edgar Thomson, as stated by himself, is as follows :- 1875 Hammer boy, blacksmith shop.
1876 Clerk in store rooms.
1877 Machine shop.
1878 Messenger under Capt. Jones.
1879 Machine shop.
1881 Drawing room.
1883 Machine shop.
1884 Drawing room.
1887 Machine shop.
1892 Drawing room.
1896 Assistant master mechanic, Furnaces.
1899 Master Mechanic, Furnaces.
1903 Assistant General Superintendent.
,
JOHN F. LEWIS.
'131
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
hood in shops and drawing room, and who at the time was Master Me- chanic at the Blast Furnace Department. Mr. Lewis is naturally of an in- ventive turn of mind, and during past years has given to the mill many in- ventions and improvements, among which may be mentioned the vertical hydraulic ingot stripper (1891) (which alone reduced the force 56 men), steel tie fastening, stock distributing device for blast furnaces, etc., etc. The man lives in a mechanic's world, and thinks machinery as other men think words. His desk is constantly covered with a profusion of the most complicated and unintelligible sketches of gears, drives, trains, etc. of every description. A thorough sportsman, genial, considerate, and wholly democratic, he carries with him an intangible atmosphere of Southern chivalry.
With this period, the historian reaches the most difficult part of his task, for in the administration of Chas. E. Dinkey, up to the present time, not ten, twenty or fifty projects have been undertaken, but 265 separate and distinct improvements effected of the average caliber of $90,000 or $100,000 each. It is immediately apparent that in so brief a survey as this history, only the most prominent and interesting features can be touched upon.
His operating staff to date has consisted of the following men :- Assistant General Superintendent, Jno. F. Lewis; Chief Clerk, G. E. F. Gray; Superintendent Blast Furnaces, H. A. Brassert, A. E. Maccoun ; Chief Electrician, A. E. Maccoun, E. Friedlaender; Steel Works Master Mechanic, Thos. James, John Richardson; Chief Engineer, Sydney Dillon, L. C. Edgar; Supt. Converting Works, H. W. Benn, L. T. Upton, C. F. Mc- Donald; Supt. Finishing Department, Geo. E. Harris, Jas. V. Stewart ; Supt. Blooming and Rail Mills, D. L. Miller; Supt. Masonry, Thos. Adden- brook, P. G. D. Strang; Chief Chemist, C. B. Murray, G. D. Chamberlain, C. E. Nesbit; Superintendent Labor and Transportation, Thos. Cosgrove. Wm. J. Dixon; Chief Roll Designer, F. H. Ghrist, F. F. Slick, I. W. Keener; Asst. Supt. Furnaces, M. Killeen, F. H. N. Gerwig: Foreman Carpenters, Reuben Abbiss; Superintendent Open Hearth, J. W. Kagarise; Special Engineer, Richard Stevens, A. F. T. Wolff; Supt. Foundry, Geo. England, S. B. Cuthbert; Supt. Boilers, John Noey, Geo. S. Kramer; Chief Inspec- tor, E. B. White, J. K. Boyd; Master Mechanic Furnaces, Geo. W. Camp- bell; Supt. Splice Bar Shop, Edgar S. Wright, Superintendent No. 3 Mill, Frank F. Slick; Secretary, P. A. K. Black.
1903-04. One of the first acts of Mr. Dinkey's term was the changing of the township road from the old location through the mill to
132
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
the present site, thus giving more yard room and greater area for expan- sion. The first street car ran over the new tracks July 4, 1903. The foundry was also extended 66 feet during this first year, and at the fur- naces a great economy was effected by the installation April 28, 1904, of ten 110,000 gallon settling tanks for treating the acid Monongahela river water with lime and soda ash for boiler feed purposes. (1)
1904-05. The question of roll storage had now become a serious problem, for over 100 different rail sections were rolled at the plant. Ac- cordingly in this year the 24 2-flue boilers at No. 1 Rail Mill were torn out and the Boiler House converted into a roll storage by installing a crane runway and using the old roll shop crane. A new 500-foot wharf and wharf boat were also constructed (besides various other improvements in this year) to take care of the river traffic, at a cost of $97,000. (2)
1905-06. The first gas engine installed at Edgar Thomson was a 2134" x 30" horizontal tandem Westinghouse of the four cycle constant mixture type. It was started November 13, 1905, and ran until August 7, . 1906, when it was returned to the builders for some necessary improve- ments. It was direct connected to a 250-K.W. generator, and furnished current for operating the Foundry. It was operated on blast furnace gas, and was the first engine of this type to be installed in this country.
The demand for light rails had been exceeding the supply for some years, and accordingly a special light section rail mill, the first electrical mill in this country, was constructed and placed in operation in July, 1905.
For the operation of this mill, Mr. Dinkey had long decided upon Mr. Frank F. Slick, (3) chief roll designer, whose technical education, energy, and versatility appealed to him. The actual appointment of Mr. Slick to this position, however, off-hand and nonchalant as it appeared, and the history of the infancy of that now famous mill, (+) are highly illustrative of both characters:
The mill being practically completed, Mr. Dinkey exclaimed one day
(1) Monongahela river water runs as high, at times, as 12 grains acid to the gallon, and about 1,000 pounds lime and 4,000 pounds soda ash- are daily required for softening. Each of the ten tanks is emptied and filled an average of three times daily.
(2) The three remaining furnaces were equipped with electrically operated hoists 1904, i. e., Furnaces "C", "F" and "H".
(3) Born 1876, Johnstown, Pa. Was through Johnstown flood. Office boy, clerk, and assistant roller at Cambria Iron Works. Engineering Department, E. T. Works in February 1896; Assistant Engineer, Ordnance Department, Carnegie Steel Co., 1900; In charge of Roll Shop, E. T. Works, 1903. Supt. No. 3 Mill, July, 1905.
(4) An 18-inch mill for re-rolling billets and heavier sections into light rails. Has four roll stands, driven by two 1500 H. P., D. C. Motors. These motors were the first installed in this country for driving main rolls. The main building is 580 ft. x 43 x 26 ft. 8 in. high.
133
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
to a group of superintendents: "Well, here's the mill all right, but who the devil will we get to run this condemned sausage factory ?"
"Me," said Slick. "I'll run it."
"Take it," said the Boss.
Scarcely, however, had the earnest young superintendent assumed his first charge than the wretched mill groaned feebly and stopped alto- gether.
Down came Mr. Dinkey. "Well, what's the matter here ?"
"We have to make some repairs and get things straightened up, Mr. Dinkey. This mill is in frightful shape," said Slick.
Another day passed, and still no tonnage from No. 3.
Mr. Dinkey then invited Mr. Slick to call. Upon that unhappy man's appearance, he engaged him in some desultory conversation, in the course of which he confided to him that, personally, he greatly admired the pic- ture of still life presented by the brand new mill, with the golden sunlight falling on polished brass and bronze, the silent roll stands fading away in murky perspective, and the stalwart workmen standing about obscured by the shadows of gigantic machines, and that, anyhow, he was the last man to discourage the aesthetic aspirations of his subordinates. He added, however, that in the capacity of superior officer he felt at liberty to make some suggestions in an artistic vein, and took this opportunity to remind Mr. Slick that Corot and many other great painters were wont to introduce a splash of red into the foreground of their masterpieces, which feature, in No. 3, could be best secured by introducing a red hot billet in the first roughing rolls.
The exasperated Mr. Slick heard him through in silence. Then, "Mr. Dinkey, if you'll just give me a chance to get that mill cleaned up right I'll give you the best mill going. I can run it right now if you want a second grade mill, but this isn't going to be that kind of an affair " And he made good his boast, for today No. 3 Mill stands first in the Steel Cor- poration, and probably ranks first for its kind in the entire United States.
1906-07. On Nov. 16, 1906, upon the resignation of Mr. David F. Melville as Assistant Chief Clerk, Mr. F. A. Power of the Foundry Depart- ment was appointed to succeed him, and took office at that time. This lively gentleman has long since justified his appointment by his earnest loyalty and the deeply conscientious discharge of his duty, while his Gar- gantuan laughter helps remove the dust that is only too prone to settle on the office windows.
134
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
Mr. Dinkey's European trip, it should be noted, took place in the summer of 1906.
Two more gas engines were installed in December, 1906, and March, 1907.(1)
Five new ore bridges were installed at the Furnaces in this year of the administration, the bridges in the new yard going into operation Dec. 1, 1906, and in the old yard January 5, 1907. The car dumper was in- stalled in 1907, a giant machine which picks the car up bodily and dumps it, thus saving a vast amount of time and labor. No. 1 Rail Mill was also thoroughly over-hauled and rebuilt for diversified product in 1907.
On March 14, 1907, occurred one of the worst floods of the Mon- ongahela of recent years, the river gauge at the works recording 34 ft. 6 inches. The records show twelve other floods of varying degree in the last ten years.
1907-08. One of the most prominent features of this administration has been the attention given to the safety of the men. An account of the work along this line, alone, would fill a volume, for it is one of Mr. Dinkey's hobbies to make the mill safe. In line with this idea, the Washington Street tunnel was constructed during this year of the administration, af- fording a safe and convenient passage for the workmen of the Blast Fur- nace Department. (2)
On January 1, 1908, as though in irony of the attempts to curb him, the Steel demon broke loose in the Converting Department, and an ex- plosion occurred in which three men were killed and eight seriously injured.
1908-09. As a step toward improved quality, the five pass roughing rolls in No. 1 Mill were changed to seven pass, Sept. 5, 1908, with excellent results. (3)
In this year the Cahall boilers at the Mill were moved to the Fur- nace Department and the extension to the present general office built, ground being broken March 4, 1909, and the office occupied May 8th. (+)
1909-10. Notwithstanding the depression of the panic, improve- ments at the works kept right on. The 15-ton iron ladles at the Furnaces
(1) These engines were horizontal, tandem blowing engines of the four cycle constant mixture type. Cylinders were 3814" on the gas and air respectively and 54" stroke. A 40 x 54" engine of the same type was installed in the Power Station Nov. 11, 1907, direct connected to a 1500-K. W. D. C. generator.
(2) The famous panic of 1907-08 was on during this year, when improvements and operations were at lowest ebb. In November, 1907 the works started paying in Pittsburgh clearing house serip, the last of such payments being made Jan. 11, 1908.
(3) That is, the bloom was broken down to about rail size in two more opera- tions than before, and by easier stages.
(4) Furnace "A" was also reconstructed during the early part of 1908, and is now 91 ft. high with a 15 ft. 6 inch hearth and 22 ft. bosh.
135
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
had been replaced in 1908 with 35-ton ladles (10 in all) and in this year, 1909, seven electrically operated ladle dumpers were started at the Pig Machine, materially reducing transportation costs and amount of scrap metal produced in handling the furnace iron. The Kennedy-Morrison cooling table, which had been in service for almost a decade, was removed July 24, 1909, and the new direct run operation commenced July 25, 1909.
We are now (1909) entering the period of diversified product from the rail mills, and the Basic Open Hearth plans are approaching comple- tion. For a full understanding of the causes back of these new develop- ments, it is necessary to make a slight discursion at this point:
From the annual report of the American Iron & Steel Institute for 1915, we learn that the domestic consumption of steel rails in the United States, in tons per annum, was as follows for the years 1903-1914, in- clusive :
1903
3,057,195
1904
1,906,237
1905
3,098,184
1906
3,654,794
1907
3,298,500
1908
1,726,224
1909
2,725,847
1910
3,290,712
1911
2,405,330
1912
2,885,222
1913
3,052,635
1914
1,792,986
It will at once be seen that the rail purchases of the country fell off heavily from 1907 on, and as a matter of self preservation the rail mills at Edgar Thomson were compelled to branch off into various products, ordinary billets being rolled in 1907 and '08, tie plates commenced Dec. 31, 1909, and sheet bar Feb. 21, 1910.
When the New York Central sections were introduced, about 1890, owing to the stiffness of those rails they had reduced the Phosphorous to 0.06 and raised the Carbon to an average of 0.55 and even 0.60 in the heavi- er sections. Other roads followed suit, and claiming that 0.10 Phosphorous rails broke under the severity of northern winters, kept increasing the demand for rails low in Phosphorus content. The Lackawanna Steel Com- pany made a very great amount of these low Phosphorous rails within the next seven or eight years, and the Edgar Thomson Works occasionally
136
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
rolled some from special ores, but those low Phosphorous ores that were readily available were well nigh exhausted in a short time, and accordingly we find the Lackawanna plant dismantling in 1898 to rebuild at Buffalo, and practically six years elapsed before they were again in full operation. Their former output of rails was distributed among other mills: Carnegie, Cam- bria, Pennsylvania, Maryland. and Illinois Steel Companies.
The manufacturers declared that the breakages of Bessemer rails were due to the constantly increasing loads and higher speeds imposed upon the rails by the roads, (and incidentally it may be stated that the rail- road companies have since virtually admitted this fact). We are not here, however, concerned in the basic metallurgical truths of the matter, but only in the ruling sentiments of the period, and the prevailing fashion in the railroad world. The railroads continued to insist on low Phosphor- ous rails, and in the year 1907 the situation between manufacturers and roads became so tense that there were many meetings and consultations to determine what could be done to make better rails. The manufacturers said that it was impossible to roll the A. S. C. E. sections with their ex- treme width and thin bases and put sufficient work upon the head to make them wear well and at the same time have the metal throughout the en- tire section sufficiently tough.
The Bethlehem Open Hearth plant was in operation in 1907, and the Gary plant for Basic Open Hearth rails was designed. For the 1908 rails many roads specified that the metal in the Bessemer converters should be held 21/2 minutes after recarburizing, and also that the number of rails per ingot should not exceed three. The mills could not handle a three- rail ingot at that time, and therefore they rolled the lower two-thirds, only, into rails for such specifications.
The consumers were demanding Basic Open Hearth rails, and for some the Open Hearth steel was made at the Homestead plant and shipped to E. T. Works. This was, of course, an expensive affair for Edgar Thom- son, and the Basic Open Hearth plant was shortly designed. The marked reduction in rail orders for 1908 is also accounted for by the panic of 1907- 08, and the fact that the western corn crop had been soft, and only suited for feeding purposes, instead of for shipping.
1909-10. Air dump cinder ladles that could be operated from the engine cab replaced the hand dump ladles at the Blast Furnace Department March 10, 1910. The car repair shop was built, and some sixteen other improvements of minor interest effected.
1910-11. The year 1910, among other things, saw the completion of
137
.
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
the Flue Dust Briquetting Piant(1) and the removal of the Splice Bar shop (2) from Duquesne to Edgar Thomson. To the Edgar Thomson manage- ment must be given full credit for the development of the Flue Dust Briquetting process, and the perfection of the high Carbon splice bar, both of which processes have advanced very far beyond what they were on in- ception at this plant. The Briquette Plant is expected very shortly to have a monthly capacity of 30,000 tons of fine briquettes which will take the place of the best grades of ore used in the Open Hearth or Blast Furnaces.
1911-12. A new Emergency Hospital, for the proper care of the in- jured employee, was erected during this year, ground being broken Dec. 26, 1911, and the hospital occupied Sept. 16, 1912. The new works club house at Thirteenth Street was commenced in June, 1912, and occupied in November of that year.
On May 28, 1912, came the good news; that an appropriation had been granted Edgar Thomson that day for a new Open Hearth Department, an improvement long desired and planned for by Mr. Dinkey, and which had been more or less in contemplation since 1895. Work commenced imme- diately, ground being broken May 31, 1912. (3) In this year the employment office began operations in the basement of the General Office, June 27, 1912, the present employment office(+) not being occupied until October,
(1) The Briquetting plant is situated in Duquesne Borough on the Monongahela Southern branch of Union R. R., and is equipped with machinery for the refining of blast furnace flue-dust, concentrates of which are prepared for Briquette production. There are four furnaces and five presses at the plant, all of which have been remodelled and developed by the works.
The separation of magnetic content is taken care of by six magnetic separators, from which the concentrates are conveyed to mixers and thence to stock bin, where they are ready for feeding to presses. The tailings are disposed of by conveyor belts, and the new Greenawalt sintering plant is now under construction to take care of this material.
Mr. T. J. Davis, who came here from the Northern Iron Co., Philadelphia, has been in charge of the plant since June, 1911.
(2) The Splice Bar shop is 80 x 312 feet, and contains four sets of machines for flanging, shearing, punching, and notching splice bars, either cold or hot working. There are two re-heating furnaces for hot working bars, and oil quenching tank for tempering purposes equipped with steam jet arrangement for snuffing out fire. There are two annealing furnaces. There is a machine shop and various repair tools at the shop. The loading yard has two movable loading conveyors of the chain type which carry bars from one department to another. This plant holds the record for output for any plant of its size in the United States. It is under the supervision of Mr. E. S. Wright.
(3) In this plant, incidentally, was subsequently developed the reverse duplex process (patented) for making low Phosphorous acid Bessemer steel. An order had been received from a foreign customer for steel of 0.06 Phosphorous and under, to be finished by an acid process. To accomplish this the Basic iron was dephosphorized in the stationary Open Hearth furnace, sent to the Bessemer mixers, and high Silicon Bessemer iron mixed with the low Phosphorous Washed Metal, which was then sent to the Converting Works and carried through in the regular manner.
(4) This office has been under the supervision of E. C. Ramage, from the Union R. R. and New Castle Works, and a most efficient system has been introduced.
138
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
1913. On June 20, 1912 the old Mckinney Club House, that had long served as restaurant and meeting place for the superintendents, was torn down to make room for the new O. H. plant.
1912-13. On Nov. 10, 1912, the present works telephone system and telephone central were installed in the present location in the Club House. In this year of the administration the stocking and shipping yards for Nos. 1 and 2 Mills were constructed, and work commenced on the relocation and improvement of the Blooming Mill while the old No. 2 Rail Mill was also re- modeled. During this contruction work, Mr. F. F. Slick was given super- vision of the rail mill operations. A fire occurred in this year at the Flue Dust Briquette Plant. In 1913 the Electric Repair Shop, which had been located in the present Power House, was moved to the present location to make room for the installation of additional electrical equipment in the Power House. Electrical ingot strippers were put in operation June 18, 1913.
1913-14. This year saw the completion of the Blooming and old mill improvements, and the completion of the 14-Furnace Basic Open Hearth plant, which is the best Open Hearth plant in the country using coal for fuel, and is conceded by electrical experts to be the best equipped plant, electrically, in the United States. The furnaces are of the station- ary type, and the plant includes gas producers, stockyard, calcining plant, and spiegel cupola. Furnaces are rated for 90 to 100 tons per heat. The main building is 150 ft. wide x 1230 ft. long, and is thoroughly guarded with safety appliances throughout. A complete description is given in my article of January 1, 1914, issue of the "Iron Age." Gas was put on the first furnace August 4, 1913, and they started making bottom August 6, 1913. First heat was charged August 15, 1913, and tapped August 16, 1913. The first rail from the new plant, an 85 lb. one for the Norfolk & Western, was rolled August 21, 1913. Owing to the depression in trade, it was not until July 12, 1915, that gas was put on the last furnace.
1914-15. In 1914 the gas cleaning plants at Blast Furnaces were remodelled and their capacities increased to clean the gas for hot blast stoves. (The first plant was installed in November, 1906, and a duplicate plant October, 1907, for gas engine service). A third plant was started Sept. 17, 1914, which gave gas cleaning capacity for all the gas required for hot blast stoves and gas engines. The plants permit the use of much more economical hot blast stoves.
The first part of the mill improvement program was completed this year, and incidentally one of the most revolutionary changes in the rolling
----
139
THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY OF BRADDOCK'S FIELD.
department of the works effected with the abandonment of the old Bloom- ing Mill October 10, 1914. The former ingot had been 1734 x 191%", be- ing broken down to a 91/2" bloom in seven passes, while the new 48" bloomer breaks a 23 5-8" square ingot down to about 17" in the first four monkey passes, running at a speed of 4.5 R. P. M. Four ingots were first put through the new monkey rolls August 12, 1914. The 40" bloomer com- menced operations August 30, 1914, everything being finally put into oper- ation at this mill October 8th, 1914.
1915-16. The new No. 2 Mill, built for the production of diversified product, was completed this year, starting on regular product January 1, 1916. The new mill is a 32 inch four-stand mill with a motor load of 79 motors driving bloom pushers, charging and drawing machines, bloom cars, table rollers, lifting and tilting tables, hot saw machines, curver, 800-ton billet shear, billet conveyor, delivery tables, etc., and is probably the most modern and thoroughly equipped rail mill in the world.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.