f)-/
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
rNl'RODUCf\ON ...... .
CHAPfER 1: IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN AMERICA ..... . COLONIAL IRON
L'<DUSTRY ...... . IRON RAll.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
......... - THEAGEOFSTEEL .............. . STEELRAIL ...... .......
. ..................... . AGE OF CONSOLIDATION AND INNOVATION
CONTJi'I.'UED GROWfH OF STEEL INDUSTRY
CHAPTER II; TIIE CAMBRIA TRON COMPANY 1852-1880 ......... . CAMBRIA
COUNTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . JOHNSmWN,
PENNSYLVANIA .............. _ CAMBRIA IRON COMPANY PREDECESSORS .
__ . _ . ORGANIZATION OF THE CAMBRIA IRON COMPANY ............ _
REORGANIZATIONS OF THE COMPANY . . . ........... . ROLLING IRON
RAILS AT CAMBRIA ..... . CAMBRIA GROWTH AND EXPANSION . . . . . . .
.............. _ CAMBRIA AT ITS HEIGHT ....... .
CHAPTER III: TECHNOLOO!CAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF TIIE CAMBRIA IRON
COMPANY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . JOHN FRITZ
AND THE THREE-HIGH MILL . . . . . . . . ....... . WILLIAM
BESSEMER'S STEEL ............... . WILLiAM KELLY'S CONVERTER
............ . ALEXANDER HOLLEY AND THE BESSEMER PROCESS ROLLING
STEEL RAIL AT CAMBRIA MAKING STEEL AT CAMBRIA ..... . LOSS OF
LEADERSHIP ......... .
"'
" '" 53 53 65 68
95 95
'" 100 101 III< 107 109 II 0 110 111 119 116 116 119 120
123
RAiLWAY AND INDUSTRIAL CAR DIVISION LOWER WORKS . ELECTRICAL
DEPARTMENT TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT AND YAROS FUEL DEPARTMENT
METALLURGICAL DEPARTMEt-'T POST-WORLD WAR I YEARS
CHAPTER V: IMPACT OF THE CAMBRIA IRON COMPANY COMPANY SOCIAL
SERVICES ... HOUSING COMPANY STORE OFHCE BUILDINGS CLUB HOUSE ....
UNlON HALL CAMBRIA LIBRARY ... CAMBRIA HOSPITAL CITIZEN'S CEMETERY
ASSOCIATION JOHNSTOWN COUNTRY CLUB AND WESTMONT TENNIS CLUB CAMBRIA
MUfUAL BENEFIT ASSOCIATION PENSION FUND POLICE AND FIRE DEPARTMENTS
.. JMMIGRAt'.'TS IN THE CAMBRIA WORKS BLACKS IN JOHNSTOWN ... LABOR
LABOR ISSUES IN JOHNSTOWN STRIKE OF 1873-1874 1919 STRIKE ........
. LITILE STEEL STRIKE OF 1937
SUMMARY
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
HISTORICAL BASE MAPS l. Cambria Iron Company 1853 2. Cambria Iron
Compan}' 1878 3. Cambria Iron Company 1891 4. Cambria Sled Compmy
1911 5. Bclhleltem Steel Company 1939 6. Bethlehem Sled Corpora!ion
1983
APPENDIXES 1. Description of Iron and Sleclmaking 2. Producl!on of
iron rails in lhc United Stales, 1!'.49-1890:
Miles of steel and iron rnb in the United States, lHH0-\890 3.
Production of Bessemer sled ingots in lhe United Sl.ales,
1867-1890
PrOOu~tion of Bessemer steel rails in the United States, 1867-1890
Pmducli<>n of Bes.scmer S\Wl ingo\s and Bessemer steel rails
in !he United Smes and in Great Britain, 1877-1890; Production of
opcn-1\can.h steel in lhe Unile-!1 States, 187o-1890; Production of
open-hearth steel in Great Britain, 1879-1890
4. Ten Largest Steel Companies, Selected Year.; 1904-1950
"' "' m m
"' 130 130
"' "' B8 ,42
"' '" '" '" '" •so ''" "' "' '" "' '58
" 23 .
24.
" 26.
43. M .
Advantages of lhe Johnstown, Pennsylvania vicinity in manufacturing
imn- 1853 Aniclcs of Association of !he Cambria Iron Company
Administrations of the Cambna Iron Company Cambria Produclion 1860,
1865, 1875: Cambria Table of Wages 1860-61, 1864, 1865, 1~75; Price
of Iron Rails Sold by Cambria Iron Company Cambria Iron Worl:::;,
1868 Gautier Steel Department Trade Catalog, Wire, Terms, Finished
Plow Shapes Cambria Iron Company IH78 with plan or tltc work.l
Cambria Iron Company 1878 IL'ilh drawings of Wire Rod Tnin and
Siemens Heating Furnaces Cambria Iron Company 1878 with dr.twings
of Blast Furnace Cambria Iron Company 1878 with drawings of Boilers
and Blowing Engine Cambria Iron Company, 1878 Biographies of Men
As50cia1Cd wiih the Cambria Iron Company Patrick Graham's
Rcmcmbr:mccs John Fri!J; Patent for Three-High Rolls John Fritz's
description of building the Cambria Rolling Mill, 1857 Bessemer
Production at Cambria, I ~71- 1892 Stcelmnnage of 11 slecl plan!S,
1878-1879 Nam"-'i or Steelworkers present at first blow of
Bcr.semer steel at Cambria, and Cambria officers on July 10, 1871
[Poem] Written for the Pioneer Steel Workers' Reunion held at
Johnstown, Pa., September 20, 1911 Cambria Iron Company. 1884
Cambria Iron Company, 1890 Cambria Steel Company, 1907 Principal
Products of the Cambria Steel Company, 1916 Mines, Manufacturing
Plants, Equipment, Ell:., 1920 Operating and Financial Da!.a,
Bethlehem Steel, 1905-1957 Cambria Plant, Johnstown,
Pc!1J1.Sylvania 1923 Cambria Steel Company's Coke Works, Wages and
Prices, 1910 Prodw:!S of lhc Cambria Plant, 1936 Cambria Steel
Company, Cambria Barbed Wire, 1916 Hi>wry - Fnntlin Mills
Department Cambria Steel Cars, 1905 U::dgcr, Mechanical Orders to
Machine Shop, September 1910 Rules of Cambria Iron arul Stcd Works,
1874 Rules of Cambria Stcd Company, 1910 Cambria Steel Company
Tenements, 1911 Maintenance on company housing- Wesunont, 1921
Ethnic Distribution of Iron Mill Workers in Johnstown, 1870;
Nationality of Johnstown Iron Workers, 1880 Daily wage scale of
laborers at the Cambria Steel Company, 1880-1900; Tonnage rate (per
hundred ll)ns) scale for skilled wo/Xcrs at the Cambria Steel
Company, 1880-1900 Statement.~ of Cambria wort;en>, Strike of
1919 Employees Rcgis!<'r, 1920s
ILLUSTRATIONS .....
REPOSITORIES VISITED DURING RESEARCH
,,
PREFACE
'This historic resource s!Udy has been p~parcd to salisfy lhc
~sca~h needs as stated in Lhc task
directive approved by Mid-Atlantic Regional DiteClDr James W.
Ollem.n Jr., on February 13, 1987,
concerning lhe America's industrial Heritage Project under package
217. Data contained in !his
repon will be used in determining !he significance of lhc Cambria
Iron Company silJl as it grew
and evolved, and possible interpretation, preservation, and
management needs.
The study focuses on \he nistocy of an iron and str:el company on
!he Conemaugh River in
Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Included is infonnation ronceming lhe
significance and hislOry of Lhc
iron and steel indusLSy in America; and the hisLOry and
significance of lhe Cambria Iron Company,
sub.o;equently, !he Cambria SI.Cel Company, lhc Johnswwn plant of
the Midvale Steel and O!dnance
Company, and Lhc Bar. Rod, and Win: Division of Bethlehem Steel
Corpontion.
Most of lhe research was conduc!Cd during field trips to
JohnsLO\IJn and E..sLOn, Pennsylvania;
Wilmington, Delawan:; and Waslrington. O_C. in January, Man:h, and
May 1987. Additional data
was collected throughout 1988 and 1989. Several people
a.<isisted in pn:paring this resoun:e study.
The author's thanks go to Randall Cooley, Director, America's
Industrial Heritage Project, and Keith
Dunbar, John Albright, Jen: Kral.O\IJ, and John Paige of !he Denver
Seryice Cenrcr for dleir
encouragement and advice. Special !hanks go LO Joyce Aucbery of
RDcky Mountain Region Library
for all of her interlibrary loan help. The stuffs at !he Hagley
Museum and Library. American Red
Cross Na!ional Headquarter,;, Library of Congress, Smithsonian
lm;tirution, Center for Canal Hiswry
and Technology, Cambria County HisLOricaJ Society, Cambria County
Library, Johns!Own Rood
Museum, arul The Historical Society of Pennsylvania were all very
helpful. Richanl Burken ol1en:d
sage obseryation.l about !he cntin: Cambria documentation project
while Lance MeLZ g13ciously
shan:d primary rcscan;h materials. Lon:ua Schmidt, James R.
Alexander, and Donald Sayenga
conlribmed helpful review commem.s which wen: very much appn:cia"'d
The Historic American
Engineering Record \£:am provided the excellent historical base
maps. G. Gray FitzsimOTI'S offen:d
technical infonnation and primary n:sean:h materials for both the
resource study and lhe landmaD:
11/Jmination. Gray also offered Lhc friendship !hal springs from
exploring Penruylvania steel mills
in January. Thank: )'llu Dean Shawr and Bclhleh= Steel Cmporation
for your cooperation and
aacss to the Jolmstown planT.
vii
The Cambria Iron Company made an impoJ1am contribution tD American
industrialism. Founded
in 1852, !he rompany was regarded as one of !he greatest of lhc
early modem iron and sleel woru.
Forerunner of llelhl.chem Steel Company, United SLates Steel
Co!}XIration, and olhcr laiC nineteenth
and ei!Tly twentieth century steel companies, lhc Cambria plant
became a model of lhe industry. In
lhe 185();, 1860s, and 1870s, Johnstown auracteJ lhe be"! and lhe
brightest minds in the industry
-William Kelly, George ;md John Fritz, Daniel J. Morrell, Ruben W.
Hunt, William R. Jones, and
Alexander Holley. Togclhcr and individually, these men :ldvanccd
iron and stccl!Cchnology through
invention and industrial design in Johnstown, work which was w1dely
ropied by other iron and steel
companies. This enormous comribution signalle<llhe end of
America's reliance on Bmish·produced
rails and allowed lhc expansion of the nation's railroad
ne!Work.
Several bmldmg~ remain in the "Lower Works" from this sigrullcant
ume period. Dated and
surveyed b}' the Historic American Engineering Reconl (HAER), these
include: the ca. 1864
blacksmith shop. ca. 1884 blacksmith shop J/llle~. ca. 1870 pattern
shop, ca. 1865 foundry. ca. 1880
foundry addition, ca. 1874 office building, ca. 1881 car shop, and
portions of the 1870 rolling mill .
SeC<Jnd generation buildings ca. 1890s "'lSociaLCd with lhe
original four blast furnaces "!main. as
do rcmn:mts of lllc 1878-1800 blast furnaces lt5 and #6. and the
second generation machine IDop,
ca. 1906.
Emphasis in research for !his rc,ourcc study wa~ placed on the
Cambria Iron Company's early
years of irtflucnce and conllibutiom to llle technological progress
made in the iron iUld steelmaking
processes. The iron and steel masters associated with Cambria are
nationally significant, and during
the mid-l870s Cambria was the l:ll"gcst rail producer in
America.
After Andrew Carnegie's cntr.lilcc into the steelmaking business
Cambria's inllucnce d1minished
even though its growlh did no!. It remained a signific:mt
independent stcel plant. This resource
study traces Cambria's takeover by other steel corpomtions, and its
wcial, economic, and lalxlr
impacts on the city of Johnstown. Mention is made of Franklin,
Gautier, Rosedale, and other
Cambria installations, aod. lengthy ~scriptions of the Cambria
plant in later yea"' appoar io llle
appendixes, included !Dr relerencc purposes .
I 2. 3.
'· w u.
17. 18. 19.
20. 21 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27 28. 29. 30. 31
" 33.
ILLUSTRA TlONS
•
•
•
•
•
•
"· '"· 49.
Cambria Steel Company Method of Paying, !911, Locust Slreet office
C. L Co. 3555 Stocker.l & Otargcrs 4 oclock C. I. Co. 3549
"Bessemer" 4 oclock
50. Cambria Iron Works, group of men holding tongs 51. Forge Plant,
Cambria Iron Company, August 25, 1888 52. Armistice Day Parnde
Franklin Street bridge
CHRONOLOGY
1852- Cambria Iron Company founded on June 29 by George King !llld
Peter Shoenberger
1853- Company failed after partial completion of lhe works
1854- David Reeves. Matthew Newkirk. George Troner and olhers
leilSe the plant, rolling mill completed; first iron rails
rolled
1855- Philadelphia company, Wood, Morrell & Company. lease the
worts to roll rail
1857 -FiN three-high rolling miU developed and put into usc by John
and George Fritz; rolling mill burned and rebuilt
1857-1862- William Kelly experimencs with converter
1862- Wood, Momll & Company lease expir.~tion. company
reorganized and n11Dled Cambria Iron Company
1867- Firnt commercially onlered Bessemer steel rails rolled at
Cambria From ingots forged at the Pennsylvania Railroad's
Pennsylvania Steel Worl;:s in Steelton, Penruylvania
1869- Fir'<! Bessemer furnaces erected at Cambria. designed by
George Frit.z, Robert Hunt and Alexander Holley; sixth Bessemer
plant in America
1871 -First blow wilh two six-ton convertern, firnt steel rails
rolled at Cambria
1873- Cambria wru~ !he largest stcelmaker in !he country
1876- Steel r.~il output at Cambria totals 10 percent of oountl)l's
production
1878- Two 10-!0n opcn-heanh furnaces buill
1889- May 31 Johnstown Rood damaged Lower Worl;:s, destroyed
Gautier Work..'i, Mineral Point. Woodvale
1898- Cambna Steel Company formed
1901 -Franklin Wo!Xs started
1916- Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company OOught Cambria Steel
Company
1919 Gll!at Steel Strike
1937- Little Steel Strike
1952- Bessemer process discontinued 3!\d machinery demolished
19M2- Ele~tric furnaces installed at Fl<ll1klin
xii
,. I
Altogether, the difficull.ies encountered were enough \o appall lhe
brave$! hearts. My brother George once sajd, when at Cambria, that
he did nlll believe then: was a man who ever wen! in!U the Bessemer
business, and was responsible for lhc result, who did not at times
wish he had never gone into it: and so far as my experience goes l
fully verify it. And, funhcr, I think lhat, if it had not been for
the interestmg and exciting char~cuer of lhe business, but few men
would have been wi!ling tD endure the trouble and anxmty and to
endure the physical lator and danger to which he and the worlunen
were c0!15lllillly exposed, long ell(lugh lO have placed lhe
business on a commercial basis.
John Fnl1'., "The Development of Iron Manufacture in lhe United
SLates."
Cas;·iers Magazine, April 1900, p. 467.
There is a glamor about the mating of steeL The very size of lhings
- lhe immensity of lhc tools, lhc scale of production - grips lhc
mind wilh an overwhelming .'iCrue of power_ Bla<St furnace~.
eighty, ninety, one hundred feet tall, gaunt and insatiable, are
continually gaping to admit ton after ton of ore, fuel, and stone.
Bessemer conveners dazzle the c:yc wilh their leaping names. Sueel
ing(ll.l at white heat, weighing thousands of poWlds, are carried
from place 10 place and tossed about like JOys. Electric cranes
pick up steel ra!l.< or fifty-foot girders as jaWlty as if their
torn were OWlce£. These are the lhings !hat cost a sp::l! over the
vi;itor in these work..lhops of Vulcan. The display of power on
every hand, majestic and illimitable, is overwhelming: you must go
again and yet again before it is borne in upon you !hat !hen: is a
human problem in steel production.
xiii
191\,p.l
CHAPTER 1: IRON AND STEEL INDUSTRY IN AMERICA
Johnstown, Penn;ylvania, is a name synonymous with the words iron
and steel. Blessed with
abundant deposit~ of iron ore, coal, wood, a water supply and a
developed transponation sy;tcm
via canol, JohnMown W:Ill a natural location for a growing
induslry. The Cambria Iron Company,
founc1cd in 1852, was preceded by early Pennsylvania iron forges,
and subsequently consumed,
almost 65 years l:uer, by large steel conglomerates which formed
pan of tre huge industri;ll base
of America_ The Cambna Iron Company's histOt)' is thus entwined
like steel wire with other strands
of iron and steel development both in P<:nnsylvania and the
nation_
A wider view of lhe Cambria Iron Company's impa~t considers the
human response to both U1c
technological advana:s made in Johnstown, aml to industrialism as a
whole in !he late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries. Industrialism had its first impact
on American society during these
years, and its implications wen: profound. All aspoxts of society
were affected, from changes in
worl<ing environments, to increased immigration, 10 the
devastation of runlllirc as miU10ns moved
to the cities, to lhc growth of lhe urban middle clao;s. The
emergence of conglomerates, !he rise of
unions, the excesses of lhe weall.hy, and !he innuence or various
reform, polilical and imcllccwal
climates arc all major themes <.>f American hisiOry
chardcWriLing the era when !he Cumbria Iron,
and later, Steel Compa11y was at tis pruduc!ive height.'
Thus, lhe Cambria !run Company's >tory is more than an
examination of the nationally significant
technologic.al advances made in the conversion from iron to
steelmaking_ It i; ai>O a look at the
human, social, economic, and political responses to industrialism,
in which Cambria played a
significant, ycl rcp=cntative role.
The growth and development or lhe American irun and steel
in.Jt•SII)' was one of the wondcr.l of
industrialism. It was the basis for American global puwcr, as cheap
steel helped build a modem
navy, conslructed the cities, and illowcd for the rapid expansion
oJ the railroad and automobile
industries. Thus, the sih'llificancc or the Cambria lrun Compmy has
to be placed wi!l1in 01c context
of lhe evolution of the American uon and stcd industry .
L For more informaUon on Lho impact of indu,lri.li.<m, "'"
Mel•yn Dubnf>k)', lodf'Sinoij;m oNi. rhe ,\rnerican WorCer,
1865-1920 (New York: Thoma> Y. CrowcU Com"""y, 1975), and Samuel
P II•)">, I I«· Re'P""'' ro /od"-"'j.,j._,m JB!Ij-/9/~ (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1~57).
COLONIAL IRON INDUSTRY •
Iron was at one time vital lO everyday life in America. IL'i
production provided a livelihood for
towns like Carbondale, lllinols, md lrunlOn, Missouri, and words
such as "ironware" and "iron
horse" and "ironing" crept into American language. The production
of iron wacs the basic smple of
!he American industrial revolution. In the late 17tnl and early
\810;, most furnace ca!>l items were
housewares and anvils. wheels and small castings for farm
equipment. By lhc 1820s and 1830s,
however, the list of needed irun pruduct.s grew to include
"mandrels, gudgeons (or runnions), iron
parts for windmills and pumps, wagon pans. plows, lathes, plaster
mills. wheels and tires, 'e<mllell<'
(or plow blades). rolling-mill castings, rhrcshing-mactllnc pam,
and beams."'
Most of !he early iron works were organized on plantations. The
home of the ironmasJer, worker.;'
cabms, and stores stood next to the \L'Oodlands, farmlands,
ironworks, grislmills, sawmills, and
blacksmith shop lD compose a self-contained community. Agriculrure
md irulusliy were combined,
and this type of industrial organintion continued throughout the
late 1700s and early J80Cls to
produce pig iron, castings, and bar iron. Most of these communities
disappeared by the end of the
~ Da"d Wc<<r.nton, Tr=< of'"" Pa.<l A F"'ld G~id• lo
lndu.~'iai A<ekaeoloa (Now Yot\; Charles S<nbno:r'< Sons.
1980). pp. 133-13~. Weill.man pru,·ided an e:<cellent
description of Ole variel)' of uw; for iron:
If wo could mum oo "" c"ly Am01ioon <il)'. ,.ill,go. or farm. we
would .odi.<rover Ole w<mdet> of tho fum.«<. foundr}·,
and forge L,fung ow ")'<> to U.o roofoups, we would b<
groetcd by a mllf'lelims array of wea<her-van" - g•llnpmg
horses. swans. trumpeting IU1gol>, rw>l<-'1<. peaoocb.,
)uromo~vcs, binl,, uruJ f.mciful "''l"'"" - «n< m sanJ mold>.
cut from 0•1-iron shee!S, ur hammorcd 10 shope in i1on mold< 01
templates. Passm~ !hrough Ole iron gate, fence, Md trclh> on one
of tho hous<> ard <1MOW1cing our atriv:d wHh the "P of an
iron door !<node~. ow •tl<nllon .. ·oulci <eT!IUnly b<
drown to tho hand-wrought door "''I' hillgos ll!ld foolscrapor.
Insido, all the door> of tho house o.nd tile hutch<< would
be hung and latched wilh uon hatdwote. Givong w..--mth would lr •
lon-ploto stove or p<rhop;! o Fronllin fi<eplat< doco,.u,d
Wlth U.c poruJIU' cast-iron 1"""""-' of lhc day: <hi!". Jlllwet
1111<1 t"-"f mouf~ peaooci<>, lho shepherd, or lhc fox
chas• !longing from iron kc!~e hook• or shling abom the kllchom
would b< <kille<s. Du1<h ""'""· mldl" (e<:Wse
sieves), "arne rrons, bole plate.!. sl<w I""'· and a teoh'llc -
•ll of iron. T!me was kepl by iron clock weight>; windo"' wore
COUnl<rb•lan<ed wilh iron sash weighl<. hollow"'"'" •nd
iron utensils filled the drowers orul cupboard< - and there,
under lhc uhle, "ould boa child's toy hllrse anJ w•~un reOC<Iing
in ii> """Y dclllil U.c mo[<Jcr'> ""·Iron bindors
stea<J,od U\o brickwork of U.c durnney, and in <he yatd
whoeled implcmorH< of iron would si! by lhe born owoiling !heir
turn in lhe fLelds
The irnn in !loe barn was h>lnlwmk1ng Thoro wore tho famtliar
shoes for horses and o<en. lhe o< Y""'- wi<h i« iron
fntings, orul some unfamili..- hlocl:.s of wood lhlough whick
po.,ed an iron stirrup oocur<d wilh wing nuL>; U.cso were
"bog shoes," clamped onto U\o hur>e> hooves ro "'-' much
ilk< soowshoes. providing more suppuro for the horse as i\
pulled the iton plow through <oft, m>t<hy ><>il.
lwn h,uumor>, """'"·saws, a broadaz O< \W<>. P""'
outl<rs, frncs (cleating lools), >plHiin.i wedges, ard a cnw
bell would h<lflg on tho wall The iron """''-" orul <ymWI;
a!'-"'h<<l to woodert h.mdlo; would be shoop m.,-km and
lu.uod>ng iron.> for catrk, and lhc gracefully curved
handwrought iron blade< •U,o;he.J to "ooden footl-u>lds,
which hang from buo'-lod lcolhcr strap> in tho wmOT, would bo
r=<>l:)lt"b)e oven lDJ,y " tee >kdtC> Ibid
'
•
•
•
•
•
nineteenth cemury because of the uncenainly of iron production.
changes in technological prncesses.
and Lhc growth of large-scale production and consolidation which
ocCI!ned aflu lhe Civil War.'
The remllllllts of many fourWries. furnaces, and forges can be
found in lhc eastern United States
oountrysidc. There were 160 furnaces in 19 Pennsylvania counties,
including \8 in Blair County
and 10 in Cambria County, and ncarly \00 in New Jersey. In lhc
1890s Pennsylvania, Ohio md
illinois produced 90 percent of 100 nation's iron. Every pan of
l.he counuy saw lhe production of
iron. however, for there wen: furnaces everywhere from New York to
MillllCsola, Washington,
Colorado, Alabama, and Texas.'
Colonial irorunokers used several production techniques, all based
on Lllc usc of wood cha!'CQal as
fuel. Healing iron ore on a stone hcanh with a bellows aru:l a
charcoal fire produced iron refinablc
by reheating and hammering. This was ,..rough! iron, slabs of which
wen: called blooms, made in
ironworks called a bloomery. Colonial blacksmiths could tum wrought
iron imo any cypc of
implcmem. aod lheir seryiccs were in high demand. B!oomeries had
limilfl.l produc!ion, however,
and l~er scale demands could only t>:: met by a blast furnace
when: large amounts of ore could
be mcllcd for use.'
3. Arthur Cecli BLomg, "'Tho Rl>< of !ron Manu!ac!o;rc m
Wc<l<m Ponn>yh·•n1a," 1"/.e We.<l<m
P"""'yiW>m<> /l!S!oru;a/ Magat<ne 16, no 4 {Nvv<mbcr
J933)o 238. For • fuJI dts<lli<;on of cha~oool ;rorun:Wng on
plltllratiom Lo Pennsylvltllia, "'" Artlmr Coc~ Bming, Pe.,:;/vomo
[r(llJ M"""facJort m J/oe Eig/oeenlh Cef!ll'ry (H.m,hur~:
l'enll.<yiYOJJ\0 H,;toricol >nd Mu<oun> Commi.!>ion
1973).
4. Weltzrnon. Traces, pp. 13.~-138, Myron fl. Sh"''' and Willjam H.
Th•>mL~ A G•id< ro Jhe Old Slone Bla.~ F"'""""·' in
IV.c<l"n Penn.f)lvani.a (Pit~>!rursl" The Hi<Wli<:ill
Sociery of Western Pcnruylvltllio, 1966), pp 17-24, 27 -3D.
:;, W, Dav;d r_.,wi.!, Iron arid Sue/ in Amtrica (Groe"viUc,
Delaware' The Hogle)' Museum. 1976), p. 10 Hi.!UJJian W. David
r_.,wi.! provided the followOn,g dcmoiption of a hllllil furnace
and il> ~"'"'
T1lc bl'-'t fumaoc w"" the l-o>art of ..,~ l~c rolorual
il'onwurk.l. Built tn the shap< o( a nottened pyramid. H WllS
U>ually tW<IIry-fi•o or llmly feel hi~h. Hollow from lap r.o
boltom, it hotl thict stone outer walls md illl inner ii!Wli of
Orick t>1 oth<X fuc·rcsi>lant m•l<rillis. A i•YH of
day"''"'"" chip< i><<w«m the Jjning aod the outer wall
:lllowod the inwalls"' ''P"'d l!ndet the'""""""' he" p100uoed b~
!he "smoltJJ'lg," the pn><o<S of r'<!ucil1g the oro.
From • >mall <>p::ning at the Ttlp, ~ftetJ called lhc
"lhroal'' or "tunnel !-.<ad." lhc furnace shofl widened r.o a
poil1t aOOut two-thiffi.< of !he way down konwn a< the
"OOsh." Hece it <top<rl tnwsnl .-1 downw...J "' supp<~l
lh< rna=ial, with which the ~tmaee WJ15 ch111gcd, dlr..,Ung !hem
ww"l"l the "cruCJblc," a chamhcr which r«eivcd lhc mcll«l rron IUld
liquid sag !hal ron Mwn fmm lhc /iory m""' aOOvc. A <mall hole
called the ll<y<re locfiiC<i ncor the OOU<rm of the
crucible odmhled ihc nw.zlc.< of the bellow< thal supplied
!he air blosc The bellows wore"~"'"""' by • watllWheel. which
r"''u;red "'" lho fumace b< \oco.l<d nea: • stream. It wos
&!"" u.<ually built near a htll /tom wlrich raw maler;al>
could b< carriOO to the top of the fuma.oe ove1 • lmdgc fm
ch"'f;ing.
At grnoru:! level "' front of the crucible was the "hearlh." a
workin~ area i>:>llowed out of lhe side of oho (umocc. A
"darn <ton<:" P''""""'d the oon«n« of !he oruciblo from
'J!ilhng nut Lnltl !he boorlh. onJ • part "f tho '"""' w.tt known
._, ~"' "timp'" <>me down h<hind Lho d""'stone, leavrng •
<moll OJ>en;ng lhrou~h wh;oh workm could iruen probing tools
Em:pt wlum tho furnace wa< being t.1pped. this opening wa:;
nonnally plugged with clay. n.:: mcl"'<< <o,g, lighter
tJ,.., the iron, coll«:l«l in th< "~'~"-' J>Ul o( the
<nJ<ible orul was drovm off tbrouf)l an op<Ring lo>own
a< Lhe "eiru!OJ ootch" n.::
3
Blast furnace pig iron could be used for objects needing to ret:tin
or withstand heat, hut !lilt for
tools needing t<mgllne.!.S under stress. Further processing at a
"fine!)'" or forge was needed. A forge
convened pig uon imo wrought iron, rather lhw maling wrought iron
from ore. During 11\e CD!onial
po;riod and after, pig wd wrought iron were suffic1ent for the
nation's iron needs.' Some srccl, an
alloy of wrought iron and cartxln, was used for swords and line
cutlery.' Steel was prized for
centuries for i~~ hardne". Bars of carbon-free wrought iron were
heated in a sealed refraCIOJY 00~
in cartxlnaccous I>Jwder for days and allowed to slowly cooL The
imn absorbed the carbon under
tile righl conditions. and would contain one percent or cartxl11-
The gases which were produced in
the process would give the imn a blistered surface. Tilis was
"blister steel" which ,.,as carefully
forged to shape the tooL Tlle proces> for incorporating the
carbon ,.,as called ·•cementation." Steel
W:i< cxpo;nsive and only used sparingly."
By the 1~50s reverbatory. or puddling, furnaces were used to refine
blast furnace imn. In !.his
furnace the fuel wa.-; burned in a fireplace or grate next 10 the
hcanh. Tllc heanh was heated by
liquid iron sllllll to lho bottom. When !he tappmg hoi< ''"''
unplut;gc<l, it gusto<<! out in a whuo-~ot stream mto ,
5<rics of "nd moiJ< Tcsembling " lil""' of P'&'
ntu<ing "' lh<o t.olly of a molh<or sow_ Thi<
o<pl..in> ~·hy tho product of a b!I!St furnltCO became known
o.s "ptg iron." o teml lh" pe:rsim to tho pres<lll Jay.
Tho fum•cc was ohor~'d wilh !hte~ raw ma..nili· iron ore, charco.!,
and • thitd substance usually limostone, which promot<d the
"'~""'"'"n of'"'" fwm ompmiti« in tho nr<. Chateoal,"" almo"
P""' carbon fud <1'"' butn.< woth int<ns< h""c w""
p<odocod hy lh<o <low romhus<ion of wo.od in pi« or
oono-sh.ped ['li<> at lho iTon-wnrh Sme< largo
qU<tnlltios of clwcoal W<T< nw1:d frn- smelting, l\ wos
""""""')' fUT bla>l furnaces to bo illcated on exlOnsive
lfltct> of woodland. Chlli"Coal mating c.Ued for """"'" .toll
and """" to p<evcnr lho wut>d fr<m'l boUlg completely
hmne<l ut<tood of merely ch"""<l, and colliers wor<
cons<qucntly among !he high<>l p'ltd employees 01
'colorual ironwork.!. ltnd., pp. 10, 12-13.
At lh< forgo !he casl-iron pigs, scrap, and gate metal i>
mmcllM in Ute reftning ftte. This is Ute fml step in convcnmg
tlt< pogs into ""ought irtm. Tho proce55 "ou!J be osscnllally
the some"' any foq;e. After ktndhng !he fi<e, !he finer's"''"""'
"""ld h<•p chll!roil 12 tn IX iJJ<h"-< high'" !he
fitepl•oc for gmy molal, or "'' to 24 inches if whilO metal were to
bo work.O. Whom !he firo wa> JUS! right, !he fmor ,.·oulO
irne<t the enOs of rwn or lhrco po~s 1nto the 'h\ll"CO•I ftrc.
The blit-<t "'"'now awheO, :.nd a> !he end• of !he ]Jigs in
the fire softenod. !he reS! was fed ;, ond new pig< l!ddcd uncil
!here were about !20 [')Un<ls of tron \f\ lho hearth. The iron
was melted no! to a fluid state •gain bul just umH i< <each.O
a pO>ty con<i<tency_ Using • long iron bM. the f!!l<t
wu<kcd tho pasry tn""-' Ull<'l a hall by «>ntinually
r&>mg and turnUlg ll until the iron was uniformly heated
When tho fmer fell tho lime Wa< riY,.. ""' bloom Wa> hOed
fTom <ltc h•fiTth wilh long,, >wung OnlD the anvil of a huge
hammer, and "'""" into a r«tangular bill<t, 5 or 6 inches square
and obout 16 imh<> long. Tho carbon hed bocn b1ought to !he
.<utface of !he bloom in lhc «fining fi" . .m now li>c
hartunoring w<luld remove !his carbon, combined wtlh tho
cinders, and would long"""' !he fib<r.i - prOOucing a much
stronger and d1fforcn\ inm !hall !hal which had cmcrg,J from lho
bl"-'t furnoe<. Weilo>Ian, Tr~ce.<, p 170.
7. !..cw1.1, /mn &>d Si<el, p 16_
8_ Jack Chard, Mal.<og Iron & Sl<<l Tl-,. 1/i<Wric
Pn>ce'5e< 1700 1~!:(1 (13ogotll, Now lors<y; Roebling
ChaptOI of the Soc.tcty for lmh»rri•l An:haooior.'l. 1986), PI'-
8-~.
4
•
•
•
•
•
flames wanning the furnace walls, but also from lhc heat retlecting
off the furnace roof, thus the
name, "reverbatory."'
The squeezer fore«~ out much of the SU!plus slag and formed
"blooms" which were then rolled
inw "muck bar," or flat sections. Because the quality of iron
varied from furnace to furnace lh<e
muck bar wa.~ cut iruo sections, mixed wilh bar from other
furnaces. and reheated and mlled again
imo ingots. Approximal.ely 400 to 600 pounds of wrought iron was
pro<luced during a "heat," las~ng
about one and thrcc-founhs hours. One puddler and one helper worked
a "tum" of five or six
healS."
The wrought iron was put imo finished form by passing the bars.
ingoL,, and sheeL' through rolls
arranged in pairs. The rolls had grooves of different sizes. These
two-high rolls opernted in one
direction, meaning Lhat !he bars or ingol.'; were passed l.hmugh
the la'!;CSI groove and carried by
tumd around 10 the front to be passed again Lhrough the smaller
groove. This process took time,
allowing lhc bars [o cool. They would h.ave to be rchearcd several
times, which took even more
time. These two-high rolls were used exclusively before
1857-''
The puddler.;, hcalCn>, and roller.; were skilled workers who
controlled the entire process.
Apprentices to these tmdcs were hired, trained, and directed only
by the skilled wclilelli. Me.;hanicill
engineers began til improve !he rolling process to increase
production and save labor, thlL• changing
9- Woit.<man. Traces. p. 170. The (lLod<lting P"""" w"
d<'<ioped m 1784 in Englond b)' Hem)' Cott. Ch~~rd, Matin{j
'""' & Sr«l, P- 5 Oovhl W<itm1an pr<Wided a
<~<=iption of puddllng fuma<o o<th·iLk>.
The iron ~oor of Ll>o hcatUt "rovorcd "'ilh a layer of fmci)'
p<>wdotcd ctnd<rs 10 a d<ptl1 of 3 or 4 '"'h"'- A
«ooc-,oal fire is lhcn kindled in the ~rate and loft to Ourn for
about fi,·c hours. The om<lcr> ovcnlually melt and ate
smooUtcd up onto tiLe iron pi""' fonning Ute ".!<'of the heanh
so tll>l the """'" 'hc>rlh is ""'"ered with a linln~ of fused
clnder. The do"' on tiLe sWc of tho furnace is Op<ll<d,
allowin~ tho lining "' oool ""d b.rn.lcn, and Lhon the hrnkcn pigs
.,-c thrnW>l in 'Tho doot 1S do<ed olnd tho fore btoughl up
to worl<ing tcmpcr•Uoro. As tho helper >tirs the fire.
getting u hotlcr ..,q Oot"''· tho )JL>ddkr breW up tho
t><>W-p"-"Y P"''"'' of iron .,.J "'""' <he-m wtth Ute
mol!Oo> c>nd= using a puddhng hoo~- S~nco lh< Lools .,-o
in tho furnace much of the time. a trough filled with waocr is
anached alongside the fuma<o; in th" o-ough the pud<Jimg boob
!Lild bono ""Y he coolOO The puddlor eonnnuc> I<> wmk the
~on .,-,d cindct nUX<uro unnl the mc<al i<. a< he would
"Y- "'ronUng 10 natuto."" AL Lhis sLago liulc "'und hall< nf
mnlLc"Tl """ aboul the siE.c uf peas appc..- m the ,;odor. They
grow l.,gcr •nd l"'gor a< Ll>oy adhere to one anolltot. The
!'umaco i>" il>< highest tl<a~ and dto puddler must
w01k quiclly now ~'keep lhe m"'' uf cimlcr .00 iron Lurning and
uniformly heaLed. Then, with Ill> 1:...- or hook, th<
['Uddlcr pulhos the ""'"1"' lump> "'gethcr '""' '""'"I l:ttgct
muod b;,ll<. 12 tu 15 inches tn diamctr:t and wctghmg •bout 70
or SO pounds. The door i• clo<ed; a final and thorough heal is
gi•en the iron. omlthe hdf"' now "''"d' "'odY h<<ide tho
fumocc with an iron h'"d<"'· The door L< opened, lhe puJdlor
ond hi! helper grasp one of lhe white-hot ball• of iroP with a
sLoul pair of ton~<. drog it onto the cart, '"d whocl Jt
OV<'r lO the hommcr or squoclCf. W<>'-'m"", Trace., p.
171.
tO. John Willilllll Benne<(, ""lmn ~rl<C!< in
disscrtal\on, Umvcr>ily of PitL<burgh, 1977, p 12_
" Ibid, PI' 12-13
Woods Run and Johrutown; Tho Union Er• 1~65-1895," Ph.D.
5
the nature of the wort. from wo!ter-directed to management
comrolled. Much of !his change
occurn:d at the Cambria iron Company willl the development of the
three-high roll mrin, developed
by John FrilZ. (For funhcr information sec chapter TIL) Because
Cambria had so many engirueers,
it was one of the first major companic.o; to "establish full
management control over the means and
methods of production.""
Pennsylvania was the most imponant iron manufactunng colony. it had
abundant resources of raw
materials and streams. Philadelphia merchants financed llle
ironmaking establishments, and by the
end of the colonial c111 the industry was located west of the
Susquehanna River in Yort County,
the Cumberland Valley. and in the Junialll Valley area. By the time
of the Revolutionary War iron
production sLancd in the wc>1cm pan of Pennsylvania. Eastern
manufacturers had great difficulty
sending heavy iron goods over the Allegheny Mountains. and western
ironmastcrs lllus were
provided willl some protection from competition. Blast furnaces and
forges were set up close to ore,
charw<JJ. and water sources, and llle wrought and pig iron was
shipped by animal or boat to
Pittsburgh. where it was fini>hed. Pit!sburgh was an iron
processor, but not yet an iron
manufacturer."
A large new source of iron ore was discovered in the upper
pcrtiru;ula of Michigan in 18~. It
was almost immediately commercially exploited, and llle Late
Superior area became an ore supplier
for the easlem manulacturing centen; afler !he Sault Ste. Mane
Canal was finished in 1855,
connecting Late Superior and Lake Huron'' The discovery of !his ore
made llle production of sreel
po><iblc. The blast furnace industry was "completely
revolulioruzed" after 1860 when more powerful
engines and improved stoves were used, and by the use of anthracite
and biturmnous coal and the
pure iron orcs from the Lake Superior area."
According to Historian W. David Lewis. "The adoption of european
techniques, the discovery of
the Lake Superior ore deposilS, the mpidly expanding use of
anthracite in iron manufacruring east
of the Appalacruans. and the slow but steady progress in the use of
bituminous coal for ironmaking
12 !bJd., pp. 13-t5.
14 Jbi~ .. PI'· Jll-31.
IS lam<> M Swmk. Nmes aNi C""""'"'-'' on lllliJJ.rlriai,
[cOMmie, Poliliml, aodllistoricai. Subj•cu (Phil"'"'lphia: The
Amorio•n Iron >lld S[Cc\ A.»oci•"on. lS97), p. t45.
6
•
•
•
•
•
•
in Pittsburgh and eJgewheJt greatly increased Lhe productive
capacity of !he American iron industry
in lhe last two decades of the antebellum era."
The malket for iron grew lremcndously in lhc years prior lO the
Civil War. Growth of cilies,
lrnllsponation. and industry created demand for iron producl'i.
Textile factories, macltinc shops,
agricultural equipment, and steam machinery all demanded iron pans.
Railroads increased in
trnckage, from 2,818 miles in 1840 lO 30,626 miles in 1861, which
created a demand for iron raiL
Iron was used for rallroad b!ldges, gmlero, and rrusscs. The
telegraph spurred lhe growih of the iron
wire indusl.l)', and iron and steel cable was used in suspension
bridges. Uiban growth promDicd the
use of iron water lines, iron heating equipment and iron columns,
be11II!S, window sashes, and door
frames. Such use reduced tlm risk of lire."
IRON RAIL
By the 1840s lhe technology of rolling iron "T" ra.it a supencr
type of rail. was mastered in Great
Britain. The very lin;t rails used were wood or timber, and early
wooden roadways were called
U1irnways. Tllc fir.;! iron rails to be used were cast in flat
bar.; called plate rails. When flat rails
were later rolled from rn.Ulcablc iron !hey were called strap
rails. The liCK! rails used were cast irun
edge nuls. These were later rollell from malleable iron, were
changell iu sh.ape to a single head and
caJ.Jed the T rail. The double head rail was !hen produced and
callell the double T, also known as
!he double head and bull head rail." Another problem to be solved
was that of the support for rails.
Cast iron, stone, and wood were all considered. v.IJcd was chosen
b.!cause it could absorb shock
from the impact of the looornotive whecls on the rail."
Bntish ironworl<em whll ernigral.ed to America helped establish
the industry. The Mount Savage
Rolling Mill of Allegheny County, Maryland, made the first T mils
in America in 1845, fer use
of the railroad from Fal.l River to Boston, Massachuscns. New
Jcflley and eastern Pennsylvania
comparues soou foll"wc.d. Tlle high cost of British rail> eased
competition and spurred American
16 Uwi<. Iron a,.,J Stul. p. 31.
17 Ibid .. PI' 31-33.
IS G T, RiUclobaut>to, "Histu')' of lhc Ro!Hng of Raib." TM
Blasr F•mac< ON! .\'reel Pl;nr (A,!'"d 19Z1); 197 .
19. p,,.,, Temin, lrtm. mid Steel in Ni""reen<h-Celllury Moerica
An £contmli.c 1"'1uiry (C'amb,;Jge, Mass""h"""'"'· The M.l.T. PrOM,
1%4), p. 4X.
production, allowing ~ompanies such as the Lackawarma Iron and Coal
Company in Scranton,
Penmylvania, to supply the Eric Railroad with locally made rails.
By the mid-1850s, fifteen new
American mil miUs were built, primarily west of the Allegheny
Mountairu, including tlle Cambria
Iron Company.""
American rail production increased, but, ac~ording to hi.1tori.n
Peter Temin, !he "major part of the
J~mwtd for rails during the railway boom of the early 1850s wao;
filled by Bnti>ll rail maker.l who
supplied over lhrce-quarten. of the iron r.lils wnsumed by
Arneric.n r.Uirnads in lhcse yean;."
British nlil suppliers dominated for two reasons. They were !he
low-cost supplier,; in the industry,
especially of bar iron. They ai!>O produced a cheap product
wh.ich they exponed to America, in
comr.~st to the higher quality, more e~pcnsivc Amcricun products
made by older melhuds. American
railroad buildcn; were more imcre.ltcd in stan-up CDSlS and not
main~enancc, !>0 they purchased the
ch~apcr British 10il. much to the anger of American ra1~nak.cr.;.
The Briti<;h also supplied rml on
credit."
Wes~em Pennsylvarua became the domestic leader in the pruduction of
iron and steel rails because
of the libernt supply of raw materials, but alo.o because of
prolCctivc legislation. Libeml gr.nts of
public lands to railruad compJilie<, pro!CctlV<l tariff
policy, and !he homestead policy all spurred !he
construction of thousmds of mlles of railruad With the building of
dlesc railroads, the C<lnsurnpti'>n
of iron increased along with !he population. The opemng of fanns
and ranches in the Midwest and
West c~panded the market for iron products."'
A listing of active rail mills in die Vmtcd States in 1856 rcflecLI
!he early dominance of
Pennsylvania in the trade.
20. Lev.i<, /ron tW1 St<<l, p 31.
21 TcmU.. f!cor.om.ic l><q"if'). pp. 21-22. For more
Information nn rolling lfon and <=I nul•. '"" F. H. Kind!. n ••
Rullin8 MW /Mus<ry (Cbel""d Pont<m l'ubli>hU.g
Comp>illy, 1913).
22. lam<< M. Swont. 'Tho Manufacture of !ron and Stocl Ralls
in Wc>tom Pc..,n<~h·•uno." Tn. Pennrylwmio. Mogll2<<14
of Hi>1ury aM Bio.grtlfh} XXVIll, no. 1 (I '1{)4). I -2.
8
The rails miUs of lk Unilci SLales llfC
The Bay Swe, Sou!h 80<100 The R""sselaer, Troy, N.Y .. The
Trent<Jn, NJ. The PhO<mixville, Pa- Thc Pous.ille, Schuylktll
Co., Pa. The Ladawmma. Lu>.emc Co. Pa .. The Rough aild R..,.Jy,
Danvdlc, 1'!1. The Momour, DanVIlle, 1'!1. The Sofc HIIJ'bor,
Laocaswr Ca. Pa. The MoUilt Savage, Lanoastcr Co. Pa The Cambria,
Cambria Co. Pa. The Brady's Bend, AnnsLmng Co. Pa. The Cosalo,
Lawrenoe Co. Pa. The Washinglon, at Wheeling, Va. The McNICkle, 01
CovinglOn, Ken'y The Newbury, near Cleveland, Ohio The Rail Road
Mill, 01 Cleveland The Wyandoue, """' Deuoit, Moch. The Chicago, in
Illinois The lndianaiXJhs, in lr<liana
Tollll above m~e of Rails m 1856
Tons of rails made in 1856
17,871 \3,512
141,555
The last four mills have been recently siane<l with ihc
inlention of re-rolhng wcstem raill. The Fairmount at Philada., bas
been also recemly a<l•pled lO rolling rails; 8lld the Polo Alto
at Pot~<ville, rolled a thousand LOn> or SIJ, in 1~56. There
were therefore made 142,555 IOns of railroad iron m 1856, of wh1ch
twO·lhirds were made in Pennsyl\•:tnia."
It is easy 10 forget how imponant mlroads were in Ameri<:a from
1850 10 1890. Railroads were
!he fin.! dominaling business, and 1herefore set the pa!ICms for
admini>tration, financing, and scale.
Railroad expansion spal1:ed many changes in social, technological,
and humllJl terms. The railroads
crealCd the demand for iron, then swel mil, and !he railroad men
were some of !he loudest boosLCr.:;
of !he fledgling Bessemer steel industry. Of the fir.:;t eleven
Bessemer plants, all but one wa..s
organized lOr the rail business."'
In 1861 Congress passe.d the Morrill Tllriff Act, which imposed
stiff duties on iron and steel
impom. American m:mufacturel3 were guarJnteed protection from
foreign competition. In 1870 a
tariff of $28 a ton was put on imponed Bessemer mils. In the Uruted
States in 1871 the price of
a gross !on of mils was $91.70: in England they cost $57.70. In the
next ycac British mils went
for $67.30 while American rails cost $99.70. American importers
could pay the $28 Wriff plus a
two 10 four dollar per ton lnuJsponation cost and still save money
over buying Americw rails.
:;'3 J.P L>oley, socrotary, Americo~ Iron As.<O<iaJion
Bodlelm /8.\6 (Philodelphia; Amenc•n hun A>•ocio<ion, ]g:;6,
correctod \o 1858), p. 171.
24. Elting E- Monson, Me11. M<JChini!s. aNi Madun 1im£.<
(Caml.-1dge: The M.LT_ Press. 1966), pp. 170-171
9
This siruation did no\ last long, for the price of American rails
ooon dropped. In 1875 English
rails cost $12 more than American, and by 1879 they were only $5
more. From 1875 10 1879
vcl1" few if any rail~ were imported from Great Britain." This was
due 10 !be introduCI.ion of new,
cheap steel rails.
THE AGE OF STEEL
The breakthroughs in lhe 1850s for making cheap steel were
pioneered by two Englishmen, Henry
Bes!iemer and Roto;,rt F. Mushet, and American William Kelly. Tlle
combination of their patenlS.
bringing wgethcr the various i.echnolo!,>ical, mechanical, and
chemical aspects of the process. result.ed
in the establishment of the American st.ecl iru:lusrry. (For an
in-depth discussion of lhese evems. and
the Cambria Iron Comp1111y's involvemem. sec chapler 1!1.) S1ecl
plants were established a.cross the
United States, arul from 1870 to 1907, Bc:ssemcr sl.ecl compriseil
half lhe naiional producticm. (For
a dio.cus.,ion of \he Bessemer steel indusrry's beginnings, sec
chapt.er Ill.) Almo;t all of this steel
went to the production of rails. American production of Bessemer
steel rJiiS surpassed that of Great
Britain in 1879; by 1886 the Unil.ed State~ was the largest steel
maker in tre world, with an output
of moro than 2.500,000 lJ;ms.'"
Pig iron was produced when several ingredients, iron ore, coke and
limestone, were heau:d together.
Included in !his mi~ture were phosphorous. manganese. sulphur,
silicon. carbon, and iron. The same
elemenl'; were presem in steel, but in different proportions.
Carbon in pig iron was 3.8 pero:nt of
the tol;ll while steel conl;lined 0.4 percent of carbon in the
whole. The primary challenge of
steelmaking was to reduce the carbon content. The making of
blist.er st.ecl result.ed in solid steel in
limited quamitics. Tllese n:stric1ive factors were conquered when
Henry Bessemer announccll his
new process in 1856."
The Bessemer process consisted of forcing cold air under pressure
to a pear-shaped ve,.,cl !mown
as a convener, partially filled with melted cast iron. Tllc air's
oxygen combined with the iron's
carbon and silicon and climinatro it, not through cooling. but
through combustion. The silicon,
manganese, and carbon joineil W!th the oxygen to form combustible
gases which burned off, leaving
:!5. JbLd,. j)p. \7\-Jil.
L-<wi<. /wn and ~1ecl. p.38; Sw~ /J(J/es, p. 156.
7.7. Mo"-'""· Men .. \laehiN!s, Modem. p. 125.
10
•
•
•
•
•
•
pure iron. However, some carbon was needed liJ make steel, so after
it was burned out of the
mixture it was added back lD !he iron. Manganiferous pig iron
(spicge!cism), composed of carbon,
mang!IIlCSe and iron, was added to lhe converter while 1\S contents
were s~ll fusing. The manganese
combined with !he oxygen w!Uch united with the non during lhe blasL
The product was liquid
B<:.-<semcr •tee!, produced in large quantities, which could
then be poured into ;hapcs. The
commc~ial success of Bc;scmcr steel laid in the control of !he
recarburization slCp of lhc process."
In a Bessemer steel plant lhe pig iron was brought into !he
wnverting hou>e by railroad cars. A
wn at a time was dumped iniD lhe cupola where it was mcllcd and run
off into ladles. From !here
lhe melted iron was tipped into S(XIuts which filled lhc convcrtc~.
Fans were then >lartcd which
blew air through. the \uye~~:s and lltrough the metal. Then began
the blow, "one of the most
impressive momenLS in American industrial history." When lhe blow
wa> Jiniohcd ihe moiLCn steel
was tipped imo ingot molds. After cooling ihe mgots were moved to
tile blooming mill where they
were hammered or rolled inJo blooms, or steel blocts. These could
then pass ihrough. the rail mill,
"which was like an old-fashioned laundry wringer wilh notches, rail
si1e, cut in (he roller,;_""
28 I amos M. Swank, }jjst"'Y "f 1M /tl"'"'facior< of /,on mAll
Age<. and Panic-.lwly in !he United S1<11<' from Colon«Jl
'}-.,..,, Io /891 (Phiiod<lphia: Tho 1\mericon Iron ond Sloe\
A>soc>alion, Jg92), p. 39S; :.to'"'"'· Men, Machi"''·
MoJ..,-n, PI'- 126-127.
l9. Monson, M<n, Machin<; .. 'J,.J""· pp \66-Hil _ AI"..OO" L
Holl<)', on early .Ovoca\< of ~IC Be>"-'"'"' I"'""""·
wroto a doscripoton of Ill< conversion procc» which w"'
en<>:! in ~'" indu.s~y f<>r yea<>;
The "vomous room i< dork: ibe oii sulphurous; ibe sound> of
'"PP''""'d l<'wcr "'" mcbnchuly ..,d doep. H•lf r<voakd
mon>!Cr> WLib pic~cing cyO> <touch 10 <he
c<>rn= Sped.! s!\af"'' evor fit about Lhc v.-oll, ond
IL>l'id beams of~~\ anon flash in )'OUr face "some
remor-<cl<5> be~'' "1"-"" LIS wd hoi jaws lor i\> iron
.. won. Then ibe melt<r !bnlst' a spe.tt bc1wcen Lhe JOints of
i<s armor, lilld , glistomng yellow stteam spurts ou\ for a
moment, an.d ibcn •tl is d.,-k once more. Agam ond agllin he .,..,
''· until 6 Ions of i" ho< aml '""'king biOO<l f,ll a
~f<al cuuldton to ibe btim. Then Lhc foreman >hoots to • 3{)
feet giant;, Lho comer. who sttoightway s\Ict<hes out his iron
arm .00 gently hf<s Lhe coul<lron awoy up in«> Ill<
,;,, and turns uu< ibe ydlow biO<ld ;n • hi"lfig. sporkhng
streom whlch drives into Lho wMe hot jows of aoolh<r monster big
as an elephant "ilh • head ILko a frog and • scaly hiclo_ Tho
foreman ohuu" og>in, a\ wheel< UpfLSoS tl10 munster on i"
haunches. growling and <nofli!\11 s~k> and flame.
What a confl1ct u[ olcm<11<> "going un in th-' Vll>l
M""""""' A million b•ll< uf melr<>l iron teanug awa)'
fruno Lho liquid mas~ sursing from side to side and plun~ing down
agaLn, nnly 10 be blown out mmc hot 1Lnd "'W} !ban before. ('nluom
upon column "f illf, ><jooo,:<;d >Olid ILkc roili of
gl""' hy ll" powor of 500 ),orse<, piercing and sha"ering tho
iron ot every· P"inl. chosing ir up onJ d<>wn, robbin~ it of
iLs ttell>Ule<, on!)' to be itself d=mposcd and hurled oo\
mto lhc night m • ru..-ing bl•<O- A• ibc combu><iLm
progrossc~ II« surgmg m.,s K'""' honor, tluol'oing ''' tlasl1e<
of liquid •nag_ And 1M dischiiig< frnm it-' mouth ch.mgo. !rum
>pack' and str<•i<> of r<J aoJ )'ellow gas «>
Lhick full while dazzling tlamo. But such botU:r "'"Tll'' 1'1>1
long. In • quarter of ou hour 1ho irun i> ""WCd ol eve.-y
combu,Lible olloy and hMgs out Ill< whito n,g_ Th< con>e~«
is !bon tumoti upon it> >Ld.o, ibc l•l"" shut off. and ibc
carburi>-"' run ;n, Tl10n foro moment tl" w.r of the
elen>ent> rages again- tl"' ""'-'' b.l<\S .00 flames with
highor inl<nsity and v.-iib a rapLLiily of chemical "''"'lion,
;omcrimc> ibrowmg it vioi<Tlll)' out of lhc cnn>·end.>
mou\h_ Tfu.-n oll is quicc a.Ld the p<Oduc\ is steel, ];quid.
mil!..y steel lho! I""'' out into ibe ladle from undor Ll< roof
of slag. smooth, shiny, Md dmo>! Uar'>t=cnL Quoloti in Lbtd.,
f'l'· 1\16-161,
It took yea.-.; for the quirks '" the Bessemer process to be
solved_ Improvements in the process
were developed by Engli~h inventors Stdncy U. Tllomas :md Percy C.
Gilchrist in the late 1870s.
TitC)' discovctcd that phosphorus could be eliminated from the
steelmaking process by changing the
actd lining of a furnace to a basic material. De:.pitc these
advanccmcnu;, deficiencies of the
lkssemer process led to the .Uopuon ol the open-hearth method ol
producing steel. This process
was refined by William and Frederick Siemens, and Pierre Martin in
1865. Abrom Hewin of the
Trenton Iron Works in Trenton. New Jersey. introduced tl1e
Siemens-Manin proce" into the United
St3tcs.'"
The open-hearth furnace had several advantages over the llessemer
convener. Various rypes of
scrap metal (.~Juld llc mixed with pig iron over a period of time.
Samples were tested until an
exact metallurgical combinanon W"-' achieved. Tlte steel was made
on a hearth benca!h a roof, and
it was acces;tble !hrough Jumace doors, whereas B~ssemcr saeel
could not be tested for quality
while it was made. Opcn·hcanh \>las slower !han the Bessemer
process, bul had a high production
capacity and a htgh level of scientific accuracy_ The largest
influence in tlu: adoption of the
opcn-heanh method over Bcs;cmer was its ability to use phosphoric
ores. After 186\1 open-hearth
production tncrca.scd, reaching 10,980,0CIO tons in 1906. In 1908
open-hearth steel SUipaSSed
lles.<emer >tee! in volume." (See appendix J for a
description of iron and steel processes. Sec
illuotr-Jtion l for diagram of entire steel process, from ore to
finished product.)
STEEL RAIL
Sleel mil wao.· preferred over iron nlil because of tis durabihty.
It could support heavier weights
of cars. locomotives, freight, :md passenger.;, and .:illowcd
trains to liavcl at faster speeds. Carrying
capacity increased while operating costs decreased. The usc of
steel rails prevented continual
disruption on the line; due to replacement of iron rails.
The imponance of ~tee! rail to America's economic development can
not be understated. According
to James W. Swank in 190-1:
l' Lev.;., Jwn =d .11<<1. P- 40, Tcmin, Eca"""'ic i"''Ul'),
pp 1~5-1~6; "Open 1-"'-'rlh Sreol Soon lO Pas> 11c,cmc-r," The
lmn Age (Apnt t~, t907) 1206, "S•«:l'' Contcnni•l 1957. The FmttOO
Year> of the S=l Age," Am""'"" bon md Sted lnstttmo. ~'"' York.
April 19S7. p. 25 Fm lwth<r infom1ation on the d""olopmenl of
tho >tc<:t P"'""''· ""' G.E. Th.ock"Y· "Noto> on tho
Hi•tory of lmn >rrd S"'el," Tr~"'"''W= of rloe ,),.,ric""
SQc.ery jOT Sreel Trea~i~g (October 1924). ''43-~91l.
12
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•
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But for our cheap steel rails flour and meat, lumber and coal, and
numerous other heavy produclS could not have been ~heaply
llistribuLed to consumcn;, the necessaries of life would have been
largely enhanced in price through !he high cost of
tr.l!l.~portation, and lhe whole country would have had a much less
raptd growth lhan it has experienced.
The bcncfico; which this country has denved from ctueap steel rails
of home mmufacture are so numerous that cntJ:r so largely imo the
daily life of ill our pc<Jplc that they have ceased to c~citc
spcdal comment, like the nawral blessings of light, air, and
water_"
The expansion of the r.nlroad sysLCm was a commercial boom ror the
American iron and steel
industry. At the end of 1860 there were 30,626 miles of r.lilm
ll.IC, but by 1895 this figure grew
to 181,021 miles. But while the demand lOr iron and steel promoted
the indusuies, so did the
protective policy to increase production. In comparison 'IOith
Great Britain, American production
grew during these years."
The llr,l swel rails in America were rolled at lhc North Olic:Jgo
Rolling Mill on May 24, 1864,
from Bessemer steel ingots forged at a small e~pcrimental works at
Wyandouc, Michigan. The
first steel rails rolled in America on commereial order "m the way
of regular business" were run
at the Cambria Jron Company in AuguSI 1867, from Bes.<emer steel
ingots ca>t by the Pennsylvania
Steel Company in Steelton, Pcnnsyh·ania. The mils were rolled for
the Pennsylvania Railroad
Company. (For more information on !his event see chapwr II.) After
that year Bessemer steel rails
of American manufacture began to replace iron rails. The highest
""'ount of iron nlils made was
&08.&66 tons m 1872, but by 1877 iron rail producllon !ell
behind Slel)l rJil production. '[lu, iron
rail industry was, by 1897, "practically ntinct." In 1880 iron
rails totaled 70.~ pem:m of the
nation's railroad track: by 1895, 87.8 percent of track was laid
wHh steel rail. Steel rails had, by
19()4, entirely replaced iron rails." In 1902 the nal!On produced
2,935,392 mns of Bessemer steel
rails. Wcswrn Pennsylv~~nia comriburcd 950,266 tons of this amount,
or one-third of !he totlll. This
lOnt~agc c""'e almost entirely from the Edgar Thomson Steel Worts
at Braddock, Pennsylvania.
operJted by And~ew Carnegie, and the Cambria Iron Compony."
(Appendixes 2 and 3 con!.lin
st.atistics on Briush and American rail, steel ingot, and
opcn-heanh production.)
" h,..k. "'M.,u!.«\u<o,"; 3-4_
" Swuol;. Nmes, FF· t'\4.)55.
" "Steel'• Coo!erutiot," p IS; Swi!nl:, -'Ia<"'• p 147, Swonl;,
"MJnufacturo.", 7, Rrudabaugh. "History.": 183.
" Swunl<. "M.muf•c<uto,'"; '"
Tile costs of shipping goods via rrulroad dropped steadily after
the inl.roduction of steel r.til. From
1867 !0 1877 !he cost of transponing a bu>hel of wheat by
railroad from Oticago to New Yolk
droprxd from 44.2 cents a bushel to 20.3 cents; from 1870 to 1880
!he cost of shipping a barrel
of Jlour from Olicago to New York by r;>il was reduced from
$1.60 !0 86 cents. By 1903 the
freight charge on the Pennsylvania Ra>lroad in car-load lol.S
from Oncago to New York wa.o; 36
cents per barrel.'"
A vital development in !he runlinued growih of !he ;-we! indusuy
wa.o; !he use of inlemal
combustion engines to drive lhc rolling miUs. In earlier years !he
mills were run by wa!er wheels
and then low-pressure steam engines. After 1890 !he internal
combustion engines opcruled on blast
furnace gas and not only operate<! electric power gcner-Jtors
IQr driving !he rol!ing mills but ran !he
blowing eqmpment for the bla't furnaces."'
AGE OF CONSOLIDATION AND INNOVI\TION
Jmponam changes took place in the United States in lhc time .-:riod
bet\<leen 1890 and World
War I. Many of lhc country's imponant public and private
inslltutions eme~ed in !heir modem
form. including corporations. trade and professional o~ani1.ations,
labor unions, regulatory toa.nls,
and other bureaucratic orgllni?ations. This transfonnation has heen
described by historians as
"finance capilalism," "scientific management," "'welfare
capitalism,"' "business unionism," "'industrial
democracy," "'Progressivism," and "'corroratc libera.Usm'' It made
no difference whether the Lerms
referred ro financial, social, indu~trial or political
developments, rhey were all related and linked
together."'
These interrelated developments can be seen in the rcslfUcturing of
rhe iron and steel industry in
America during this time period. Successful me~crs were b>.~ed
on a growth strntcgy of vcnical
integration. Almost aU of til<: primary metals oompanies gained
control of ore and fuel supplies,
and many moved into fabricating metal pmducts. The 1901 formation
of the United SUites S!ecl
Corporation, which wa<; a holding company. unified 60-70 percent
of the country's <;tcclmaking
16. Ibid·' 3.
•
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•
•
•
•
capacity under a single slructure. Even though U.S Steel's
production totaled only 23 percent of
lhe country's steel in 1977, it ami six o!her finns still dominated
th~ industry."
Tile House of Morgllll played a cruc1:il role in !he creation,
fmancing and control of U.S. SteeL
Bankers and financiers reorganized !he industry, inheriting the
power once wielded by the
s!eelmakcrs. This iUusLruted the "ruanagenal revolution," when
foundc" of swe! rui!\s and sclHaughl
steelmakcn; were replaced in leadership roles by managcmem
spcciJJists, all highly trained and wcU
educ;ued."'
Thus dle American iron and steel indrntry undcTV<cnt
consolidanon in !he late nincLC~nth century,
which. accomparucd !he growth of large-scale martets and expansion
of the railroads. Limited
capacity ironworu simply oould nO\ compete. Companies saved money
and o~rated more
eJllcienlly by comroUing their sources of rdw matcrials, and the
integration of lhc convcn;ion of
pig iron imo steel md then imo products aiJed efficiency.
PitL,burgh took advamagc of it>
proximity to the Connellsville, Pcnnsylvunia, coalfields, its rail
and river tmnsponation, and location
near eastern markets to become the leader in steclmakmg alter the
Civil War. Iron ore fields in
upper Michigan and nonhero Wisconsin paled in comparison ,.;th the
discoveries of ore in the
Vermilion and Mesabi ranges, nonh of Duluth, Minnesota_ The Mesabi
Range supp~cd ore for Lhc
iron and steel indu>11')' for fifty years after the tum of the
ccntul')'."
Coal was also a nccessal')' fuel for the furnaces. Scfore Ule
1831}; almost all pig iron was made
with charcoal, but af\er lhis time coal regan to be used. The cobng
process expelled gas from soft
bituminous coal and left coke, which approached pure carbon. Han!
anthracite coal comained vel)'
little gas and was called "natural coke." EasiCm Pemsylvania
oontained heavy concentrations of
anthroci!c coal which was used by cao1cm iron producers. Bituminous
coal. more abundant west of
!he Alleghenies, was used both in its original form or coked, by
we.1tem producer.; including !he
Clii!lbrla Iron Company. Another factor is this use of bitumlnou'i
coal w~s lransponation. Tile
Allegheny Mountains prohibited easy shopmcnt of coal cast and west.
Therefore, eastern iron
39 ]bi<!., flll. 'i->~i. A ,·enic>l coml:rin:~~mn brought
under singlo C<morol oil of lho sl.lge> of an mdustri.J
P"''""'· from lhe row m:llortol< "' lho fllllihed product,
~<hile a horiL.onoal oombi.1adon wur.e<J indcpendon• flii!Uo
all in lhe ''"'"' businc" under <ingL< oo"orol. Mu.~ U.S.
St.,.], kno''"' '-> '"!Jig S1<el.'" lhe si< l:Ug<~l
companies, producing 70 percent of American >loci Ln t977, wcro:
Bclhlchcm Sled Compa.1y (!3.6\'o), N•tionol S1<ol (1.2%),
R,"P"bhc S1<cl Corror.own (7 .2\t). lol>nd Sf<<\
OompanY (6.4%). An~>co "' Am<rican Rolling Mill (0-4%), mol
Jones al"ld L..ugl•t;, (610. Ibid .. no!e, p. t77; Alfrod D.
Cl>andl« Jr., "Tho Slructure of Am«<ean lndu>try in Lhe
Twc"f1Uc\h Century' A His\oncot lh·cn·icv,," IJ"-''""" /li>IM}
R<Vjew, Xllll, no_ 3 (Aunmm 1969): 271.
Lewis, /rem and Sre,·l, pp. 43-44.
"
pmducers used anthracite coal even though coke technology was used
in England and became tlle
swndanl in America. Anthr~cite coal burned too slowly for
efficiency in smelling, however, and
soon the manufactmc of cok:c from bituminous coal became widely
accepted. Beehive ovens were
fir.;t used, and then supplanled in the 1890s, in the urban centers
at lc!!.lt, by the by-product overu,
which were designed to capture gases. lllrs. and other
substances."
Compclilion spurred the irmovations in eMracr.ing. processing, and
mmsponing iron ore. "The
Bes;emer process needed iron ore low in phospholl.l!i while hard
driving in the bl~t furnace needed
fuel which would bum rapidly and not crush. Local imn ores were
soon replaced with L.W.
Superior and foreign ores. The usc of Lake Superior on.:s began
gradually because of transporration
pmblem;, but costs were lessened wi!l1 the mcrcased capacity of ore
boal!l and wilJJJhc introduction
of mechanical unloading. One-fourth of the nation's iron ore was
mined from the Lake Superior
area in the 1870s. Tins amount rose after 18RO to one·half in 1890
und two-!hirds in 1900''
llasic procedures for smelling. refirung. and rolling steel had
come from Europe, but Americaru
continually improved the processes. Afl.er 1870 trained chemists
brought :;cientific methods to bear
in met.allurzical problems. Machinery was improved to move
materials at the furnaces. Refining
processes were also improved for both Bessemer convener.; and
open-heanh furnaces. The
integration of production stages soon occumil. William "Captain
Bill'" Jones developed new
machines. improved equipment. and devised plant layoUls which
promoted coordination and
efficiency. Jones, who go\ his stan at Cambria. then incorporated
all of the technological
42 Ibid., pp. 4·1. 46; Temin. Iron aM. S<e<i. f'P·
52-'iJ.
43 ~wL<. /u)Tl ami. S•od. pp 43-41; T emm. E:c"'"""<e
l"'i"""Y· pp 194-196. Peter Temm dc>enb«! how iron w,.;
muve<i f"'"' Mumewta to Ponruylv..,io<
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•
developments al the Edgar Thomson plant for Andrew Carnegie, wiJh
no expense spared.
Open-hearth technology was also improved with changes in
configuration and operation ...
Rolling mill processes were improved, wuh a continuous. mcchanicul
operation !he goaL lngoL'
arriving at a roiling m!IJ were mechanically transferred from
railroad cars. heated, and conveyed
10 heavy metal rolls mounted in adjustable stands. Before l.hc
Civil War. iron-rolling mills used
two mlls to a set, whereas three-high s!ands were used after the
war. 'The Lhrec-high roll wa'
pioneered by John FriiZ at C:llllbria. (For more information on the
technological improvements in
rolling mills see chap!Cr IlL) Bars were passed back and forth with
ease, and the final step or
mechanizing the lift upward for the n:tum pass was accompli,hed by
Rohen W. Hunt in 1884,
also a former Cambria employee."
Advancements in technology were the result of intense com~tillon m
the Amcncan Slccl industry.
A certain psychology existed in !hm;c who headcrl !he steel mills.
Andrew Carnegie was preoccupied
with economy in sacclmaking. and this was constdered to be !he key
to Amencan success in lhc
field. Charles M. Schwab, president of U.S. St,.,l, remarked:
"Camcgtc never "anted 10 know the
profits. He always wanted W know lhc cos!." Economy and lhe
reduction of production cosl' were
essential to economic sur;iv~l and achievement. A~cording to steel
historian David Brody:
That impulse for economy shaped American steel manufacrun:. ll
inspired the inventiveness that mechanized !he productive o~mtions.
It fotmcd the calculating objective mcnLality of the induS!I)' It
selected and tw'dcrrcd the managerial ranks. Its tuhnological and
psychological consequ~n,.,s, finolly, defined the treatment of !he
steelworkers. Long h.ours, low wages, bleak conditions,
anti-unioniSl!l, rlowcrl .:tike from !he economizing drive that
made the American steel industry the wonder of !he manufacruring
world ...
The need for economy was dictated by the demands of com~titio.J
which preceded the mergers
of the 1890s_ Steebnakmg was considered a "mercile!s game" because
the dcman;l for steel,
primarily for railroads, was unstable_ The unceasing disparity
between supply and demand fostered
com~tition. Steel companies cut prices to keep on:len; during
depressed yean;. From the boom year
45. !bid., P- 48; David Bmd}, St<e/worler' in ,\merica Th<
NwwniO'I Cra (New Yoli:· Harper Tw:hO....>h 1 ~60j. pp ~-11
.
of 1880 to !he "wllapscd" market of IB85, steel rail prices fell
from $85.00 to $27.00 a ton_ Only
tile most economic and efficient could survive."
Mcdumzation grca!ly improved produclion. Profits from increa.ed
output oulWeighed the costs of
rapid wear ;md rcpl"cement The top produccn; in !he irulustry
garnered fame and fortune. Andrew
Carnegie became a steel titan by controlling raw materials to
assure continuity of operation at
minimal cost He h.ired men wilh SCientific and technological
experti>e and in.sistcd on the most
up-to-date equipment.""
Carnegie's methods fon:cd other >teet businesses w adopt w
survive During !he depression years
of lhc !~90s many small producers were absorbed by merger~. Eleven
major reorganizations or
consolidations occum:d in the induSlry lx:twecn lSn and 1899. ll
was during these yeill1> that !he
Cambria Iron Company reorganized, becoming the Cambna Steel
Company. The luturc. however,
lay with the Carnegie Company because of Carnegie's abiluy lD
coru;istently urulerscl! his
competitor.., and grow in the race of mcrcasing economy. The iron
and steel trade was "dis.astrous"
in 1893, with many firms Jailing. Carnegie was able 1C monopolize
the depressed m.rkel and lD
further perfect eco!IOtlncaJ stcclmakmg. By 1897 Carnegie could
charge only $14.00 per ton for rails
on some Orden; and still make a profi1. Only rising prices in 1899
saved e:mcm producers. '!bey
learned a lesson from Carnegie: only economy. efficiency, and
control of raw resources could ellSilre
a place in ~1c market."
The need for economy, spurred by competition, supported the
tcchnolog!cal advancements. Ths
technology, in tum, promoted economy. The two force> affected
!he mentality of the steelmakers.
They werc extremely calc11Ming and rational. When a Briton visited
the Uniled Slates in 1890 he
was amazed at !he rapid rate of driving blast furnace> which
wrecked !heir int.erion; every three
years. The Amcncan furnaces smelted six times as much iron as !hose
at the ClaTCilCC work~ in
England, but the f.nglish furnaces were performing as well as they
d1d seventeen and one-half yean;
11 lhi<L, pp. 2-J.
;g_ t"'"'''· /;on arul Soed, p. 50. f,, more information on
Amlr<"' C"..-nogio's llfc ...J car<'T ><<; Ho<otd
C_ t.<ve<O)'. Al«i;e" Camcg'" w.l ,r., Rise of Bi8
Br<>incS> (So>tono ).<lUC, lltown and Compmy, l97J)
ond Josc1'h Frazior Wall. A..dr<w Camqie (Kcw York- o,[md
Uncvmtty Press, 1970). Se< '""' IJ•dW"""! of Aoteric"" Bwgrarhy,
1930 cd, ~ v_ -•c..,<~"· A<oltow," by f!urton )me
H<"'!mk_
18
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•
•
•
ago. Cambna's Superintendent Ch.arlcs S. Price remarked: "We ihink
!hat a hning is good for so
mucll iron 1111d Ihe sooner it makJ::s it the better.'"
By 1900 lhe maJOr characteristics of American steelmaking were in
place. Mcch.wir.ation (If the
process had oCCuiil!d, management ruled wHh logic and economy, and
the place of labor had
already been defined. Labor was looked at only in terms of cC(lnomy
because it was a wst item
American acoomplishment in ste.cl was based, in pan, on labor
savings. According to his!Orian
John Brody:
Every elTon was directed IDwanl lowering lhe labor cost [X'f lDn of
~t.eel. Cost per \Dn, however, had only bookkeeping meaning. The
individual workman was the ac\ual unit, Ulld !he variahles m labor
cost wen: his productivity and earnings over the same period. The
goal of economy, as it rela(r.d to labor, was to mul!iply the
worl<er's output in relation to his income. Compln enough in its
det;ull, lhe steelmasters' labor policy n:duced to lhat simple
objective."
Pmducuvity was more imfJJrtant lhan labor. Whenever pos>ihle lhe
labor force was decreased l"ilh
increases in !he pace of work. Mechanization was lhc key !0
multiplying worker productivity, As
lhe yea~ went by, gangs of laborers well' no longer needed ""
production procedures were
mechanilCd. Manual operatio~ in the blast furnaces, rolling mills
and finishing miUs quickly
disappeared. The role of the stcclworl(crs lhus changed. H1ghly
skilled workers who once handled
hot steel in lhc rolling mills became semiskilled machine
operators. Judgment and cxpcnise were
no longer required. But also eliminated was much of lhe intense,
hot tabor required to feed furnaces
and other equipment. Heavy work did remain, but by 1900 it was
generally recogni1.ed !hat
American steel labor's worl( wa> easier."
Labor was atTec~d by economy through technological changes and
labor cosLS were reduced through
the development of efficient machinery However, labor was direclly
touched by issues such as
wages md hours, and lhese were looked at with !he same scrutiny
which the stedmakers applied
to the entire husines>. The relationship between hours of work
and mechani7.ation WitS recognized
wi!h maximum productivity the objective. Hours were d1ctated by
both the mechwintlion wd
integration of the sLCclmak.ing process and by the economic heal!h
of lhc industry. Boom penods
demanded longer hours while panics and depll'ssioru; closed planll.
Half-speed operations wen: not
Ibid_, p. 28 .
Ibid .. PI'· Jl 34_
efficient. and p);llllS wcro oflen shut down until orders sparked
their reop;:ning. Continuous
cmploymcm was rossible only during excellent economic
conditions."
The dctennination of wages was ano!hcr considcrntion affected by
productivity. Basically. !here
W"-< no connection between them. In earlier year:s workers were
paid on a tonnage basis, which
reltectcd their output. Mcchani~ation. however. separated !he
amount of a worker's labor from h.is
earnings because the growth of pruductivity of a blast furnace came
from capital expendilllro, not
human effon. Even !hough working hours were mcroased, Lhe increa~e;
in workers' productivity led
to the reduction of the cost of labor. How much a steelworker
earned was based on both market
conditions and the supply of labor. During good years labor
shonages developed wh.ich led to
higher pay. This wa<; no problem since prices wero also up.
During economic deprcssmll.l, however,
workcr.s often accepted wage reducnoru. In 1893 Cambria's
P<Jwe!J Stackhou'le remarked: '"We were
looking everywhere to reduce our costs, and labor got its share of
it. .. We got !hem down low.
We had w:· If prices dropped. wages did wo."'
The results for lite steel industry were spectacular. During the 20
yean; following 1890 a furnace
worker's output tripled while his income rose one-half. A
~teelworker doubled h!S p!U(]uctivity
while receiving only onc-fif!h more pay. This was possible only
because Lhe labor force could not
oppose acdsion.~ made hy the .~~eelmakers. The drive of economy
dictated the position of labor ar1d
labor unions in lhc steel industry."' (For mono itiformation on
labor uniorn and the stecl industry
sec chapter V.)
From 1865 to 1985 continuous change occurrod in the production of
iron and steel, with the
following results: the numbers of workc,;- per ton of metal mlled
was reduced, some skilied
po>itinns were rendered obsolete, skilled workers lost contrul
over how they perfonned their jobs,
only >emixkilied jobs were required to pmduce Bessemer steel.
and managers could train new
5l !btO .. pp. J4 40. For mformatLOn M ht>w technotot:Y
aff<:<t«l lhc JObs Lmolvcd wuh mWng steel,"'" Kalhcrinc
S\floe, 'The Ong;n of Job Structu<e< ;n Uto
S!Oollndu<try;· ll<ldicaJ Amenca 7. no.~
(Novemh<r-Poc<mbc< 1973): 19-64 .
lhiO .• pp. 48-49.
•
•
•
•
•
•
employees. TI!is was lhe background for how slCel workers rclaJ.cd
LO each other, whether skilled
or unskilled, and with management-'•
CONTINUED GROWTH OF STEEL INDUSTRY
Steel usc continued lO expand afler the Hurry of lllilmad
ooru;ll1Jction. In 1890 heavy wmor plates
were fir.;! made by lhc Belhlehcm Iron Company. The plate was used
in !he building of •teel
vessels, and in lhc con~truction and armament of the U.S. Navy."
Other industries which boomed
at the end of tre century included the production of slructural s=t
steel wire, and wire rod. A
vital development in lhe growlh of steel was the use of lhe
continuous rod mill, first buill in 186\l,
which produced wire for Lelegraph Iiru:s, fences, and suspensioo
bridges. The invention of bartlerl
wire in 1873 also increased the demmd for wire, along with lhe use
of wire nails which replaced
1111ditional cut nails. Another development was ~amless steel
tubing, made by rotary piercing, and
fi~l produced in 1895 in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. It was then
possible !.0 produce tubing for
!he bicyde, automoUve, and petroleum industries. A promising
newcomer in the laiC nineteenth
centul)' was lhc tinpla!C industry."
Open-health !Cchn<Jlogy was challenged by lhc introduction or
!he elcclric furnace, which was
suitable for making spcciali7.ed alloy stccls. The fi~t direct-arc
furnace Wall buill in Syracuse. New
York, by !he Balwmb Steel Company. and was first used on April 5.
1906. The fumacc Wa<S
charged wilh scrap metal and heat from lhe = mel!Cd !he charge.
Steel produced by !his method
increased as cheaper eleelricity became available, as lhe supply of
scrap rnelal increased, and as Lh-e
demand for spcdaJ Sleds increa,.,d."
S6. !lennon, "Iron w.,!«,-," p 3S. fur d<oailod informat>on
on oho VllnCty of work<= ond tho;.- laW in m~ sl<o), '-"" pp.
27-:l3 of Bennen, "Iron Worl;c,.;· ond John A. Fitcll's
d<scr:lptions of s""-.-wOTkc-rs in Allegheny Codl\ty in 1910. in
The Steel Worker.< (New Ymk' Charitie• l'llblication Commit~«,
l9Jl; r<p-Lm 121. New York' Ami>&. 'Tho New York Tunes,
t969~ ci>•ptcr lU "The llliLSt Fllmll<:e Crews,"
clu<pt<r IV "l'udll<ls ond Iron Rollers," or.! chopter VI
'TheM"" of the Rolling Mills." For a <li>ous.>ion of the
la>ks involved with openling the blast furno<es
(bot10m-H1Jers, w<ighe.rs, barrowmon, larrym<n, etc.) ond the
open-hearth furnaces what <YI>'-' of worker p«forrnt>J
those ""l« ""dhow mc<:hmiaion etiminaled mOlly positions,"'"
Charles Roil<ll, "Macllino<)' Olld It> Ben<!lts 10
!.moT in lhe Crude Iron & St<ol lndus<ries." (Ph.D.
dmenation, Uni'C~sity of Pennsylvania, !917). pp_ ~-36.
n Swllllk, Nales,w. 147·148. For • tllorougil hi.ltOI}' of oho
Navy's"'"'"' for armor md wmamonl befo,.., World War I whl<h
g•vo rise Ill a m1litazy-industrial oomplc>, "'" Ben!"'"'"
Fronldln Cooltng, Gray S1eel and Bl"" Water Nary "/he Fur,.,ive
Yews of America'.> M!lllary-/r>J.u.<rria!. CCJmpla
1881-1917 (H""'""'" CannO<ticuc A1chon Boot<, 1979)
Sw..,., Nom.!'!'- 148-15\J: "S\c-ol'• Crntonnial-19~1," pp. 15-16;
Temin. Ec"""-"'ic Inquiry. p. 2TJ .
"S<ed's Centenniol-1957," 1'1' \4, Z.'i
The modem mass-pmducuon ma-;s-coruumption economy was marked by
tJu, apPearance of !he
automobile. This indus\ry inOucnced production and techn;llogical
change in the s~e<:l indusuy just
as !he railroad industry had done in the nineteenth century. By
1929 the car induMry consume<~ 6
m111ion wns of s.ee1 a year. Highway construction established the
need for reinforcement ban;. 55
wns per mile. Railroads were still expanding, and consuuclion of
skyscrllpers created demand for
structunll steel. The growih of the appliance industry ronsumcd
even more steel. Production of steel
soared from ll.400,000 tons in 1900 to 63,205.490 tons in
1929.60
Ano!ltcr vual devclopmcnl for sLCel's growth was the first usc of a
continuous rolling miU for
producing wide '"strip'" or sheet metal. This was fliNt used in
1923-1924. John Butler T'ytul;
suceessfully designed a mill which produced a rontinuous sheet of
s!CCI from an ingot wilhout
buctling or variation in the gauge. By 1955 steel sheets and strip
accoUJ1ted for 47 percent of lhc
industry's hot rolled producllon''
Con~olida!ion cominucd into the twentieth century. By 1929 only a
few giant steel corpor:nions
cxisl.cd, having sv.allowed smaller fiiTils. During this era lhe
Cambria Steel Company wa~ iaken
over by the Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company and lhen by the
Bcl.h.lehem Steel Company .
U.S. Steel was the largest steel company, with four time' the
income of the next lmgest, Bethlehem
Steel. Other ftnns included Youngstown Sheet and Thbc Company,
Jones and Laughlin Steel
CorporJiion. Republic Steel COTporation, National Steel Company,
Inland Steel Company, and the
American Rolling Mill Company, or "Am1co."'" (Sec appendix 4 for
the ten lat}lest stcd companies
in selectC\.l ycaiN, 190-1-1950.)
Technological and scientific discoveries in steelmaking continued.
Among lhc most dramatic was
the mixing of iron and steel wilh other metals to produce alloys
such as nickel sle<:l annor pla!C,
vanadium steel. tungsten s\eel, and olhcrs. Slainless s!Ccl was
rommerciaUy produced in lhe 1920s,
•
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•
By the time of World WM !1, !he steel mdwmy had wcaillcn:d many
changes. At that time
American steel production equalled !hat of lhe ~~:st Df tile world.
The drastic decline in the
American steel industry in !he 1970s and 1980s was lhe result of
m311y interrelated forces. The
dramatic growth of foreign steel: the rcsullant excess steelmaking
capacity; incn:ased usc of plastics,
aluminum, and other subslituJe ma!Crials: the decline of lhe labor
movcmeJJL; and the dctcrio111lion
of !he Ame