The Iron Boys in the Steel Mills; or Beginning Anew in the Cinder Pits Read online

  CHAPTER II

  MAKING A NEW START

  "I beg your pardon, Mr. Keating," apologized Steve, reddening a little.

  "So this work is too slow for you, eh?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "It strikes me that it has been rather the opposite. You certainly haveexcitement enough, don't you?"

  "Well, yes, sir, but----"

  "Step into my office."

  "Rush's going to get his," mumbled the telephone operator, coming tolife for the moment. "I shouldn't care to be in his shoes just atpresent."

  "Sit down, Rush. I will confess that I am rather surprised at the remarkthat I just overheard you make."

  Mr. Keating was a man well past middle age. His hair was gray, hisbristling mustache of the same shade, gray, twinkling eyes addinggreatly to the general effect of the face. But it was the square-set jawand the firm set of the lips that revealed the iron in the make up ofthe superintendent. All this Steve Rush saw at a glance and understood.

  "Perhaps I should not have been quite so outspoken," admitted the lad."That is a fault of mine."

  "That is not always a fault. Most honest men are outspoken, my lad. Butto return to the subject of our discussion. I was in hopes you wouldlike the place we have given you. It is an important position anddifficult to fill. On the other hand, you have shown remarkable aptitudefor the work. You have done better in it than any other man we everhad."

  "Thank you, sir."

  "All the more reason why I wish you would stay. You are not thinking ofleaving the employ of the company, are you?"

  "No, sir."

  "Then what is the matter?"

  "Nothing is the matter, sir, except that I don't particularly enjoybeing the trouble man. It is really my business to get others intotrouble, and----"

  "Not at all."

  "It so turns out, just the same."

  "I am sorry you look at it in that way."

  "What is more, Mr. Keating, I wish to learn the real business of ironand steel making."

  "It strikes me that you have a pretty good start already," said thegeneral superintendent, a grim smile appearing on his face.

  "I shall never learn it where I am. Of course I have learned a greatdeal about first aid to the injured and the like, also location of thedifferent departments in the mill. However, sir, I want to learn thebusiness, and I want to learn by actual experience everything about themills."

  "A very praiseworthy ambition. But we like you very well where you are.As I have already said, we have never had men in the accident departmentwho were as thorough and trustworthy as you and Jarvis. It is also easywork, compared with other occupations in the mill."

  "That is just it, it's too easy. Give me something hard, something thatwill keep my muscles up. We have been leading an active life for thepast two or three years, Mr. Keating. We'll go stale if we don't get towork soon."

  "Will Jarvis wish to change also?"

  "I have not talked the matter over with him. He usually wants to go withme wherever I go."

  "Have you any choice as to department or work?"

  "No, sir, save that I should like to work through all of them."

  "But, lad, there are many trades represented in the mills. You cannothope to learn all of them," objected the general superintendent.

  "I do not want to learn them all, Mr. Keating. There is only one tradethat I want to learn, and I _do_ want to know all about that, eventhough it takes me years to learn it."

  "What trade is that?" smiled the superintendent indulgently.

  "The steel trade. I want to learn the steel business. I have a fairlygood working knowledge of the ore business right down to the gates ofthe mills, but when I get inside the fence surrounding the mills I am inan unknown world, as it were."

  "So it is to a majority of the men working there. But I begin tounderstand. You have ambitions," laughed Mr. Keating.

  "Yes, sir, I have."

  "What have you ambitions to become, if I may ask?"

  "To have as thorough a knowledge of the manufacture of steel as any manin the country," answered Steve Rush boldly.

  Mr. Keating gazed at the lad keenly. He saw that the boy meant exactlywhat he said. The superintendent saw the Iron Boy in a new light, from anew viewpoint as it were. He had been told by Mr. Carrhart, president ofthe mining company, that these were two unusual boys, and Mr. Keatinghad found them to be unusual in that they were more efficient than anyyoung men he ever had had under him in the offices. He had not,however, fully realized the extent of the ambitions of the boys. Herewas a boy in a nice, easy berth, drawing twelve dollars a week, and theboy was complaining because the work was too easy. He wanted somethingto do _to keep his muscles up_!

  The superintendent's first inclination was to laugh, but the sober,earnest face of the Iron Boy robbed the situation of its humor.

  "I have handled men for many years, my lad, but I am forced to admitthat I never had such an unusual demand made upon me."

  "I am sorry, sir, if I----"

  "It is usually quite the opposite. The young fellows want somethingeasier to do, and at more pay. Let me see; you boys, I understand, weredrawing more than a hundred dollars a month in the mines up on our ironranges?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "How much did you get on the lakes?"

  "The same."

  "And you are getting twelve dollars weekly here?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Quite a come down from twenty-five dollars a week to twelve, isn't it?"

  "Yes, sir, as far as dollars and cents go. But there are other things toconsider when one starts out to make a future for himself."

  "You are right, my lad; there _are_ other things to consider. Thetrouble is that few of our young men of the present generation considerthem. They expect to be pushed along to the head of the procession, butwithout the trouble of taking their turn in the ranks and learning thebusiness by the sweat of their brows. I should like to be able to giveyou more money; in fact, I have been considering giving you an increasevery soon. If you change, of course, I shall not be able to do that.Wages in the mills are fixed."

  "Yes, sir."

  "A certain scale of prices prevails and it is not within my power tochange those prices. Only the Board of Directors can do that by atwo-thirds vote."

  "I shall be content with my present wages," answered Rush.

  "That is just the trouble. You will not receive your present wages. Yourwages will, of necessity, be reduced with your change of occupation."

  "Oh, very well, sir."

  "Yes! I am sorry, but the rule is inflexible."

  "How much shall I get in the mills, sir?"

  "We start all our boys and men at a dollar a day."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Are you still of the opinion that you want to make the change?"questioned the superintendent, with a quizzical smile.

  "Yes, sir."

  "Then all I have to say is that you are the kind of young man that thesteel company is looking for," announced Mr. Keating, pushing back thepapers on his desk, toying thoughtfully with a paper cutter.

  "Thank you. Then you will give us a place in the mills--you will permitus to make the change without prejudice, will you not?"

  "Indeed, yes."

  "Where will you put us?"

  "I shall have to think about that. I'll have to pick out somethinghard," laughed the superintendent. "I think we shall be able to satisfyyou on that point."

  "I shall be satisfied, whatever you decide."

  "Wait a moment. I will speak with the assistant superintendent. Perhapswe can settle the matter right here."

  Mr. Keating stepped into an adjoining office and was closeted with hisassistant for some time. What was said there, of course, Rush did notknow. When the superintendent returned he was smiling.

  "Well, sir, it's all settled," announced Mr. Keating. "You will wish youhadn't spoken."

  The superintendent chuckled as if it were an excellent joke. Stevesmiled in sympathy with the joke th
at he did not understand.

  "You will receive the munificent sum of a dollar a day, and your jobwill be in the cinder pits."

  "Yes, sir; what do we do there?"

  "Shovel cinders the greater part of the time. You know the cinder pitsare located in the open-hearth furnace building. The cinders and slagare dumped into these pits after the casts are made. When the pits getcool enough the pitmen get in and shovel the stuff out. Are you fullydecided to take the job?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "I see there is no swerving you from your purpose. To tell the truth, Iwas in hopes you would draw back. But, after all, I am glad that you didnot," added Mr. Keating, nodding his head reflectively.

  "When do we begin the new work, sir?"

  "You may start in to-morrow morning. I will have the foreman make ashift in order to make room for you."

  "Thank you, sir. What pit do we work in?"

  "I will put you in number seven, Foley's pit."

  "I think I see my finish," muttered Steve. He knew how Foley felt towardhim for having made the report he did on the accident that day, andRush expected no quarter.

  "I'll take what comes to me and keep my mouth shut," he added tohimself. But had the Iron Boy known all that was in store for him hemight have changed his mind.