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Show 39 From the top of the fourth blast furnace, a mixture of smoke, ore, and dust had shot a hundred feet into the sky. The orange-red column stood straight up for a moment, as though testing the direction of the wind, and then began to move lazily toward Chestnut Street and Pine Alley. With a bang, the Culley screen door burst backward as Bridey, Jame, and the three little Marys swarmed into the yard, carrying empty clothes baskets. Given ordinary luck, they'd have ten minutes to get the wash off the line before the ore hit. In a never-ending process, the huge, cylindrical blast furnaces were loaded from the top with alternate layers of coke, iron ore, and limestone. As the heat melted the ore, the load slowly sank, to be tapped out of the bottom as more coke, ore, and limestone were added through the top. Sometimes, though, a layer of ore would get stuck, welding itself to the sides of the furnace as the rest of the burden settled, widening a gap in the middle of the furnace. When the stuck ore broke loose and fell, it could drop with enough force to blow the tops off furnaces and kill steel workers. Most often the ore slip only shot plumes of smoke into the sky, orange smoke that drifted outward and rained ore dust on fresh laundry. Charles Bonner's wet drawers and table linens were hastily dumped into wicker baskets as the Culleys labored to get the wash inside. Karl debated whether he should help them, but they seemed to have the situation under control. After a moment he called, "Hunnie, come on home. Get over here before the dirt falls." |
