OCR Text |
Show HOIHE ffifi Touun Mw. k IN WASHINGTON "tjt MORRISVILLE, Pa.-Here in the cradle of American liberty, only a stone's throw south of the site of Gen. George Washington's historic crossing of the Delaware river, a new and exciting chapter in the romance of American industry was written recently when ground was broken for the construction of the Fairless works of the United States Steel corporation. There have been new plants of United States Steel built in this country in the fifty-year history of USS, but never before, even under pressure of two world wars, has a steel plant of this size been built all at one time, which, by the end of next year, will be producing 1,800,-000 1,800,-000 ingot tons of steel. The day, the weather, the site and the plans made to promote the occasion were all of a piece to stimulate the imagination: a cold, snow-spitting day; 3900 acres in a bend of the Delaware river just south of this small village. It could have been such a day when the Continental army In mall boats assayed the crossing; cross-ing; of the Ice-rhoked Delaware to engage the British In the battle bat-tle of Trenton. But there was no such Inxury and trimmings and (as heat, no filet mignons for the ragged, battle-weary, cold and bedraggled troops of General Gen-eral Washington as greeted the -gnesta of United States Steel. Today the work is going forward to build a $500,000,000 plant to produce pro-duce more steel to stiffen the ribs of the nation and to pour more wealth into its economic veins. It does not require much of the Imagination Im-agination to picture this spot within with-in a few short months 10,000 employees em-ployees who must have houses, who must have schools and shopping facilities and churches where there are none today. It requires little of the imagination to picture the huge dredging boats which will rout out a channel in the Delaware from Philadelphia up to the Trenton bridge, 40 feet deep, and dock facilities facili-ties accommodating large size ocean going vessels. And in the mind of this reporter, who was present on this occasion, the Fairless works of United States Steel is the smaller end of this project proj-ect which has required several years of planning and promotion, of vision and pioneering effort. For at the other terminal of these huge ocean going vessels is a veritable mountain of irolj ore which must be scooped up and transported from the jungles of Venezuela to the hungry maws of the ore-eating furnaces fur-naces of the Fairless works on the banks of the Delaware. And here again the pioneering spirit and the Imagination of the men who run United States Steel is projected into the future. For in the revolution-troubled country of South America, engineers of USS must dredge through the troublesome delta of the Orinoco, up-river into the jungles pastCiudad Bolivar, upstream up-stream on a tributary to Bolivar mountain, said to be higher grade ore than in the famous Mesabi range in northern Minnesota. But more, two towns must be built for employees of this fast undertaking, more schools and stores and housing hous-ing and spraying against jungle ills, before pcean going ore boats form a moving link between the South American republic and the vast new plant in Pennsylvania. More than a billion dollars is involved in this gigantic undertaking by United States Steel on two continents. As Benjamin Fairless, president presi-dent of United States Steel, said: "This constant interchange of wealth between two continents conti-nents will create new jobs, new homes, new opportunities and new prosperity for the people peo-ple of both countries, and will 'surely strengthen the historic bonds which have long united the Americas economically, politically and fraternally." This reporter sees in this vast new undertaking of private enterprise enter-prise another evidence of the partnership part-nership so often spoken about a pannersnip neiwecil wuui, uiuuau; and government. It took government govern-ment certificates of necessity for permission to build this plant; it .took government allocations of the steel to fabricate the plant and it takes the government, through army engineers, to provide the channel In the Delaware so that ships may go through. All of which makes rather ridiculous the oft-heard charges from private enterprise itself, it-self, that the government is going socialistic and that private enterprise enter-prise is doomei. It would appear that United States Steel has at least a billion dollars worth of faith that private enterprise is her o stay. 18-Year-Olds The 79 to 5 vote by which the senate passed the bill providing for the draft of 18-year-olds now and universal military training later, was a surprise even for the supporters sup-porters of the bill. On final passage only five Republican senators voted against the measure. The bill now goes to the house where it will possibly face another period of debate, but should pass without too much difficulty. |