10 VIMU By working together we can supply our needs in a quicker and better way than by working alone. But what do we really mean by working together? This is sometimes very hard to understand. Let us see how people work together to make a steel rail LESSON 2 WORKING TOGETHER TO Street cars run on steel rails. Trains run on steel rails. Steel rails are of great importance to everyone. If we go to the Lake Superior shores, we shall find great deposits of iron ore. Many thousands of men are working here. They take the iron ore from the mines. They go down into the mines on elevators which pass through shafts. it They bring up the ore on the elevators. Other men load the ore upon the trains. The trains carry the ore down to the lake and load the steamships waiting at the docks. Let us look for a moment at the fine big steamships. upon THE ENTRANCE TO THE MINE ON THE SHORES OF LAKE SUPERIOR WHERE MANY THOUSANDS OF MEN ARE WORKING TOGETHER. 10 VIMU They can carry many thousands of tons of ore down the lakes to the ports of Lake Erie. There are many men working on the steamships. There are captains, mates, engineers, firemen, deck hands, wheelsmen, and many others. They see that the steamships carry the precious iron ore safely to port. Soon the ship reaches some port on Lake Erie. Here are hundreds of men at the docks. They are waiting to help the big unloading machines unload the ore from the ships and load it upon the trains. The trains will carry the ore to Pennsylvania where the big furnaces will smelt the ore into steel. On the trains are engineers, firemen, brakemen, signalmen, and conductors. All help to keep the trains running. Taking the ore from one place to another like this is called transportation of the ore. The ore must be transported to the Pennsylvania blast furnaces. There we shall find the coal needed for smelting. Now let us visit the coal mines of Pennsylvania. Here we find other men who are doing their share toward making the steel rail. While the men up on the shores of Lake Superior have been working together to take the ore from the mines, these men in the coal mines have been busy, too. The miners work with picks and shovels. They break loose the black, shining coal. Often the use of dynamite helps them to shatter large masses which they cannot loosen with picks and shovels. Sometimes the miners' work is quite dangerous. Gases cause explosions. The miners must be protected against such dangers. In the mines are men and women who do nothing but look after the safety of the workers. As the miners dig the coal, they load it upon little tram cars. Some of the men operate these cars and send the coal to the surface. Other men then send it to the great coal "breaker." The breaker-boys are watching, ready to sort and clean the coal as soon as it comes in. Now the coal is finally ready to send to the blast furnaces where the steel rail is to be made. At the bottom of one of these great furnaces a coke fire is started. On top of the fire is dumped a mass of iron ore. Then a layer of lime is put on the iron ore, and on top of this are other layers of coke, iron ore, and lime. |