details for 126 of the steel industry executives reveals that only deserve mention. The discussion ofblast furnace technology fails eight were bornoutside the United States. (Inthe 19th century to recognize that as long as 20 years ago there were furnaces volume, 15 out of 66 were foreign-born.) Ofthe remaining 118, overseas which had already reached a daily production of 10,000 the birthplace of 20 was inor near Pittsburgh, 11came from the tons of iron.In the discussion of continuous casting, itis recog- Chicago area, three from Youngstown, and 84 from elsewhere in nized that the U.S. industry fellbehind some of its leading rivals the nation. but there is no adequate consideration of what happened inthe Another feature of interest is the way inwhich some leading 1980s. executives have migrated from company to company. Avery The book is illustrated well withblack and white photo- Adams, during 40 years inthe industry, worked for seven different graphs, though they are often not particularly good reproductions. firms. He began withTrumbull Steel, then went toRepublic, Most of the articles have useful listsof publications and references. which took over his old company. From there, he moved on to Where appropriate, the location of the archives of leading indi- Carnegie-Illinois, toInland, toUS Steel and then toPittsburgh viduals is indicated. Steel before finishing his career atJones &Laughlin. Tom Girdler, Itis all too easy for a criticto see loopholes and to carp about well-known for his vigorous style and aggressive attitude to New any work of scholarship. This reviewer does recognize, however, Deal policies, worked for Buffalo Forge, Oliver, Colorado Fuel and that the encyclopedia represents a tremendous achievement on the Iron, Atlantic, andJones &Laughlin, and then became chairman part of both the editor and his authors. They are to be warmly and later president of Republic Steel. Ben Fairless, who dominated congratulated on a book which for many years to come willbe US Steel inthe critical period of World War IIand the early post- used and enjoyed by all who continue to be fascinated by the great waryears, began at Central Steel Co., then joined Republic when story of the American ironand steel industry. @ itmerged withCentral, risingto its executive vice presidency in the 1930s, before moving to Carnegie-Illinois in1935. Incomplete Thomas Mellon and His Times contrast, and representing a different philosophy of management, Thomas Mellon Charles M.Schwab's five successors as chief executive of Pittsburgh: University ofPittsburgh Press, 1994 (reprint). Preface (by Paul Mellon), Bethlehem Steel (Eugene Grace, Arthur Homer, Edmund Martin, foreword (by David McCullough), introduction (by Mary Louise Briscoe), maps. Stewart Cort, and Lewis Foy) spent the—whole of their working Pp. 478. $35. lives —a combined total of 235 years withthat one company. Bethlehem's 20th century management has contrasted by Hax McCullough sharply withthat of US Steel inat least one other respect. Until the 1980s, top control at Bethlehem was inthe hands of steel men Thomas Mellon (1813-1908) was a gifted, resourceful who lived in the area of the plant and corporate head offices at man who looked upon parenthood as a responsibility which Bethlehem, Pa. Ultimate power at US Steel, however, was exer- Judgegentlemen were to assume and from which they were not to cised from New Yorkuntil the headquarters was moved to wander. Knowledgeable sons who wouldbecome leaders in Pittsburgh. Much more significant, the chief executives of USS the community were his goal, and leaders they became. That he were largely drawn from the worlds offinance orlaw. For only chose torecord his experiences and judgments as guidelines for seven of its first 50 years was itheaded by men trained and reared the future isvery much incharacter. His wide-ranging, authorita- insteel (Schwab and Farrell); over its whole 94-year history, non- tive story of his lifeand achievements is a unique document of steelmen have headed itfor 64 years. significant value for those interested inthe history of Pittsburgh. It There are separate essays dealing with "basing point pricing" may make many rethink what they were taught. and the "Pittsburgh Plus" system. While stressing that the latter Never one to postpone necessary action, Judge Mellon's policy inparticular stirred up resentment among steel consumers superb autobiography was firstprinted in1885 by Wm. G. distant from the basing point, the encouragement which "phan- Johnston &Co. exclusively for his family and friends. Since then, tom freight" provided forgrowth of—steel products inthese same only a few have read itand had a chance to learn about this areas — the "Judge Gary umbrella" is not sufficiently empha- extraordinary man and his considered judgments (not all to our sized. taste today) about work, motivation, frugality, justice, knowledge, The entries dealing withprocesses and technology are not religion, travel, and history. whollysatisfactory. Those on the open hearth furnace, rolling Ifirst read this splendid book in1969 inan original edition at mills,and the hot stripmillare too short to do justice. The latter Mellon Bank's library. Ithen bought a photographic reproduction inparticular inadequately covers a triumph of technical innovation in1970 from the Kraus Reprint Co. But this University of Pitts- that has been by far the most important change insteel finishing burgh Press reprint gives us all the opportunity to know this solid, inthis century and which was unquestionably a remarkable self-made pioneer. The newedition is both handsome and fullof American achievement inresearch and development. Though riches. Thomas— Mellon showed himself as literate, perceptive and attempts toroll sheet steel continuously at US Steel's millsproved dynamic a man of greatness whose life was patterned with alley, by tobe a blind— attempts inthe first decade of the century — Hax McCullough is the author of One Hundred Years ofBanking, Mellon's Bank centennial CM. Bray firstat McKeesport, Pa., and later at Mercer, Pa. history that the bank published in1969. He writes frequently for Pittsburgh History.

Pittsburgh History, 184 Winter 1996/97 pride after the ideals of Benjamin Franklin. Mellon writes: can produce good effects/' People had to search out the whole Itwas about a house, my fourteenth year, at neighbor's when truth,he notes, a fact that he had learned as a judge fromlistening plowinga field we had taken on buckwheat, his farm for that I to glib attorneys present half-truths. "Never waitfor something happened upon a dilapidated copy of the autobiography ofDr. better to turn up," Mellon writes. "The time and place to begin Franklin. Itdelighted me witha wider view of lifeand inspired — the battle is just at once, and wherever you find yourself." me withnew ambition turned my thoughts into new Having as an attorney charged channels. Ihad not before imagined any other course oflife served who had only moderate fees, a sense in an opinion superior to farming, but the reading of Franklin's lifeled me to he shows of humor voicing of the legal question this view. For so poor and friendless a boy to be able to profession heldby many who thought they were overcharged. become a merchant or a professional man had before seemed "The pearly shell foryou and me; The oyster is the lawyer's fee. It an impossibility;buthere was Franklin, poorer than myself, was often mybest policy to leave the amount of the fee to the who by industry, thriftand frugalityhad become learned and client himself." This approach pleased the client, and Mellon often wise, and elevated to wealth and fame. The maxims of "poor earned more than he would have charged. Richard" exactly suited my sentiments. Iread the book again Thomas Mellon's loyalty to and effectiveness for his clients and again, and wondered I if might not do something in the earned him important cases and wonhimlifetime friendships. His same lineby similarmeans. Ihad willand energy equal to the rise as an attorney was rapid, yet when he found the pace too occasion and could exercise the same degree of industry and demanding he left the profession. At age 46, perseverance. the of he was nomi- nated for and elected to a 10-year term as associate judge of the Judge Mellon had respect for his ancestors and family and Court of Common Pleas. Inhis autobiography, he recounts several wrote forunborn descendants he hoped would learn fromhim ofhis most interesting cases. After retirement and a testimonial about the good that comes fromhard work. To Thomas Mellon, banquet at the Monongahela House, he "concluded to open a "Industry and thrift withreasonable judgment to guide, will banking house." He did this inPittsburgh onJanuary 1, 1870, always prevail." DoingFranklin's "a penny saved is a penny under the name of TMellon &Sons Bank. philosophy earned" one better, he writes, "The disability to retain Chapter Vof Thomas Mellon and His Times describes the is as as bad the want ofability to acquire." Money was tobe delight and conclusions made by a boy of 10 onhis first trip alone earned for what itcould do and so that funds would be available to Pittsburgh from his parents' farm at Poverty Point, when of needed. "The best aim the professional man is ... the Westmoreland County. Itwas early spring and the young man was acquisition of means for a livelihood and ultimate independence wide-eyed and curious. Filled withwonder, he stopped for a rest through fair and honorable professional industry." With this in on a hillto look at the panorama. He admired a great meadow mind, Mellon was very successful as an entrepreneur and as a below, the largest he had ever seen, and the Negley home and its student, teacher, Latin attorney, judge and bank founder. He knew orchards. Great expanses of grass stretched as far as he could see, how to make money and how to make itgrow. He did so with moving inthe windinwaves of light and shade. He was excited to fairness to allconcerned and withthe integrity for which he see the Negley steam-powered grist millwithsmoke rising from it, became known. To Thomas Mellon, "Men inany condition of life their general store, and "one of the finest mansions about the city willact better iftreated as gentlemen." anywhere. [It]impressed me withan idea of wealth Ihad before The scope ofJudge Mellon's knowledge was considerable and no conception of.... Iremember also the thought occurring his skillinorganizing and expressing his ideas impressive. This whether Imight one day attain insome degree such wealth and man has presented himself inprose which is well-crafted and tells equality with such people." Such were the dreams ofyoung a good story. His judgments were personal, logical, and spoke for Thomas, notknowing of the debts and other financial troubles of Pittsburgh as he knew it.He defined the need for good people to Jacob Negley (whose daughter, Sarah Jane, he would marry) that lead and others to follow. The reader senses that indefining wouldlead to his early death. The boy imagined the children in success, Thomas Mellon has defined himself. the great house. "Were they good readers or could they write and He helped his widowed sister when she was infinancial cipher as wellas Icould?" trouble and took the time to teach law tohis nephew. When his In one of the book's most interesting and revealing chapters, brother was strapped formoney, Thomas gave him what was Mellon describes his courtship and subsequent marriage. A Negley needed. He described his mother inwords of the highest respect daughter as a bride and mother ofhis children was onhis mind. and noted that she was a great lover of "the Bible and Bobbie Love and affection were not part of his logic orimpetus to action. Burns." Virtue,he said, is not easy to achieve, but worth achieving. When the process seemed slow and complicated, he considered His love of Ireland, the Mellon name, and itsheraldry were dropping his suit. Was he wasting valuable time? Everyone characteristic. He writes a lot about his "country home" on North understood the meaning ofhis visits to Sarah Jane Negley and he Negley Avenue it and how proud made him. He had his sons was getting impatient. Ittook some moonlight and privacy to nearby, and the three houses created what was called by many resolve the situation. "The die was cast," he writes, "the Rubicon people "The Mellon Patch." When the Mellons were all there, has been crossed." After negotiating the wedding date, "the Judge Mellon felt fulfilled. "Truth,"he writes, "isinaccordance transaction was consummated on the 22nd of August, 1843." with the willof God and always willsucceed eventually, and only Judge Mellon went on to defend his conviction that in a good

185 Reviews marriage judgment comes first, emotion after. "Only time could Pennsylvania MiningFamilies: The Search forDignity in ripen love,"—he writes, telling the reader that this was the correct the Coalfields procedure then adding: "Love did take rootand grow, and that Barry P. Michrina " steadily to ripe maturity. Lexington, Ky.:University Press of Kentucky, 1993. Illustrations, index, As he writes inhis preface to the first edition, Thomas Mellon bibliography. Pp. x, 186. $24. put together his autobiography to inform and guide his family and descendants. —From much of what he had to say there are lessons to Perry K.Blatz learn today 110 years later. Family comes before all else and both parents and children must work to do good for the family. historical topics can approach the significance of coal Time is invested and investments are amassed for long-term mining. At itspeak during World War I,the industry growth. Honesty and morality make for a good life. Owning land Fewemployed some 800,000 workers and provided more than is important along with things that grow. Laws are the basis of two-thirds of the nation's energy. About three-quarters of those civilization and must be obeyed. Good deeds are done by good workers mined bituminous or soft coal, and about one-third of all people and satisfaction comes from accomplishment. A well-read bituminous mine workers, ornearly 200,000, mined that coal in person is a better person. That 19th-century Pittsburgh grew more Pennsylvania, easily the nation's leading coal producer. Thus the through honest hard work than greed, that self-motivation— led to history of the bituminous coal industry takes onmonumental innovation, that one must finish what one began these truths importance for the counties of central and western Pennsylvania had a superb spokesman inJudge Thomas Mellon. American where most of the state's bituminous coal was mined: Allegheny, real, Cambria, Indiana, Heritage Magazine has called his autobiography" "a honest-to- Clearfield, Fayette, Greene, Somerset, Washing God, all-but-unknown American classic. ton, and Westmoreland. But the topic of bituminous mining is so Itcan be said ofJudge Mellon that he practiced what he massive that scholars understandably have been reluctant to preached, and that he did what he set out to do. Inpolitics he was address itinits entirety. Barry Michrina limitshimself both a Republican, but withmore flexible views than most. Inreligion geographically and chronologically by examining the lives ofcoal he was a Presbyterian, but harbored questions about spiritualism miners and their families inCambria, Clearfield, Indiana, and untilhe decided itwas nonsense. He was a great reader of both Somerset counties from the 1920s to the present. the classics and new books. During his years on the bench, he took Michrina's approach combines personal reflection, anthropo- every opportunity to read literature, philosophy, history, and logical theory, and oral history evidence. Although he spent his science, and to renew his knowledge of the Latin and Greek youth inthe area and had grandfathers who mined coal, Michrina classics. He writes, "Imingled little insociety, seldom even confesses that he had not paid much attention to mining stories attending the theater or other places ofpublic amusement. then (page 6). But his study compensates for that through his Reading and rest inthe evenings inmy ownroom was more presentation of evidence from some 109 interviews withcoal " agreeable. Thanks to the physical strength achieved from his long miners and their family members. Inchapters 3 and 4,he focuses days working onhis father's farm as a boy and his disciplined on the bitter 1927 coal strike, inwhich the United Mine Workers lifestyle,Judge Mellon was blessed withgood health allhis life. He of America (UMWA) were expelled from central and western died at home inhis sleep the morning of his 95th birthday (also Pennsylvania, not to return until the New Deal inthe 1930s. the birthday ofhis wife). Aparty had been planned Michrina's interviewees give detailed accounts of violence against strikers and their families by state police, local deputies and The University of Pittsburgh Press has constables, and the company-hired but state-sanctioned Coal and done us a great service IronPolice. Michrina also includes strikers' reactions to strike- More than "a memento breakers near Johnstown (29). He then proceeds to focus on the of affection" to his emotions ofstrikers toward strike-breakers and the authorities. descendants, this Noting the intense contempt strikers express for those groups, considered, intensely Michrina thoughtfully suggests that such contempt may reflect a personal definition of reluctance toblame those more responsible for the strikers' lifeby a "rags to riches" predicament, the mine operators themselves (59-60). pragmatist ofclear Inthe most interesting part of the book, Michrina extends his observation and focus on emotion inchapters 5 through 9. These consist of narrative skillhas workers' recollections ofhow they felt about their workand what given us a first-hand they and their families felt about the danger that pervaded mining. account ofJudge Thomas The author explores the strength of the miners' work ethic and Mellon's views of the how itled them to take responsibility for their jobs and even industrialization of Perry K.Blatz is an associate professor of History at Duquesne University and author America and the growth of Democratic Miners; Work and LaborRelations in the Anthracite Coal Industry, 1S7J-192J of Pittsburgh. Q (SUNY Press, 1994).

186 Pittsburgh History, Winter 1996/97