American Steel – Richard Preston (1)

Keith Busse declared that he was going to bed. ; é As soon as Busse left the room, the Americans ordered a round of Korn. The Sunnyside’s bartender dosed out Korn in little fat glasses, and the glasses were hoisted in the air. ‘*To steel by next spring!’’ “*To a long slab, no breakouts!”’ Kris McGee said something about safety management on a casting machine and suddenly McGee was hoisted in the air.

Thompson picked up McGee by the shirt and threw him against the bar with a ripping sound. Thompson said, “‘Do you want to settle it outside?’’ “*There’s nothing to settle,’’ answered McGee. The crowd froze, like one of those crowds described by Tacitus, trans- fixed at the sight of a general about to be murdered by one of his own troops, until suddenly the Americans converged into a struggling knot along the bar.

Franz Kiiper backed into a corner of the room and the bartender faded away to call the police. Mark Millett came down between the two steelmen, shouting, ‘‘Hey! Hey! Hey!’’—pulling McGee away. Others stood around Thompson. There was a moment of stillness. Thompson offered his hand to McGee. “*T apologize,’’ said Thompson. “*I don’t need to apologize,’’ said the manager of construction.

‘‘I didn’t do anything to you. There’s nothing to apologize for.’’ “‘That’s bad form, Kris,’’ said Mark Millett. Millett took McGee aside. “*What the hell did you do to him, Kris?’’ said Millett. ““You guys were bugging him, too,’’ said McGee. The crowd broke up, and the steelmakers lurched upstairs to bed. Mc- Gee was dreadfully embarrassed. He felt that he had acted badly with Thompson.

As for myself, I became afraid of something that night. The steelmakers were nervous. They had been given a chance to build a steel mill that was supposed to change the world steel industry, and the Project that Iverson had put in motion was beginning to sweep them along, beyond anyone’s power to control it.

I began to feel that the price of making steel was going to turn out to be higher than anyone expected. When someone dies from contact with steel, you think afterward that you saw how it almost had to happen, but then maybe you didn’t see it coming, maybe you were just afraid of hot metal. he next morning the elderly German tourists at the Hotel Sunnyside were awakened by racking coughs coming from the wing of American rooms.

Avon Books are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchases for sales promotions, premiums, fund raising or educa- tional use. Special books, or book excerpts, can also be created to fit specific needs. For details write or telephone the office of the Director of Special Markets, Avon Books, Dept. FP, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10019, 1-800-238-0658, AMERICAN “STEEL RICHARD PRESTON © If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that | this book is stolen property.

It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.” Portions of this book, in somewhat different form, have appeared in The New Yorker. AVON BOOKS A division of The Hearst Corporation 1350 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10019 Copyright © 1991 by Richard Preston Published by arrangement with Prentice Hall Press Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 90-20280 ISBN: 0-380-71822-7 All rights reserved, which includes the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever except as provided by the U.S.

Copyright Law. For information address Prentice Hall Press, a division of Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020. The Prentice Hall Press edition contains the following Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data: Preston, Richard, 1954— American steel / by Richard Preston. p. cm. : 1. Steel industry and trade—United States—Case studies. I. Ditle: HD9515.P76 1991 338.4’7669 142’0973—dc20 90-20280 CIP First Avon Books Trade Printing: June 1992 AVON TRADEMARK REG.

U.S. PAT. OFF. AND IN OTHER COUNTRIES, MARCA REGISTRADA, HECHO EN U.S.A. Printed in the U.S.A. ORM 109985 T6365 Sasa ee For Doffy and Marguerite SMe sc: aes a Hast ’ou seen the rose in the steel dust? —Ezra Pound CONTENTS B ee 8 PART I: IVERSON’S MACHINE 1 Iverson 3 2 The Marshal and a Few of His Boys 14 3 Crane Drop 23 4 Run-a-Muckers 39 5 Nuclear Reo 51 6 Building the Culture 71 7 The Imaginary Machine 91 8 Germany 103 9 A Practical Demonstration 120 10 The Fast Track 126 CONTENTS PART II: STARTUP 11 A Crisis 153 12 The Scrap Piles 163 13 Arc Light 175 14 Dry Cast 192 15 A Heat in the Machine 210 16 Rolling Mill 236 17 War Zone 250 18 The River 267 Credits 277 PART I IVERSON’S MACHINE IVERSON “, eptember 25, 1987: Bulldozers hit the job site.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

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