University of Pittsburgh - Owl Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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Industrial Pittsburgh NOT long ago when asked what Pittsburgh would do if invited to pick up her industries and move them west, the answer came, “Oin't go — too busy.” Pittsburgh always has been busy, is busy now, and always will be busy. Away back in the i76o's when there was a little wooden fort at the junction of the rivers and one, or maybe two, houses belonging to the brave men who would risk a home outside of the fortifications, a new discussion swept the colonies; iron had been found. Iron in those days was precious, so precious that the king even promised rewards to en courage its production in the colonies. But as production increased, cad was needed, and the nearer the ore beds, the better. One day, juSt as the red summer sun shoved its rim over the rustling branches on the eastern hill tops, a little party of men left the fort on the Point. With weapons slung across their shoulders they trudged on and on through the brush where briars scratched at their leggings and tore their hands. Game was scarce that day, and by noon the sun was pouring down through the wilting leaves so scorchingly that the men were compelled to crawl into a shallow cave for re . All around them lay chunks of black stuff that glittered a little in the dull light. They examined it. It was cad. Little by little, through the rest of that century, the extensive coal fields came to light. Here was coil for the iron industry, and it was much nearer to the ore beds than that east of the mountains. Soon ore was carted down to the river banks, and before long crude tower' like Structures belched black smoke. When the first furnace was tapped, the settlers Stood around and gasped to see the hissing red snake flow out. The Revolutionary War hastened the new enterprise, and, in 1790, the first permanent furnace was built where Shady Side Station now' Stands. Coil was handy, and ore was carted in over almost inv [ 19 3

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Shady £ane W. HERVEY ALLEN, '15 When Shady Avenue was Shady Lane, Before the city fathers changed the name. And cows Stood switching flies beneath the trees. And old'time gardens hummed with duSty bees, And white ducks paddled in the summer rain; Then everybody drove to church. And Shady Avenue was Shady Lane. We hied on Arabella Street, that too Is changed — Kentucky Avenue — And where the toll-gate flood beside the spring. The phlox and hollyhocks Once flourished by the box Where the gatekeeper sat with key and ring. A wiser looking man there never was. In contemplative mood he smoked and spat. There by the gate he sat In an old dog-eared hat And listened to the yellow jackets' buzz. All this is gone — Gone glimmering down the ways Of old, loved things of our lotI yesterdays. After the little toll-gate by the spring. And the gatekeeper odd ReSts in the quiet sod. Safe in the arms of God Where thrushes sing. Even the spring has gone, for long ago They walled that in. And its dark waters flow A sunless way along: And no one Slops to wonder where they go. For no one hears their song. Only a few old hearts Of these much changed parts, Whose time will soon run out on all the clocks. Catching the scent of clover. Live all the old days over When Shady Avenue was Shady Lane. [18}

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passable trails. Team after team of thick-necked oxen tugged and strained through the mud pud' dies and in the broiling sun to bring the ore to the furnace. When the iron was chilled, the artisans at the fort forged it into crude axles and knives to swap for more coon skins. Some of it they made into rough plows to rip the tough sod, and some into tires to bind the wagon wheels. The new industry proved so successful that it grew beyond individual efforts and a company was formed. One night in 1810, while a winter wind howled around the corners of the little cabin and made the tallow candle flicker and cast goblin shadows over the onions Strung from the rafters, a little group of men met around a wcxxJen table. They talked long into the night until the candle guttered in the socket and the log in the fireplace was only a bed of red calls. Out of this meeting came Pittsburgh's first iron company. The little furnace at Shady Side was too small now, for other points both up and down the rivers were calling to Pittsburgh for iron. So they decided to move down nearer the rivers, down which ore could be flaited, and where the iron could be shipped more easily. Together with the foundation of Pittsburgh’s river trade the company Started to build a steel mill down by the river where Joseph Horne's Store now Stands. While this mill was slowly coming into shape, more and more boats were being built on the banks of the Ohio. Pittsburgh had already a bait-building industry that was known throughout the east. As early as 1794 a line of keel baits had been established between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and in 1798 the President Adams, a sea-going vessel, was launched on the Ohio. The Story is told how one ship captain was arrested in Liverpool when he declared his home port as Pittsburgh and the customs officials found it an inland town.