COMMUNITY A. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. Industrial significance of the community-Inducements and obstacles to immigration-Methods of securing immigrant labor-Reasons for the immigration of the several races to the United States and to the community-Households studied— Members of households for whom detailed information was secured-Employees for whom information was secured-[Text Tables 236 to 240 and General Tables 114 to 116]. INDUSTRIAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE COMMUNITY. Community A is primarily a manufacturing center. Its chief industry is the manufacture of steel, in which three concerns are engaged. The largest of these, which may be designated as Company 1, has three plants, called for the purposes of this study a, b, and c. In normal times this company has a pay roll of over $1,000,000 a month and employs about 18,000 men. It also operates bituminous coal mines having an annual output of 1,600,000 tons of bituminous coal, and ore fields in Michigan and Minnesota having an annual output of 1,237,724 tons. A second local steel establishment which may be designated as Company 2 is comparatively small and is a branch of a company of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its annual capacity is 7,500 tons of open-hearth steel castings, 4,680 tons of iron castings, and 24,600 tons of switches, frogs, etc. Of nearly the same capacity is another plant engaged in the manufacture of steam radiators which is designated as Company 3. Company 1 exerts a strong influence over the affairs of the city, polítically, socially, and industrially. It owns the largest department store, the largest hotel and café, supervises the public library, owns a large and flourishing American residential suburb, which is situated on a mountain that rises directly from the city; owns and operates the railroad which carries all of the passenger and freight traffic between the city proper and this suburb; and owns the ground and a majority of the houses in two residential districts for its employees and considerable land on which houses owned by its employees have been built. In addition to the steel industries proper there is considerable bituminous coal mining done in and about the community. These mines, however, are nearly all operated by the steel companies, and their products are used almost entirely in the plant by which they are owned and are not marketed to any great extent. Other minor manufactories are two breweries and a brick-manufacturing establishment. Besides these there is a flour mill, a city gas plant, a passenger railway company, and many small establishments of a private character which contribute entirely to the needs of the community. Community A is located in the southwestern portion of Pennsylvania. The city proper lies in a valley between ranges of hills which rise to a height of from 500 to 700 feet above two rivers. Its elevation is 1,147.8 feet above mean sea level. One river has a drainage area of about 188 square miles and flows through the northern portion of the city; the other, with a drainage area of about 430 square miles, flows along the southern and western portions of the city. The two streams unite in the northwestern part of the city to form another river which is a tributary of the Allegheny. Two railroads afford communication with distant points, and the country around furnishes products that are consumed entirely by the residents of the city. Trolley lines connect Community A with several small towns, which are mining centers and residential sections for Americans and for a few of the more Americanized immigrants. The accompanying map furnishes a graphic presentation of the community. It will be noted that the location of the principal industrial establishments and the several immigrant colonies is indicated on the map. For convenience in describing the several racial colonies Community A has been divided into 18 sections, and an inspection of the map will show that some colonies are composed entirely of natives, while others are composed of natives and both first and second generations of the races of old and more recent immigration. The industrial establishments lie in each instance in close proximity to localities inhabited by immigrants while the purely native colonies are found at a distance from the industrial plants. Native colonies are designated on the map by the numbers 6, 7, 15, 16, and 18. In section 6 will be found, in addition to the natives, practically the whole of the Welsh population. Section 7 is the oldest portion of the city and contains the chief business interests of the community. The natives living in sections 15, 16, and 18 are principally of the class of skilled mechanics employed in the steel works. In sections 13 and 14 the majority of the residents are persons of native birth, but of foreign parentage. All of the races of older immigration will be found among these people. Sections 11 and 12 are composed of both natives and immigrants. The natives in these two sections are in most cases employed in the mills in the higher occupations. The remaining sections are populated entirely by immigrants who have entered the community during the last fifteen years. In sections 1, 9, and 17 the inhabitants are of mixed races and nationalities from the south and east of Europe. Macedonians and Croatians live in section 2, where industrial establishment No. 4 is located. Section 3, the most important immigrant locality in the community, supports a very large immigrant population composed of all races to be found in the district with the exception of Welsh and Italians. Industrial establishment No. 5 is located in this section. Section 4 is settled by Poles, Croatians, Slovaks, Magyars, and Germans and lies just north of the blast furnaces of plant a of industrial establishment No. 1. On the other side of this plant is section 5, a colony of South Italians. Section 8 is a colony of North and South Italians and is situated to the south of plant b of industrial establishment No. 1. The Slovaks |