"Greg Postma" wrote in message
news:P8atd.215525$R05.94297@attbi_s53...
IF you had the "pleasure" of visiting the 2# BOP shop, you might
remember the 12" of "moon dust" that coated everything. Dam dirtiest
place I ever saw.

I think I was there three times, the first on an AISI press junket with a
crowd from the general press (Time, Newsweek, The NYT, etc.), and it was one
of the funniest things I remember from those days. Those people were freaked
out, in the true sense.

But anybody would be impressed. It's one of those monstrous operations that
can make you feel really small and vulnerable.

I remember the thick dust (it was in most steel plants I visited in those
days). And there was that tall guy with the horns and the flames. 'Looked
like he was having a hell of a good time...

I do recall an incident when a young "summer help" cut
into the middle of a hot strawberry and it exploded, covering him with
molten steel. It burned right through his aluminized suit, his greens
and jeans and tee shirt. His screams and pleadings for some one to kill
him haunt me to this day. He died in the Burn Center at Cook County
Hospital 2 days later. He was a sophomore in college, the same age as I
was. Pretty much gave me a new respect for hot metal.

Damned dangerous business, still.

Ed Huntress