Out of the Mill

The House of Steel has many mansions. In & out of it at No. 71 Broadway pass hundreds of executives of the 200 far-flung companies which constitute U. S. Steel Corp. Some of them visit for just a short time, some of them go there regularly. They are so many that the big staff of underlings at No. 71 could scarcely be expected to know any but the most important ones. They all, of course, know Myron Charles Taylor, the handsome Quaker whose office on the 17th floor is labeled "Chairman of the Finance Committee." They all know "Big Jim"-- James Augustine Farrell--who for 20 years has occupied the 18th floor office labeled "President." And they all know "Mr. Filbert," a keen-eyed man whose bald, round head is said to contain all the Corporation's complex statistics and who was recently elevated to vice chairman of the finance committee.

When, six months ago, the vice president of American Sheet & Tin Plate Co. arrived from Pittsburgh to be made operating vice president of the parent company, there was little stir in the House of Steel. William A. Irvin (pronounced: Irwin) was given an office down on the 14th floor, far away from the real executive headquarters. He soon and often thereafter returned to Pittsburgh to inspect the noisy mills which are the Corporation's core. When at No. 71 Broadway, he worked hard at the used desk which had been given him. Few of the New York personnel wandered in to see him or met him between working hours.

Last week the executives of the Corporation attended a luncheon in the old dining room on the 20th floor, a room spoken of (mostly by those not important enough to dine in it) as the "Doughnut Room." Waiters hovered anxiously near the table, for they had heard by the house grapevine that the successor of resigning President Farrell was to be announced. When, in the "Doughnut Room," it was heard that William A. Irvin had been chosen by the directors to become president of the Corporation, the waiters huddled together. "Which one is he?" they whispered. Up on the 17th and 18th floors the news; was heard with surprise, bewilderment. And then somebody said, "Oh, yes, he's the new man on the 14th floor, the big fellow with glasses."

News-tickers rushed the word to Pittsburgh, capital of Steel. Here too it was a surprise. Steelmen knew Mr. Irvin. They had met him at the Duquesne Club, at association meetings and dinners. They all knew him to be a good operating man, one of the kind popularly supposed to be able to tell the rate of production by sniffing Pittsburgh's cinder-laden air. But none had ever dreamed he would rise to the greatest height in their world. If he had ever had that dream himself, he never revealed it.

Mr. Irvin is 58 and most of his years have been spent in the steel business. After working as a telegraph messenger for the Western Union, he became a telegraph operator for Pennsylvania Railroad and later a shipping clerk for P. H. Laufmann Co., sheet and tinplate makers, in 1895. He literally went through the mill, coming out superintendent. Two mergers brought P. H. Laufmann into the U. S. Steel family in 1904, as part of American Sheet & Tin Plate. For 20 years Mr. Irvin was assistant to the operating vice president. Then he was rewarded with promotion to vice president in charge of plant operations.

When Mr. Irvin became an employe of U. S. Steel Corp., the company had just had its first change of presidents. President Schwab, after a difference with Chairman Gary, had resigned in 1903, later to organize Bethlehem Steel Corp. The new-president was William Ellis Corey. In 1911 he resigned and was followed by Mr. Farrell. Because publicity had attached to President Corey's divorce in 1907, there was again talk of trouble between U. S. Steel's president and its earnest Chairman Gary. It was noted that Judge Gary spoke of new President Farrell as a "family man."

Under "Big Jim" Farrell, U. S. Steel had its great era of War prosperity, in 1921 ran true to form by having a deficit of $14,000,000 after dividend payments, rebounded vigorously. In 1927 the Corporation was faced with the problem of picking a man to succeed Judge Gary. Myron Taylor, also trained as a lawyer, was chosen, and J. P. Morgan & Co. took a more active part in the Corporation's management. While there has never been talk of a real rift between Chairman Taylor and his president, the steel world has felt that plans for a sweeping shakedown in Steel's management included a change in the presidency. Sharp divergence of. opinion became noticeable last year over the matter of wages. President Farrell stating emphatically that there would be no reduction. Chairman Taylor taking the attitude that business conditions might make one necessary.

When the Corporation announced a plan to retire all executives at the age of 70 it was revealed that Mr. Farrell would reach retirement age in 1933 (TIME, April 27). Then he startled the business world by announcing his resignation would take effect this year instead (TIME, Jan. 25). Although nothing has been said officially on the subject, there is a widespread feeling that Mr. Farrell had figured his age incorrectly for years, was shown his error by an enterprising newshawk who looked up the original records.

New President Irvin must face his new task, the toughest, biggest job in the Steel business, with something akin to awe. Everyone knows that Depression has annihilated the earnings of U. S. Steel. Everyone knows that no improvement has set in as yet. Last month, when a small gain had been hoped for, the unfulfilled orders ("backlog") of the company dropped 102,000 tons. Operations last week were slightly better at 26 1/2% of capacity. A clue to conditions was the reduction in National Steel Corp.'s dividend from $2 to $1 although National was the only major steel company to earn its dividend last year. President Irvin cannot lightly wave U. S. Steel into a private era of prosperity. He has tremendous problems to solve, problems of price and wages, of old equipment and new plants, of billets and tinplate, tubes and alloys. He will have little time for the hunting, fishing and golfing he likes so well. It will surely be more than a year before he can go after moose in Canada again. Nor will he have so much time for raising setters and flowers, for playing with his twelve grandchildren. Mr. Irvin's new job is not only the hardest in Steeldom but one of the most complicated in U. S. industry.

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