User:Kle1993/sandbox

Captain William R. “Bill” Jones was born in Luzerne, Pennsylvania, in 1839. His family had come from a mining area in Wales and immigrated to America for a better life nine years before his birth. Bill Jones was one of eleven children. His mother died when he was only eight and at the age of fourteen, Bill’s father (Reverend John Jones) passed away from illness. Jones was then in the care of his stepmother who was left with ten children. Soon after his father's death, Bill Jones left home, heading for work in Philadelphia. Bill Jones had begun working at the age of ten in 1894 after we was kicked out of school for sticking up for a classmate, causing controversy with a teacher. Jones had been an apprenticeship to Lehigh Crane Iron Works, under David Thomas who was a friend of his fathers in Wales. During this time, Bill Jones was learning the skills which would help him become a leading figure in the industry years later.

Steel Industry

Bill Jones is historically known within the steel industry for building the Edgar Thomson Steel Works. Jones was the supervisor for this mill up until his death. In its first five years, the Edgar Thomson Steel Works advanced to the rank of the world’s most productive and profitable steel mill. Jones was employed by Andrew Carnegie as superintendent, but with conditions from Jones: Jones was to be in control of the mills labor management and the men working there were to be well paid, and well rested to lessen the rate of accidents. It was during this time when Jones became known for establishing the eight hour day policy: “Flesh and blood cannot stand twelve hours of continuous work.” Carnegie and Jones had a lot in common, especially when it came to discussing the Civil War. Jones was an “American Hero” for his actions in the Johnsonville flood and serviced two tours total. In 1888, the eight hour day came to an end under Carnegie, and would not be seen for another fifty years in the American Steel industry.

On September 27, 1889, Bill Jones entered Edgar Thomson Steel Works finding multiple workers around furnace C. The Captain learned it was experiencing continual issues with its cooling system in the day. In the afternoon, the heat had chilled inside the chimney and a forty ton of molten iron blocked the chimney furnace. Jones helped his workers with trying to pass the blockage. When the attempt of pouring cakes of iron ore on the blockage in hopes of getting it to pass normally failed, Jones climbed the scaffolding of the furnace assisting to work a rod through the cooling system. It was at this moment a sudden roar came from within the hole Jones was working. Forty tons of molten iron flooded the platform. In Jones’ effort to escape, the flooding caused him to fall forty feet below into a cinder car. Captain Bill Jones had a badly burned right arm from his hand to his elbow, singed eyebrows, and his lower half was burned up to his abdomen. Jones was conscious after the incident, checking in with his brother John Lewis Jones about the other workers. John Lewis Jones carried his brother out of the mill to the medical help waiting for him where his burns would be addressed. Jones was taken to Homeopathy Hospital where doctors were confident of a positive outcome. The Captain was expected to fully recover. There was no immediate danger, but it would take time. Two days after the accident, Jones died at the hospital in the night at only fifty years old.