The Foundry

My first job was as a molder in a foundry at Limerick, about ten miles away. The work was interesting, but hot, and at times strenuous. My partner at the job, who was supposed to teach me, I found out later could not get along with the other workers and did not always keep up with the work on his side of the molding form. This left it doubly hard and dangerous for his working partner. My hands became sore and blistered from pounding the damp sand when making the molds. We were making cast iron pipes, to be used by plumbers in drainage lines. After making these molds of wet sand for about five hours, we awaited our turn with other workers to pour the white hot molten iron into the molds.
One day my partner was operating the crane and trolley carrying this liquid iron, when it was not lifted high enough to clear the top of the mold. It spilled and splashed all over the place. I had seen it coming and had leaped over into the next aisle, and so I was not burnt except for a few small holes in my overalls. This convinced me and that was my last day on that job.
Looking back, I think that was a very primitive and labor wasting place. I believe much of the hardest work could have been done by mechanical methods that would also have been more economical.
Another interesting aspect of that place was the wash room. Everyone really needed a bath when they finished their work there. The washroom was a large, bare room with a concrete floor and a single open-ended water pipe in the middle of the ceiling. The water was warmed by mixing it with steam which was regulated by valves on the wall. The toilet was also interesting. It consisted of two rails laid parallel over a pit. Period.