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Ensley, Alabama, circa 1906. "Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co. furnaces." 8x10 inch dry plate glass negative, Detroit Publishing Company. View full size.
I photographed the remnants of this plant for my senior BFA show in college. I was talking with another photo student who's grandfather worked here, and would've been climbing this stack. The reason? Testing the heat and smoke coming out of the top of the stack to determine efficacy of the furnaces.
The man on top of the stack is the sulfur analyzer. The amount of sulfur he smells is directly proportional to the sulfur in the coke. Adjustments are made accordingly.
You can see him. Use the hi-def image and look at the very top of the highest smokestack. And no, that's not some gizmo up there; the men farther down, where the narrow stack widens out gives us a sense of scale. That IS a man up there.
I don't know what a man would be up there for, but the most "junior associate" gets my vote.
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