Open-hearth furnaces had one tap hole and when tapped everything came out. Steel first then the slag. This a blast furnace. The slag notch on a blast furnace is several feet higher in the hearth than the iron notch which is at the very bottom. The bustle pipe above the workman's head and the tuyere just to the right of where he is standing are the giveaways. Here the slag is being tapped off before it can reach the tuyeres and in anticipation of tapping the iron. Many years ago I knew an ex steel worker who had retired in the late fifties. He told me where he had worked the slag notch was called the monkey and tapping off the slag was "flushing the monkey."

Can anyone direct me to more Steel Mill photos on Shorpy?

[Use the Search box at the top of the page. - Dave]

I grew up on the near north side of Youngstown and during WWII we could read our comic books on my front porch by the light of the furnaces. It was a great place in the 1940s and 50s.

A friend just introduced me to this blog and I was so excited to see this picture. My grandfather worked at this steel mill. He probably didn't get there until the 50s, but I'm sure it looked the same.