Out of This Furnace

Mike is buried in the winter of 1914. Mary receives thirteen hundred dollars from the company over Mike’s death. Though the money will help, Mary moves from the house because it reminds her too much of Mike. She finds work during the day while her sister watches her four children. The oldest child, John Joseph, eventually secures a job selling newspapers. Times are hard for Mary, and she seeks advice from Dorta and Joe. Joe suggests taking in boarders again, but Dorta reminds them that, due to the war, there are not as many immigrants as before. Those that do arrive want nicer lodgings. Instead, Dorta suggests that Mary should remarry as soon as possible. Though Joe recommends a widower named Paul Czudek, Mary tells them she is not yet ready to remarry.

Anna and her husband John move away, as he has secured a job as a head bartender. Mary considers her options, and thinks about moving to Homestead. There, she can have George move in with her and the kids. George, however, does not want to live with Mary. She rents a house in Munhall Hollow anyway, and George moves in. He pays Mary ten dollars, but she tells him that he must pay more. George gets angry and storms off to go drink. Francka tells Mary to accept whatever he gives and when he is drunk, to go through is pockets and take what she needs. Mary, however, cannot do this to her father. She again confronts him about the rent and asks for thirty dollars a month, to which he eventually agrees.

John Joseph finds a job delivering wallpaper, and then finds work in a glass factory. The factory is the largest employer of child labor in the area. The children employed by the factory are usually groomed to work in the steel mills. When he returns to school at the end of summer, Mary notices the absence of his income. Prices have increased on many things due to the war. Moreover, George is still angry at living with Mary and will not give her additional funds.

When Christmas Eve rolls around, Mary grows concerned because George has yet to return home. A neighbor eventually reveals that George has been arrested. Mary must put the younger children to bed and then go to the jail in Homestead with John Joseph to find George. She has no money, however, and finds that George has no money either. They manage to secure his release however after talking to the officials, and learn that prohibition is now in effect. Though it is Christmas, Mary has no presents for the children. She sends her eldest out to get fruit and nuts, and tells the children in a note from Santa Claus that there are no presents because of the war.

Though Johnny wants to work, Mary cannot let him because he has not yet turned sixteen. He needs her to testify so that he can obtain working papers. Since Mary cannot lie, Johnny manages to obtain the papers on his own somehow and begins working in the mill. The family then moves to North Braddock. Though Johnny is now working, the family still struggles with their finances. Mary works tirelessly, and after New Year’s, she contracts Spanish Influenza. Though she is told to rest by the doctor, she does not as she must care for her entire household. Mary is then diagnosed with consumption and told she must go a sanitarium. Pauline also has consumption, and Mary admits that she cannot leave without her children. The doctor agrees to make arrangements so that she can go to the sanitarium with her youngest children, but that she needs to stay there for the length of time it takes to get better. The doctor manages to get them accepted by the sanitarium come April. Johnny goes to live with Alice. Before they set off, Mary visits Mike’s grave one last time.

Johnny soon writes to Mary about the possibility of a mill strike in Braddock. The A.F.L. is attempting to unionize the steel industry, though the mills counter this by paying workers time-and-a-half for all work done over the standard eight hours. Union organizers eventually show up in Braddock, though they are arrested. When the strike finally commences, Johnny goes to work with his uncle, Frank. State troopers arrive, however, and Johnny does not return to work for fear of harm. He visits his aunt Anna and asks if her husband can find him work in Donora. Her husband does, and Johnny begins work in construction.

Johnny enjoys the change in scene when working in construction. One day, however, he goes to collect his wages and finds that two dollars have been taken out for “purchases.” When he questions the deduction, he is told it is graft, and that everyone receives the same deduction. Furthermore, he is told that he does not have to return to work if it bothers him. He decides to stay at the job, but eventually leaves in November due to bad weather. He returns to Braddock and begins working again at the mill, despite the strike going on. When the strike finally ends in January, the workers receive a ten percent increase in pay. Johnny’s uncle Frank secures a job in Pitcairn working for the railroad, and so does not return to the steel mill.

Johnny visits his family at the sanitarium for Christmas. He now goes by the name of Dobie. Mary’s condition worsens after she catches cold and she is relocated to a semiprivate room. Her younger children visit her often. Though they have lived in the sanitarium for more than a year, Mary no longer asks about when the family might return home. Though she tells the children stories about their father, she is tired, and thinks about death as well. At the end of Part 3, Mary dies in her sleep.