By the 1880’s, the Industrial Revolution spread in many different ways. “Steel had replaced steam as the great symbols of the Industrial Revolution” (242). Steel girders could support stronger bridges and taller buildings. Steel rails could carry faster steel railway cars. In huge steel mills, visitors watched with awe as tons of molten metal were poured into giant mixers: “At night the scene is indescribably wild and beautiful. The flashing fireworks, the terrific gusts of heat, the gaping, glowing mouth of the giant chest, the quivering light from the liquid iron, the roar of a near-by converter… combine to produce an effect on the mind that no words can translate.” – J.H. Bridge. “The first phase of industrialization had largely been forged
