The Omaha Guide

MAKES GOOD AT CARNEGIE
MAKES GOOD AT JOB: INVENTS
CHISEL POINT COOLER

Joseph Turner lost his parents at an early age and was placed in an orphanage, where he says he was well treated, happy, and learned a lot of things that helped him in later life. Today he is a skilled mechanic in a war production plant at Charleston, West Virginia, and the inventor of a mechanical device that has brought him considerable recognition.

Turner is a scaler at the branch plant of the Carnegie Illinois Steel Corporation at Charleston, a $100,000,000 concern engaged in war production work. He is in charge of a mechanical chisel that removed scale from steel plates. The machine is operated by compressed air. Turner invented and perfected an attachment that cools the point of the chisel, hence preserving its temper and greatly lengthening its life. It reduces labor by half and doubles production.

"But I felt I ought to be making progress, so I quit and got a job washing cars for a garage because I was interested in mechanical things. There I learned all I could about automobile mechanics and resigned to take a more responsible job with another garage."

"When this country got into the war I felt I ought to be doing something to help until they wanted me in the Army. I got in at the plant of the Carnegie Illinois Steel Corporation and they let me work my way up. They helped me when they found out I was trying."

Turner started at the plant as a common laborer, made friends with foremen, then executives and finally the plant superintendent. The officials permitted him to work out his invention. Now he has a certificate of merit that he says he wouldn't take any amount of money for. It was issued to him in recognition of initiative and patriotism for meritorious contribution to the war production drive. It was the first award of the kind presented at the plant.

Since opportunity is opening up for the Negro in war industries there is no limit to how far he can go if he has initiative, perseverance and common sense. Joe Turner has proved that.