There were about 600 shovelers and laborers of this general class in the
yard of the Bethlehem Steel Company at this time. These men were
scattered in their work over a yard which was, roughly, about two miles
long and half a mile wide. In order that each workman should be given
his proper implement and his proper instructions for doing each new job,
it was necessary to establish a detailed system for directing men in
their work, in place of the old plan of handling them in large groups,
or gangs, under a few yard foremen. As each workman came into the works
in the morning, he took out of his own special pigeonhole, with his
number on the outside, two pieces of paper, one of which stated just
what implements he was to get from the tool room and where he was to
start to work, and the second of which gave the history of his previous
day's work; that is, a statement of the work which he had done, how much
he had earned the day before, etc. Many of these men were foreigners and
unable to read and write, but they all knew at a glance the essence of
this report, because yellow paper showed the man that he had failed to
do his full task the day before, and informed him that he had not earned
as much as $1.85 a day, and that none but high-priced men would be
allowed to stay permanently with this gang. The hope was further
expressed that he would earn his full wages on the following day. So
that whenever the men received white slips they knew that everything was
all right, and whenever they received yellow slips they realized that
they must do better or they would be shifted to some other class of
work.

Dealing with every workman as a separate individual in this way involved
the building of a labor office for the superintendent and clerks who
were in charge of this section of the work. In this office every
laborer's work was planned out well in advance, and the workmen were all
moved from place to place by the clerks with elaborate diagrams or maps