The Iron Rolling Mill

This painting depicts a scene in a German rolling mill. The center part shows 5 workers guiding a white-hot workpiece into the first rolling station, two are lifting the handles of the cart and the other three are using their tongs to guide it in. The front-most man is wearing a green shirt, a brown leather apron, and a brown hat/helmet, with his tongs stretched out in front of him near the ground-he is in mid-step. The man to the right is wearing a blue shirt, blue pants, leather apron, and brown (possibly leather) helmet/hat. He has his tongs on the workpiece and his body is tilted to the left, probably trying to avoid the heat. The man furthest to the left in this section has both of his arms raised above his head, gripping onto the handles of the cart. he is wearing a brown shirt under a brown and grey vest, along with dark blue pants and a brown apron. There is a man in front of him, also gripping the handle of the cart. He has his right hand higher than his left, with his left hand actually on top of the handle, instead of below, perhaps trying to steady the movement. This man also appears to have a pipe in his mouth. To the right of him is another man with tongs in an almost allegorical pose, with his right arm raised above his head and his entire body shifted to his left side, he is using his tongs to help guide the workpiece as well. This man appears to be wearing a blue shirt, has a mustache, and also appears to have a pipe in his mouth. The cart itself only has two wheels. On the opposite side of the rolling station stand a couple of men waiting to receive the workpiece, their faces already lit up by the white-hot piece. The foremost has a large beard and a brown helmet/hat. The only most clearly visible behind him has a black helmet/hat and appears to be smoking a pipe. Behind these men are various other people, most noticeably a man in a blue shirt standing on something next to the column of gears. This column appears to be part of a crane system, with three gears visible, one of them on the far side. The arm and everything appears to be one piece and hangs out over the first rolling station. In front of this are three workers eating and drinking from a basket brought by a young girl. They have their backs to some sort of barricade and are crouched down, well out of sight of any supervisor. The young girl is wearing black and has one hand on the handle of her basket and a container of some sort in the other hand. Hanging from the barricade appears to be a kettle or pot of some sort. In the front, to the left of this, there is a pile of various items, including a metal barrel with a brush resting on it. Behind the scene of the first rolling station there is another rolling station with a much longer red-hot workpiece coming out of it. To the left there is a man standing in the aisle, crouched low, tongs guiding the workpiece - he appears to be taking a step backwards. Directly behind him is a man in a blue shirt. In the foreground of the aisle there is an older man transporting a red-hot rectangular workpiece by means of a cart. He is wearing a hat and shirt that both appear grey, but are possibly just an indistinguishable color to show the environment of the rolling mill. To the left there are at least two men with their shirts off and using towels to wash up, the foremost one leaning over a bucket. In the left background is an orange glow surrounded by workers, possibly a puddle furnace. To the right of this is a main in a hat and blue suit, probably a supervisor of some sort. On the far right in the background can be seen the raised walls that are allowing sunlight in. They can be lowered at night. Lots of steel girders run along the ceiling, along with hazy wheel in the background, obscured by steam and smoke.