Into a Coal Mine

Beckley is a bustling little town with a big mining (and hunting) culture. One of the old mines offers a short tour, and we got there early -- along with 2 different groups of kids from local elementary schools. This is how we knew we weren't in Kansas anymore:

We heard these kinds of statements

from the kids, "My Papa died last year and he was a miner." "My step-dad is a miner, too. But he works up on top." "My grandpa died in a mine; a coal car rolled over him and crushed him. I was only 3." We just listened, wide-eyed.

The grounds over the mine have been set up accurately with buildings and guides. We saw a Miner's Shack, the nice Superintendent's House (ironically, he made 10 times more money than the miner yet paid no rent), a school and a church. Peanut loved the "cozy and welcoming" Miner's Shack best, but Little Man was far more fascinated with the teacher's paddle!

An old miner gave us a fascinating 35 minute tour, taking us through the mine on a little train. I already knew mining was a sad profession -- we own The Rag Coat and know Coal Miner's Daughter -- but other than the Miner's Cough, I had no idea how physically straining the job was in the early days.

Imagine your man scooting on his hands and knees for 10 hours a day, along the floor of a 30 inch high cave. (The black line on the wall marks the old ceiling line -- now mines have much more head room.)

He'd earn 20 cents for every 1-ton coal cart he could fill and he'd probably fill 10 in a day. That's $2 a day if all went well. His rent (because he'd live at the mine all week and only be home on the weekends) was $2 a month.

Hard hats are a modern invention. Miners in the 1800s wore hats with little lamps on the front. Here are the ways a miner could die on any given day: Blackdamp, Firedamp, Kettle Bottoms, being run over, Miner's Cough and the list goes on...

When he showed us the original scooter -- used by miners -- I had to ask him to pose for a picture. Imagine?!