Memoirs That Made Me Who I Am

Over the next 11 months we will be sharing the Memoirs That Made Me Who I Am. These are compiled stories written about the life of a former Gallup resident Eugene Leone.

Before his passing, he wrote, “It is with great delight that I share these stories from my heart, which have been inside for many years. My desire is that the reader would be able to go back to a time that was very real and may have been lost through the years.

Chapter Two Coal Miner's Hazard

MMany fathers and mothers have, through the years, taken their siblings to see the buildings they helped build, including the roads and/or the bridges they worked on. Most of this was done with a sense of pride and accomplishment, as this was my dad’s motive in this endeavor. However, it was just the opposite. He wanted to show and tell me of

the absolute total and unending horror in working in a coal mine and in near total darkness and worst of all in air laden with human sweat, choking on coal dust, smell of urine, and stifling heat. Probably the worst handicap was the near darkness in which to swing a heavy pic, to break up the rock that encompassed the coal. For light to work by, the only device available then (1920-1930) was a carbide lamp. This was a lamp about the size of a coffee mug. Battery light had not yet been developed. These carbide lamps put out less light than a single wax candle. And, they were all that was available to the miners.

If only they had thought of using a single electrical supply cable, which could be run from the power source on the surface and dropped down the main shaft with leads serving every lower entry. The difference this would make would vastly improve lighting. This alone would have resulted in a conservative 50-60% gain in productivity. The supplemental addition of even some simple fresh air ventilation would surely have reduced the incidence of ‘black lung’ disease.

Next on the agenda would have been the acquisition of wooden props, these are wood tree timber or trunks that can be easily cut to fit snugly from the mine floor to the mine ceiling. This prevented ‘cave-in’s.’ The list goes on, but undoubtedly, what was lacking most of all was the basic formal written and enforced safety code. Such a code exists for every type of human physical endeavor. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Agency, or OSHA, enforces these codes. Then there were many other burdens and handicaps that the miners and their families were forced to hear; the explosives used in mining to break up large rock that had to be purchased by and paid for by the miner. At that time it was ‘black powder.’ It was dangerous, but not as much as it’s predecessors. The explosives were kept in the miners’ garage, with the explosive fuses (caps), wire, and rock drills. Some garages had enough explosives in them to blow the house away, and all of its contents. This was only the beginning of the costs levied by the company as a condition of employment in their lovely mine. The following is the employee requirements:

You must rent a company house and the payment for its rent, and all other charges would automatically be deducted from your paycheck, such as any and all groceries, medications, and bath items.

Any bar bill obtained at the company saloon was added to his cost of living, and there was no discount as a loyal employee.

Reprinted with permission by the Southwest Indian Foundation

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