Memoirs That Made Me Who I Am Eugene Leone

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 One A Friend’s Death

The mule heard it first, then the miner. It was a combination of a crunching sound

punctuated by ominous, loud crackling sounds coming from the ceiling, both the miner and the mule had heard it before. It

was suggested that a part, if not the whole ceiling was going to come down. This may consist of only a few hundred pounds of dirt, rock, and coal, or worse, tons of rock and coal combined with coal dust; lots of coal dust! Ironically, the coal dust together with the now diminished ventilation from the totally blocked entryway, posed the greater threat to their survival. Knowing that getting close to the wall offered the best refuge from a massive ceiling collapse. He then quickly lit his small carbide lamp and quickly led Jenny, the mule to the wall, which he judged to be the most stable. I am told that it takes a lot to spook a mule, but Jenny clearly was getting nervous. He talked to her as he often did to calm Jenny, with some success. In doing so, he noted that her breathing had become more rapid and labored as had his own. Now, he was forced to conclude that it was past time for him to put Jenny, his friend down, to save the oxygen for his own survival. She, Jenny the mule, and he had become good friends. It is one thing to put down a mule, but it is an entirely different matter to put down a fourlegged friend. Many who work with horses or mules communicate with them, and not with the whip and holler. Both of these practices, my father said were unnecessary and counterproductive. All the miners in his shift knew of his feeling for this mule. So they came to learn that persuasion beats the hell out of coercion every time.

The ‘company’ required the miners to purchase their own supplies of black gunpowder, also the explosive caps and fuses. Alfred Nobel, who discovered that if nitroglycerine is mixed with sawdust, it magically rendered much safer to handle and use, and had not yet been developed for safer and effective use.

First, the hole for the explosive had to be drilled into solid rock, the black powder poured onto a newspaper sheet and rolled into a cylinder, the cap and fuse formed into the cylinder and shoved into the drilled hole and the resulting dirt is tamped into the hole. He neglected to tamp dirt into the finished powder hole. This is a gross operational procedure.

And for my concluding criticism of my coalmine diatribe, there is the need, and use of explosives with the dirt in which it needs to be firmly tamped into the hole to contain the explosive inside and not to just blow out like a cannon. Needless to say, these explosives blew a lot of dirt and coal dust out into the room. There is not only more coal dust to breath, but now fiery fumes from the explosive itself was added to the breathing air. To this day, I periodically see ads on television by lawyers advertising their ability to get some or more compensation for ‘black powder explosive’ and other misuse of the same.

Looking for a suitable and heavy stone, my Dad approached Jenny and with the stone held high, brought it down on her skull as hard as he could. Jenny screamed and fell to the floor. My Dad then hit her twice more to quickly stop her pain. He then looked at the bloody stones and flung them away as hard as he could, and then he sunk down to the floor, and it is my guess that my Dad wept, for the first time in his adult life.

It took another two hours for his fellow miners to dig him out. Luckily, three large boulders had fallen down in such a way as to make a small split tunnel, which enabled the rescuers to clean it out sufficiently and drag my Dad out. They quickly put him into the elevator to get him up to the fresh air. This had a remarkable revival effect on him. Some miners felt that another hour or two in there would have been fatal.

Reprinted with permission by the Southwest Indian Foundation

Fitness Challenge Finishers:

Raymond Holtsoi Cynthia Chavez Elaine

This is our trail issue, so get out and either run, bike or hike 4 of the trails that are in this issue.

Turn in your pictures or Strava info by June 20th to the gallupjourney.com to receive your Free Journey T-Shirt.

Mention this ad and get a FREE pair of Powerstep® Shoe Inserts after your New Patient Appointment!