What do Miners Actually Do

[Jodi1980]

?

 

[December99]

Well....back about 80 years ago they use to actually drill coal out of the mines...I was under the understanding that is what they still did....I would be interested to if this is different.

I'm a great-granchild of a coal miner!!!!

There was a horrible mining disaster just south of where I grew up back in the early 1900's...here are a few links just in case you were interested. My great-grandfather probably would have perished in it but he had forgotten his lunch and left the site to go home and get it before going down....that happened to have saved his life!

Cherry Mine Disaster in Cherry, Illinois
http://www.kentlaw.edu/ilhs/cherrymi.htm
http://putnam.k12.il.us/Cherry2.htm
http://guitarjourney.tripod.com/cherrycoalminedisaster/

There is a Miners Memorial Statue in our state capital of Springfield, Illinois which I did get a pic of back in February but I'm not at home so I can't post it. DD has decided that she is going to do her history fair project on this incredible interesting and sad story of Illinois history next year.

 

[Poohbear123]

I was surprised that there are still active mines out there, as with new technology, I figured machines do the work now. I beleive some of the maps need to be updated!

 

[SuiteDisney]

I'm a step-grandchild of a miner who was crushed to death in the mine.

They do indeed drill the coal out of the mines. The spend their days hundreds of feet below the surface of the earth doing back breaking labor and ruining their lungs with the coal dust.

 

[dvc_bwv]

I'm a "coal miner's daughter" - literally. My dad worked all his life in the mines from when he was a teen and they dug by hand. They use machinery now to make their job easier, but no less dangerous. I prayed very hard for those 9 guys and thankfully God listened to me and everyone else. The life of a miner and his family is day to day because you just never know and being the child of a coal miner, I have had my bouts with a "sixth sense" of pending trouble. Call it superstition or whatever, but it's there.

My dad was almost killed in a mine accident when the motor (sort of like the engine of a train) he was driving and hauling coal cars out lost all power and had no brakes. He jumped and rolled from the motor just short of it plowing into a wall and causing a small cave in when it took out several timbers supporting the roof. Luckily he remembered the jump, curl and roll from his days in the military. If he hadn't have jumped he would have been crushed by falling timbers and mine ceiling.

Those who enter that field of work are incredibly brave people.

 

[tc]

In Wyoming they mine trona. It's used to make glass and detergent. My dad was a miner from the time I was 12 or 13 until about 10 years ago. They mine very far underground and use huge machinery to mine the trona. I got to go underground once when I was 17 during an open house. My dad also was on a team that competed called Mine Rescue. The would have meets all over WY and neighboring states, and the nationals were held in Las Vegas. This is how they practice for any disasters. He never had to actually do it for real. I also prayed for the men in PA when they were trapped. Mining is dangerous, but necessary, regardless of what the ore is.

 

[Pin Wizard]

My grandpa was a Pennsylvania coal miner. I remember hearing him and grandma talking about black lung all the time. One of his friends had it and had to have an oxygen tank with him all the time. Grandpa eventually left and went to work in a cigar factory. I loved hearing his stories!

 

[Buckalew]

I heard Geraldo Riverva on FOX news last night that coal miners make under 20,000 dollars a year. This makes me quite sick to my stomach. We pay football players a million or more and people like coal miners and firefighters, police etc. make diddly-squat. What a job these people do each day!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by Buckalew
I heard Geraldo Riverva on FOX news last night that coal miners make under 20,000 dollars a year. This makes me quite sick to my stomach. We pay football players a million or more and people like coal miners and firefighters, police etc. make diddly-squat. What a job these people do each day!

I agree. But let's take the CEOs and the football players and toss them into the same bag. See who comes out.

 

[Buckalew]

Hey Pin Wizard,
My DH is a firefighter/paramedic who went through smoke diver's school in Mississippi and he says he would never go into a coal mine. THIS says A LOT about WHO a coal miner is!!!

 

[binny]

my great Uncle was a silver miner in North Idaho. He always told the most amazing stories!

There was a huge cave in/disaster when he was younger and he got his whole crew out! He was hailed a hero.

I think its absolutely amazing that they dont make any money than that!!! But then htink of all the teachers and everyone else that shape our children and how very little THEY get paid too!

 

[mom2boys]

A friend's mother & step-father both work in a coal mine in WV. I was surprised when I learned this - like Pooh I assumed there would be machines for that by now. Makes me appreciate my desk jockey position. I could never be a miner.

 

[Dixie Luvr 98]

O.K.

I have to say a few things here. My husband works in a coal mine. As a matter of fact, he works in a coal mine in SW Pennsylvania. It is much larger than Que Creek and is owned by a huge company. He isn't involved in the actual production of coal, but is all around it.

Most of the work, at least in the large mines, is highly automated. Coal is mined by machines that are computerized and sometimes even run by remote control. Computer problems are actually a big cause of lost time. This automation is the reason coal production is at record highs and employment is at record lows.

Also, I don't know where Geraldo got his less than $20,000 figure. That may be so at some tiny coal companies, but not at the major players and not at unionized mines. Many companies also now pay their non-union mines even more than the union mines in order to keep the union from being voted in. Most miners, and I heard some say it in interviews at Que Creek, do it because they make good money. My husband was half way to an accounting degree when he chucked it because he realized he would never make the kind of money he could in the mines. If you check my signature, you will see the number of Disney trips we have taken in the past few years. We have been a single income family during that entire time while I stay home with the kidsand work on my masters degreeeand I promise you we didn't make those trips on a $20,000 annual salary

Now that I've said all of that, it is a cold, wet, dangerous, and generally thankless job. My husband is counting the months until he is eligible for early retirement (and we can move closer to the Mouse). Is much, much safer than in the past and most days those thoughts just get pushed to the back of your mind. If he is late coming home from work, though, your mind starts to race.
Believe me, I spent the entire time those miners were trapped putting myself in their families places. I hope and pray my children never, ever have to go through something like that
My husband and I are in complete agreement, as are our children, that none of our four will ever go into a mine!

This is all just my experience, of course, and there are many other mines, miners, and situations out there.

 

[Buckalew]

Wow, Dixie Luvr 98! Your post actually made me feel better about the coal miners. I'm glad at least some have it better than what Geraldo's figures stated on TV.

Now, if I could get something done about Firefighter's pay.

 

[Poohbear123]

Thanks for the info, Suite Disney and Dixie Luvr 98! I kind of figured they made more than 20,000 a year or you wouldn't have so many doing the job. I hear 2-3 of the 9 saved, are NOT going Back! Can you blame them?