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Many of my relatives died in those coal mines. I was born in Johnstown but my hometown is Ehrenfeld which is part of South Fork, Cambria County. My great grandfather started in the Ehrenfeld mine when he was 11 years old. Two weeks later his dad broke his back during a roof collapse. He would die 11 days later. Growing up in coal country, the yellow rivers, slag piles smell of sulfer in the air and coating of coal dust everywhere was all you knew. Hard times for sure, but damn I loved those mountains. I left in 86. The Ehrenfeld mine experienced an explosion around 1927 which blew the windows out of every strudture in town. At the time I believe 3 to 400 miners were underground. After the initial shock the wives slowly began to gather at the mine in grief knowing what it likely meant. A call for help had already been sent and emergency rescue workers were being prepared and some had already headed that way when around evening mimers began to arrive in town. It just so happened workers were sent to work in the side tunnels that day and whe the explosion occurred it traveled only the main tunnel. The miners had to walk underground to another exist point located miles away. What was initially believed would be a major loss of life, I believe only injured one man, the doctor, who was in the office sitting in a chair near the large window when the blast occurred. He suffered lacerations from the shattering glass. * If errors have been made in this account I've provided from memory please correct me. I'm not perfect but do believe this is the correct events I had researched years ago.
Whilst America's Labour Force is ever more dependent on Opioids causing all sorts of upheaval, unproductive & what is of most importance keeping them away from the Electoral Process, Handing over the Power of America & the Path it takes in the Future to a Minority Ethnic People with their own IDEALS, FOREFRONT!
The Labourers of the day had sway over Political Policy. Then a Group of Immoral Ethnicity changed the playing field by introducing Opioids as a mainstream every day non addictive medicine. Creating a Generation Dependent on Opioids, Stupefying, no hope for help, not contributing to every day normal activities!
I was at this game. My Dad and uncle took me and my cousin. I was 9. My dad is gone now but when I saw this I remember him more than the ceremony and game. Willie was my hero when I was 9 playing baseball in Pittsburgh. Turned out it was my Dad who was my real hero, I was just too young to know it then. Anyway thank you for posting this!!!
My great grandfathers and my pap and likely more people in my family also worked in the mines, i have been FASCINATED recently how much mining has went on underground the vintondale/johnstown area. If you look at the map, they mined SO much the lines always confuse one another, my dad always told me their were legit ALOT of cavities deep below our town, and lately i've been thinking about it more and more. Directly below us are ALOT OF mines, i've been trying to figure out how many and it's too many, i was looking at the bright deep pink they use to describe all of the mines, and man is it incredible how many mines are below our feet!
Very informative, educational and interesting. The coal barons greed and denial of basic human rights to the miners drove them to radicalism. My father and grandfather were miners in Vintondale and my dad spoke often of how virulently anti union the company was. Vintondale wasn't organized until after the passage of the Wagner Act.
