UP ONE LEVEL

Coal-mining was an active industry in the local area in the 1930’s

The information in this article was gathered by Liz Garst from her conversation with Warren Pierce, who farmed south of the White Rock timber.

 Delbert Brutsche’s father, Burt, opened a small coal mine on the ridge east of the house (about where a small erosion-control pond is now located). However, the “top” (hard anthracite) coal seam was only 17 inches and the soft “band” coal was only 5 inches...hardly worthwhile. Also, Burt had a lot of trouble keeping river water out of the mine, so he closed it and Delbert never reopened it.

 According to Warren Pierce, Delbert did try to open another mine south of the river. Plans called for an angled tunnel and a cable to transport the coal across the river, since there was no access road on the south side of the river. However, the Brutsche’s never got any coal out of the project because of a cave-in and water problems. However, about one mile East was the large and prosperous “Pierce Mine”, run by Clark Pierce and his son Clarence Pierce. The depth of the coal was about the same as other area mines, but this operation was more sophisticated and water was less of a problem. The Pierces had had previous experience with coal mining. Clark and his brother, Oscar, opened two other mines in the area, always looking for a deeper seam. Although the last one, the subject of this article was not the deepest, it was the most developed. It was opened in 1932 and 1933.

 Local people had known about the coal deposits for a long time. Warren recalls other long abandoned mines when he was a boy. One was located on what is now known as the Reemer property, and another near the ford on the east side of White Rock. Much larger mines, some of the largest in the state, were located near Springbrook. The biggest were the Fansler Mine (three-quarters of a mile downstream from Springbrook) and the Dew Row Mine. Both used motor hoists.

 At the time they opened the mine in the early 1930’s, Clark was farming 890 acres and Clarence was working for Guthrie County as a road maintainer. To dig the shaft, Clark and Clarence used one-half of a case of dynamite. Clarence dug out the dirt and stone, while Clark tended the top. They used a 30 gallon barrel and a horse to lift the debris. The shaft was 30 feet deep, 9 feet wide and 12 feet across. The shaft was partitioned into two parts, so that the air would flow down one side and up the other, and so two lifts could operate at the same time. The shaft was lined with planking. On one side of the partition, a heavy wooden cage was installed, guided in the tunnel with 2” x 4” wooden vertical rails. This cage was used to carry both men and coal. On the other side of the partition, a water barrel was installed. A six foot “stump” (a pit to collect water) was dug at the bottom of this partition, into which the barrel would drop on each trip it made.

 A horse powered the two lifts with an inverted “U” harness. The horse walked in a circle rotating a 10’ beam to power a drum. Around this drum were two cables, wrapped opposite of each other. The cables crossed over two shiv wheels stationed at the top of both sides of the shaft. As the water barrel lifted, the cage dropped, and vice versa. The best, and longest used, horse at the operation was a blind 1600 pound gelding named Rowdy. To change directions of the cables the top man would shout “Come under Rowdy”, and the gelding would obediently turn around and plod in the opposite direction. After Rowdy died, they tried a bronco named Dan, but he was too spooky. In the last years of operation, a mare named Beauty was finally trained to do a credible job.

 At the bottom of the shaft, Clark and Clarence dug two opposite roadways, each extending 25’ from the shaft. These tunnels varied from 4’ x 4’ to 4’ x 6’. They installed 2” x 4” wooden rails down the roadways on which wooden carts with iron wheels operated. The cart wheels were probably cast at the Perry foundry. Everything else was constructed with local timber. The roadways were necessary to keep the mining away from the central shaft, which could have caused a cave-in.

 Once the roadways were constructed, the miners dug a large semi-circle connecting the tunnels. When this was completed, surface air could flow from one side of the shaft, around the circumference of the mine, and up the other side of the shaft. They also put up curtains made of old canvas in roadways, in order to force the air all the way around the circumference. Air circulation was never a problem in this mine during the winter. The mine stayed around 70 degrees, and the difference in temperatures kept the air flowing. In the summer, the mine could not be worked because of bad air, called “the black damp” by the miners. (In any case, there was no demand for coal in the summer.) If there was any doubt about air quality, a lantern would be lowered; if there was enough oxygen, it stayed lit. (Other mines in the area sometimes lowered tomato plants to check air quality). If the air was slightly stale, water was thrown down the shaft, which helped get the air moving again.

 Since the mine was worked only in the winter, it was the perfect occupation for area farmers. Hap Palmer usually reopened the mine in August and September, cleaning up the cave-ins, etc. In October, the mine swung into full gear, with as many as 25 workers. Some of the “regulars” were Laurence Ritchie, Arlo Whitten, Fritz and Louie Gustav, and “Wild” Bill Hansen (a Dutchman from north of town). The four Palmer boys were so involved, they built an 8’ x 8’ shack near the mine to stay in during the week. Albert Palmer tended the top, and was the only salaried employee. The Pierce family also supplied their share of the labor. Warren’s uncles, Oscar and Lester, and Warren’s second cousins, Lloyd and Wilson, worked the mine. Clarence Pierce, Warren’s father, ran the day-to-day operations, although Grandad Clark was always the man clearly in charge. Warren and his teenage buddy, Jack Brutsche also worked in the mine.

 All the miners received as pay one-half the value of the coal they dug and lifted to the surface. A good miner could produce about a ton of coal a day, worth about $4.50 a ton. Therefore, the miners would make about $2.25 per day.

 The men mined the coal by digging underneath the 23” to 26” layer of coal. They would then set stakes in the hollow under the coal to help break it into pieces when it fell. The coal typically fell at night because of the dampness. However, skillful placement of wooden props supporting the ceiling could also help the coal fall, by levering the weight of earth onto the coal. In the morning, the miners would break up the fallen coal. The top layer of hard coal and the lower layer of soft coal were separated by an inch of mud which also helped in breaking up the coal. No one bothered to keep the two kinds of coal separate.

 They hauled the coal on sheet metal sleds to the carts in the roadways. Typically, a farmer would make four trips each day to the central shaft to deliver a load of about 500 pounds each trip. (Warren Pierce claims the record load: 1100 pounds, which he got by hauling out huge, unbroken blocks of coal.) The top man would weigh and record each load and take the coal either directly to the loading shute, or to a shed where the inventory was stored.

 As the miners worked, they threw the “minings” (the dirt underlying the coal) behind them. Thus, they were continuously refilling what they had just dug, except for tunnels they left open to get to the main roadways. As the mine developed, the main roadways were extended and a huge circle around the central shaft was honeycombed with tunnels. Eventually, the southeast quarter of the mine was closed because of wetness.