Vol. 4-Interview-Zahay

AV inter. FZ -226/20/72 Tape 13

AV Oh how would it get across

FZ It would go up to the face

AV And then these manways they'd have the coal completely taken out of them

FZ Yes, this was the width of the breast, say 12 ft wide, maybe you'd line up props on this side from the rib, do you got it now, and as you were goin' up on the inside you'd (????????????) and the purpose of the plank was to get the coal out of the manway, there were steps in there that you could walk up they weren't steps they were just poles laid across

AV Well how would you get the manway dug in the first place, you'd blast it out

FZ Yeh you were goin' up with the breast, see the face of the manway is about 6 ft. from the face of the breast, but anyhow when you had room enough to put in about 8 or 10 ft. of manway and you'd put the manway in as you were goin' up the breast as you were takin' the face off, do you get it

AV And then what other kinds of work did you do as a company man, you said you fixed railroads down there

FZ Oh yeh, we fixed tracks

AV Did you go around locking for damaged spots

FZ You wouldn't go lookin' they'd tell you about it, the driver's the one that usually found out, cars would jump the track tear the track out and you had to go fix it, and maybe where the track was bad the cars would get off the road you'd have to go and help them put these cars on the road

AV Oh you'd do do some pushing as well as building

FZ Well you didn't do much pushin' if there was any pushin' or pullin' to be done you used the motor or the mules but you had to use a jack to lift the car higher than the rails and push it one way to get it down on the rails

AV And what else would you do as a company man

FZ Sometimes you had to fix these airways

AV They'd get clogged up

AV inter. FZ -236/20/72 Tape 13

FZ No broken boards and it was too much for the contract miner usually went after the boss, too much dead work see, you wouldn't get paid for that you got paid 740 for puttin' it in the contract miner did but if you got ahead of 'em why the company men went in to repair it was what we called dead work

AV And did you do anything else as a company man

FZ Well in those days there wasn't much more to be done, later years, yes, you had the airline to take care of you had airlines to put up these breasts for the miners

AV What are airlines like, pumps

FZ Jackhammers, and we use to put airlines up from them and take care of the airlines along the gangway or if the jackhammer wouldn't work take them down in the shop and take them apart and get them fixed

AV You would do that as a company man

FZ Yeh

AV And did you have other duties

FZ Always something different but that's about it

AV Did you like that job

FZ Well it was better than contract work, contract work you're always in dust and smoke you have all these miner's with asthma, that's how they get it, all the smoke and dust, you know, and when I mined in #6 me and my neighbor's brother we worked together I say it was about a mile we were drivin' just a hole not a breast, just a hole about 6 ft. square and the air was so bad coming home I took 6 rests or I wouldn't have made it that's how lousy you feel you get weak, you get headaches your temples you think are goin' to push out, the back of your head, and you get very weak you go so far that you have to sit down or you'd collapse that's all

AV All from the dust

AV inter. FZ -246/20/72 Tape 13

FZ No not all from the dust, the powder smoke, mostly dynamite, powder smoke isn't so bad, but dynamite's terrific

AV You breathe it in and it does all that stuff for you

FZ Yeh, oh it's terrible, it makes you very sick too,

AV How sick

FZ You just keep on vomitin' you think your insides are goin' to come out

AV That happen to you

FZ Oh yeh a few times

AV How do thay protect against it

FZ The only way they can protect against it is the fans keep the face clean have fans run by electricity, electric motor, then they have canvas tubing about 8 inches in diameter, different sizes, coupled together some are 25 ft. length and some are 50 ft. lengths, hook them on to a pump as you go up they hook different sections together and start the fan keeps the face clean

AV It's like a vacuum cleaner

FZ Well it just works the opposite way, it blows

AV Did many miners have damaged by from this dynamite smoke

FZ I htink that's where your asthma comes from

AV I thought it was from the coal dust

FZ Both

AV Gee that's bad I never thought it would do that

FZ I'd say it comes from both, mostly dust because that's what clogs your lungs up but smoke is terrible it makes you sick

AV So that's why you liked the company job

FZ Mostly because you're out on what they call the gangway

AV That's the main tunnel

FZ Yeh the main haulage and there's always pretty good air up there

AV And what did you call those side branching tunnels

AV inter. FZ -256/20/72 Tape 13

if the tunnel was flat what did you call the side tunnels

FZ Just a branch, that's all we called them at one time they use to drive all gangways and some places where the coal breaks off it's hard to keep the timber the weight is so great it just, legs with the car on top, it just pushes these legs down into the coal and later on the cars won't go thru they won't pass you have to remove these and put higher ones up and see that was a lot of work in later years they started drivin' tunnels gangways thru tunnels

AV Now what's the difference between a tunnel and a gangway

FZ A tunnel is solid rock you have no timber in them, nothin' at all and then from this tunnel you'd drive what they called sectional tunnels maybe that's what you're talkin' about but these sectional tunnels you drive these tunnels until they hit the coal that's how they get the coal thru these sectional tunnels instead of drivin' gangway they drive these tunnels they have no timber in them once a tunnel is driven their very expensive stuff but a coal gangway always works, always works, even if it don't sink it breaks the timber, the weight is too great

AV If the timber breaks doesn't that mean there's going to be a cave-in

FZ That's why they have company men to repair these, to repair the broken timber some of the timber is no bigger than that whatchamacall it

AV You mean that 24 inch tube the whole thing

FZ The whole thing maybe it's 18 20 24 inch in diameter and it breaks

AV What kind of wood was it

FZ In early days all they used was pine they claim it wouldn't rot for them but in later years they used was oak or any kind of wood but in the early days all they used was pine and they use to load up here

AV In the timber yard, which is located

FZ Below where the church is, right above (??????) house that's where the railroad track is on this side of the highway

AV inter. FZ -26-

6/20/72 Tape 13

AV On the opposite side of the house from Gaffneys, the gangway is your tunnel that goes thru coal

FZ That's the main haulage, that's what they call the gangway

AV But when you have a tunnel that's thru rock and you don't need any timber

FZ That's thru solid rock and you need no timber

AV Wasn't it hard to dig or blast that

FZ They had special contractors, that's all they did drill the tunnels

AV Did they drill it or blast it or both

FZ Well first they had to drill it they had air drills and then they'd blast it before they could go home and by the morning all the smoke would disappear, see they had fans that's what I'm talking about in this tubing, see, they'd start the fans and they'd have to put the tubing up, start the fans and by the morning all the smoke was gone and then the muckers would come in

AV What were they

FZ They'd load the rock up now years ago they use to do all that by hand

AV Digging by hand

FZ Not digging, just loading, they had air drills, you know, load it by hand by now in later years they have a muckin' machine, in the order of a shovel, the muckin' machine operator he'd slap it all to hell that's all he did he'd load a car, take it away and come baack again for another one, just kept on goin'

AV How far would they usually build this stone tunnel

FZ Now see I was going to show you that and I forgot about it I'd say about between 2 1/2 and 3 mile

AV And of course it would stay up because it was right thru rock

FZ Well some places they'd hit a bad spot where the rock was bad it would break off but then they took care of that

AV What kind of rock would this be, slate

FZ No just regular rock