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I Was A Coal Miner
As I look at the family sights, I am reminded of events in life that have been long faded from my memory. Like the little hobo trip I took when I was about 16 years old. The picture of the coal mine reminded me of my coal mining days. They was short lived and I decided not to pursue coal mining as a lifetime occupation.
I was born and raised in Knox County Ky. Not very far from Corbin, We had it pretty rough during and even after the great depression. We all kept warm by setting by a fireplace and used wood and some coal for heating and cooking. Generally we would manage to buy some coal but it was very expensive “I think about one dollar per ton” but dollars were not easy to find, so this year we decided to get our coal from a little coal mine owned by a neighbor. It was a very small vane of coal, maybe a foot or a little more.
My Dad Clint Partin, brother Chester and myself became instant miners. We pushed the coal out on a little push car, it used wood poles for a track the bottom had been dug deeper so the car could be pushed in the main entry. The rest of the way we would shovel the coal then finally loading it into the car. The place we worked was not high enough to even crawl on hands and knees but we had to crawl kinda like a snake. It seemed to smother us. With a pick we would dig under the bottom of the coal and then knock it down, then the shoveling began.
We did get our coal for the winter. That was about sixty five years ago. Many things have happened, My Dad died also my brother. This little story may not mean much to you but it is a part of my life. My memory is fading but thinking of this little event is as plain as it ever was.
I went back to the vicinity of this place once. I couldn’t find anything, even the old road was gone. The neighbors house was gone. I consider myself lucky to have found my way back home.
Did you ever hear the song. “Time has made a change” How true it was. ~John Partin~
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