THE TUNNELS
We had been told there were tunnels everywhere beneath the town, even tunnels extending out from beneath our building's basement into the larger network. As far as entry from our hotel basement, this may or may not be true. We know of at least one opening, or gateway to 'somewhere else', which has been filled in and covered over with piles of debris and old material. We have not explored this gateway. When we pointed it out to the mayor he said to leave it alone.
There is an entire city of tunnels and mines beneath this area. The maps are fascinating. It is a coal mining community. The mines run for miles and miles below the earth here.
One coal miner was describing his working conditions to me which are far beneath the ground. He said, "It's pitch black. Everywhere. There's nothing to see. You only see what is illuminated directly in front of your hat. It is wet work. And the ceiling is about two feet above my head where I work. So I'm on my knees a lot."
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GOING DOWN INTO THE SHAFT...
Two local women came by the hotel and spoke to me one day. Vickie, one of them, was married to a miner. She described what it was like entering an actual mine. "They took me down once. They took me down in the shaft. I got fifty feet and made them take me back up."
"What was it like?" I asked her.
"Dark. Nasty."
The second, Jill, was really scared in our hotel. She described how her boyfriend tried to become a miner. "It takes a special kind of person to work in the mines. My boyfriend thought just because he can walk forty feet in the air and wasn't afraid of heights he could work two miles underground on his knees in tight spaces. And it doesn't work that way. Just because you're not afraid of heights doesn't mean you're not claustrophobic."
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ON BLACK DAM...
Vickie told another story: "My husband's a miner. And there's a thing called Black Dam. Its a gas, but you can't smell it. And if you're in it you die. Well, he worked alone a lot. He worked a lot! He lived in the mines for a while there. I used to get mad at him. If it were the Steel Mills they would call the wives and say their employees were working late and they'd provide lunches. But not the mines. Nothing. So my husband was gone for eighteen hours working, and I finally called the mines to take him lunch and they said, 'He's not here working.' Well! I said I knew he'd be home to eat if he wasn't. So they called down on the speakers throughout the mines. And my husband heard it. He'd sat down and was almost asleep. And then he heard the speakers. He was in Black Dam. He got up and crawled out. A couple more minutes and he'd have been dead. It happens like that. You just fall asleep and then die. that's why the old miners used to carry canaries with them. Because if the canary died you knew there were gases and you had to get out. Boy that was scary. Just going down in the mines is spooky."
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ON THE RATS...
There are stories of rats and rats and more rats all over the miles of dark tunnels. They don't sound very appealing.
"Did you ever see a miner's lunch box?" Vickie asked me. "They have their water in the bottom that they had to bring in case they got stuck. It was required by law. And then they'd put in all their sandwiches and fruit and candy bars. And then on the outside there's a lock. Do you know why there's a lock? Because if you didn't the rats down in the mines would get at your food."
"You know, rats can gnaw through steel and concrete," Jill added.
"Are they extra big rats?" I asked.
Jill went on, "We used to party down at Stoney Creek below the bridge and there's drain holes there. And rats would run from drain hole to drain hole and they were the size of cats! It was so gross! One time, under the Hickory Street Bridge, my boyfriend and I spotted this dog swimming across the river. 'Look at that dog!' my boyfriend shouted. We watched this dog reach the other side and climb out. 'ugh my god...' my boyfriend's stomach turned. It wasn't a dog. It was a fuckin' giant rat! Now those were just river rats as big as cats so you can imagine how big they get down in the mines."
Jill also noted, "We had rats when we lived over in Moxham. And my dog had puppies. And the rats came and ate all the feet off our puppies."
_____________________________________________________
ON GETTING LOST...
Vickie talked about how easily one could get lost down in these tunnels and mines. "You're supposed to always be with someone else. Its so dark and so large down there. If you didn't have your map..."
She shook her head.
_____________________________________________________
ON POSSIBLE GHOSTS...
One time I listened to a few old-timer coal miners talking about what they thought seemed like ghosts down in the mines beneath the town. These three miners laughed like they all knew exactly what the other ones were thinking.
One said, "Boy, sometimes there wouldn't be any wind whatsoever and that door would just slam shut right behind you for no reason... Scare you to death!"
They all laughed again.
We had been told there were tunnels everywhere beneath the town, even tunnels extending out from beneath our building's basement into the larger network. As far as entry from our hotel basement, this may or may not be true. We know of at least one opening, or gateway to 'somewhere else', which has been filled in and covered over with piles of debris and old material. We have not explored this gateway. When we pointed it out to the mayor he said to leave it alone.
There is an entire city of tunnels and mines beneath this area. The maps are fascinating. It is a coal mining community. The mines run for miles and miles below the earth here.
One coal miner was describing his working conditions to me which are far beneath the ground. He said, "It's pitch black. Everywhere. There's nothing to see. You only see what is illuminated directly in front of your hat. It is wet work. And the ceiling is about two feet above my head where I work. So I'm on my knees a lot."
_____________________________________________________
GOING DOWN INTO THE SHAFT...
Two local women came by the hotel and spoke to me one day. Vickie, one of them, was married to a miner. She described what it was like entering an actual mine. "They took me down once. They took me down in the shaft. I got fifty feet and made them take me back up."
"What was it like?" I asked her.
"Dark. Nasty."
The second, Jill, was really scared in our hotel. She described how her boyfriend tried to become a miner. "It takes a special kind of person to work in the mines. My boyfriend thought just because he can walk forty feet in the air and wasn't afraid of heights he could work two miles underground on his knees in tight spaces. And it doesn't work that way. Just because you're not afraid of heights doesn't mean you're not claustrophobic."
__________________________________________________
ON BLACK DAM...
Vickie told another story: "My husband's a miner. And there's a thing called Black Dam. Its a gas, but you can't smell it. And if you're in it you die. Well, he worked alone a lot. He worked a lot! He lived in the mines for a while there. I used to get mad at him. If it were the Steel Mills they would call the wives and say their employees were working late and they'd provide lunches. But not the mines. Nothing. So my husband was gone for eighteen hours working, and I finally called the mines to take him lunch and they said, 'He's not here working.' Well! I said I knew he'd be home to eat if he wasn't. So they called down on the speakers throughout the mines. And my husband heard it. He'd sat down and was almost asleep. And then he heard the speakers. He was in Black Dam. He got up and crawled out. A couple more minutes and he'd have been dead. It happens like that. You just fall asleep and then die. that's why the old miners used to carry canaries with them. Because if the canary died you knew there were gases and you had to get out. Boy that was scary. Just going down in the mines is spooky."
__________________________________________________
ON THE RATS...
There are stories of rats and rats and more rats all over the miles of dark tunnels. They don't sound very appealing.
"Did you ever see a miner's lunch box?" Vickie asked me. "They have their water in the bottom that they had to bring in case they got stuck. It was required by law. And then they'd put in all their sandwiches and fruit and candy bars. And then on the outside there's a lock. Do you know why there's a lock? Because if you didn't the rats down in the mines would get at your food."
"You know, rats can gnaw through steel and concrete," Jill added.
"Are they extra big rats?" I asked.
Jill went on, "We used to party down at Stoney Creek below the bridge and there's drain holes there. And rats would run from drain hole to drain hole and they were the size of cats! It was so gross! One time, under the Hickory Street Bridge, my boyfriend and I spotted this dog swimming across the river. 'Look at that dog!' my boyfriend shouted. We watched this dog reach the other side and climb out. 'ugh my god...' my boyfriend's stomach turned. It wasn't a dog. It was a fuckin' giant rat! Now those were just river rats as big as cats so you can imagine how big they get down in the mines."
Jill also noted, "We had rats when we lived over in Moxham. And my dog had puppies. And the rats came and ate all the feet off our puppies."
_____________________________________________________
ON GETTING LOST...
Vickie talked about how easily one could get lost down in these tunnels and mines. "You're supposed to always be with someone else. Its so dark and so large down there. If you didn't have your map..."
She shook her head.
_____________________________________________________
ON POSSIBLE GHOSTS...
One time I listened to a few old-timer coal miners talking about what they thought seemed like ghosts down in the mines beneath the town. These three miners laughed like they all knew exactly what the other ones were thinking.
One said, "Boy, sometimes there wouldn't be any wind whatsoever and that door would just slam shut right behind you for no reason... Scare you to death!"
They all laughed again.