Nearly every line in Danny O'Keefe's Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues is poignant.
I heard one today that is particularly sad and quite moving. "All their lives they dug their graves, two miles of earth for a marking stone." Or worse perhaps: "Bone and blood is the price of coal." This event happened when I was young, and not too long after it occured Western Pennsylvania had a bad one too at U S Steel's Robena mine.
I heard one today that is particularly sad and quite moving. "All their lives they dug their graves, two miles of earth for a marking stone." Or worse perhaps: "Bone and blood is the price of coal." This event happened when I was young, and not too long after it occured Western Pennsylvania had a bad one too at U S Steel's Robena mine.
That Harmar mine was the supplier to the old Wheeling -Pittsburgh Steel Corp. Not far from there, the old Harwick Mine was the site of one of the worst mining disasters ever in the early part of the 20th century. Almost 200 miners died that day in a huge explosion.Wow, RTA, that one brought back some memories. I grew up about ten miles from Harmarville and I can remember in both grade and elementary school many classmates being pulled out of class because of a cave-in at the mines. A lot of the men in my neighborhood worked in the coal mine and I can still see their faces. After awhile the coal dust just wouldn't some out and their faces were streaked. No matter what job I've had during my entire life I always felt I was lucky. I can remember doing traffic at 2 a.m. in February on Rt. 6 when it got so cold I could not lift my arms but I thought, "You know what, I'm not hundreds of feet underground breathing coal dust with cold water dripping on me". Sorry to pontificate but that post hit me hard.
And now, for five dollars, you can take a tour of the mine.That Harmar mine was the supplier to the old Wheeling -Pittsburgh Steel Corp. Not far from there, the old Harwick Mine was the site of one of the worst mining disasters ever in the early part of the 20th century. Almost 200 miners died that day in a huge explosion.
died that day in a huge explosion
And she said we must get together
But I knew it'd never be arranged
And she handed me twenty dollars
For a two fifty fare, she said
"Harry, keep the change"
Well, another man might have been angry
And another man might have been hurt
But another man never would have let her go
I stashed the bill in my shirt