The Stone Dump-Coal Heap

Back in the days when our coal mine was producing thousands of tons of coal each week there was a byproduct as the result. The byproduct was thousand of tons of rock and splint which had to be brought to the surface and disposed with. Since Princess Colliery, number 1 was in production for nearly a hundred years the pile of stone and refuse from the pit made a veritable mountain.The waste from the mine was loaded into boxcars and taken to a place about a mile from the pit. Here railway tracks were laid and the boxcars of waste dumped from the right side. The rock or stone dump grew and grew. Every day a train of several boxcars were pushed out on the heap and when the doors were opened the contents poured down the side of the heap

Included in the stone and refuse was a fair amount of coal and splint. Splint was a combination of coal and rock but would burn. It left a large clinker and was not desirable but for some it was affordable. As a youngster I would go with my father and pick coal at the stone dump. It was dangerous as the dump was about a hundred feet high and when the doors were opened the refuse flowed down the side of the dump. Large stones and sometimes timber flowed all the way down and you had to be nimble to avoid being hit.

We often picked a load of coal in a few hours and sold it to customers Dad had. We used a bucket to collect the coal and sometimes carried a small stone pick to separate the coal from the stone. When I was older like thirteen or so I went alone to make some money.Our horse and cart also carried other peoples coal home so we made money two ways. When we worked the stone dump we got covered with coal dust and had to wash carefully to get the coal dust from our eyes. This work was not one of my favourites as a kid but I relished the few dollars we gleaned for our efforts. It also gave us a work ethic which I carried throughout my life.

We called the stone dump the Highball and it was forbidden to glean for coal there but who would enforce the rule when we were all related. I always thought that we were some of the first recyclers and our family were green before we were Brown.