Coal Miners

Rita McNeil had her yearly Xmas concert the other evening but it turned out to be a visit with the Men From The Deeps. It was a moving musical treat for those who have a connection with the coal mines in Nova Scotia and Cape Breton in particular.

My Father and grand parents before him all worked the coal mines of Cape Breton. What makes these coal mines distinct is the fact that many were submarine mines meaning they were digging the coal which was out under the ocean. Princess Number 1 was the largest coal mine  which took coal for a hundred years from under the Atlantic Ocean.

Dad would get up at 5.am and catch the man car to the mine. He had to travel down hundreds of feet in a elevator like cage where he mounted a box mounted on tracks to travel many miles to his work. This was called a man rake and held up to several hundred men.

Beyond this he had to walk to the long wall where the coal was mined. As a loader two men had to cut, shoot and load coal from a solid wall 40 feet by four feet and 6 feet high. All this was during a 8 to 10 hour shift. After work the reverse travel took more than an hour and then shower and take the man car home. This was really a 11 or 12 hour shift.

The men were hearty and strong and suffered working conditions that by today's standards would be brutal.Dad never complained but made sure none of his 4 sons became coal miners. Dad was a person who loved the pit ponies and I still remember him talking about one pony in particular named Samson. This pony was so strong and was worked in an manner that was brutal and even though some of the miners were caring the ponies were an expendable commodity.

I loved the Men of the Deeps rendition of a song so dear to Cape Bretoners called A working Man I Am. Everywhere this choir travels this song gets the greatest applause.Rita McNeil sings with this miners choir every chance she gets and is always very popular