Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield Howard Herron Memoir - University of Illinois Springfield
Howard Herron 3 9 Q: When someone was killed like that. . . . A: The mine stops. Q: Do they have some sort of signal or whistle or anything that they used? A: No, just when the driver would come in from the bottom with the empty cars, he'd say, "Well, so and so got killed or there was a big fall and a roof came in in some places, got several men under." Everybody would quit and they would all go home. Q: Well, didn't they have rescue squads in those days that would go back and try and get these people out? A: Yes, there was, they were crude, they would just work day and night to try and get men out. To get their brother coal miners out, Q: Did the families come and stand outside and wait? A: No, they never did around here. Now, they did at Cherry Mine when that was a terrible explosion up at Cherry, Illinois. I saw pictures of them standing around, people waiting and waiting to see if their husbands were going to come out. Q: Was there ever any compensation for the families of these miners, I mean what did they do then? A: There was some, but nothing compared to. . . . That's why the miners had the strike here so often, to get better conditions. That's why Virden had a mine down there that brought in a bunch of Negroes that were going to run that mine, and that's what they call the Virden Massacre or something. White coal miners around Virden and Auburn went down there. They had barricades built of hay bales and everything where they were going to house these Negroes, they started shooting when the train backed up. The engineer just pulled the train out. They just left and they never came back, so they gave that up as a bad job, the miners won that fiasco or whatever you call it. Q: Then there were unions back then in your day? A: Yes. Q: Did you belong to a union? A: Oh, yes. Q: What did you have to pay as a union member? A: Oh about a dollar and a half or two dollars a year, a month maybe, a dollar a month, something like that. That was in its infancy. It was a hard struggle for the miners to get to where they have got to now. Now the miners get good salaries. They live like gentlemen and they have nice homes and they have nice families. They are staking another coal mine out here by Lowder now.
1 Howard Herron 40 Q: Did you read in the paper just two weeks ago there was a bad mine disaster in Virden that killed a young man. So they still do have accidents. A: Oh yes, but that was mostly the fault of the company. There's always a squabble between the union and the company because the company would take every advantage for their part and the union people had to Eight for, stand up for their rights. I have a friend right now that works in the mine and he makes about $50 a day. But he works and they produce well, one man can produce about twenty times the amount of coal a day that we used to do then back in the old days. Q: When you worked at a coal mine here, did most of the people in this town have coal type furnaces? A: Yes, everybody did. Q: And was there a company that delivered this coal to their homes? A: No, anybody in town would, half a dozen or more men, what they called draymen. Q: Drayman? What is the word dray? A: Well, d-r-a-y and m-e-n, I guess. They're teamsters, they were draymen or teamsters and they had a team and a wagon and if you wanted a load of coal you would meet him on the street and you'd say, "Hey, Dick, get me a load of coal." They'd haul a load of coal and if you worked at the coal mine, you give them your number and they would just charge you and the union would take it off of your pay. That's the way you got your coal. Q: Were these wagons very big and sturdy? A: Oh, they were just ordinary wagons. They would scoop it in and scoop it out. Everybody had a coal shed and cob house or kindling house and they had to. . . . Q: I'm curious about the woman's side when these miners came home black all over, with dust all over their clothes, did you have some place to wash outside of the house? A: Some of them had what you called summer kitchens. They would have water warm for them and they would come and take a bath and you would never know they were coal miners after they were home a while. Then, see that's one thing that, where the unions had to fight, now they got wash houses right at the mine and they are nice too. But they took their time and strikes and everything, perseverance for the miners to fight for their rights and compensation in case someone got hurt, the coal mine would pay the doctor bills. But that took time and the coal miners had to go a long ways before they got those conditions. But now they've got very good conditions and there are not so many, I don't think there is near as many casualties in the mine now as there used to be and they don't have props. They used to have to prop coal up. Posts like that
- Page 1: University of Illinois at Springfie
- Page 5 and 6: Table of Contents (cont.) Auburn Bu
- Page 7 and 8: Howard Berron 2 A: I wouldn't know
- Page 9 and 10: Howard Hexron 4 A: Eighteen hundred
- Page 11 and 12: Howard Herron 6 b- it's a fact beca
- Page 13 and 14: Howard Herron 8 started in and I ha
- Page 15 and 16: Howard Herron 10 Q: When you were a
- Page 17 and 18: Howard Herron 12 kid in school had
- Page 19 and 20: Howard Herron 14 always been gratef
- Page 21 and 22: Howard Herron 16 A: Oh, pumpkin pie
- Page 23 and 24: Howard Berron 18 father bought this
- Page 25 and 26: Howard Herron 20 eleven inches in c
- Page 27 and 28: Howard Herron 2 2 Q: A rod or a gui
- Page 29 and 30: Howard Herron and he had these pink
- Page 31 and 32: Howard Herron 2 6 A: Oh, about ten,
- Page 33 and 34: Howard Herron 2 8 Q: Where was the
- Page 35 and 36: Howard Herron Q: Like the bank does
- Page 37 and 38: Howard Berron 32 A: Open and shut t
- Page 39 and 40: Howard Berron 3 4 about 8:00 in the
- Page 41 and 42: Howard Herron 36 Q: What was your f
- Page 43: Howard Herron 38 Q: Straight in? A:
- Page 47 and 48: Howard Herron 4 2 of it and put abo
- Page 49 and 50: Howard Herron 44 It was below zero
- Page 51 and 52: Howard Herron 4 6 A: When I got hom
- Page 53 and 54: Howard Herron 4 8 Q: Do you want to
- Page 55 and 56: Howard Herron 5 0 A: That was at Lo
- Page 57 and 58: Howard Herron 5 2 building and we b
- Page 59 and 60: Howard Herron 5 4 A: Yes, mostly, t
- Page 61 and 62: Howard Herron 5 6 Q: Can I ask you
- Page 63 and 64: Howard Herron 58 that wants because
- Page 65 and 66: Howard Herroa 60 Q: Do you remember
- Page 67 and 68: Howard Herron 6 2 Q: What are some
- Page 69 and 70: Howard Berron 64 Q: Did they ever h
- Page 71 and 72: Howard Herron 66 Q: How old was she
- Page 73 and 74: Howard Herron 6 8 Q: So times were
- Page 75 and 76: Howard Herron 7 0 A: Used to but th
- Page 77 and 78: Howard Herron 72 A: Well, not much.
- Page 79 and 80: Howard Herron 74 A: Yes, but you se
- Page 81 and 82: Howard Herron 7 6 and everything, a
- Page 83 and 84: Howard Berron 7 8 the papers. I sai
- Page 85 and 86: Howard Herron 80 He was quite a pok
- Page 87 and 88: Howard Herron 8 2 didn't have the d
- Page 89 and 90: Howard Herron 84 A: Didn't know wha
- Page 91 and 92: Howard Herron 86 Q: Did you ever he
- Page 93 and 94: Howard Herron 8 8 just pouring down
<strong>Howard</strong> <strong>Herron</strong> 3 9<br />
Q: When someone was killed like that. . . .<br />
A: The mine stops.<br />
Q: Do they have some sort <strong>of</strong> signal or whistle or anything that they<br />
used?<br />
A: No, just when the driver would come in from the bottom with the empty<br />
cars, he'd say, "Well, so and so got killed or there was a big fall and a<br />
ro<strong>of</strong> came in in some places, got several men under." Everybody would<br />
quit and they would all go home.<br />
Q: Well, didn't they have rescue squads in those days that would go back<br />
and try and get these people out?<br />
A: Yes, there was, they were crude, they would just work day and night<br />
to try and get men out. To get their brother coal miners out,<br />
Q: Did the families come and stand outside and wait?<br />
A: No, they never did around here. Now, they did at Cherry Mine when<br />
that was a terrible explosion up at Cherry, <strong>Illinois</strong>. I saw pictures <strong>of</strong><br />
them standing around, people waiting and waiting to see if their husbands<br />
were going to come out.<br />
Q: Was there ever any compensation for the families <strong>of</strong> these miners, I<br />
mean what did they do then?<br />
A: There was some, but nothing compared to. . . . That's why the<br />
miners had the strike here so <strong>of</strong>ten, to get better conditions. That's<br />
why Virden had a mine down there that brought in a bunch <strong>of</strong> Negroes that<br />
were going to run that mine, and that's what they call the Virden Massacre<br />
or something. White coal miners around Virden and Auburn went down<br />
there. They had barricades built <strong>of</strong> hay bales and everything where they<br />
were going to house these Negroes, they started shooting when the train<br />
backed up. The engineer just pulled the train out. They just left and<br />
they never came back, so they gave that up as a bad job, the miners won<br />
that fiasco or whatever you call it.<br />
Q: Then there were unions back then in your day?<br />
A: Yes.<br />
Q: Did you belong to a union?<br />
A: Oh, yes.<br />
Q: What did you have to pay as a union member?<br />
A: Oh about a dollar and a half or two dollars a year, a month maybe, a<br />
dollar a month, something like that. That was in its infancy. It was a<br />
hard struggle for the miners to get to where they have got to now. Now<br />
the miners get good salaries. They live like gentlemen and they have<br />
nice homes and they have nice families. They are staking another coal<br />
mine out here by Lowder now.
Change language