Voices from the Appalachian Coalfields

By Mike Yarrow and Ruth Yarrow

This book contains the voices of Appalachian coal miners, both men and women, and coal miners� wives. Their words are from 225 interviews that my husband and I recorded in the 1970�s and 1980�s in the Appalachian coalfields, largely in Fayette, Raleigh, Mercer and McDowell counties of West Virginia.

As these voices will tell you, underground coal mining is dark, dangerous work. It is a world of totally dark tunnels, often dripping wet, where the only lights are the beams from hard hats. Miners take care not to shine their light in others� eyes. A section of the mine a mine (often referred to as �mines�) may consist of five main entry tunnels, with crosscuts between them, about 100 feet apart. Some will be blocked off with fire-resistant brattice cloth, or more permanently with concrete blocks. These partitions, with the roar of huge fans, force fresh air to the work face and pull dust and dangerous gases out. Near the big machines that mine the coal in the �face� of the section, and pin the �top� or layers above the tunnel, the noise is deafening. Miners communicate with shouts and signals with their headlamps

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933964812
• ISBN13: 9781933964812
• Release Date: September 2015
• Publisher: Bottom Dog Press
• Length: 152 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.1" x 9.2"