Stories of the Coal Mine

Men, women and children (who could until 1842 be as young as four years old and from 1900 had to be over thirteen years of age) worked in the coalmines which was hard, relentless and dangerous work. This was especially true for those men who mined the coal and who were forced to work in spaces of about 30 inches (75cm) high and to tunnel using pickaxes for long distances from the main shaft. Flood, firedamp and chokedamp are ever-present dangers to the miner, all hidden maybe mere inches away to be released in response to an unlucky strike of his pick. Unleashing these deadly forces would put the miner in mortal danger of death from drowning, explosion or suffocation. Can you imagine what it would be like to be trapped hundreds of feet underground? In complete darkness? With the water level rising? Or with suffocating fumes filling the tunnel? Or with sparks igniting the escaping inflammable gas? In a tunnel that you can’t turn around in? Totally disorientated? And possibly completely alone? No – I can’t either. But having read this book and the stories related within, I have a profound respect for the miners, their families, their communities, their sacrifices and their responses whenever an emergency or accident occurred. Whether they were trapped underground or were providing unstinting effort as part of the rescue teams that moved heaven and earth to release their comrades from their underground tomb, their bravery and self-sacrifice in the face of adversity knew no bounds. The stories presented here have been collected from reports of actual incidents and the book is part of a series of inspirational texts and ‘heroic writings of daring deeds’ by the Victorian author Frank Mundell. Frank Mundell wrote a significant number of books for children (both boys and girls) and young adults and many of these were distributed and presented to them through their Sunday schools. - Summary by Steve C