Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-06-21

| Colonel Kohn, however, explained that
the town was named after the private
secretary of Coils P. Huntington, one
of the first Of the millionaires to be-
come interested in the development
Of this particular coal field and the
name was pronounced with only one
syllable, "Dant," the a as in Dan"
From Speer's Ferry to Dante the
distance is forty miles. The road first
ascends Clinch river and then branch
es off up Lick creek, which 1t follows
to Dante. the operating headquarters
of the Clinchfield Coal corporation.
Here we found a pretty little village
crowded into a deep valley, with a
number Of pretty cottages on the sur
rounding eminences. There is a
handsome railroad station, a large
company store, a commodious hotel,
an entertainment hall and a few 9TH
er buildings Of like character. Lick
creek, quite a rapidly rushing stream,
carrying. with the fall 1t has, about
enough water to run a 5000 spindle
cotton mill, flows between the hotel
and the entertainment hall on the one
side and the store and station on the
other. Both banks of the creek are
concreted through the village so as to
render impossible danger from fresh
cts, and substantial bridges, one for
pedestrians and vehicles and another
for the railroad trains, afford easy and
convenient crossings.
A Warm Reception.
We had no sooner gotten off the
train, than we began to realize that
they were looking for us. Mr.. J. M.
Roam, general manager of the mines
Of the Clinchfield Coal corporation and
his three sons, Messrs. T. E. Roam, ].
NJ. Roam, Jr., and ]. A. Roam. began to
circulate among the crowd, bidding
us welcome, and giving US information
as to the proposed trip through the
mines and a dance afterward. All of
the Roans, father and sons, impressed
us all most favorably. They are all
splendid specimens Of physical man.
hood, with frank, open faces. in which 1t
is easy to read kindness and flrmness,
along with resolution and daring. We
were not long in realizing either that
without any superfluous veneer all
were thorough Observation-Disclosures
on their native heath. When all were
together, the elder Roam was wass-not
disagreeable boss, but nevertheless
boss-and when he was away, the 9TH
ers in the order of seniority, knew
exactly how to fill his place. We all
had more or less correct notions as to
the cosmopolitan character Of the
average coal mining population, and
some of us had wondered how any man
could manage such people; but when
the Roans got through with our crowd,
a far more difficult crowd to manage
than coal miners, by the way, all Of
us were filled with admiration and res
pect.
Going to the Coal Mines.
The first move Of Mr.. Roam was to
load up into three coal cars, pushed by
a tremendous locomotive, and take up
up a switch-b back railroad into the
mountain. With a brakeman at each
car, in addition to the air-brakes on
the engine, we went up twenty or
thirty per cent grade on the side of
the mountain until it would be folly
to try to climb further in that direc-
ton, then we switched back in the op-
posite direction, but up still another
grade Of about the same pitch, and
then up another, until presently the
valley was far below us, and we were
almost on a level with the coal seams,
and could see where the coal is being
emptied out of the mountain down the
coal chutes on to the railroad tracks.
These chutes are constructed at an
inclination of As degrees and even
more and are several hundred feet in
length, permitting the coal to slide
down from the mouths Of the exit tun-
nels to the cars without possibility or
obstruction. There is no digging on
either side Of the valley we are now In.
The digging is in the mountains be-
yond, and the valley is used solely as
the channel through which the output
is delivered into the cars.
A Mixture of Races.
In ascending this valley or more
properly ravine, we noticed that the
sides of the mountain were lined with
cottages and shacks, occupied by the
miners. The cottages are different
sizes, some two, some four and some
six rooms, neatly painted in white and
quite attractive. Some were shut up
and apparently deserted, the occu-
pants probably being off in the mines.
In the case Of others, whole families
were sitting out on the porches as
much interested in us, as we were In
them. At a point some distance from
the home like cottages there were long
rows of shacks that could be called
huts even only by courtesy. These, l
was informed, were the sleeping quar-
ters of foreigners-Hunga Ital-
ians, Polacks, LithI .ians, and in fact
representatives of all the European
countries. There were also a few ne
groes among them; but l was told that
as compared with most Of them from
any standpoint, the negro is superior.
I refer, of course, to the average OF
those who occupy the miserable shacks.
It was explained also to me that the
only reason of these squalid quarters
is that the occupants are unable to ap-
preciate any better. Their wages run
all the way from $3.50 to SO day, and
they can have pretty nearly anything
they wanted.
Work Never Stops.
Along our route up the raVlne just
described and up another similar route
TO be described later, we saw hundreds
of miners going and coming. They
wore overalls mostly. In their caps OF
duck that was white, or had once been
white, were little lamps worn in the
mines to light the way. The miners
who were going in were generally clean
faced and fresh. Those coming out