Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1933-10-05

s1.25 at the mine. At present the
coal is mined by the pick method
Some years ago Fred Wilson ther
of Malta purchased the farm known
to former residents as the Taylor
Cunningham place, and opened a
mine and installed cutting ma
chine which was operated by elec-
tricity that was manufactured or
generated by machinery at the mine
This mine was soon abandoned and
the machinery sold and moved
away. There has been quite an i'm
provement in mining in the last
quarter of century; especially IS
this true in the matter of light.
The old time digger worked with a
coal oil lamp which burned a wick
and smoked something terrible.
Now they use the carbide lamps
which make good light and no
smoke. The coal has seams which
run cross ways as we'll as length
wise of the block. Pete Carnes
who spent nearly his entire life dig
ging coal, always insisted that we
cut back until we hit the seam. In
fact that is the secret of getting the
big humps. Perhaps we told you,
anyway we want to tell you again,
if we did, John P. Carnes who died
March /, 1928, was a coal digger.
And why wouldn't he be? Start
ing to wheel coal at the age of IL
years to help his widowed mother
provide for the family. He might
have been a strong man had ne
worked at some other vocation, but
we doubt it. At any rate be did not
have to take any physical exer-
cises mornings and evenings.
there was muscle in his body that
was not toughened. hardened, ana
enlarged, we wouldn't know where
it was. With muscles on his arms
bigger than a common mans entire
arm Of the men who welded the
pick in our boyhood, we can think
of only two who are left-George
Carnes, GAINESVILLE, and Jas. DoVen-
barger, Reinersville.
We have often wondered how i'm
portant news was carried over the
township back before the advent OF
the telephone, such as accidents,
deaths and so on. In fact in our
boyhood the folks seemed to get the
events quicker than some folks tc-
day. Since the advent Of the tele-
phone, radio and daily newspapers,
folks don't visit as they did prior
to that time, so that people who do
not listen in fail to hear the news.
That there is friendship formed
in boyhood and young manhood.
from which one never gets away
county fair, when DR.. J. NJ. Pedi-
cord. his brother Will. Lee Ander-
son and G.. f. {Bub) Anderson.
met close to our station. They act
ed like boys. OF course they did
not have time to rehearse all the
pranks of their boyhood If they
had, we would have material for
copy for our space 10 carry us
through until grass comes again.
The doctor has promised to write
section for the Sycamore, which we
are awaiting with PATIENCE after
another week or so it will be with
impatience. AS we travel up and
down the hills and valleys, we do
not go far between things that re-
call to our mind some of these boys
when they were prominent citizens
Of our township. Of course folks
then perhaps failed to realize how
important they were-in fact some
of them looked at the elders and
deacons and thought they were the
important characters in the drama.
Perhaps they were, but we hear the
names of the aforementioned much
oftener than the latter But it
seems funny that the "boys" of
yester years have grown into the