Goodbye Wifes and Daughters: Another Cautionary Coal Story

[Omaha Steve]

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5618/goodbye_wifes_and_daughters_another_cautionary_coal_story/

Friday February 26 11:18 am

In the early 1940s, Bearcreek, Mont., was the definition of an “all-American town.” Large families enjoyed the simple life against the spectacular backdrop of the Beartooth Mountains. They chatted on front porches, ran three-legged races at the Labor Day union picnic, went to movies and the Busy Bee diner when they wanted to splurge. Teenage journalists chronicled it all in the high school newspaper, The Bear Facts.

The people of Bearcreek also worked, and hard. World War II was in full swing, and Bearcreek saw the mine as a crucial front in the “Good War,” providing the coal needed to fuel defense plants and other war-time operations. The miners knew things were not ideal in the mine. It was “gassy,” laced with heavy amounts of methane that could explode at the smallest spark. And it was thick with coal dust, also combustible. The Freeman brothers, who managed the mine for the Montana Coal and Iron Company, had never seen fit to invest in basic measures to reduce the risk of explosion.

Susan Kushner Resnick makes Bearcreek come alive in her new book Goodbye Wifes and Daughters. With a compassionate voice, Resnick paints the picture of innocent, idyllic Bearcreek and its earnest residents as she builds up to the inevitable tragedy to come – a massive underground explosion in 1943 that killed 75 miners, created 58 widows and 125 fatherless children and sucked the lifeblood out of the town.

The tragedy should have been far from inevitable. Countless safety measures could have been taken relatively easily, as indicated by a stunned federal inspector who visited before the disaster. Shafts were far too narrow for adequate ventilation, coal dust piled up like sand dunes and miners wore open flames on their helmets – just asking for an explosion – rather than the battery-powered lights already the norm in the industry.

But in a situation bearing eerie parallels to the present day, Resnick shows how social and political factors made the town and union nearly impotent to avoid the obviously impending doom.

FULL story at link.

[Brickbat]

1. Mr. Brickbat has worked dangerous jobs all his life and the one thing that helps me sleep at night

is that I know he is comfortable saying "no" if he sees an unsafe job site. He said it's amazing how long it took him to be 100% comfortable telling a boss "no" because of unsafe working conditions, and how easily others are cowed into doing something unsafe because they're more scared of losing their jobs than losing a limb or a life. It breaks my heart that people are held in that kind of bondage.

Educate, agitate, organize!

[Omaha Steve]

2. Kick

[Maru Kitteh]

3. Wifes?

[comtec]

4. Yes, because don't ya know women have no identity unless they're married

or under age!
do I really need the sarcasm tag?

[Maru Kitteh]

5. Well, that wasn't actually my concern.

wifes


wives

[tonysam]

6. That's what jumped out at me, too.

This is supposed to be a professionally published piece, and a glaring typo is allowed?

[alphafemale]

13. Read the article. nt

[Hello_Kitty]

7. It's the name of the book and probably a deliberate reference. eom

[dysfunctional press]

8. it references a note left by one of the miners...

“Goodbye wifes and daughters,” said one note. “We died an easy death. Love from us both. Be good.”

http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/5618/goodbye_wifes_and_daughters_another_cautionary_coal_story

[proudohioan]

9. That was my take on it, too. n/t

[alphafemale]

11. Too bad the message scrawled by a dying miner, doesn't meet your standards

A miner who may have had maybe a 4th - 7th grade education.

Yep. That's just too bad.

I'm glad you pointed out the man's inferiority and stupidity.

With your superior knowledge I'm sure you would be above making a similar mistake if you were dying a horrible death a mile or so below the ground.

[Dr.Phool]

10. Either that, or read the article before commenting on it.

The term is clearly referenced there.

[hfojvt]

12. knr