Life In A Coal MiningTown (1956)

thank you in the hills of Kentucky where you might expect to see nothing but forests and Wildlife you will find the houses that make up the small town of David visit here why do people live out here away from cities this building a cool Tipple tells the story it marks the entrance to a mine a coal mine and the town was built here because the mine is here the railroad was built because the mine is here in fact the entire town depends on the mine and most of the people in David work in the mine David is just one small coal mining town the dark areas on this map show that in many States including Kentucky West Virginia and Pennsylvania you will find other coal mines and coal mining towns spotted across our country are areas where people make a living by mining coal we can find out a great deal about coal mining and the people who minecore by visiting the people of David they live in the houses that lie in the one main road what is it like to live in a town like this to find out let's visit one of the families who live here this is the home of the Bevin family while Mrs Bevin is packing lunch boxes for the mountain Helen is helping prepare breakfast is a big meal hearty and nourishing for mining like farming is hard work Mr Bevin and Steven the oldest boy are miners and Mr bevin's father was a minor he came from a country across the Atlantic Ocean Helen hopes to serve her community by becoming a nurse or a teacher and Susie well there's time enough to think about her future now Charles Charles knows that he wants to be an airplane pilot the schedule for a minor in his family is built around the time of the day his work begins and ends Charles will go part of the way with his father and Stephen the morning sun hasn't yet reached this part of the valley as the men leave home they walk this is the way most of the people who work in David get to the mine Charles leaves the others he goes to high school and his school is located in another town nearby up to the big building the Tipple come the men although we call them all minors actually they do many jobs in the mine and around it but no matter what job they do they're always thinking about safety for a mind can be dangerous every man who goes into the mine takes a safety lamp which he fastens to the hard helmet that protects his head and each man wears strong hard shoes that will protect his feet and straps around the Cuffs of his trousers to keep out the coldest only when the men are properly equipped can they go into the mine [Music] in times past miners carried pickaxes to dig coal by hand but today much of the work is done by machines this Miner is operating a cutter bar which cuts a deep seam into the cool to prepare for blasting another machine is used to drill deep holes in the core then Dynamite is put into the holes [Music] another big machine gathers up the loose coal and loads it onto trucks the trucks cart the coal to a conveyor belt which carries it up out of the mine to the Tipple here on the Tipple a great deal of work remains to be done first the call is washed then it is sorted according to science useless pieces of rock can other waste are taken out and loaded onto Railway cars to be taken to Market this is the kind of work that goes on all day at the mine meantime at the home of the Devon family other things are happening Susie and Helen are leaving for school it isn't far away so they walk in front of their church is a monument that tells of an adventure Daniel Boone had near here although this is a small mining town children who live here have many good things the big swimming pool is fun in summer and the hills are wonderful for hiking and camping some parts of the hills are set aside for the miners to enjoy hunting for most of the year as anywhere else the children are in school by the time school has started Mrs Bevin is ready to go for her morning shopping for most household goods she shops at the general store which is one of the centers of life in the town here in the General Store she can buy almost all her daily needs although once a week she drives to the city and shops there also here too is the town post office where she picks up the mail for her family while Mrs Bevin is shopping and the children are in school the men are mining coal the days of the homes and the clothing and the school and the fun for the people who live in a coal mining town railroads by Cold run the very engines that haul the call to distant cities big generating plans in other states buy coal to burn and making electricity steel companies buy coal and bake it in big ovens to make Coke as the coal is baked gases and tires come out the gas is used to cook with and the coal tar is used to make medicines dyes perfumes and many other things Coke is the Hard clean fuel that is left when coal is baked in the great ovens this coke is burned in the furnaces of the steel mill to help make iron into Steel [Music] at David all day long coal is mined washed sorted loaded and shipped that is the way the work day is spent remember David is just one small coal mining town you will find coal mines all through Kentucky West Virginia and Pennsylvania and in other states of our country not all Mayans are deep in the Earth Some Coal is mined in open pits [Music] there are many kinds of coal mines and coal mining towns but in David we have seen something of the life of some people who depend on mining coal to make a living they live near their work in their little town built around the mine in the hills of Kentucky thank you