THE MAKING OF A MURAL
By ZETTIE

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THEME: "HISTORY OF COAL MINING"

Just to let you know a few elements of interest that have been put into this historical mural, I have hidden some things that are not easy to see. There is a ghost of a miner, which was taken from an actual picture of a miner. There are also rats hidden within the mural. This is because there were rats in the mines that the miners had to contend with.

Another thing which some people wonder about, unless they know mining history, is the bird in a cage which is seen sitting on the bottom border. There were all kinds of dangers in the mines, before a hand held lights were invented. These hand held lights, had a flame burning at all times. The miners carried a live canary underground with them as an alarm. If the canary died the miners got out in a hurry, because they would know there was poisonous gases. Because of it's small body size, it took little time for the poisonous gases to cause the canary to get sick, or even die. Though it may sound cruel, it gave the miners time to get out before it was too late. Luckily, technology has change this method of checking air safety!

ABOVE: The "Continuous Miner"
RIGHT: Drill bits for the Continuous Miner before and after one day's use.

The bits (seen in the sketch right) are located in the big pointed wheels that are across the top of the machine sticking up in the air. There are many bits in each wheel, and as you can see there are many wheels across the machine. This machine is operated by the man seated in the back. There is a huge belt that runs under the machine that the coal drops on, as it is drilled out of the walls of the mine. Then the belt rotates back up over a coal car (at the back where the man is sitting) and drops it's load onto the car, which then takes it out of the area. Then it repeats this process, over, and over again. This repetitive action is why it is called a continuous miner. The work that used to be done by so many men, using pickaxes, shovels, and the old box cars with mules pulling them (as seen in the large middle section of the mural), is now done by the "Continuous Miner".

If this small bit of information has made you want to know more about the mining industry's history, go to your local library to find books, or do a search on the Internet!

Zettie Shults

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