WEBVTT
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Speaker1: Okay, Now let's go. Your name is?
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Mulaney: Louis Mulaney.
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Speaker1: And how old are you?
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Mulaney: 79.
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Speaker1: 79. Where were you born?
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Mulaney: I was born in South America.
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Speaker1: Where at in South America.
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Mulaney: So this is I can tell is some palace Provincia.
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Speaker1: In Saint Paul, Brazil?
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Mulaney: In Saint Paul, Brazil.
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Speaker1: Okay. And how long did you live there?
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Mulaney: Then my dad left there in 1901.
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Speaker1: 1901. So you were just a young boy when you left Brazil. And how
come your parents were in Brazil Mulaney: Well-- Speaker1: when you were
born. They were originally from Italy, right? Mulaney: Right.
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Mulaney: They were both my mother and my dad was born in Italy. They went
over in Brazil in close, as I can tell in 95.
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Speaker1: 1895.
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Mulaney: 1895. And left there in 91.
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Speaker1: Who else besides you and your sister were born in Italy? Did you
have other brothers born in Italy? I mean in Brazil?
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Mulaney: Just my sister and I were born in Brazil.
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Speaker1: Okay. But when your parents went to Brazil, didn't they have
other children that were older than you?
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Mulaney: Yes, they had two. One after he got in Brazil shortly he died.
But God, I don't know.
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Speaker1: Was he young? Mulaney: Yeah.
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Mulaney: The oldest brother got a sunstroke in Brazil just before, I
guess. I don't know. Before I remember his. He died. I lost, I lost two
brothers there. He told me.
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Speaker1: So then just you and your sister and your parents went back to
Italy? Mulaney: No. Speaker1: Brazil? Mulaney: No.
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Mulaney: I had another older brother. He was born in 92, I believe. His
name was Harry.
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Speaker1: That's right. Okay. Go ahead.
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Mulaney: We went to Italy. Now, the reason why I don't know, because my
dad was in Brazil, was doing good business. Was doing good.
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Speaker1: What kind of work was he doing in Brazil?
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Mulaney: Stonemason and construction work. He had a store. And but during
that time, he called his brothers over. But I don't know what happened. He
left in 1901 for Italy. Instead of going back to Brazil, when he decided to
go back to America, he went to North America. That I believe was in 1901 or
1902.
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Speaker1: So he wasn't in Italy very long?
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Mulaney: No, he didn't stay over there very long. But the family did. Now,
he just come over in the United States by himself. And he only stayed his
little short time, went back to Italy. And in late 1902 he come back to
America.
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Speaker1: 1903.
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Mulaney: In 1903, he pitched the whole thing for the whole family.
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Speaker1: Okay. Now, at this point, how many brothers and sisters did you
have?
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Mulaney: I had two brothers, two brothers and a sister.
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Speaker1: Okay. That was Harry and Ella and yourself. That's right. And
then the whole family came back to America. Mulaney: Right. Speaker1: Where
did you come into America?
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Mulaney: Well, we went into, my dad was in Colebrook, but we went in Port
of New York. We had to go through customs and--
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Speaker1: What was it like? Do you remember?
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Mulaney: I didn't remember very much, but they kept pushing us from one
customs guard. At that time, you had to go up to through the customs and
different things and show papers, whether you're an immigrant or what you
are to get there. So from there, after a few days, we went to Coal Bluff.
Speaker1: Coal Bluff? Mulaney: Pennsylvania. That's up the river right
across from West Elizabeth or West Elizabeth from Elizabeth.
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Speaker1: Oh, okay.
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Mulaney: The mayor, he was working in the coal mine. Now I was then almost
well over six years old. Due to go to school at Coal Bluff. My dad at that
time in Coal Bluff, they had to get the barges in and the river would
freeze completely over and you couldn't get in, the mine wasn't working. So
he decided to go to New York. This was in last part of 1903. So he, I went,
I believe, two months to school in Coal Bluff. And we moved to New York. So
I missed that rest of the year. At that time, they didnt care whether you
went to school or didn't go to school.
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Speaker1: What part? New York State or New York City.
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Mulaney: New York City.
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Speaker1: What was it like there? Do you remember what it was like living
there much?
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Mulaney: Not too much New York. I don't I don't know what part of New York
we went to, but we in New York, he was a stonemason. He was making $4 a day
at that time. So in 1904 I went, in the fall, I went to school in New York.
But my dad in the fall, stonemason, got no work. So he left New York for
Scranton, Pennsylvania.
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Mulaney: He went to New York, to Scranton. So we moved to Scranton. That
was, I believe, in around October, November or something around there and
pulled out of school, I didn't go to school in Scranton. So he worked there
all that fall and part of the next summer in nine, the last part of 1904.
Left a hard go, come to Bruceton.
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Speaker1: And that's where he stayed.
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Mulaney: And in the last part Or the early part, I'm not sure of 1905, we
come to Bruceton. So I lost that year in what you call. I didn't go to
school in Bruceton. So 1906.
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Speaker1: Then they made you go to school?
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Mulaney: Oh, yes. My dad wanted me to go to school. I was the only one.
Harry, he was working already.
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Speaker1: Where was he Working?
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Mulaney: Working with dad. He was working in a mine. I forget what he was
working at in Scranton. I think they had shakers, you know, in different
things. Was working. But in 1906, I went to, was it 1906? 1906 I went to
Bruceton school. And nine. Well, I was still in the chart class at that
time. It isn't like today. They had grades, you had sharp class and they
had Primer and first reader, second reader, third reader, fourth reader.
Well, I wasn't even out of the chart, but I was almost ten years old, so I
went two years at Bruceton school. I wasn't making no headway, so I started
playing hooky. So my dad said, You either go to school or go to work. At
that time, you had to be 14 years old to go to work.
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Speaker1: You weren't 14.
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Mulaney: I was 11 years old and six months. Went to work. My dad said, you
come to me to work in the mine. So I went and got a job as trapper. My dad
got the job for me. Dollars $1.06 and a half for eight hours.
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Speaker1: And what did the trapper do?
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Mulaney: Trapper all he done is throw switches for drivers and motorman's.
Whatever it was, it only had a motor and opened the doors. Done that couple
of years. In mines. And then finally I had to do, my dad couldn't speak
very much English. And it was a great demand for my dad at Bruceton Number
six Mine for bricklayers. Now, he was a stonemason, but bricklayers is what
they wanted because they had boilers they had. And also he was pretty good
on doing, uh, building doors in the mine to ventilate different sections,
building brick stoppings, you know, to send the air up different sections.
I had to go and work as an interpreter for him and just work with him. And
I think it gave me a little raise for $1.13, $1.25, I don't just remember.
Speaker1: a day? Mulaney: A day.
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Speaker1: How much was your dad making at this time?
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Mulaney: At that time, I think it was 2.32. Speaker1: A day? Mulaney: A
day. And so we. I worked with my dad, I believe, till Charlie, the boy next
to, the young guy, younger than me, come of age. Then he went with my dad.
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Speaker1: How old was he when he went into the mine?
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Mulaney: I wouldn't know. But at that time now, see, there was one
question I didn't see back in 1910. I believe the law was you would have to
be 14. But in 1911, I think the law changed in 1910. The law changed that
you had to be 16. Now in that time, let me go back a little bit. I had they
send me back to school because inspector come all the time. Used to say,
Sonny, how old are you? I used to say 14. He done that for quite a while
because the inspector come around three times, about four times a year
every three months. And so when the law changed, I didn't know the law
changed. And he said, Sonny, how old are you? I said, 14. I was 14 then
because I believe it was 1911 or 1910 that that law had changed, back to
school. So I went back to school. There was no question I had to go back to
school one year and my dad finally went to the Squire. At that time they
used to go to the squire and swear that he was certain age and back to work
again. But I didnt go with my dad. I went as a bradish man.
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Speaker1: What's a bradish?
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Mulaney: A bradish man is something that. Well, you go and look at. Not
that I had much schooling. I could read very much. But you go in the
morning and look at the fire boss report and if a report some gases
someplace, you'd go there and put canvas picks here up to remove that
little bit of gas because number six mine at Bruceton wasn't a very gassy
mine, but they used to be pockets of. I've done that, I believe, for a
couple of years.
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Speaker1: How much money were you making then? Do you remember?
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Mulaney: Then I was making for whatever wages was at that time. Regular
helpers wages. I think it was. Not much more than about 2.36, 2.38. And I
think the skill level, what they call a skill Labor made 2.56.
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Speaker1: Was your dad considered a skilled laborer?
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Mulaney: Yes, but only 2.56 wages in the mine. Speaker1: A day. Mulaney:
In 1911.
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Mulaney: So I went there and then I tried to work up. I went as what they
call a Trip rider. You know, you was a snapper. You know, there was a
motorman and you were the snapper. Whether you was dragging a rope to pull
cars out or what you call them, I've done that for every 5 or 6 months. And
I went on a little gathering motors, you know, in the mine. And then I was
transferred. I finally got a job as on they called the big motors. Then was
the 13 ton motors. That's the ones that used to haul from the inside to the
tipple. And finally worked there about a year. And finally I got to be a
motorman. Now we made $3.10. Speaker1: A day. Mulaney: Yes. A snapper made
$0.10 less. Now this was back in 1917 I believe,or 16 or 17. That's whats
the wages. Then we went to oh, I don't just remember what the wages jumped
to.
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Speaker1: There was a union in the mine.
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Mulaney: Oh, yes. I always worked union.
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Speaker1: Ever since the time you first went into the mine?
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Speaker1: When you first went into the mine, you joined the union?
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Mulaney: That's right. At that time, if you were the son of a union man,
you got a union card, you automatically come a union. They give you a card
or else you had to pay 2.50 other members had to pay $10. But I always
worked union up to 1921, we got a raise. We went from $5 to 7.50.
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Speaker1 A day?
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Mulaney: A Day.
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Speaker1: And that was in 1921?
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Mulaney: I'm pretty sure it was in 1925. But it was 1921 or 22. Correct
that 1922. We had a little short strike in November.
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Speaker1: Was this at Bruceton Mine?
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Mulaney: Bruceton Mine. Well, it was all over the United States. It was at
Bruceton mine. And we went back to work for 7.50. Well, that was for
skilled labor 7.50. And it was, I think, a quarter less for non-skilled.
What would they call unskilled labor? Like a roadman, you understand? Lays
track. He had a helper. Well, he'd make a quarter or more a motorman made
plus skill wages. He made $0.10 more than his helper and his helper, a
snapper was top wages too, but he was $0.10 more than all of them. Now, in
the mines, it was also if you loaded coal, it was you worked by you didn't
work piecework. You know, you worked wherever you loaded and whatever coal
you got out. But I always worked day wake so far.
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Speaker1: You always worked during the day? Mulaney: All the time.
Speaker1: Never shift?
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Mulaney: And so it come the 1927 strike.
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Speaker1: Well, before that, when was when was the explosion in the mine?
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Mulaney: 1926.
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Speaker1: In 1926. That was the bad one?
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Mulaney: Well, for Horning, this wasn't a number six. See number six shut
down in 1922. I believe it was 1922. And we was transferred up to horning
mine of the same Pittsburgh terminal. And I believe it was 1922. And we
worked there, I worked there till 1925. Up there still day work and day
work.
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Speaker1: Okay. When was the strike?
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Mulaney: In 1927.
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Speaker1: 1927. How long? Oh, but that was before, that was after the
explosion? Let's talk about the explosion.
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Mulaney: Well, the explosion was that my brother also worked, the oldest
brother Harry, also worked. He was running motor, pushing it on the bottom.
But they all know that my dad was a radish man. He still worked in the mine
is a radish man putting the stoppings up and different thing, controlling
some of the air where they had to treat the air.
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Mulaney: And at that time something happened up there. There was a cutting
machine. See? Cutting coal and they hit a pocket of gas come out of this
what they call clay mean. And that's a bunch of slate that runs through the
coal. And so it set a little blaze back there. Then, as I understand, I
wasn't up there, but I understand they tried to put it out with a blast of
dynamite. You know shock, didn't work. And. So they decided to brick the
place off, to shut all the air from it. To smother it. But they had to go
through number four. See number four was connected all the way to number
six. It was winter time. Well, it was in, in February. And he was hauling
in the bricks. It was wet and was gone. They pulled his stopping. And then
and it seemed what they were saying. Somebody says every once in a while a
pressure behind it blow the stop and over. So I happen to be working on
different section That was four section, number four. Had four sections.
Third section. Second Section. Main South. This happened up in fourth
section. I was working in section six. I come out about 3:00. You know,
most. Pretty soon young fellow and I really notice Molasses says to me,
Louis, do you know number four blowed up? I says, You're crazy because we
went down there. Finally somebody says, Yeah, number four. So we run all
the way to number four. That's about three mile nap. That's what happened.
Now, that was luck to my brother because he was up there could have been
worse because my dad at that time was a bricklayer. He'd have been up
there, but he hadn't he hadn't been hurt.
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Speaker1: So he wasn't working that day.
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Mulaney: The younger brother, Frank. He was up there with the older
brother, Harry. But Harry finally says to Frank, I said. Frank says, Go on
home. Take my bucket. Tell my wife I'll be home shortly. Frank Hederman.
This happened about a little after 4:00 explosion. I guess now nobody
really knows. Must blow it out again and see, they had the air all shut off
from that section. And it must in some of the back entries, accumulated
gas. And when that Bush stopped and that must it just took part of that
number four people was on a manned trip, heard the shock, but never heard
them. There was quite a few other people in other parts of the mine never
bothered. So it was just a small explosion just up in that section.
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Speaker1: How many men were killed?
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Mulaney: 19, I believe. Pit bosses. The superintendent just said was the
first or second day the superintendent and just promoted from pit boss to
superintendent and new pit boss to what they used to what they called
assistant bosses and I believe a couple fire bosses. My brother, while he
was a day worker and some electrical workers was up there, whatever. And
there was no at that time, you don't take a certain people up wherever you
can get the help.
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Speaker1: And this was in 1925, the explosion?
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Mulaney: 1926, third day of December.
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Speaker1: 1926.
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Mulaney: 26.
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Mulaney: So after the explosion, the mine was shut down for a while. But
once you're a miner, you don't mind. You got to go back to mine. You don't
go no place else. You wouldn't go out to be a steelworker. You wouldn't go
out to be a farmer or anything. You were a miner. That's the only place you
want to work is in a mine.
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Speaker1: So you take the risk?
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Mulaney: You take the risk. And so from there on, after I think it was
about 19 days or so. They got the bodies Out. The mine reopened, back to
the mine we went.
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Speaker1: Well, did the union, for these men that were killed in the mine,
did the union give the families anything, any money or?
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Mulaney: No, not at that time. Just compensation.
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Speaker1: Well, did the Pittsburgh Terminal company give the families
anything?
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Mulaney: Just whatever compensation allowed.
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Speaker1: That's all.
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Mulaney: That's all you got.
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Speaker1: That was pretty tough then. If the--
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Mulaney: Well actually, at that time you had compensation. See before that
back, I think compensation come in. In 1915 or 16. Before that, you got
hurt. You didn't get nothing unless [inaudible]. There was no compensation.
As far as working. Now, that was not mechanical minds like they got today.
Today they got the mechanical minds. I never worked in a mechanical mine.
Today it's dangerous. They told me because it's so much noise, they can't
hear machinery going. Whether the roof would work. At that time when I
worked in the mine, whether there was a roof wall or anything before a roof
wall come, you could hear it crack and clicking and you know, there was
trouble ahead.
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Speaker1: And get out and.
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Mulaney: You'd get out. Or I'd try to post and protect it, but you
couldn't. I don't understand today. You can't do that. So I guess today
it's pretty dangerous. At that time, that was dangerous, yes, as far as the
explosion. But where I worked, it wasn't too bad.
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Speaker1: Okay, so then you worked up at the Horing Mine?
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Mulaney: The Horing mine. That's the last mine up until 1949. I said,
well, Horing shut down in 1940, but I was left on with three other fellows
pumping. Now, why you call pumping is that we was trying to keep the water
away from one of the other mines. That was Cloverdale. See the water come
from number six, the number four and from number four went to number eight.
So number eight, it had about 300ft to pump it outside where if we catch it
at Horning, we only had 100ft to pump it out. So we built dams and try to
catch water number four. And we pump it out there to protect number eight.
See number four shut down in 1940 I believe. I worked there pumping water
until number eight shut down. And number eight shut down in July of 1949.
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Speaker1: Okay, Let's go back a minute to the strike in 1927. Okay. How
come why did the strike happen? What were you striking for? Do you
remember?
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Mulaney: We, they were striking. We was getting 7.50 an hour, a day, not
an hour. 7.50 a day. And that was they called the Jacksonville Agreement.
That's where they made the agreement down in Jacksonville, Florida I guess,
that's where they had the money. But the company claimed that they couldn't
resist the [inaudible], so the Pittsburgh coal had to go back a little
more. In 1925 the Pittsburgh coal broke that agreement. And they went open
shop. So in April 1926, the rest of the mine thought well if Pittsburgh
coal can do it, we'll try it. So they started building barracks and fixing
all from the south and strikebreakers and for four years and done pretty
good. And. And up till nine--
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Speaker1: Excuse me, I want to turn this tape over.
