<?xml version='1.0'?>

<rss version='2.0'   xmlns:dc='http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/'>
	<channel xml:base=''>
		<title><![CDATA[miningne.ws: Gerald McKerns's blog]]></title>
		<link>http://miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker?view=rss</link>
		
	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/17651/unemployed-miners-start-an-illegal-coal-mining-industry</guid>
	  <pubDate>Mon, 31 May 2010 21:18:59 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/17651/unemployed-miners-start-an-illegal-coal-mining-industry</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[Unemployed Miners Start An Illegal Coal Mining Industry]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[As America turned to alternate fuels, like gas and oil, it brought hard times to the anthracite coal region and as the demand for coal dwindled, it brought more lay-offs in the mining industry.&nbsp;
The proximity of thin&nbsp;seams of coal to the surface, especially in the Schuylkill fiel... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/17651/unemployed-miners-start-an-illegal-coal-mining-industry"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/14756/the-day-the-boys-shut-down-the-coal-mine</guid>
	  <pubDate>Mon, 26 Apr 2010 23:43:37 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/14756/the-day-the-boys-shut-down-the-coal-mine</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[The Day the Boys Shut Down the Coal Mine]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[It was about 1906, when the young lads that worked at the Muskrat Breaker, near Moosic, were willing to shut down the whole mining operation in order to have one of their grievances recognized.
The barbarous methods backfired on Bill, a breaker boss with a wooden leg. Bill had about forty ... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/14756/the-day-the-boys-shut-down-the-coal-mine"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/14031/ten-tons-of-water-pumped-for-every-ton-of-coal-mined</guid>
	  <pubDate>Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:33:52 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/14031/ten-tons-of-water-pumped-for-every-ton-of-coal-mined</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[Ten Tons of Water Pumped for Every Ton of Coal Mined]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[Water posed a major danger to the coal miners. Shafts were&nbsp; driven beneath the natural water level, causing downward seepage. Mines were generally graded so that the water would accumulate at the bottom of the shaft were the sump was located. From there it was pumped to the suface by ... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/14031/ten-tons-of-water-pumped-for-every-ton-of-coal-mined"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/13068/a-dangerous-job-for-a-boy-in-a-coal-mine</guid>
	  <pubDate>Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:29:05 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/13068/a-dangerous-job-for-a-boy-in-a-coal-mine</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[A Dangerous Job for a Boy in a Coal Mine]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[A job a boy might have in the mine, if he had the skills, was a spragger. Only the fastest and most agile boys were picked to be spraggers. Their job was to control the speed of the mine cars as they rolled down the slope. The spragger ran along the side of the cars and jammed sprags (wood... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/13068/a-dangerous-job-for-a-boy-in-a-coal-mine"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/12150/the-anthracite-iron-making-industry-in-pennsylvania</guid>
	  <pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 01:16:01 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/12150/the-anthracite-iron-making-industry-in-pennsylvania</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[The Anthracite Iron Making Industry in Pennsylvania]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[In the 1830s, because of the rapid advancement of the new founded railroad companies, a surge in heavy industry was on the up swing in northeastern Pennsylvania. America was developing a large appetite for iron. One major problem caused by this increase in industrial activity was that Amer... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/12150/the-anthracite-iron-making-industry-in-pennsylvania"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/11487/the-youngest-of-the-underground-mine-workers</guid>
	  <pubDate>Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:25:04 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/11487/the-youngest-of-the-underground-mine-workers</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[The Youngest of the Underground Mine Workers.]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[After about five or six years working in the breaker, picking slate from the coal, some of these young lads would often go underground as a nipper. The nipper or door tender was the youngest of the boys to enter the mine. They were usally about eleven or twelve years old.&nbsp;Their job wa... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/11487/the-youngest-of-the-underground-mine-workers"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/10764/the-first-train-ride-in-the-western-hemisphere</guid>
	  <pubDate>Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:26:58 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/10764/the-first-train-ride-in-the-western-hemisphere</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[The First Train Ride in the Western Hemisphere]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[In 1828, John B. Jeruis, head of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, sent Horatio Allen, an ambitious twenty-five year old engineer, to England to size up the possibilities of the new iron horses&nbsp; that the Americans were&nbsp; reading about in the newspapers. Greatly impressed by w... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/10764/the-first-train-ride-in-the-western-hemisphere"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/9983/strict-discipline-enforced-in-the-coal-breakers</guid>
	  <pubDate>Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:31:14 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/9983/strict-discipline-enforced-in-the-coal-breakers</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[Strict discipline enforced in the coal breakers]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[Manus McHugh was one of the many young lads who lost their life in the anthracite coal breakers. His job was to oil the breaker machinery. One day, close to the noontime lunch break, he was in a hurry so he could go outside and play with the other boys. Rather than taking the time to shut ... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/9983/strict-discipline-enforced-in-the-coal-breakers"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/8193/an-innovative-way-to-transport-coal-from-the-mine</guid>
	  <pubDate>Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:49:27 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/8193/an-innovative-way-to-transport-coal-from-the-mine</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[An innovative way to transport coal from the mine]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[In 1822, Abraham Potts built a new conveyance for hauling coal at his Black Valley Mine in Schuylkill County. The contraption attracted a lot of attention because anything&nbsp; that made it possible to bypass the terrible roads in the Schuylkill wilderness was guaranteed to arouse conside... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/8193/an-innovative-way-to-transport-coal-from-the-mine"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>

	<item>
	  <guid isPermaLink='true'>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/7178/growing-up-in-the-anthracite-coal-mines-of-pennsylvania</guid>
	  <pubDate>Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:43:06 +0200</pubDate>
	  <link>http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/7178/growing-up-in-the-anthracite-coal-mines-of-pennsylvania</link>
	  <title><![CDATA[Growing Up in the Anthracite Coal Mines of Pennsylvania]]></title>
	  <description><![CDATA[Many of the boys in the anthracite coal region of Pennsylvania had a short childhood. At the turn of the last century twenty-five percent of the employees, in the anthracite coal industry, were boys. They usually strarted out in the breaker, sometimes as young as six, but normally at eight... <a href="http://www.miningne.ws/pg/blog/coalcracker/read/7178/growing-up-in-the-anthracite-coal-mines-of-pennsylvania"><b>read more</b></a>]]></description>
	</item>
	</channel>
</rss>