OLD MINERS RECALL THE BRIGHTER
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"This was the Lead Belt," said 91-year-old M. M. Parker of Farmington,
"and so far as I am concerned it is still the Lead Belt."
Parker was one of many former lead miners who attended Old Mine Day recently at the Missouri Mines State Historic Site in Park Hills. The location of the observance was familiar to many of them as they had worked out of the old Federal mine and mill that now overlooks Highway 32.
Having worked as a policeman in St. Louis, Parker was visiting relatives when hired on with St. Joe Lead Co. in 1940. It was not a career he really thought he would continue, but it was 35 years later that he retired from the company in 1975. By that time he was working in the "New Lead Belt" at Viburnum.
Like almost every man who ever worked in the local mines, Parker had a nickname. It was "superman," and he vividly recalls how he got it.
"I knocked out a mule with my fist underground," Parker said with a grin.
It was no act of cruelty on his part, Parker quickly explained. The mule was used in the mining operation and had just caused serious injuries to another miner. The smile briefly disappeared from Parker's face at that point as he recalled the not-so-happy side of the story.
Looking back, Parker pointed out there was a time when more than 3,000 men worked in the lead mines in and around St. Francois County. More than 2,700 of them belonged to the union, which meant they were the rank-and-file workers rather than supervisory or management.
"Now there are only 627 miners left," Parker said, referring to those employed by the Doe Run Company, which operates the mines in the New Lead Belt to the southwest of here.
Most of the old timers who attended the gathering recall the brighter days of the mining industry a half century ago. It was a time when, while the number of actual mines were dwindling, the ore output and the employment was at its highest points.
It was the era from the 1930s through the 1960s when Flat River, now a part of Park Hills, was known as "the lead capital of the world." In fact, that was the slogan adopted by the community and based on the amount of ore that went through the Federal mill - now the site of the Missouri Mines State Historic Site.
There were the good times and the bad times for the local mining industry. Likewise, there are good and bad memories for the many men who worked in the mines and their families.
Oddess Thurman went to work for the company - everybody simply called St. Joe Lead the company in those days - in 1937. He was paid $2 per day and stayed with the company for 44 years. He was an electrician much of that time, in fact one of the top electricians by the time he retired. He spent his last 18 years with the company as a foreman.
Like many of the miners still around, Thurman is still known by his nickname, "Scoop." Everybody had a nickname, most had several nicknames through the years they spent in the mines.
"A lot of them (nicknames) we could not repeat here," Scoop said with a laugh. "Some of them were not very nice."
"Co-Chief" was the nickname Neil Cooper of Leadington was using for the gathering. Like Thurman, Cooper said he had a lot of nicknames over his 44-year career with the company. That career was interrupted by three years of military duty.
Cooper recalls his first paycheck had a gross amount of $16.37 but he only got to take home $4.25 that Friday. The company had withheld the cost of his lamp and his safety boots - both essential pieces of equipment for a miner - from the paycheck.
"But I was still glad to get the $4.25," Cooper said with a smile. "At least I had some money to take home, and in those days that was good."
Thurman and Cooper sat on a bench outside the mining museum reminiscing about the old days. On the walk at Cooper's feet were two leather tool belts, one of them obviously very old and worn while the other appeared to be relatively new. Both were obviously from his days in mining.
When asked what jobs he held while working for St. Joe, Cooper went through a long list, eventually saying he did just about every job there was up to division superintendent.
Cooper grinned at that point and added, "Then I was fired."
There was a lot of joking, kidding and horseplay in those days of mining, both Thurman and Cooper confirmed, but Cooper pointed out, "During that time people worked. You worked for your dollar and nobody complained. I don't think it is like that today."
And Thurman said, "You had to be there. There was no skipping a day of work. If you weren't there they didn't get the lead out, so you had to be there every day."
Thurman pointed at the crusher building a few yards away and said they ran 11,000 tons of ore through it each day.
Roderick Sitzes of Park Hills wore his old mining helmet complete with carbide lamp to Old Mine Day. His first job with St. Joe was as a diamond driller. Anyone who grew up in the Lead Belt was familiar with those big rigs moved from one location to another in search of ore deposits.
Walk around in the area today, in town or out, and you probably can kick up a diamond drill core that was brought up during the exploration. They are cylindrical pieces of rock drilled out of the ground to show what is down there.
Sitzes remembers specifically he went to work for the company on Aug. 5, 1940. He left for a while to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II, but he returned to work at the South Pim site.
"I quit in 1959," Sitzes said, "when they cut us to four days a week. I had four children and you just could not make it on $50 a week."
Sitzes went to the Carpenters Union in St. Louis where he remained until retirement. But he still has fond memories of the days he spent with St. Joe Lead Co.
"It was a good job and I enjoyed it," Sitzes said. "Everybody was friendly those days."
Sitting on the same bench Thurman and Cooper had sat on a short time earlier, Sitzes looked across the way at the huge Federal mill building. That is when one of the less pleasant memories of the mines came to mind.
He pointed out that his father had lost an arm in an accident in the Federal mill. Such mishaps were not uncommon in the mining industry. Most often, victims of accidents who lost an arm or a leg were given the chance by the company to continue work in a different capacity such as supply or some kind of shop work. Sitzes said his father continued to work for the company after his accident.
The number of people who worked in St. Francois County mines is dwindling. After all, it has been more than 30 years since the last mine closed here.
For that reason, Art Hebrank feels the annual Old Mine Open House is important now. Getting the former miners to share their stories will help people of the area to understand its history. How better can you learn history than from people who have lived it.
A sobering realization was provided by Parker as a fellow miner said as he left the event, "See you next year."
Parker looked back with a smile and wink and said, "I hope so, but remember, I am 91 years old."
Most of the tales tossed around at Old Mine Day were of a happier nature, but there were those tragic incidents over the years. One local genealogy page on the Internet lists 111 men who died in mine-related accidents from the period of 1899 through 1971. From that list an Internet user can access a newspaper account of the accident or the person's obituary.
Mining was a dangerous occupation and it is believed the list on the Web site is probably missing the names of a lot of men who lost their lives. Certainly, one miner said, there were many who lost arms or legs and suffered other serious injuries that are not recorded anywhere.
The history of mining in this region dates back more than two centuries but the industry here began to dwindle in the 1960s. One mine after another was shut down as the New Lead Belt, with richer ore deposits, was being developed.
Parker recalls the ceased mining operations in St. Francois County in 1973 with the closing of the Federal mine and mill. He pointed toward the head frame of the shaft and said the company decided it would cost too much to repair and replace the old equipment in view of the ore output. It decided to focus all of its attention on the new area around Viburnum.
That was not to say there were not still rich lead deposits in this area, Parker confirmed. At the Pimville mine there was rock with 18 percent lead found. The problem was that there was too much water and they couldn't get the ore out of the ground.
Even using the largest pumps that could be installed, the water was still more than what they could handle and the company finally gave up on it.
It was nearly 140 years ago that the Doe Run Mining Company was established and operated some of the county's earliest mines. There have since been many companies such as St. Joseph, Federal, Desloge, and National operate mines in the region. In the first third of the last century some closed down and St. Joseph - later to become St. Joe - began buying them up.
History has gone full circle and it is now again The Doe Run Co. that is responsible for virtually all of the lead mining in the region. Once based in New York, the company's headquarters are now in St. Louis.
Published by The DailyJournal, Park Hills, St. Francois Co. MO Sun. Sept. 19, 2004