Tales from Kentucky Lawyers

12. Coal Mining

12 COAL MINING Coal mining was at one time the most important economic enterprise both in the eastern Kentucky mountains and in some ofthe state's western counties. Mines constituted the major source of employment for numerous men and a few local women from the early to middle years of the twentieth century. Mining is still an important operation in a few mountain communities, but its significance is rapidly diminishing. Coal-mining stories were at one time told and retold on a daily basis at the mines during breaks and at home by the miners and family members. Lawyers and judges became especially important in the lives of the miners and their families during and after periods such as the Great Depression, when mine owners and operators sought to cut wages. Some of the following stories may strike a bit of humor, but the realistic nature of mining activities alluded to is nevertheless easily discernable. 171. "NATURAL COAL WITH No BRITISH THERMAL UNITS" Back in the early 1970s-'71 or '72-there was a coal boom in this part of the country. An old fellow owned this block ofcoal, and some people went in to mine his coal. Well, he tried to sue them to recover royalties on what coal they had taken out. They had him in court out there and upon the witness stand. He was trying to build his coal up to make it as high priced as he could. He was trying to get the top dollar out of these people that took his coal. So, he was telling them there in court what fine coal it was. 134 Tales from Kentucky Lawyers They asked him, "Did the coal have sulfur in it?" He said, "No, it was fine coal." They asked, "Well, what about dirt?" "No, no dirt in it. It was fine coal." "Well, what about rocks? Was there any rock in it?" "No, no rock in it. It's the finest coal ever was." Then they said, "Well, what was the Btu's in it?" He said, "There wasn't none ofthose doggone things in it either." See, "Btu" stands for British thermal units. The higher it is, the better quality the coal. If coal doesn't have any Btu's, it's not worth anything! The old fellow is dead now, but he still has living relatives around here. James Bates, Hindman, December 18, 2000 172. "IT WASN'T COAL IN THE WATER" As county attorney, you always have to play politics a little bit. You deal with big families, and you certainly don't want to make them mad at you. One day this fellow came in back in the mid-1980s, and he had another fellow with him. Both of them were from pretty good-sized families, but I knew the other fellow had a real big family, so I sure didn't want to do him wrong and cause them to be irritated. Well, he'd already been to the county judge's office, and the county judge had done exactly what this fellow said. So the first thing he said to me when he came in was, "I want you to call Frankfort for me." Said, "This coal company over there has ruined my water." I thought that maybe I'd better do that, because here I've got two guys from big families. I'd better just pick up that phone and call Frankfort about the water. He said, "The county judge has already called them." So I started to pick up the telephone, and was about ready to call. Then I asked, "Have you had your water tested, or anything?" He said, "Yes, I have. I've had it tested." I asked him, "Who tested it?" He said, "The health department tested it." Then when I asked him if he had the report with him, he said, "Yeah, I've got it right here." COAL MINING 135 He pulled out the report and showed it to me. And I looked it over, then looked down at the bottom. Right down at the bottom, it had the words "colonic matter." It stated down there that there was colonic matter in his water, and that it had destroyed his water-that it was not safe to use. He was warned not to use that water, that it was contaminated. He told me in the meantime, said...