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"UNCLE TOM"  

                                                      

 

 

 

 "FIRE IN THE HOLE,"

 

SHOUTED THE POWDER MONKEY. BUT HIS CHARGE DIDN'T GO OFF. "DAD BLAST IT!" HE SAID. NOW I'LL HAVE TO REDO IT. BUT AS HE BENT OVER THE CHARGE HOLE THERE WAS A LOUD BOOM. THE CHARGE HAD GONE OFF. IT KILLED HIM INSTANTLY. UNCLE TOM HAD JUST SEEN HIS FIRST MAN KILLED VIOLENTLY.

 

UNCLE TOM HAD BEEN BORN IN 1865 AT ELKVILLE, ILLINOIS. HIS FATHER WAS A COAL MINER. BACK THEN THEY DUG COAL BY HAND. IT WAS ALL TUNNEL MINING. UNCLE TOM HAD  SEVERAL OF HIS RELATIVES KILLED IN THE MINES AND HE HAD NO DESIRE TO GO DOWN INTO THOSE MINES. AS A YOUNG BOY HE TRIED FARMING BUT HE DIDN'T LIKE THAT. THEN HE WORKED IN A STORE FOR A LITTLE WHILE. BUT HE DIDN'T LIKE THAT EITHER. HE WANTED TO BE OUTSIDE. UNCLE TOM IS NOT MY UNCLE BUT MY GREAT UNCLE BUT FOR CONVENIENCE I WILL CALL HIM UNCLE.

 

LIKE ALL YOUNG BOYS HE HAD THE URGE TO LEAVE HOME. SO WHEN HE WAS 17 HE HOPPED A FREIGHT TRAIN AND WOUND UP IN ARKANSAS. TIMES WERE HARD. HE HAD TO TAKE ANY KIND OF WORK HE COULD GET JUST TO EAT. WELCOME TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS. HE FOUND HIMSELF DOING JUST WHAT HE HAD RUN AWAY FROM.  AT FIRST HE GOT WORK ON A FARM FOR ROOM AND BOARD. CASH MONEY WAS HARD TO COME BY FOR EVERYONE. THIS WORK ONLY LASTED 30 DAYS. IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD THING IT DIDN'T LAST ANY LONGER BECAUSE HE WAS  “FIXEN" TO QUIT. NEXT HE GOT A JOB SWEEPING OUT A STORE AND STOCKING THE SHEAVES. THIS JOB PAID 25¢ A DAY AND THE STORE OWNER LET HIM SLEEP IN AN OLD SHED BEHIND THE STORE. BOY! HE WAS COMING UP IN THE WORLD. HE HAD COME UP FROM A JOB ON THAT FARM THAT DIDN'T PAY ANYTHING TO A JOB THAT PAID 25¢ A DAY. HE WONDERED HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE HIM TO MAKE A HUNDRED DOLLARS.

 

THAT WAS THE AMOUNT HE TOLD HIS FATHER HE WOULD MAKE BEFORE HE WOULD EVER COME HOME. HE THOUGH AT THIS RATE I'LL NEVER SEE DAD AGAIN. I'VE GOT TO FIND SOMETHING THAT PAYS BETTER THAN THIS. AFTER ABOUT A MONTH WENT BY HE DID. HE WENT TO WORK IN A STONE QUARRY. THEY PAID 50¢ A DAY. "WHOOPEE." THAT DAY STARTED AT SUN UP AND STOPPED AT SUNDOWN. THE JOB WAS SIX DAYS A WEEK. SO THAT MEANT HE WAS MAKING THREE DOLLARS A WEEK. THAT WAS AN IMPROVEMENT BUT IT WAS STILL A LONG WAYS TO ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS.

 

AS UNCLE TOM WORKED HE WATCHED THE POWDER MONKEY DRILL HIS HOLES IN THE ROCK, FILL THEM WITH POWDER, AND SET A FUSE. THEN HE WOULD LIGHT THE FUSE AND SHOUT "FIRE IN THE HOLE" AND EVERYONE WOULD RUN FOR COVER. SOMETIMES THE CHARGE WOULD HANG FIRE. THEN THE POWDER MONKEY WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE CHARGE AND REDO IT. ON ONE OF THOSE HANG FIRES AS HE BENT OVER THE CHARGE HOLE TO REDO IT, IT WENT OFF KILLING HIM INSTANTLY.

 

THE STRAW BOSS ASKED THE CREW WHO WOULD TAKE HIS JOB. IT PAID A DOLLAR A DAY. NO ONE WOULD TAKE THE JOB. FINALLY UNCLE TOM SAID HE WOULD. IT WAS GOING TO BE A LOT EASIER GETTING THAT HUNDRED DOLLARS AT A DOLLAR A DAY THEN IT WOULD AT 50¢ A DAY. THE STRAW BOSS ASK HIM IF HE KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT BLASTING ROCK. UNCLE TOM TOLD HIM NO BUT HE HAD BEEN WATCHING THE POWDER MONKEY DO IT AND HE FIGURED HE COULD HANDLE THE JOB. NO ONE ELSE WOULD DO IT SO HE GOT THE JOB. AS SUCH HE HAD TO SET HIS CHARGE. WHEN HE WOULD CUT HIS FUSE HE REALIZED A SHARP KNIFE MADE IT A LOT EASIER TO CUT THE FUSE AND CUT AN X IN THE END YOU LIGHT. HE DID THIS TO MAKE THE FUSE EASIER TO LIGHT.

 

IN ORDER TO KEEP HIS KNIFE SHARP HE MADE A WHETSTONE OUT OF THE STONE HE HAD BEEN DIGGING. AFTER HE QUIT THE STONE QUARRY AND WENT BACK HOME HE TOOK THIS WHETSTONE HOME WITH HIM AND KEPT IT HIS WHOLE LIFE. IT WAS HANDED DOWN THROUGH OUR FAMILY UNTIL IT CAME TO ME. BUT THAT'S A WHOLE NOTHER STORY FOR A DIFFERENT TIME.

 

ANYWAY UNCLE TOM WORKED AT THAT STONE QUARRY AS POWDER MONKEY UNTIL HE SAVED HIS $100. THEN HE WENT BACK TO ELKVILLE. HE DECIDED FARMING WASN'T SO BAD AFTER ALL. HE SPENT THE REST OF HIS LIFE FARMING RIGHT THERE AT ELKVILLE. BY THE TIME HE WAS AN OLD MAN WITH MANY GRANDCHILDREN HE HAD ACCUMULATED OVER 1000 ACRES AND HAD ONE OF THE BEST FARMS IN PERRY COUNTY ILLINOIS. HE DECIDED HEAVEN WAS ON A FARM.

 

HIS FAVORITE PAST TIME WAS TO TAKE ONE OF HIS GRAND-CHILDREN ON HIS KNEE AND TELL ABOUT HIS ADVENTURES IN ARKANSAS. HE WOULD START BY SAYING "ONE TIME I WAS A POWDER MONKEY." THE KIDS ALL WANTED TO KNOW HOW HE GOT FROM BEING A MONKEY TO BEING A MAN.

  BY LOREN MOORE

COPYRIGHT 1999

 

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