Bobby was surprised to see his uncle’s pickup truck pull into the drive. It’s was nearly 1:00 a.m. and Bobby was supposed to be in bed. He was 14 and this was the first time his parents had left him alone by himself overnight. His father had taken his mother into the city for day surgery and they were going to stay overnight in a hotel before coming home the next day. Bobby’s Uncle Bill was his favorite uncle. Uncle Bill was really the only one of his father’s three brothers that took an interest in Bobby. He would take him along when he went fishing or hunting and last fall Bill took Bobby to the go-cart track.
Uncle Bill told Bobby to grab his jacket. They were going for a ride. At 1:00 in the morning? Bobby knew that his uncle was a local leader of the United Mine Workers Union and that his local union was currently on strike against the coal company. Did this early morning ride have anything to do that with that? They drove for almost an hour on the two lane highway before his uncle turned off on a county road and headed towards the river. When they reached the river they turned down an old farm road that tested the resolve of the big tires and four wheel drive transmission on the Ford F-250 truck.
Eventually the farm road ended in a small clearing next to the forest. Bill pulled the truck to a stop and pulled a backpack from behind the seat. They got out of the truck and hiked through the forest for about 20 minutes before reaching the paved road that led to a small bridge over the river. Uncle Bill checked his watch and they walked out on the bridge. In a few minutes, the lights on a tugboat appeared dimly far up river. As the tug got closer, Bobby could see that it was pushing five coal barges. Each barge was some 30 feet wide and 200 feet long. The barges were lashed together and were lashed in turn to the front of the tug.
As the tug approached the bridge, Bobby noticed that the tug boat captain and mate were taking a keen interest in him and his uncle. The captain came out on the deck with a pair of binoculars and Bobby watched as the deck hand ran to the front of the tug and frantically adjusted the mooring lines. Bobby wondered what in the world the mate was so excited about. It didn’t take more than a moment for his question to be answered. Uncle Bill pulled a bundle of dynamite from his backpack and lit a long coiled fuse with his lighter. Holding the lit bundle in his left hand, Uncle Bill waited until the nose of the first barge pass just under the bridge and dropped the bundle onto the barge below.
Bobby and Bill crossed over to the other side of the bridge and watched as the tug and barges traveled down the river. Just when the tug was nearly out of view, an explosion rocked the first barge, chiseling off the barge’s nose and sending it diving down towards the river’s bottom. As the barges were all lashed together, the second barge, and then the third and fourth all followed the first barge to their new home on the river’s bottom. By the time the fifth barge started its decent, it was no longer lashed on to the tug and the tug boat continued safely down the river in the wake of what just a few minutes before had been more than 7500 tons of non-union coal headed to market.
Uncle Bill told Bobby to grab his jacket. They were going for a ride. At 1:00 in the morning? Bobby knew that his uncle was a local leader of the United Mine Workers Union and that his local union was currently on strike against the coal company. Did this early morning ride have anything to do that with that? They drove for almost an hour on the two lane highway before his uncle turned off on a county road and headed towards the river. When they reached the river they turned down an old farm road that tested the resolve of the big tires and four wheel drive transmission on the Ford F-250 truck.
Eventually the farm road ended in a small clearing next to the forest. Bill pulled the truck to a stop and pulled a backpack from behind the seat. They got out of the truck and hiked through the forest for about 20 minutes before reaching the paved road that led to a small bridge over the river. Uncle Bill checked his watch and they walked out on the bridge. In a few minutes, the lights on a tugboat appeared dimly far up river. As the tug got closer, Bobby could see that it was pushing five coal barges. Each barge was some 30 feet wide and 200 feet long. The barges were lashed together and were lashed in turn to the front of the tug.
As the tug approached the bridge, Bobby noticed that the tug boat captain and mate were taking a keen interest in him and his uncle. The captain came out on the deck with a pair of binoculars and Bobby watched as the deck hand ran to the front of the tug and frantically adjusted the mooring lines. Bobby wondered what in the world the mate was so excited about. It didn’t take more than a moment for his question to be answered. Uncle Bill pulled a bundle of dynamite from his backpack and lit a long coiled fuse with his lighter. Holding the lit bundle in his left hand, Uncle Bill waited until the nose of the first barge pass just under the bridge and dropped the bundle onto the barge below.
Bobby and Bill crossed over to the other side of the bridge and watched as the tug and barges traveled down the river. Just when the tug was nearly out of view, an explosion rocked the first barge, chiseling off the barge’s nose and sending it diving down towards the river’s bottom. As the barges were all lashed together, the second barge, and then the third and fourth all followed the first barge to their new home on the river’s bottom. By the time the fifth barge started its decent, it was no longer lashed on to the tug and the tug boat continued safely down the river in the wake of what just a few minutes before had been more than 7500 tons of non-union coal headed to market.
