intimidated by bullies. He was taught to be kind to defenseless creatures, as long as they werenât in season, and even then to respect game animals and aim for the heart so they wouldnât suffer. Heâd also been taught the names of the trees and the plants that adorned the surrounding mountains and told that they were all part of Godâs blessings on the good people of West Virginia, which, despite the biased news accounts, was a wonderful place to live. With all that good teaching under his belt, not to mention his native intelligence and vigor, Cable had made his parents proud by being a good student and a tenacious, if not overly talented, football player on a team that had nearly won the state championship his senior year in high school.
His father had operated a continuous mining machine, a giant crablike machine that used spinning steel teeth to tear coal from the ancient underground seams. As a boy, Cable had been proud of what his father did and was intrigued by his stories of what it was like below. When he was fourteen years old, Cable begged his dad to take him inside, so he could see for himself. Wire consulted the mine superintendent, a man by the name of Carpenter Fillmore, and Mr. Fillmore said sure, let the boy have a look. The following Saturday, a day when only a few miners were working, down Cable went with his father into the earth.
From the first moments in the mine, Cable loved everything about it. He loved the great machines going about the business of cutting and loading coal, and he loved the complexity he saw in the ventilation plans required to channel air throughout the mine. The subtleties of mining had a strange pull on his intellect. When he came out that day, he said to his beaming father, âI want to mine coal.â When Mr. Fillmore came out of his office to inquire how the visit had gone, Cable pointed to the mine superintendentâs white helmet, and said, âI want to wear your hat someday.â Mr. Fillmore laughed, and so did Wire. But Cable didnât laugh. He was serious. The best way to wear a white helmet, Mr. Fillmore told him, was to become a mining engineer. This became Cableâs ambition.
A few months before Cable graduated from high school, his father stopped his continuous miner and walked to the front of it, âinbyâ as it was called, which meant he was beneath an unsupported roof. He had broken the first safety rule of the mine. Wire was usually the most careful of men and no one ever knew why heâd broken the rule. When he leaned over to inspect the teeth on the cutters, the roof fell on top of him. He was still alive when they brought him out, but he didnât stay that way long.
The church was crowded to overflowing at his funeral. The preacher of that day intoned, âWe have lost a great man in a town filled with great men, they who dig the wealth of the nation. God knows them as His special people, for they are devout in the faith. It is not important how he died. What is important is how he lived .â The preacher was the father of the preacher who now presided over Highcoalâs church. There was a continuity in Highcoal. Preachers were part of it, and so was Cable.
After Wireâs funeral, the people sang the old-timey songs of faith and healing, and the church bell tolled the passing of another miner, and then the men of Highcoal got up and went back to work
in the mine. The preacher went inside his church to continue his work of spreading the gospel, the women went home to their work of raising their children, and the teachers stood up in front of their classrooms and did their work too. It was the way of the place, as it had always been, and so Cable thought it should always be.
As soon as Cable graduated from high school, he joined the army. Many boys and girls of Highcoal joined the military services. It just seemed the right thing to do, considering all the blessings their country had given them.
His father had operated a continuous mining machine, a giant crablike machine that used spinning steel teeth to tear coal from the ancient underground seams. As a boy, Cable had been proud of what his father did and was intrigued by his stories of what it was like below. When he was fourteen years old, Cable begged his dad to take him inside, so he could see for himself. Wire consulted the mine superintendent, a man by the name of Carpenter Fillmore, and Mr. Fillmore said sure, let the boy have a look. The following Saturday, a day when only a few miners were working, down Cable went with his father into the earth.
From the first moments in the mine, Cable loved everything about it. He loved the great machines going about the business of cutting and loading coal, and he loved the complexity he saw in the ventilation plans required to channel air throughout the mine. The subtleties of mining had a strange pull on his intellect. When he came out that day, he said to his beaming father, âI want to mine coal.â When Mr. Fillmore came out of his office to inquire how the visit had gone, Cable pointed to the mine superintendentâs white helmet, and said, âI want to wear your hat someday.â Mr. Fillmore laughed, and so did Wire. But Cable didnât laugh. He was serious. The best way to wear a white helmet, Mr. Fillmore told him, was to become a mining engineer. This became Cableâs ambition.
A few months before Cable graduated from high school, his father stopped his continuous miner and walked to the front of it, âinbyâ as it was called, which meant he was beneath an unsupported roof. He had broken the first safety rule of the mine. Wire was usually the most careful of men and no one ever knew why heâd broken the rule. When he leaned over to inspect the teeth on the cutters, the roof fell on top of him. He was still alive when they brought him out, but he didnât stay that way long.
The church was crowded to overflowing at his funeral. The preacher of that day intoned, âWe have lost a great man in a town filled with great men, they who dig the wealth of the nation. God knows them as His special people, for they are devout in the faith. It is not important how he died. What is important is how he lived .â The preacher was the father of the preacher who now presided over Highcoalâs church. There was a continuity in Highcoal. Preachers were part of it, and so was Cable.
After Wireâs funeral, the people sang the old-timey songs of faith and healing, and the church bell tolled the passing of another miner, and then the men of Highcoal got up and went back to work
in the mine. The preacher went inside his church to continue his work of spreading the gospel, the women went home to their work of raising their children, and the teachers stood up in front of their classrooms and did their work too. It was the way of the place, as it had always been, and so Cable thought it should always be.
As soon as Cable graduated from high school, he joined the army. Many boys and girls of Highcoal joined the military services. It just seemed the right thing to do, considering all the blessings their country had given them.
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