the Big Bump at Number 2
by
Carol Marlene Smith
* * * *
PUBLISHED BY:
Carol Marlene Smith at Smashwords
the Big Bump at number 2
Copyright 2011 by Carol Marlene Smith
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the BIG BUMP at Number 2
Springhill, Nova Scotia
On October 23, 1958 all hell broke lose in Springhill, Nova Scotia. No one knew at the time exactly what was in store for our unlucky town. Just two years prior an explosion had rocked the town, and one year after a fire devastated a large portion of the downtown area, leaving gaps on the main street of the town and over a million dollars in damage. Now, one year later, it was happening again. Would the bad luck never stop in this town?
I was born in Springhill but as a wee infant was taken to a farm where my parents and family lived. This farm was on the outskirts of Springhill, about ten or more miles away. I lived there with my family until I was five years old. Now at the age of sixteen, I was living in a community called Leamington, just a few miles from the town.
On that night of October 23, 1958, I was pushing my bike on the side of the road as it was an uphill grade and I didn’t prefer to ride my bike. I was almost home when I felt it. Under my feet was the strangest feeling, something I could not really explain. It was like the ground was churning inside itself. It happened quickly then was over as fast as it had begun. I did not know what it was. I continued on to my home and went in to watch TV.
In about an hour or so, I was still watching TV when the phone rang. We had a party line at the time and it was not our ring. All the phone rings were different. One had a long ring, another was a short ring, and others were two, three and four rings. Ours was three short rings. Within a few minutes, all rings except ours had jangled the phone. My mother, who was not one to listen in, could not help herself. She picked up the receiver after three or four calls had lit up the air, and listened in. She was not on the phone for long and dropped the receiver with a thud, which anyone on the line could have heard, but I don’t imagine any of the neighbours would have noticed or cared.
“Bump in the mine,” she yelled to my dad. I jumped up from the TV and hurried to the kitchen to see what she had to say to my dad who was having a cup of tea at the time. Sitting around the kitchen table we listened to my mom tell what she had heard.
“It’s the number 2 this time,” Mom said wringing her hands. “I just know that Billy is down there, he was on the afternoon shift this week.”
“Don’t Marion,” my dad said. “We don’t know anything yet.”
“What is a bump?” I asked my dad. “Why is it different from the explosion a couple of years ago?”
“It’s complicated,” my dad replied. “It’s a pressure build-up when the coal is removed. The strata which is shale and sandstone is strong, but the stress eventually affects the pillar system and they disintegrate, causing a bump to occur.”
I still didn’t have much of a clue what a bump was or why it was different from the explosion of 1956, so I continued, “But what’s the difference, doesn’t the bump make an explosion?”
“The bump is a collapse of the system, the explosion was caused by gas and coal dust. The mine train that hauled the coal dust up to the surface was hit by a flow of air coming down. The dust blew around and into the air shafts then some of the cars unhitched and ran back down the slope. There was a derailing of course and a power line was hit. The coal dust ignited and caused the explosion.”
“Were those pillars made of wood?” I asked.
“Nope. They’re pillars of coal. When you cut one block of coal you leave the adjacent block to help support the roof.”
I was almost as confused after his explanation as I had been before, but I figured you had to be down there at some point to probably understand the whole thing better.
“Everyone’s upset,” Mom said. “It’s crazy. I hate the mines. I never wanted Billy to go down there. I wanted him to get a good education. Kids never listen…”
“Marion.” Dad reached across and laid his hand over Mom’s and looked in her face. Mom’s blue eyes looked back at him. Both my parents had blue eyes, that’s where I got my blue eyes I guess. I noticed how pretty Mom looked, her cheeks were flushed which made her eyes so blue, her brown hair was hanging over her forehead. She pushed it back and looked away.