Page 3 - William H. "Bull" Marah - Still Fighting

ISSUE : Issue 72

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1997/6/1

work of handloading. All this did was get the coal easier for you to handload. Now, mechanization (means) no more hand- loading. The machin? ery cut the coal, and loaded it. Under? stand? And no more shovels for that (So if it doesn't help eliminate the tough, heavy work that men do, you don't call it mecha? nization .) Yeah. (They're just other tools.) Yeah. (Prior to mechaniza? tion, did coal min? ers work by the hour?) No, no. If you were loading coal on a longwall, that was like piecework. You had it marked off. Each man had his own section. You might have thirty sections on the wall. You might be Number 30. I might be Number 10. (All these men are lined up.) Lined up. And some would be done at 11 o'clock on dayshift, some would be done at 12 o'clock on dayshift, some would be done at 1 o'clock on dayshift, some would be done at 2 o'clock on dayshift. They didn't all get done the same time. (By done, you mean....) Finish and go home. When you loaded out your section of coal, you got paid so much a ton. And your tonnage was averaged out, out of all the coal that was loaded on the wall. You had a check weighman who checked the tonnage. They checked the company's assessment of the tonnage that you loaded. And they split it up amongst all the men, see. (All the men) on the wall.... Now, here's the sad feature about it. Be? fore you go any further on that. If you didn't get your coal, all you made was the cost-of-living bonus, for being down there. That was what you call contract work. (What would keep you from getting your coal?) Well, if you had breakdowns, or they weren't getting the boxes in to you. You've got to stop if there's no trip Left: Bill's father and sister, Thomas Marsh and Eileen (Marsh) Maclsaac. Tom was a naval petty officer stationed at Westmount during World War 2. Above: Karl Marsh on his brother Bill's shoulder; Bill's mother, Kate (An? drews) Marsh; a brother-in-law, Bill Purdy; and the future mayor of New Waterford, Bill's brother Jerry Marsh. (of empty boxes) down at the bottom of the. wall. And when the shaker pan stops, you stop loading. Now, if there's no more trips come in, and you don't load, you don't get paid. This is an important point. When I became president of the district, I looked this -J't'- SCI700L op Celric ''0A' INVERNESS, CAPE BRETON INSTRUCTORS... JULY 14-18: Brenda Mulvihill Kinnon Beaton Betty Lou Beaton Tracey Dares • Paul MacNeil Paul MacDonald JULY 21-25: Brenda Mulvihill Richard Wood • Joey Beaton Scott MacMillan JULY 28-AUGUST 1: Buddy MacMaster Jackie Dunn • Brian Doyle Maebelie Chisholm MacQueen WORKSHOPS IN.. cape breton & irish fiddle Guitar • Piano • Stepdance Cape Breton Style highland Piping Gaelic Seminars Free MINi-CONCERT/CEILIDH each day at 12:30 PM (open to the public) Free GAELIC HISTORY SEMINAR each Wednesday afternoon (check Oran) DANCE each Friday at 6:30 PM St. Margaret's Hall, Dunvegan Before July 9 call (617) 544-3179 July 9 to August 1 call (902) 2i. After August 1 call (617) 5' I. lQDAMn/7;'o?l ' u*?u,.ue. http://www.ultrasite.coi I I/O f. u. oox 'OD, 'jreenbush, MA, U.S.A. 02040 or P. O. Box 297, Inverness, NS, Canada BOE INO brake service drums & rotors resurfaced DISCO TIRE 2 &4 wheel alignment including 1-ton truclfs and motor homes computerized engine analysis tune up and air conditioning GOODYEAR CERTIFIED AUTO SERVICE 95 Disco St. SYDNEY 539-4070

Cape Breton's Magazine