DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Reuben Gaines' memoir, undated

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53 PAGE 53. Buxton 53

no payment; next purchase was for a hugh grocery store building at Miami whic[h] was in close proximity to the Railroad Station. After this maneuver I bought si[x] dwelling Houses and the rest of material came from the Lumber yards, The erection of one building was started and finished at 30 feet wide and 120 feet long with two stories and a half basement. The second floor was the dance hall and where eight Lodges met and the miners Union from No. 18 mine. the first floo[r] was used as a Pool Hall; Barber Shop; confectionaries and other purposes. The next investments were in buying a number of lots and building a home. The investments looked as if they were ironclad and not a chance in a thousand for failure but it did fail and it set me back so far that I had to stop; check and regroup. The consolidation Coal Company's mines had lost its standing as being the largest and most modern mines in Iowa had gone into history as being the third and last of the Ghost towns; which by its passing had left many investers and dedicated miners with a long list of memories.

The Coal Company lost heavely for they had just outfitted a new shaft clost to Haydock and had plans for several others, in what they felt would be a profitable vein of coal ; however their plans were never to see completion. The miners would not accept the contract; so the Coal Company salvaged some of the important parts from the Dynamos and withdrew from all mining in Iowa and which left the mines to flood and fill with water. The Coal Company had a $2,000,000.00 Million dollar plant at No. 18 mine, where cables were laid to transmit power to No. 19 mine to operate the Ddynamos. Also plans were laid o[ut] for No. 20; 21; 22; and 23 mines but a few million dollars lost to the North Western Railroad Company which was the Consolidation Coal Company did not seem to matter too much. They had other mining interest at Gillispie, Illinois. With better Coal and perhaps less expensive to mine. 1926 had brought a new set of conditions to the Iowa Coal Industry; it wqas becoming increasingly difficult to make a profit on Iowa Coal as it was facing severe competition, particularly from their Illinois mines which burned cleaner and less expensive to mine; furth[er]more the railroads were consuming much less coal, reducing one of the largest single markets. Probaly these factors influenced the Coal Company's decision to close their Iowa fields and return to Illinois. This left many Iowa miners in unusual circumstances. Many of the miners waited nearly two years waiting for the mines to reopen, they were not working and they were hungry so they ventured out at nite and stole hogs and anything else that was editable. During the waiting period when the miners thought the mines would reopen again there were large size groups that would argue and debate the issue day by day in my Pool Hall. I always said that the mines would never open from the very beginning so they were never interested in my advice but I gave it freely for I said I was going to leave before I got too thin and you should do so now

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53 PAGE 53. Buxton 53 no payment; next purchase was for a hugh grocery store building at Miami whic[h] was in close proximity to the Railroad Station. After this maneuver I bought si[x] dwelling Houses and the rest of material came from the Lumber yards, The erection of one building was started and finished at 30 feet wide and 120 feet long with two stories and a half basement. The second floor was the dance hall and where eight Lodges met and the miners Union from No. 18 mine. the first floo[r] was used as a Pool Hall; Barber Shop; confectionaries and other purposes. The next investments were in buying a number of lots and building a home. The investments looked as if they were ironclad and not a chance in a thousand for failure but it did fail and it set me back so far that I had to stop; check and regroup. The consolidation Coal Company's mines had lost its standing as being the largest and most modern mines in Iowa had gone into history as being the third and last of the Ghost towns; which by its passing had left many investers and dedicated miners with a long list of memories. The Coal Company lost heavely for they had just outfitted a new shaft clost to Haydock and had plans for several others, in what they felt would be a profitable vein of coal ; however their plans were never to see completion. The miners would not accept the contract; so the Coal Company salvaged some of the important parts from the Dynamos and withdrew from all mining in Iowa and which left the mines to flood and fill with water. The Coal Company had a $2,000,000.00 Million dollar plant at No. 18 mine, where cables were laid to transmit power to No. 19 mine to operate the Ddynamos. Also plans were laid o[ut] for No. 20; 21; 22; and 23 mines but a few million dollars lost to the North Western Railroad Company which was the Consolidation Coal Company did not seem to matter too much. They had other mining interest at Gillispie, Illinois. With better Coal and perhaps less expensive to mine. 1926 had brought a new set of conditions to the Iowa Coal Industry; it wqas becoming increasingly difficult to make a profit on Iowa Coal as it was facing severe competition, particularly from their Illinois mines which burned cleaner and less expensive to mine; furth[er]more the railroads were consuming much less coal, reducing one of the largest single markets. Probaly these factors influenced the Coal Company's decision to close their Iowa fields and return to Illinois. This left many Iowa miners in unusual circumstances. Many of the miners waited nearly two years waiting for the mines to reopen, they were not working and they were hungry so they ventured out at nite and stole hogs and anything else that was editable. During the waiting period when the miners thought the mines would reopen again there were large size groups that would argue and debate the issue day by day in my Pool Hall. I always said that the mines would never open from the very beginning so they were never interested in my advice but I gave it freely for I said I was going to leave before I got too thin and you should do so now