Coal miners go where no man has ever been
By: Linda Schylaske The Citizen-Standard Staff - 3/18/09

What profession requires you to be a carpenter, engineer, geologist, electrician, mechanic and explorer? A coal miner needs to know about all of the above to be successful in an anthracite mine.

On Friday morning, Mrs. Pam Ulicny’s classes at Tri-Valley High School welcomed David A. Lucas of Hegins, renowned area coal miner, and Perry Pillar of Joliett, collector of mining implements and historian, to the school.

Pillar explained how crickets and canaries were used in coal mines to check for methane gases, and showed the students examples of lighting used by miners in the mines through the years. He displayed candles, sperm whale oil lamps and carbide lamps, and different types of hats worn by miners.

David A spoke to the students about his many years in the mines, starting when he was a young boy under his father’s tutelage. “What I have learned is that safety is the number one priority in coal mines,â€