Big Bad John!

  Big bad John is probably rolling
over at the bottom of that
'worthless pit! That's where, in the
tune,  his selfless efforts saved 20 miners
from a 'would-be grave.'
 Yes. I know it's only a song.
 But if he were real I'll bet he
would be unhappy about the Federal
government's decision to close the
Office of the Surface Mining in
Wilkes-Barre.
  Many of you may never have heard
of the Office of Surface Mining,
 OSM just doesn't sound as glamorous
as FBI. But the tasks the agency
faced around our area made its
investigator 'G-Men' every bit as
important as the ones who got
Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson!
 Every time some body's back yard
suddenly disappeared it was OSM
that stepped in to see if it was
mine subsidence was responsible.
 If so OSM filled the void!
 Ever see what's under much of
our area?
 Years ago I went into a
'bootleg mine' in Schuylkill
County. I learned a lot!
 First, don't come in your
business suit!
 Good thing they had coveralls
my size!
 I saw a big hole in the ground
that looked like an elevator
shaft! Using cables they pulled
a huge bucket out of that hole.
 Then they put a ladder in the
bucket and had my cameraman and
me climb above each other on
the ladder. A miner got in above
us and we took a ride. 500 feet
straight down!
 My first mistake was not
realizing I could have just sent
the cameraman down to get the video.
 At the bottom of the shaft we
got into little train cars meant
to hold coal. It looked a little
bigger than the train at Knoebel's
Park. But you couldn't sit upright!
First there were no seats.
Next there were wooden chutes
over the track that could
have taken off your head if you were
concerned about your posture.
 That tunnel, like thousands of
others beneath the state, ran
under a lot of properties 500
feet above.
 It bothered me when the miners
said they were going to set off
a dynamite charge to free up some
coal. I'm not a big fan of exploding
dynamite. Especially when they
yell "Fire in the hole" and I
realize...I'm in that hole!
 I wondered if the blast might
bring some body's house down into
the mine!
  Actually all I saw after the huge
"BAM!" was the thick black dust
that filled the air as well as my lungs!
 Anyhow I made it back to the
surface in one piece as did my
photographer.
 But we both learned to respect
the work of the miners and the
potential danger to them, their
mine, and the property that
stood above!
 Maps of all those mines, accurate
as they can be, are available at
the Office of Surface Mining.
 Before they move out of town
you might want to visit and have
them show you one from your
neighborhood. You might be
surprised to see what's under you
basement! Or...what isn't there!
  Hope you're on solid ground and
that all your NEWS is good!