Download - Industrial Revolution Vivian An
Vivian An 8-‐2
It was a typical Monday morning. Eating the leftovers from the week. The day old mutton, and oil covered lamb soup. I can still taste the delicious cow heart we ate for dinner last night. As I reached for my safety lamp, my hip bumped the dressing table. Hiding beneath the wooden desk and buried in a sheet of dust, I saw something else. It was nothing but crumpled pieces of paper with torn edges, but it was what inside, that was shocking. My great grandfather was a coal miner, but that was never his dream, nor his passion. The stories I’ve heard about him is all about his artistic skills, though I’ve never seen any of his pieces, till now. He must have drawn it in his free time, the finely sketched details of a steam engine. On the sides he wrote the facts he new about it. Like how it worked, and who created it. I was impressed by his knowledge, but not surprised. After all, the steam engine was a great innovation. As I left for the colleries, I mumbled to myself the information I remembered. The steam engine was improved by a man named James Watt in July 5, 1781. He created the locomotive and made a great impact on the coal mining industry, by increasing the efficiency of work and marking the beginning of big technological machines.
My great grandpa’s finely sketched steam engine.
Reading for endless hours…
The steam engine helped coal miner’s get through rough times. Before it was invented, the gigantic carts of coal would be dragged by animals, and people! But when it rained, the tracks would get muddy and it’d make it impossible for the barrows to get through. Now that we have the steam engine, coal can be easily transported from place to place, running up and down hills on their railroad tracks. 14 hours usually felt like a lifetime, but today I felt like I was in a trance. I couldn’t wait till I got back to read more about the great steam engine. I could feel my sweat running down on my coal dust covered face. It was early July and the weather outside was like a heat oven. But that was nothing compared to the temperature underground in the coal mines, reminding me of our usual Wednesday cleanups in tin baths filled with boiling water. The intense heat mixed in with the unsanitary working conditions with rats gnawing away on our tin-‐wrapped lunches, probably spreading diseases along the way, was definitely hazardous to my health, at least that's what I think. As time slowly crept pass I finally got to go home from that horrible conditioned child labor torture. Scrambling to reach the paper, there I sat, reading and studying for endless hours.
My hand is shaking ecstatically. Yesterday night I asked my grandpa what he was drawing. I discovered it was the Blanaevon ironwork. From the sketches it looked like a row of brick-‐made houses, with huge chimney’s pumping out smoke. There were railroad tracks on the ground. It seemed to work as a path, leading stone carts filled with coal to different places. Surrounding the tracks lay heaps of ore, coal, and limestone. He explained to me what it was and how it worked. The Blanaevon ironwork factory contained 2 monster-‐sized furnaces. There were around thousands of men, woman, and children, including my grandpa working for the same object. Iron. Major contributions that allowed iron to change the whole empire were limestone, coal, and of course, ironstone. He told me about the great water-‐balancing tower, which had always been there since I was born. But listening through my grandpa's perspective when it was just invented in 1839 was fascinating.
I went to the Blanaevon Ironworks after I listened to the amazing memories my grandpa had there.
The monster sized chimneys and furnaces pumping out smoke.
The water-‐balancing tower is simple, yet useful. He drew two balanced boxes, and some iron water tanks. When one cage rose, the other one sank. My grandpa talked about how on his lucky days, he’d see the molten iron, as it came oozing out brimming with a shining gold color. The visionary planted in my mind baffled me. I almost wished I were an ironworker, though the conditions in the ironworks were not any better than the coalmines. The dangers of an ironworker could end up being very severe, could even be fatal. Since the workers would be needed to work at various heights, falling was a huge problem. Though, being an ironwork owner was completely different, making tons of money. My grandpa said how they’d spend it on huge mansions, some in London! I wish I were an ironwork owner, making so much money, being able to support my starving and sick family…
Hallelujah! I cannot express how incredible I feel right now…Lord Shaftesbury convinced the Parliament to examine our coal mine conditions. Lord Ashley came two years ago to Rhondda, and surveyed our mining conditions. Right away it was obvious that they were terrible and some changes needed to happen. She saw that children at small ages like five and six worked as trappers, which was shutting and opening the doors down in the mines. She also noticed how woman were basically naked, working underground with men. The number of deaths Lord Ashley discovered each year in the coalmines were 4,000. Due to the methane gas explosions, unpredictable falls of the rocks, and diseases, that coal miners had to face each and everyday was unacceptable. Today, two years after the inspection, the changes were finally made. The rules were heart-‐warming, and I remember each word coming out of her mouth: No woman was allowed to work underground. Boys had to be at least 10 years old, to work underground. But parish apprentices between the ages of 10-‐18 were not affected, and were allowed to keep working in the coalmines.
Small children working underground in the hazardous conditions
Poor helpless children working as trappers
Even though nothing had changed for me, and I still had to go down underground in the coalmines everyday, my family was safe. My wife could finally escape the hazardous circumstances underground. And most importantly, my precious boy, my 5-‐year-‐old son named Rhys would not have to work as a slave, as a trapper anymore. But work outside, with a lot smaller amounts of danger to harm his innocent little body…or at least till he was 10. Even though I am so thankful for these magnificent changes, I still deeply wish that they would do something about the number of hours spent at the coalmines. Before, we’d have to work for around 11-‐12 hours, but some spent 26 hours underground, finishing their jobs. It was, and still is horrible. But at least with these rules, life would be better, and to those families who have children that will be saved by the Mines Act made today, May 15, 1842, then that is wonderful. But to those families, including my own, who has lost one or many children to the horrible conditions in the coalmines, all will be better. Rest in peace my darling girl, passed away at age 7 from typhus. I, Gareth Evans thank you personally. God bless Lord Shaftesbury and Lord Ashley for changing our lives.
I can finally afford a good chunk of liver again. The Pendyrus opened a week ago, and we are finally getting some progress done. I’m earning the Tylor tokens again, allowing me to barely scrape together the everyday needs. There was a horrible coal shortage in the past few months. Leaving us, the coal miners, to have a huge drop in income. Things were appalling. No coal meant no money, and no money meant I couldn’t support my family. With my sick papa Gareth Evans at home, I didn’t know how I was going to find enough food for all of us. But thankfully, the new Pendyrus opened. And it was like a gate finally unlocked to heaven. We mined the coal so fast it seemed like the carts weren’t going fast enough to keep up with our speed. I speak for everyone when I say we all forgot about the mucky conditions in the new mine, we were too happy about the amount of coal that was hidden underground in the Pendyrus.
Earning our Tylor Tokens!
Working like crazy these past few days!
Though a really inconvenient situation that happened after the Pendyrus was opened was that so many people grabbed that opportunity and chose to work there. So the mines were jam packed with people, even more crowded than it were before. Before I could barely stand, we’d all have to use the bathroom and eat at the same place we were working at, not even mentioning the dirty rats eagerly trying to break through our well-‐wrapped lunches! Now, there were more people crammed in the mines to make matters even worse. Ships sailed along the canal in all different directions, transporting sacks of coal all around the world. This huge amount of coal meant a huge amount of money for Alfred Tylor, which made him satisfied. Even though our hard work deserved better payments, and better employment benefits like I’ve heard David Davies (another successful coalmine owner) gives to his coal miners, I was lucky enough to have the Pendyrus open and save our lives.
This has been the most chaotic week in my life. My father passed away last night, and I was too traumatized to write anything. He died from lung cancer, which is very frequent due to the fact that he has spent all his life, ever since he was able to walk to yesterday, down underground in the mines. Though I shouldn’t be feeling so down, because my father had a much higher than the average life span of coal miners. But watching a loved-‐one go is never easy, and I will never forget the last few words he said: My boy, I have been through one heck of a journey, you continue that adventure. You are no ordinary boy, you are Rhys Evans, and you’ll make me prouder than a father could be, son. And I will, one day I will do something extraordinary and I know my father will be looking down on me. Today was one of those days.
The Pendyrus coal mine shaft, the last place I was.
Today January 28, 1896 the new Pendyrus coalmine had a terrible explosion. 57 coalminers died, it would have been 58 if I didn’t save that mans life. I hate to boast but I am so proud of myself for saving that old man’s life. He was making his way through the crowd towards the shaft, the day was over and everyone working the night shift was crowded around the shaft, waiting for their turn. I was standing in the shaft, which was jam-‐packed with a bunch of other sweaty and tired men. I reached my arms out to forbid anyone else into the over-‐crammed shaft. But then suddenly deathly sounding coughs and gaging sounds rippled through the crowd of men at the back of the line. Gas explosion! One hollered, choking at the end of the sentence. The men started to fall like dominos, holding their throats, gasping for air. My eyes darted to the next man in line. He seemed old, around the same age as my father was. Our eyes met and his seemed to be filled with confusion and it reflected the terror that was creeping upon him. Suddenly I didn’t care about the limit of people I pulled him in just before we took off.
The rest of the way up, the only sounds that filled my ears were yells, and my own heartbeat thumping as fast as our iron pickaxes hitting coal. My eyes squeezed shut as I tried to forget the coal smeared dirty hands that grabbed my hand when I pulled the old man in. You never forget the look on the face when you were their last hope. I tried to forget. I tried to block those images with the heroic feeling I had, I saved someone’s life. One family out there will be ecstatic. A wife will still have her husband. His kids will still have a father. Today was my moment, and I know my father was looking down on me. Prouder than ever. RIP to those 57 coal miners who didn’t make it out in time. RIP father. God bless all those families who have lost someone. God bless the fact that I am alive, I survived, I was lucky, and I did something important. Something extraordinary.
The memories were taking over my mind, I had to draw them out…
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