Berries and Coal



As soon as the huckleberries began to ripen our entire family was mobilized 

for berry picking. Each of us was given a "picker" which was usually a jelly 

jar which we used as water glasses. When the picker was filled it was emptied 

into the 8 quart water bucket. If the berries were plentiful, Dad usually 

tied a bandana around the top of the bucket to allow for heaping !! The first 

harvest was usually sold to friends for the making of pies. As the berries 

became more plentiful they were sold to the bakeries, usually at half the 

price of the first crop. And Heaven forbid that they find a leaf or a not 

quite ripe berry. One of our favorite places for berry picking was the valley 

which lay west  of the patches from Ellengowen to Suffolk. I believe it was 

the Pennsy RR that had a line that ran through the valley. Eventually the 

valley was dammed up on both ends and was filled with the "slush" generated 

by washing the coal at the St. Nicholas breaker. Today they are reclaiming 

this material and burning it in a co-generation plant near the site where the 

Ellengowen colliery used to sit.



As for picking coal, we had our own "bootleg" mine for a while which we used 

only to provide fuel for the house. The coal company, P&RC&I, had abandoned 

several small strip mines due to their proximity to the houses or power 

lines. We found one exposed vein from which we extracted the coal. Eventually 

the operation required the placing of two sets of timber which then made it 

into a "bootleg" mine. One day the "Coalies" arrived at blasted the mine 

closed. The two cops who did it had been raised with my Dad so no arrests 

were made.