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Posted by Introspective Alfonso and Angelina arrived at Ellis Island in New York in 1931 on a passenger ship which they were traveling third class. During their three month voyage to America from Italy they were not allowed to mingle with the second or first class passengers and they had to remain in the bottom section of the ship for the entire voyage. Angelina was pregnant at the time with her first child and she prayed that her child be born in America so that he could have a better life and future as an American. In New York City they were at the mercy of other kind Italian families that took them in and taught them the ways of large city life. The simple things that we take for granted were difficult for them such as getting on bus, riding a trolley, and purchasing food. Angelina would become confused with the American currency and at times was taken advantage of with purchases. They lived in New York City for a short period of time and having little educational skills and not knowing the English language made finding employment virtually impossible. Alfonso heard about the coal mines of Pennsylvania and so he and his wife and new born son traveled to Shenandoah where he obtained employment as a coal miner. He would rise in the morning six days a week before the sun would rise and enter the Coal mine and in the evening after the sun set he would leave the mine and ride the trolley for a single penny from the Maple Hill colliery to Shenandoah. He would hop off the trolley on the second hundred block of Coal Street in Shenandoah and wash the coal dust down at Giuseppes Tavern with a cold mug of ice cold beer. Some of the Italians would play Italian music and sing Italian songs at an old piano in the bar and on occasion Alfonso would play an accordion for the other patrons while covered in Cole dust and still wearing his mining equipment that was leased to him from the mining company. He would then walk a few blocks from Giuseppes Tavern to his home which he rented from the mining company for $10.00 a month. Angelina would not start cooking until he arrived home and washed up and it was always the same meal Pasta with his favorite Pastavasule soup. It was an economical meal for them because after the mining company made their deductions from his pay for the leasing of his equipment and his rent for his home he cleared 50 cents a week. Eventually two more children came along and to make ends meet Angelina worked in a shirt factory, baked and sold bread and opened the attic of their home to a border. They rented there attic out to a young Italian man named Francisco in 1941 and he became a member of there family and eventually he became a miner as well. Alfonso and his family looked forward to Sundays where they attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Shenandoah and after the Mass the Miners and their families would gather at the Glovers Hill Park which at that time was called the little Italy of Shenandoah. It was there on Sunday afternoons during the summer months that the Families shared food, played music, sang songs, played various games and told mining stories to their children and what their lives were like in the old country prior to immigrating to America. Being a miner was a dangerous occupation they dealt with cave-ins, gas explosions, and mine flooding. Many miners died and suffered physical ailments from breathing in the coal dust. Alfonso was no exception and on a Saturday in 1947 there was a cave-in at the Maple Hill mine and four miners were trapped in the deep darkness of the mine. It was dark, damp, and cold, and the miners were frightened and unable to see. They heard Alfonsos voice coming through the mine shaft in the cold darkness telling them in Italian that everything is going to be OK and not to worry. Alfonso told the Miners to un-strap their mining belts and to buckle all the belts together to make a long leather rope so that they have something to hold on to and to know that they are together. It was also to prevent them from becoming separated in the pitch blackness of the deep mine. Alfonso told them to follow his voice and to hold on to the leather belts as his voice guided them down the long winding mine shaft. Francisco with frustration in his voice said, Alfonso, how da hell do you know where you go, you get us more lost. Alfonso told him, keep quite I know what I do. Eventually they came to a pile of large rocks and slabs of coal. Alfonso told them if they move the coal slabs they will be able to work their way out of the mine shaft and he told them to hurry. Francisco once again with anger and frustration in his voice said, Alfonso how do you know this you craze, how do you know this? Alfonso told them to quickly move the coal slabs if they want to get out of the mine alive. A few hours of moving the stones and slabs of coal they saw an opening and Alfonso told them to stay together and continue going forward in the mine shaft. They soon began to see lights from lanterns and they heard the voices of other miners coming in the opposite direction of the mine shaft. Francisco yelled out thank you Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the holy Donkey, how da hell did you know what shaft we in? Alfonse told us came the reply he told us to hurry and get you guys out because the shaft is about ready to give way. You craze Alfonso is here. yelled Francesco. Tell him Alfonso you here. As the miners exited the mine they could hear the loud rumbling of the mine caving-in behind them and the dust and suet rising from what was once the entrance to the mine. Jesus said one of the rescuers. You gota that right said Francisco I start praying Rosary and start Novena as soon as I get home. Where is Alfonso said one of the rescuers. He was with me. He wasa right next to me the whole time, said Francisco. You Craze. The mystery of Alfonsos disappearance remained a Mystery for two weeks that was when his body was found at the original cave-in site. Miners however swore they saw him getting on the trolley each morning to go to work and getting off the trolley to enter Giuseppes Tavern at the end of a hard days work. Angelina told Francesco and her children that she hears Alfonso hanging up his mining equipment each evening except for Sundays. She said that she hears him hanging up his mining equipment as if he is getting ready to wash up for hot meal. She also told her family years after Alfonsos death that she can still feel his presents in the house and him lying down next to her at night. From 1947 to the closing of the mines in 1954 there have been numerous sightings of Alfonso warning the miners of the presences of gas in the mines, mine flooding, and impending mine cave-ins. Alfonso has been a mining legend since his death in 1947 and the Italians who knew him told his story to their Children and they in turn told their Children the stories. There is no longer a little Italy in Shenandoah and the last of the old Italians have passed away and the mines have been closed for 51 years. However, those who know the history of Shenandoah and the history of the miners in the Pennsylvania coal region can learn from the miners work ethic, their loyalties to their families, their communities, their churches, and their over all values. The miners implicitly understood which I believe is becoming lost in todays society that it takes a village to raise a child and the Italians brought a part of their villages from Italy to Shenandoah. They reflected that when they built little Italy and their church. It was also the values in the mining communities that were instilled in the children within those communities and they in turn instilled those values in their children and their neighbors children. As long as I am alive I will continue to tell the younger generations the stories of the miners, their ethnic values, and the history of their communities. Introspective
on 9/7/2004, 10:07 pm
64.12.116.9
The Shenandoah Miner.......
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