DIY History | Transcribe | Campus Culture | Reuben Gaines' memoir, undated

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Page 52

PAGE. Buxton. 52
Company needed man power to operate the mines so during the period between 1902 1903 and 1904 they sent out scouts or agents to Alabama; georgia; Indian Territo and other places to bring in men with their families to operate the mines. 
The people in town turned out to meet the new comers but it was only a matter of time before the law abiding citizens began criticising the agents for bringing in the drifters and the dregs of humanity; but the coal Company wanted men immediately and the agents had no time to check or investigate each individu on his morality. The frontier aura of Buxton and other areas were evident in my recollections. On a blue grass meadow on the hillside in the South East portion of the Gaines' forty acre tract were games of chance being conducted all over the hillside and the lighting system was crude but effective. The lights were generated from beer bottles, filled with lard oil or kerosene, and the lard oil and wicks which were inserted into the bottles was what the miners used before carbide and the gas lamp came into use. As night from a distance it was a beautiful sight to behold; without knowing anybody would have guessed that it was a Carnival in operation. The gambling and drinking continued through out most of the night. At this time I was about 13 or 14 years of age and I supplied some of the bottles for light at fifty cent a bottle; then being finished for the night I would go home for rest and to bed; but reluctantly for there seem to be excitement everywhere. I was up again at four AM to get ahead of my oposition to gather beer bottles at two cents each which would usually net about three dollars per day. I grew up with Buxton and went to school there and finished the lower grades and continued there until the second year of High school until the school burned completely down in 1906 and then my parents transferred me to West High School in DesMoines.
Although the businesses of Buxton and other places were thriving the mines which supported them were again worked out, and the Coal Company was beginning work on more distant shafts at No. 18 mine and at Haydock where No. 19 was located; some eighteen miles South West of Buxton. Plans were made to move the miners from Buxton to Haydock, much like as they had been moved to Buxton from Muchakinock. The miners started moving from Buxton to Haydock in 1919 and all through 1920; 1921 and by the end of 1922 the miners were all gone but some of the houses were still there that had not been moved to Haydock, so many of the remaining houses were sold to the public @ $100.00 dollars for a five room house and $125.00 for a five room house with an additional kitchen which was 12 X 14 feet. My father lived to witness the evacuation of Buxton for it seemed as if his life and the end of Buxton occured simultaneously on Oct. 7, 1922. We had planned together but now I had to tackle the investment alone, so I started out by buying buildings. To begin I bought for the Lang Lois Sisters and Wilson buildings in the amount of $875.00 of which I receiv

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PAGE. Buxton. 52 Company needed man power to operate the mines so during the period between 1902 1903 and 1904 they sent out scouts or agents to Alabama; georgia; Indian Territo and other places to bring in men with their families to operate the mines. The people in town turned out to meet the new comers but it was only a matter of time before the law abiding citizens began criticising the agents for bringing in the drifters and the dregs of humanity; but the coal Company wanted men immediately and the agents had no time to check or investigate each individu on his morality. The frontier aura of Buxton and other areas were evident in my recollections. On a blue grass meadow on the hillside in the South East portion of the Gaines' forty acre tract were games of chance being conducted all over the hillside and the lighting system was crude but effective. The lights were generated from beer bottles, filled with lard oil or kerosene, and the lard oil and wicks which were inserted into the bottles was what the miners used before carbide and the gas lamp came into use. As night from a distance it was a beautiful sight to behold; without knowing anybody would have guessed that it was a Carnival in operation. The gambling and drinking continued through out most of the night. At this time I was about 13 or 14 years of age and I supplied some of the bottles for light at fifty cent a bottle; then being finished for the night I would go home for rest and to bed; but reluctantly for there seem to be excitement everywhere. I was up again at four AM to get ahead of my oposition to gather beer bottles at two cents each which would usually net about three dollars per day. I grew up with Buxton and went to school there and finished the lower grades and continued there until the second year of High school until the school burned completely down in 1906 and then my parents transferred me to West High School in DesMoines. Although the businesses of Buxton and other places were thriving the mines which supported them were again worked out, and the Coal Company was beginning work on more distant shafts at No. 18 mine and at Haydock where No. 19 was located; some eighteen miles South West of Buxton. Plans were made to move the miners from Buxton to Haydock, much like as they had been moved to Buxton from Muchakinock. The miners started moving from Buxton to Haydock in 1919 and all through 1920; 1921 and by the end of 1922 the miners were all gone but some of the houses were still there that had not been moved to Haydock, so many of the remaining houses were sold to the public @ $100.00 dollars for a five room house and $125.00 for a five room house with an additional kitchen which was 12 X 14 feet. My father lived to witness the evacuation of Buxton for it seemed as if his life and the end of Buxton occured simultaneously on Oct. 7, 1922. We had planned together but now I had to tackle the investment alone, so I started out by buying buildings. To begin I bought for the Lang Lois Sisters and Wilson buildings in the amount of $875.00 of which I receiv