Images(3)

Tag, Identification

Object number2022.88.2

Date1935-1953

MediumMetal

Credit LineGift of David Moskal in memory of Edward "Mutch" Moskal

DescriptionFlat, circular in/out mining tag. Hole at top center. Front has imprinted identification number at bottom.DimensionsDiameter x Depth: 1.375 x 0.063 in. (3.5 x 0.2 cm)
InscriptionsFront has imprinted identification number "148" at bottom.
Historical NotesMiner's tag used by Edward "Mutch" Moskal. Edward “Mutch” Moskal was born on October 27, 1919, in Mather, Pennsylvania. At the age of 15, he left school to begin working in the Rich Hill coal mine alongside his older brother, Yosh (John Moskal). His mother (Mary Ann Kubic Moskal) had passed away several years prior and his father (Michael Moskal) had been injured in the coal mines and struggled to work. Michael and Mary had started their family in Poland where Michael was a wagon smith and woodworker. They immigrated to the United States with their oldest daughter, Helena Moskal, and Michael found work in the coal mines of Western PA. Edward had 5 brothers and 6 sisters. He began working in the coal mines to care for his siblings when his father was no longer able to support the family. Two of his brothers (Tom and Ted) were already working in the Civilian Conservation Corps camps at this time. Mutch spent 19 years working as a coal miner in various mines across Western PA before becoming a union bricklayer. He had tried to sign up for the draft for WW2, but he was denied enlistment because coal miners were essential to the war effort and also because he was considered head-of-household at that time. Their family home was a duplex company house in Meadowlands, PA which was owned by the coal company. They eventually purchased the home from the mining company and Edward paid his siblings to become the sole owner. He and his wife, Mary Frame Moskal, raised their own family (3 sons - James, Robert, and David) in that house and remained there until his passing at the age of 93 on August 23, 2013. Most days Mutch would ride in his Model A Ford and later a Model T truck to the mines. Many of the men in the neighborhood would ride along to Lindley mine. He was one of the only men who had a car at that time. When he first started working in the mine, he would work alongside his brother to load two cars full of coal and one car full of slate. That was their quota for the day as they were paid by the ton and not by the hour. They used donkeys to pull the carts out of the mine at that time. They worked quickly and often Mutch and his brother Yosh would finish early enough to hitch a trolley to Pittsburgh to watch a Pirate game. Throughout his years in the mines, he performed different jobs and was paid differently. He used the waist drilling tool to drill holes which he would then pack with black powder. He’d tuck the squib into the hole, which was the ignitor, and then light the black powder. They later switched to using dynamite sticks rather than black powder. He preferred using the black powder as it blew the coal into larger chunks. The dynamite blew the coal into much smaller pieces which made it more difficult to load. At times he worked to shore up the mines with timbers and posts, and at other times his job was to retrieve the timbers and posts from mines that had been cleared of the coal seams. He was paid by the timber or post that he was able to remove. He did not like this work as it was very dangerous to retrieve the timbers as the ceilings of the mines would then collapse. He spent the last years with the coal mines working above ground on the night shift greasing and oiling the machines. He then joined his brother Tom as a bricklayer for the remainder of his career days. List of locations where Edward "Mutch" Moskal worked as a miner: 1935-1937 Rich Hill (underground) 1937-1938 Clinton Block 1938 - 2 months at Enterprize 1939-1940 Marianna 1940-1950 Lindley (reference paystub from 1943 Lindley Mine) 1951-1953 Rich Hill (Strip mine)

Previous owner Edward Moskal (1919 - 2013)

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