Diamanti began working in coal mines driving a mule at 13. He continued working as a miner, living in poverty, gardening, and hunting for food, with no work in the summer months. He describes life in Helper, Utah, with no running water or electricity and lawless violence (KKK, Mafia, city officials). Most ethnic groups lived separately but got along; however, general animosities existed between English-speaking immigrants and all others. Around 1930 he leased and later bought his own mine. It was a struggle but he bought more mines and added modern machinery. He paid decent wages and provided training. Soon he was modernizing the industry with his conveyor-only method of hauling coal. By the 1960s, he had expanded into buying and exporting coal. There is some discussion about the effects of the corporate coal industry on small communities and the environment.
description
Diamanti began working in coal mines driving a mule at 13. He continued working as a miner, living in poverty, gardening, and hunting for food, with no work in the summer months. He describes life in Helper, Utah, with no running water or electricity and lawless violence (KKK, Mafia, city officials). Most ethnic groups lived separately but got along; however, general animosities existed between English-speaking immigrants and all others. Around 1930 he leased and later bought his own mine. It was a struggle but he bought more mines and added modern machinery. He paid decent wages and provided training. Soon he was modernizing the industry with his conveyor-only method of hauling coal. By the 1960s, he had expanded into buying and exporting coal. There is some discussion about the effects of the corporate coal industry on small communities and the environment.
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