After walking 18 miles I came to the top of a mountain, and looking down into the valley, I noticed a town.  I walked down to it and found it was Mahanoy City.  It was a new mining town.  The streets had very little pavements to walk on.  The shades of night were falling fast.  I must hurry and find my relatives.  At last I found that they lived on the upper end of Center Street.  It was now getting dark.  I went into the house and asked for James THOMAS, whom I had met in Wadesville, about four years before.  He told me he was my cousin as his mother and mine were sisters.  He also told me he had three brothers and four stepbrothers and one sister.  I explained to him the reason why I left Wadesville.  It was now getting bedtime.  I noticed the house was not very large.  There was already eleven in the house and not many rooms.  My aunt said she would make room for me, some way.  So she crowded nine of us boys into two beds.

Next morning, cousin James and myself looked over the town and got acquainted with other boys.  As we returned to his home I received word that my stepmother from Wadesville had come to take me back to Wadesville.  I was bound to them until I was 21 years old.  She had papers to that effect.  Not knowing whether they had any paper binding me to them, I kept out of the way for three days and nights among large rocks just behind the P. R. Railroad Depot.  The two dollars which I had saved in Wadesville came in handy now.  My cousin, James, brought bread and sausage up to me.  After the third day I got word that my stepmother had left.  I was informed that she could not produce the papers.  I returned to my aunt's home and made arrangements with her to board with her.  There was no more attempt made to take me back to Wadesville.  It also cleared the situation as to whether I was bound to them or not, until I reached the age of 21.

As there were many mines around Mahanoy City, and two railroads, P. and R., and the Lehigh Valley Railroad, I realized soon that I must find work, as my board bill must be paid.  My cousin James (THOMAS) was about my age.  He had worked, driving a mule in a coal mine.  I had inquired at several mines before I found work driving a mule underground at a mine named Meyersville Mine, three miles from Mahanoy City.

It was difficult for a boy to get work as a miner.  Coal seams pitched in many mines as high as 65 degrees, making mining dangerous.  Only skilled miners were needed for that class of work.  In two years I was able to take up mining in pitching seams of coal.  This class of mining was by contract, either by yardage or by tonnage.  So much per yard or so much per ton.  I have always preferred to mine by contract.

My step-uncle decided to move from Mahanoy City to Meyersville.  I still boarded with them although we were crowded together.  Mines worked irregular for two years, then closed down owing me $140.00.  Two years later I received $70.00 as a compromise.  In the years 1872 and 1873, business was fast going into bankruptcy.  In the year 1873, it affected the coalmines.  I could not find work elsewhere and had to go into debt for my board, $122.00.  This disturbed me a great deal.  At last I found work at a mine called Primrose.  The mine was a level seam of coal.  I worked extra at nights and paid my board bill in two months time, and this was the last time I ever went in debt.  While living in Meyersville, I made the acquaintance of George HUNES.  He was about my age, badly pitted with smallpox marks.  We were constant companions.  We worked together in the mine.  One day in the mine he and another miner named SHANKLIN were having a friendly wrestling match.  He could throw my partner.  I was called upon to try and throw SHANKLIN, who was larger and heavier than I and somewhat of a bully.  I threw him.  He got angry and struck my companion full in the face.  Then, I struck him in the face as my companion would not return the blow, as he was of a quiet disposition.  I took it up for him.  I stood in position, expecting SHANKLIN to come on and get even with me, but he did not.  He swore a great deal and then quieted down.  I had to watch him closely.  He had no right to strike my companion.  I was the one he should have struck.

There was a state law against striking a man under the ground; a fine of $50.00 was the penalty and then he got his discharge.  The next morning, as I arrived at the mine, quite a crowd of the miners were still around preparing to enter the mine.  My companion and SHANKLIN were among them.  I could see that both of them had a black eye.  I expected to be called to the Company office, but no call came nor was I fined or discharged.  I never knew why the law was not enforced.  I was only too glad to keep quiet, if that would keep me from having to pay a fine.

As the mines were not working regularly many young men of my age were leaving the coal mines to work in the Lehigh Valley railroad shops, at Delano, a small town close by the mines.  My companion, George HUNES, quit the mines and got a job as brakeman on a freight train.  There was a wreck and George was killed.