Sago mine disaster bought back sad memories for former miner

Dear Editor:

When I read about the Sago mine disaster it brought back memories of my experiences as a tunnel engineer in 1949 on the Montebello-Patapsco water tunnel.

This project consisted of a 10 feet 0 inches diameter tunnel 350 feet underground i.e. like a 30 story building 12 miles in length.

Coming to work for the graveyard shift midnight to 8 a.m. I heard go up “Engineer down the hole.” I put on my hardhat and raingear, ran to the elevator which consisted of a steel floor with RR tracks, no sidewalls down to the tunnel elevation minus 350 feet on to a motor into the heading to see a cave in. The prior shift had hit bad ground after shooting and the roof came down killing two men.

In those days there was no OSHA, medical, compensation etc. Rosoff Construction gave widow $25,000, which was a fortune considering pay was $1.70/ hour to $2.75/hour. Miners are a close knit group of men. Loyal other and dependent upon each other. No fighting, women or whistling down the hole. Whiskey accepted. Having experienced a similar mishap, I grieve the widows, family and friends of the mining families.

Lou Wenger, Babylon