A valley in the hollow lay between a pair of partially cleared ridges that retained woods at their crests. Along the east side of the valley a pike gave access to the residents of Bum Holler. Along the ridge to the west lay the tracks of the Southern Railroad that hauled coal from the fields some twelve to fifteen miles away. The mammoth steam locomotives labored to pull twenty to twenty-five cars loaded with coal up the grade through the hollow.

A person running alongside a loaded train could easily keep up with it. Many depression-era hobos took advantage of the grade to get a free ride to somewhere. Some local men boarded a slow train

to throw off a few lumps of coal that he would later put in a sack and carry home to fuel his stove.

Bum Holler had changed a little during my first eight years of life. It had grown from three houses along a mile of road to four before the 1929 stock market crash. Its new owners, Bonnie and her husband Hudsle, occupied the new house that I had watched with great interest while it grew from just a few piles of planks and stuff.

Hudsel lost his job after the crash and took a job in the coal mines. He didn’t like working in the mines. Freeing the coal from the underground deposits and loading it onto the tramcars in areas where he could not stand erect was a grimy job. Once out of the mine at the end of his shift he needed to shower and change cloths before heading home. It was a dirty and dangerous job but it afforded him a much needed income. It was men like Hudsel that enabled the freight trains to puff their way through Bum Holler.

The day started like most any other day early in the depression. Those who still had jobs left for work as usual and the farmers went about their farming duties.

When he’d finished milking the cows my youngest uncle drove the cows from the barn to pasture. Then he split wood for the cook stove and finished a few other chores before he set out on foot for the village of East Stone Gap where unemployed guys gathered to deliver the latest news and gossip from around the area. In those days there were no telephones in Bum Holler and few in towns. The local newspaper was published only weekly; so the guy’s were the best source of news around. I believe the Hudsels had a radio but it was battery powered and was therefore played sparingly; besides, there was no local station nearby.

About noon some of the guys left their gathering and went home for dinner. So it was that word spread that an accident happened in one of the mines but nobody knew which mine was affected. According to reports some miners were trapped inside the mine and rescue operations were underway. When the news reached Bum Holler all her neighbors thought of how Bonnie must feel. No doubt she was worried about her husband. Ivo who was my mother and Bonnie’s cousin, went down to see if she could be of any comfort.

“It’s a terrible thing about the mine accident.” Ivo said, “Was Hudsel working today?”

“He went to wark this morning. I’m so worried about him.”

“Where does he work?”

“I,m not sure. He’’d been at Arno but he mentioned that he might be transferred to Andover. I just don’t know if he moved yet.”

“We don’t know where the accident happened. There are half a dozen other places it could be. I wouldn’t worry. It’s not likely it was his mine.”

“I know but I can’t help but worry about him. I feel so bad about the trapped men whether Hud is one of them or not.”

“So do I. Let’s hope and pray that Hud’s not hurt.”

The hours crept by as the tension mounted in Bonnie’s mind and body no word came about the location of the accident. At Ivo’s urging Bonnie started fixing supper, more to keep busy than merely to prepare a meal.

“I just don’t know what I’ll do if anything happened to him,” sobbed Bonnie.

“Let’s wait a while before worrying about what to do,” consoled Ivo.

The hour of Hudsel’s usual arrival finally came. Bonnie looked anxiously down the road from the front porch. She started pacing the floor and finally sat down for a moment but she was soon up pacing again. Half an hour passed before a car stopped in front of the house and Hudsel got out. Bonnie greeted him with an adoring hug.

“I’m so glad to see you!” said Bonnie.

“Wow, glad to see you too. Sorry to be so late. There was an accident at the Rhoda mine. The road was full of machines that made it slow going to get through, but we made it,” Hudsel said with a smile. 

“There were some men trapped inside but the rescue team will get them out all right.”