Louis Sclippa Oral History | Bumps in the Mine (00:46)
Fernie Museum | Elk Valley Italian Oral History Project | 1998
1999.04.03
Do you know what a bump is? You have a whole mountain, you have a mine going in here, and the mine develops the coal on the advance. They call them pillars. When they get to their limit that way, it’s all squared off on blocks and then they pull the pillars out.
When the weight of the mountain goes on these pillars, it’s like getting a pan of bread – you punch down here, and it comes up here. When you have a bump, it’s the floor that’s coming up. In some cases, it’s nearly to the roof. I was in the mine when it happened – a long ways away – It would disrupt just one area – Leslie: “Could you feel it from where you were?”- Oh yea. It’d shake. Like an earthquake.