STORIES ABOUT PEOPLE WHO SUPPLY

US WITH FUEL
THE COAL MAN AND THE MINER
I. Black Diamonds
mining car

“How are the black diamonds holding out, Wallace?” asked Mrs. Duwell. Wallace had just brought up coal from the cellar¹.

“Only a few more scuttlefuls in the bin², mother,” answered Wallace.

“On your way from school you may stop at the coal yard and ask Mr. Carr to send a ton to-morrow.”
coal mine

“All right, mother, I won’t forget. But tell me, why do they call coal black diamonds?”

“I haven’t time[182] to talk about it now. Perhaps Mr. Carr will tell you. You have just ten minutes to get to school.”

On his way home Wallace stepped into the little office of the big coal yard.

“How are you, my boy; what can I do for you to-day?” asked Mr. Carr, who was a rather tall man with a bent³ back and one shoulder higher than the other.

“How do you do, Mr. Carr?” replied Wallace. “Mother wants you to send a ton of coal to-morrow—the same kind as the last you sent.”

Wallace waited until the coal man entered the order in the book and then asked, “Mr. Carr, will you tell me why they call coal black diamonds?”

Mr. Carr smiled pleasantly. “Certainly, son, certainly. You see, coal shines like diamonds, and then, it’s worth more.”

“Worth more? Why, I thought diamonds were worth more than anything else.”

“No, indeed! If there weren’t any coal in the ground, all the diamonds in the world wouldn’t heat a house, cook a meal, pull a railway train, or run a machine.”

“Well, I never thought of that,” said Wallace. “You certainly could not burn diamonds in a cook-stove.”

[183]

“No, indeed!” said Mr. Carr, who seemed much pleased at Wallace’s interest.
II. In a Coal Mine

“Were you ever down in a coal mine, Mr. Carr?” asked Wallace.

“Was I ever down in a coal mine?” repeated Mr. Carr. “Yes, sir, I was a miner for years in the coal regions, and would have been in a mine yet, probably, if it hadn’t been for this,” pointing to his shoulder and bent back.

“Is it very dangerous work?” asked Wallace, with wide-open eyes.

“Well, if the roof doesn’t fall on you, and if the mine doesn’t catch fire, and if the gas doesn’t choke you, or explode and blow you up, it isn’t dangerous; it is perfectly⁴ safe.”

“But how did it get hurt—your shoulder, I mean?” asked Wallace.

“Oh, that! I’ll tell you. One day we were getting out coal at the far end of a tunnel. Suddenly, before we had time to run, the roof came tumbling⁵ down and buried us. When they pulled us out, my helper was dead, and my back was as you see it now.”

“What makes mining so dangerous?” asked Wallace, in surprise.

[184]

“Well, you see, it’s this way. When you step into the cage, that is the elevator, you leave the sunlight behind. The cage sinks down, down into pitch darkness, sometimes hundreds of feet. At the bottom of the shaft⁶ it is like an under-ground city. Street-like tunnels, with car tracks laid on them, run out in every direction. The coal cars are drawn⁷ by mules⁸ or by electricity.

“As you go up the tracks you see cross tunnels and the miners’ little lamps shining in dark holes that look like black caves. Here the miners work, blasting⁹ out the coal, and loading it on cars to be drawn to the mouth of the mine and hoisted¹⁰ up into daylight.

“Sometimes the walls and roof are not properly braced¹¹. Then they cave in and great lumps of coal fall down on the men. Sometimes gas or fire-damp collects. Then there is danger of choking or of being blown up. Sometimes, in blasting, the coal catches fire, so that the whole mine burns.”
minder with photos in the background
Can you tell a story about the journey of a ton of coal from the time the miner digs it out of the mine, and boys sort out the slate¹², until it is put into the furnace in a house?

“Why, miners must be as brave as soldiers,” said Wallace.

“Yes, I suppose they are brave. People do not know how much they owe to the miners. They risk their lives every time they go down into [185]
[186]the mines. But they don’t think much about the danger. That is part of their work.”

“Thank you for telling me about it,” said Wallace.

“You are welcome, my boy; good-by.”

“Good-by, Mr. Carr.”

Wallace hurried home with a new respect for Mr. Carr and the men who work in the dark mines under the ground.
QUESTIONS

How does the coal man bring the coal to your house?

From whom does he buy it?

Pretend you are a piece of coal and tell the story of your life.

Name some of the things which we would have to do without if there were no miners or coal men.

Do you burn anything else at your house besides coal?

Are the men who supply us with these things our helpers too?

Where does the wood man get kindling¹³ and firewood?

Where does the oil man get oil?

Will you ask for a book about p?-trō′l?-?m, or coal oil, when you go to the library next time?

Can you think of any other people who supply us with fuel?

1 cellar   

n.地窖，地下室，酒窖

参考例句：

• He took a bottle of wine from the cellar.他从酒窖里拿出一瓶酒。
• The little girl hid away in the cellar.小姑娘藏在地下室里。

2 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 tumbling   

n.摔跤，翻跟头，翻筋斗adj.歪斜状的v.倒塌( tumble的现在分词 )；翻滚；突然摔倒；恍然大悟

参考例句：

• His eyes were fastened on the boiling, tumbling waves. 他的眼睛凝视着汹涌的波涛。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The earthquake sent buildings tumbling into one another like failing dominoes. 地震使大楼哗啦啦倒塌，就像正在倾倒的骨牌一般。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

9 blasting   

n.爆破（作业）v.（用炸药）炸毁( blast的现在分词 )；狠打；发出刺耳的高音；向…猛吹，（用水）向…喷射

参考例句：

• The road is closed because of blasting. 这条道路由于有爆破作业而被关闭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Danger! Blasting in progress! 危险，正在放炮！ 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

11 braced   

adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• They braced up the old house with balks of timber. 他们用梁木加固旧房子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The house has a wooden frame which is braced with brick. 这幢房子是木结构的砖瓦房。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？

13 kindling   

n. 点火, 可燃物 动词kindle的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• There were neat piles of kindling wood against the wall. 墙边整齐地放着几堆引火柴。
• "Coal and kindling all in the shed in the backyard." “煤，劈柴，都在后院小屋里。” 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子