When this photo of John Streepy was taken in April 1974, it was just over a year before the Rogers No. 3 mine shut down. Its closure would bring an end to underground coal mining in the state of Washington. Streepy is using a hand-operated winch, called a come-along to lift a Douglas fir timber into place. The timbers were used as wooden beams and accompanying props to hold up the roof of the mine. Since the Rogers coal seam was tilted nearly vertical in this area of Ravensdale, the miners not only stood on coal but had a ceiling of coal above. Locally, the mining method was called “booming.” Drill holes were filled with dynamite, and once detonated broke coal into manageable sizes for loading into mine cars hoisted to the surface for processing.
Nearby but not pictured are Bill McLoughry and George Savicke, two life-long coal miners who were assisting Streepy in setting the timber. At the time, the Rogers mine was operating with a crew of twelve mine workers split among two shifts, consisting of two hoist operators, two on the picking table, six miners underground, a fire-boss/miner, and the mine superintendent. This photo comes courtesy of Barry Kombol, a retired attorney who was one of the twelve. Next week, a photo of the last crew to work at an underground coal mine in Washington.
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