DESCRIPTION:
Salem No.2 Mine was located a short distance below Keystone Dam, in what is today Keystone State Park, Derry Township, Westmoreland County, PA

New Alexandria Man Recalls Peak, Plummet of Mine

It's hard to imagine, based on the peaceful scene which greets visitors today.
Neverthless, Keystone State Park, near New Alexandria, PA, used to be a crucial part of the bustling enterprise for which it was named - The Keystone Coal and Coke Company.

Starry worked for Isabelle Lynn and her husband, who took care of the lodge and environs at Keystone Lake for about two years.  In return, the Lynns were given use of a farmhouse, rent-free.

Mrs. Lynn "washed the clothes and scrubbed the place," Starry recalled.  She had plenty to do during the summer, when the "coal barons came out with their families.  Each of them took turns;  they stayed for about a week."
Decoration Day, known today as Memorial Day, was one of the most active times.
A pantry and an ice house were stocked throughout the summer, Starry notes. "They would bring the ice from Greensburg in trucks, with burlap and sawdust in between the blocks of ice."

On another occasion, he impressed some of his young friends by taking them fishing in a company boat.

By trespassing on the lake, locals could put themselves in danger as well as make waves with company officials.  Starry recalls, that a sneak dip in the lake proved fatal for at least nine people. They were swimming too close to the powerful intake water valve, feeding water to the company's Salemville coal cleaning plant, and were sucked under.
Among his collection of mining artifacts, Starry has a set of large rubber washers from the defunct water system.

The 78-acre Lake at Keystone was constructed by Keystone Coal & Coke Company ca.1909, to provide the water needed at the coal washer plant and to quench the coke ovens at the Salem Coke Works, located at Salem No.1 Mine in the village of Salemville, west of New Alexandria.  The water from Keystone Lake was carried to Salemville in a 12 inch diameter coopered wooden pipe, coated in tar and reinforced with steel bands, the seven miles to the coal washer and coke plant.

More information and pictures of Keystone Lake can be found in "The History of Salem No. 1 Mine."

According to Starry's reckoning, 84 men worked at Salem No. 2 Mine mine at one time or another between 1935 and its closing two decades later.

Close call for Starry
Starry had his share of close calls during his 17-year stint with Keystone Coal and Coke Company.

He survived a powerful explosion in the mine, sparked by rock dust and gas.  Starry was operating a mining machine at the time which was "all bent up" by the blast. "It threw me at least 55 feet." Starry related. "The concussion knocked me out for 10 minutes." "I have scars on my back where I hit a post.  I didn't go back to work for two days, I was so scared."
Of his career with Keystone Coal and Coke, Starry spent only one year working in a high coal seam, which could be from 6 to 8 feet high, where he was sent once he turned 18.
(Photo at left is Pete Starry standing next to the high coal seam at Salemville, when it was being stripped mined, after the mines were worked out.)
Then, the high coal area was mined out, and he was transferred to the back-breaking work in a low coal seam of Salem No. 2 Mine, often only 36 inches high or less.

"It was hard how people worked," he noted. "Some-times, I was working on my hands and knees in 2 inches of water."

According to Starry, labourers who worked 16-hour days to excavate the Keystone Lake, ca. 1904, were paid only 4-1/2 cents an hour. Masons who used their skills to shore up the lake's dam were paid much better, about, seven cents an hour.
With advances over the years, including a change from hand-loading to machine-mining and loading of coal, then the introduction of conveyer belts in the mine, to allow continuous transport of the coal to the surface, the Salem No. 2 Mine reached a production peak of 95,000 tons of coal in 1942. According to Starry, a mining machine could produce a 30-ton load of coal in half an hour.
At right is Starry's Pay Envelope for the first 2 weeks of April, 1942. Showing he loaded 117 -1/2 tons of coal and was paid $83.40, but after deductions took home only $35.02

Wages improve
During World War II, Starry notes the government established new guidelines at the mines, setting up shifts of nine hours a day. Starry earned $1.00 per hour then.

First Aid was taken seriously

Miners First Aid Meet at Salem No. 2 Mine, Keystone Coal and Coke Company. Salem Mine Low Coal first aid team. Pictured: Pete Starry Patient, Steve Tarko, Joe Nemchik, George Yantos, Mike Mickloy, Al Laffatey.
(Photo from the collections of Pete Starry)

Eagle Coal Company Takes over Salem No. 2 mine
"Eagle Coal Company bought the mine in an auction sale and  continued to mine coal at the Keystone Entry," he recalls.
"They started to stripmine the coal that was left and knocked the tipple down."

Mine becomes State Park
Soon, in 1945, the 796 acre Keystone Coal & Coke Company property surrounding Keystone Lake and the Salem No.2 Mine was purchased by the State of Pennsylvania for $35,000, to be transformed into a state park.   Salem No. 2 Mine continued to operate until 1954 when it was closed and land around the mine was also sold to the state and reclaimed for development into Keystone State Park.
A great amount of acid mine drainage still pours from the old Salem No. 2 Mine, into Keystone Creek and the Loyalhanna Creek, which State Park officials are hoping to address.
Not much remains of the mining way of life, save memories, photos, and work documents which Starry reveals to visitors with a serious interest in the history of the area.

Now in his late 70's, Starry is hoping to write down his experiences to satisfy the curiosity of future generations.

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