LIFE OF A COAL MINERS SON - FIRST JOBS:

As one who lost his father at the age of 4 and growing up in a coal mining community near Bramwell, WV life was a struggle to survive. At the age of 8 years old I got a my first job delivering the Bluefield Daily Telegraph morning newspaper. I had 22 customers. Starting at 6:00 AM each morning I would walk over rough mountainous land about 2 miles delivering the newspapers. I would return home about 7:00 AM. This job paid about $3.50 each month. I never had customer that refused to pay me.

When I was 12 years old, I sold "ZANOL" household door-to-door products. Additionally, I delivered the weekly "GRIT" news paper during this period.

( The GRIT newspaper was launched on December 5, 1882, as a Saturday literary supplement for the Daily Sun and Banner in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. )

My first real job came when I was 16 years old. I got a job that paid $25.00 a week during the summer months preparing automobiles for repainting at the W.R. Gaze Company; a Dodge automobile1950s dealership in Bluefield, WV.

This was a very difficult job for a 16 year old. Prepep for painting required a lot of manual labor. At the end of the summer the painter who had hired me refused to pay me $25.00 for my last week's work. His excuse was he did not have the money. For the next month I would visit the employer's house once a week to ask for payment. The payment never happened.

As a senior in high school I got a job inserting the weekly "Sunday Funnies" into the regular news papers when the newspapers came off the printing press at the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV .

To do this job I would take a "Grayhound" bus at 10:00 PM each Saturday night along Rt. 52 near Bramwell, WV to Bluefield. The"Grayhound" bus ride cost was $0.20. Starting at midnight I would begin inserting 3600 inserts into the regular newspaper. This was 3 hours of intense labor that paid $2.70. Having finished the job, I would take several news papers with me to sell as I walked from the Bluefield Daily Telegraph to the bridge that exited the town of Bluefield, WV at about 3:00AM . What newspapers I did not sell on my trip to the bridge I would deposit at the bridge entrance on Rt. 52. The walk to my home near Bramwell ,WV was 8 miles. The "walk & run" along RT. 52 that took about 4 hours. I would arrive at home about 7:00 AM on Sunday morning just in time for breakfast.

One can only imagine - As a child of 17 years old this 8 mile "walk & run" in the middle of the night, along a desirted highway was very exhausting and yes very dangerous plus "scary".

Originally founded in 1882 as a weekly newspaper, Grit is a long-running American publication that transitioned into a bi-monthly magazine in 2006 and later to a weekly newpaper. It is widely remembered for its historical subtitle, "America's Greatest Family Newspaper," and its focus on positive, rural-oriented content. 

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HISTORIC BRAMWELL FOUNDER