WEST MINE COAL CORP.  WEST 21  SHAFT MINE  1935-1936

     The picture above was taken about 1 year after the mine 
     closed down, in 1936.
     Many of the miners displaced by machinery in the larger 
     mines are left stranded after mines are abandoned; have 
     opened shallow primitive workings on the coal seam where 
     it occurs close to the surface. 
     The output of these shallow mines, known locally as gopher 
     holes, is processed by a crude method and sold to truckers 
     at about half the price of deep-vein coal. 
     Many of the gopher holes have no storage in the tipple, 
     and the miners underground are idle when no truck is waiting 
     at the chute to load coal. Wages of gopher hole miners run 
     from seventy-five cents to five dollars per day, and many 
     miners earn less than WPA (Works Progress Administration) 
     workers. Some of the larger gopher holes, such as Blue Ribbon 
     Number 2 at Spillertown, Williamson County, are better 
     equipped, pay better wages, and produce as high as 40,000 
     tons a year.