King Coal · Chapter
Chapter XX explained
Hal witnesses the brutal reality of mining accidents and the company's indifference to worker safety.
What happens
Hal witnesses the brutal reality of mining accidents and the company's indifference to worker safety. After a Lithuanian miner is crushed by a fall of rock, the company's callous procedures—no inquest, no priest, a rigged coroner's jury—are laid bare. Hal learns that no damage suit has been filed against coal operators in the county for twenty-three years. Old Mike Sikoria offers Hal a job as his helper, explaining that bribes are needed to change work assignments.
Themes in this chapter
Industrial Danger and Death
The chapter graphically depicts a fatal mining accident and the company's routine disregard for worker safety, from lack of timbers to rigged coroner's verdicts.
Corporate Tyranny and Lawlessness
The company controls the coroner's jury, suppresses damage suits, and uses bribery to assign dangerous work, showing absolute power over workers' lives.
Futility of Individual Resistance
Hal learns that miners have no recourse—no legal system, no union, no safety—and that even changing jobs requires bribing the boss.
Characters to notice
- Hal Warner
Observes the aftermath of a mining accident and learns about the company's systematic neglect of safety and justice.
- Mike Sikoria
Old Slovak miner who helped rescue the trapped Lithuanian; explains the company's burial practices and offers Hal a job as his helper.
- Madvik
Mule driver who briefly tells Hal about the accident: 'Lit'uanian feller—got mash.'
- Jeff Cotton
Marshal who serves on the rigged coroner's jury.
- Jake Predovich
Galician Jew who works in the company store and serves on the coroner's jury.
Key passages
“Put him in a box and dig a hole.”
The company's burial procedure is simply to place the body in a coffin and bury it without ceremony or investigation.
Mike Sikoria describes the company's callous handling of dead miners.
“We find that the deceased met his death from a fall of rock caused by his own fault.”
The coroner's jury always blames the miner for the accident, absolving the company of responsibility.
Standard verdict used to prevent damage suits.
“No relatives, and damned few friends!”
In one case, the jury added a cruel remark that the dead man had no family and almost no acquaintances.
Illustrates the dehumanization of miners.