3. Coal Miner
Coal miners labored deep underground, hewing coal seams to feed the roaring boilers of locomotives and blast furnaces. Armed with picks and shovels, they loaded tubs into narrow-gauge rail carts, inching through dim, suffocating shafts. The work carried grave risks: black lung disease from constant coal dust, sudden methane explosions, and flooded galleries when water breached weak seams. Countless men lost limbs or lives beneath the earth.
