My name is Orloski and I’m employed by the Knox companynand I’ll lay my hands on the table for all to seenI come from miners whose ghosts they follow me downnand watch my back when the roof turns into the groundnnBig city has been calling says the coal is gonna end up deadnwife says if that don't happen then it’s gonna be me insteadnnBut they say it’s in the blood more than the lungs as the years go bynand every breath I take I catch a glimpse of my fathers eyennPort Griffith will remember the day back in 1959nwhen the fearsome Susquehanna smashed through the Knox company minenthe Pittston vein just blinded the men above the groundnand they just washed their hands when twelve men were never foundnnEighty seven men descended in the January chillnthey were scattered through the workings the cars they’d fill and fillnInspectors had drawn the red line 35 feet from the rivers ragenbut now it was down to 19 inches to force a miner to make a decent wagennFrank Hanley and his 11 were working near the shaftnand when he heard that rumble old Haney acted fastnhe called for the cage as the water lapped his armnand the cage rose above the river and his men spread the alarmnnbreak:nSusquehanna has a will of her ownnchills a coal man to the bonennFear can spread the word through a quiet little townnand soon all eyes were frozen on the water bearing downnthe iced river was pouring in she was gonna have her waynbut they had to try and stop her before she washed the valley awaynnSo they tried to plug the hole by dropping coal gondolas innbut they were sucked right through like a man led into sinnthey knew the mines were all connected and lay helplessly alonenthe anthracite in the valley would drown in its own homennThe men inside were running the old men falling behindnForeman Myron Thomas tried to keep on the upper sidenwater sounded like a train bearing down on himnso he told his men to pray barely heard above the dinnn(break)nnJoe Stella had stayed behind with some of the older mennand as they stumbled through the water he felt the breath of air hit themnthe abandoned Eagle shaft pointed up towards the skynand Amedo Pancotti lifted himself on highnnNow Amedo spoke little english but he rushed across the landnand made himself understood the way only an Italian cannsoon a rope was dropped on down to the surface they made their waynsaid he didn’t deserve the Carnegie medal they pinned it on him anywaynnNow Thomas was still crawling with 25 men in townholding their breath beneath the timbers that were neglected years agonhe ordered every other man to extinguish his lampnto preserve the fading light like the hope in the cold and dampnn(break)nnThey came upon a rotted door and somehow knocked it downnand a wisp of air barely made its way but no one made a soundnsome feared if they squeezed through they’d never make it homenBut Thomas said it’s now or never boys at least we won’t die alonennThat old eagle shaft stayed open so the Lord could peer on throughnand soon the men heard voices and the fresh air grewnas the rope was tied around his waist Thomas took a last look aroundnand thanked the men who sunk the old eagle shaft and his feet they left the groundnnTwelve men still lay in the Old Knox Mine with nothing to light their waynhow many have walked over their graves no one can ever saynmost have forgotten the way things were back in 1959nwhen the Susquehanna river smashed through the Knox Company Minenn(break)