<center><font color=blue size=+2 face="courier">Canzada's Brothers were
Ore Miners at Shaw, Georgia</font></center>
<font color=blue size=+4 face="carlisle">William and Charlie Kilgore as
well as Will's sons, Bill, Gord and Willie. </font>
Perhaps having learned the mining trade in Grundy County, as did Grandpa
William T. Dickson Grandma Canzada's brothers also were miners. They
worked mines operated by the Estelle Mining Company at Shaw, Georgia in
Walker County. At the height of its operation this company employed 235
men. This mining community provided over 175 homes for the miners and
their families. A commissary provided for all the needs of the employees
and their families from furniture to clothing, groceries and household
goods. There were two schools with an enrollment of 190 children. The
County maintained both of the schools and the men at Estelle subscribed
to over 70% of the cost and retained a doctor for medical attention. The
Estelle property consisted of 1600 acres and had a blacksmith shop,
machine shop, and carpenter shop, steam plant, sawmill and a supply house.
There was a 6-mile narrow gauge railroad called the "Dinky" which began
at the crusher and ran through 7 tunnels to the mines. Ore was hauled
from the mines to the crusher on this railroad. As the demand for ore
started to wane, operations at the mines began to slacken and finally
ceased in 1924. At the height of its operation and due to a shortage of
qualified miners, boys as young as seven would help load ore. Ten-year-old
boys worked at the crusher and at the age of 12, the boys could go
underground as "mule" boys. The mule boys would leave home by 6:00 a.m.
to get the mules ready to enter the mines at 6:30 a.m. The mule boys
worked 10 hours a day for 20 cents per hour. Push boys, crushers,
firemen, engineers and breakies were some of the other jobs available to
the men and boys who lived in the area. Sunday was the day off and was
the day for recreation. If the miners weren't fishing or hunting or
playing horseshoes, they could be found at the baseball field. The Estelle
crew played teams from Durham, LaFayette and Chickamauga.
Among the hundreds of men and boys who worked in the Estelle iron ore
mines were Canzada's brothers, William and Charlie Kilgore and will's
sons, Bill, Gord and Willie.