LODGE DIGNITARY AND RETIRED MINE WORKER 
REMEMBERS EARLY YEARS IN FLAT RIVER
Lead Belt News, Flat River, Mo., Jan. 27, 1965

     Dennis L. Hope of 300 High Street, Flat River, was 17-1/2 years old when he left his native Ripley County, Mo., to come to the Lead Belt.  He arrived by way of the Southern-Illinois Railroad.  The train stopped at the station on the East Main Street hill in Flat River on the morning of Feb. 4, 1906.  The day was snowy and the youth set out on foot for the Doe Run Lead Company mines at Rivermines. 

     In the intervening time between then and now, Dennis Hope has been a mine hoister, mule-skinner, driller, wheat harvester, building custodian, and local and state chancellor of the Knights of Pythias Lodge.  Having worked for the Doe Run, Federal and St. Joseph Lead companies, he retired in October, 1953.  Now in his 77th year, Mr. Hope remembers with great clarity local events and personalities of the past half century. 

     Born and raised at Doniphan, Mo., with the "his, hers and their" children of James and Millie Elizabeth Hope, Dennis was eldest of the "theirs".  His best remembered teacher in the Doniphan schools was T. J. Stewart -- a man who also came to Flat River, in 1910, and for many years was high school principal here. 

     Dennis was not without influence in getting a job in this area since his uncle, A. M. Dudley, was a Doe Run Lead Co. mine captain and his step-uncle, James Perry, was division captain.

     At first, Hope helped with the hoisting of cages at the bottom shaft of No. 2 Mine at Rivermines.  A short time later he began what was to be a long stint as underground mule-skinner.  In this capacity, Mr. Hope was responsible for the "breaking in" and care of the animals so important in early mining operations.   He recalls that at one time there were as many as 125 mules in Mine No. 12.

     Many of today's young generation are not aware that underground mules performed most of the transporting functions later taken over by mechanization and motorization.

     The mules taken underground had to be strong in order to move the heavy loads of ore to the headings.  Some of them pulled ore cars weighing over two tons while greater loads were drawn by teams.  The mules in most cases were adaptable to their mine environment.  At first believed to be unable to see underground their vision became adjusted within a few days.  As their work shift ended, the mules, released from the traces, made their way, without supervision, from wherever they were to the mule barn.  When trolley lines were installed, the mules soon learned to lower their ears to avoid being shocked by the overhead wires.  When no longer fit to perform as mine mules, the animals were brought up and, in some cases, continued to pull lighter loads and do farm work until the end of their days.  

     Conversion from mules to machines was a gradual process.  The date was March 19, 1951, when nine mules from Leadwood and six from Bonne Terre were brought up and retired.  Since then mules have not been used in production operations although one of the species was still underground after 1951, pulling loads of scrap from places not accessible by rail.

     Dennis Hope soon learned that training mules required firmness, a little "laying on of the leather" to the obstinate along with words or gestures of appreciation for good performance.  He also learned other jobs underground and, after his mule-skinning days, became a driller.  His mine employment from 1906 until retirement in 1953 was continuous except for two brief periods when work was slack.  Along with a friend in 1908, he took a short "hobo" trip to Texas and Louisiana and, on his second leave some ten years later, worked for a short time in the Kansas wheat fields.

     In the fall of 1909 a Miss Berda Underwood of Fredericktown, a graduate of Teachers College in Cape Girardeau, came to Flat River to teach the second grade - replacing Miss Ada Norwine.  Miss Underwood and Dennis Hope were married in 1910.  Five of their nine children died in infancy.  The eldest son, Charles, lost his life in an industrial accident in California in March, 1962.  Another son, Clark, is a trucker in California; a daughter, Mrs. Herman (Mary) Haynes, lives and teaches school in Staunton, Ill.; and the youngest, Mrs. James R. (Helen) Wood resides with her husband in El Paso, Texas, where he is stationed at Biggs AFB.  

     Mr. Hope and his wife are long time members of the Flat River Christian Church.  He became interested in lodge work at an early age and has consistently maintained his interest in the fraternal orders of Knights of Pythias, Lead Belt Lodge 365, which he joined in 1912; and Odd Fellows Lodge No. 469.  Mr. Hope has progressed through all the local chairs of both lodges and from October 1949 to October 1950 served as Grand Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias after holding all local and state chairs.  He still does much of the KP installation, funeral and ritualistic work.  

     After being pensioned by St. Joe, Mr. Hope rounded out his years of gainful employment by working about a year and a half in California as a building custodian at a Jantzen swimsuit plant.  The Hopes rented their Flat River home during their stay on the west coast and reoccupied it when they returned.

     Physically slowed down by the processes of time, Mr. and Mrs. Hope are mentally alert.  Their activities have been somewhat limited with advancing age, but time has not affected the sharpness of their memories about early events and personalities influential in Flat River's history.

     When Dennis Hope arrived in Flat River that wintery day in 1906, the dirt streets and paths were narrow and rough, even in the town's main business section.  Most of the public gatherings and school programs were staged in the Opera House on the second floor of the E. L. Higgins Drug Store, where Foulon's Drug Store is now located.  Henry Rinke had an undertaking establishment and there was a Miners & Merchants Bank.  Where the Robinson Drug Store is now was the site of the post office.  Willis Norwine had a general merchandise store near the East Main Street railroad tracks and downtown was the New Era store run by Jack Norwine and sons, Carl and Cecil.  There may have been other churches here at that time, but the ones remembered by Mr. Hope were the North and South Methodist Churches, the Free Will and Missionary Baptist.  Well remembered too by Mr. Hope were the activities of the hooded Ku Klux Klan in the area and the racial strife during which aliens were forceably deported.  

     Speaking of significant developments in the area, Mr. Hope related that the growing emphasis on safety measures has made a remarkable difference in the miner's life expectancy.  Fatal and crippling accidents which scared fellow workers off the job were frequent occurrences in the old days, Mr. Hope said.  The modern day changing room, he noted, bears little resemblance to the old areas centered with an open pool where washing (or bathing) was done at a trough-like receptacle about 4-ft in depth.  The two pot-bellied stoves at either end of the changing rooms did not provide enough heat to keep wet clothing from freezing stiff.

     Yes, these are better times in which to live and work.  Yet, somehow, one gets the impression that old timers like Dennis Hope gained a sense of deep satisfaction in meeting the rigorous demands of their challenging day and time.