January 1st 1910
I turned 18 today, my life has been much harder than my old one. I had been raised in the hills of Appalachia where the Earth was likely to swallow you whole and leave you to die just as quickly as a gunshot.
My father is a coal miner and my mother stayed at home and raised me but couldn't have any more children after myself so I was expected to help her with everything around the house more than most children.
As I grew older my parents realized I was different than other kids and much "smarter" than those around me. I had a brain for mathematics, engineering and not suited for the mines below.
When I turned ten dad got me working on the engines that pulled the mine carts from below and I showed my maturity and skills quickly as the shift manager had me up keeping most of the engines by the time I was 14.
Around them was when my gift fully manifested as I felt the first of my charges appear, slow at first as I only got one a month and caused me a migraine for a couple weeks but on my 18th I now get two a month.
So I put my first point to [RUGGEDIZATION] which felt like a passive guide in my brain helping me improve the engines to be resistant to the abus it was put under.
The next few months' points were spent on similar things to that: [SAFETY], [PPE], [ADVANCED MATHEMATICS], [ENGINEERING], [EFFICIENCY], [CHEMISTRY]
With these points I started my first side hustle. I started developing Personal Protection Equipment for my father and uncles who worked in the mines. One of my Five uncles was suffering from the Black Lung from the coal dust which coated the lungs of miners till it suffocated them he was let go and worked on the farm our family owned.
But all of them had the symptoms but what could they do that came with the territory of working in thy mines and the money it paid.
————-April-15th-1904————-
The whole family had decided to gather up at the old family farm as my grandparents and Uncle Jeremiah wanted to have more family meals as everyone was worried how much time Uncle J had left.
"Michael, do you have the make you made for or Uncles?" Mom asked as she had helped with the stitching and was very happy with them as she was terrified of dad getting the Black Lung next.
"Yes, Ma'am I have them all and I have Uncle J's gift as well. Hopefully they will use them. I'm worried Dad and J worked in the mines the longest." I said looking down at the brown wrapping paper box that I held the masks and Js gift. "Thanks for the help again, mom stitching leather is a lot harder than it looks." Mom gave me a smile and ruffled my hair and we walked to the town square where dad and my uncles were getting off shift.
The mine my father and I worked in occasionally is on the East side of town and up on the mountain side, but when B&L bought the mineral rights they built a road that snaked down the mountain side down the square to be stored and loaded onto trains then sent North to the factories.
Here we saw Uncle J and the rest of my extended family, my uncle's wives and kids of their own. All surrounding the cart that my grandfather used to bring his excess crops to market, "Uncle J! How are you feeling? Have you been doing those breathing exercises I read about?" I pulled my rather large uncle into a hug.
My uncle let out a laugh and returned the hug, "I have my Guardian Angel, I've felt better lately. I've even been fixing up the farm a little bit and expanding the chicken coops." It was good to see him in better spirits. Not working or pulling his own weight was killing him. He had worked in the mines since he was 10 and was there everyday except Sunday ever since.
His eyes drifted down to the package in my hands as he was about to say something. The work whistle blew and men from the mines began making their way home. Dad and my uncles were first in line covered in coal and dust from mines but had smiles on their faces seeing their brother.
Dad moved to my mother first and went for a kiss, which mom stopped with a finger to his lips and pulled a rag from somewhere, wiped his face roughly much to his brother's amusement with him mostly clean and she gave him a kiss.
We all loaded up on the cart with my mother sitting by Uncle J while the rest of us sat in the back talking and laughing.
"Are you still not letting us know about what you have been working on Michael, it's been weeks kid." My Uncle Benjamin is the youngest of the five, only 21 and closest to me.
Rolling my eyes as I had told them I was working on a secret project and it was for them to help them in the mines, "I told you last time if you can guess what it is I'll give you it early or if you can convince mom to tell you."
He leaned back and groaned dramatically, "I've guessed everything at this point, but if my oh so kind and wonderful sister in law would tell me I would stop." He said to my mom in his best fake flirting tone, mom gave him a look and he raised his hands in surrender.
"Your guess is horrible Ben, what was the last one, an auto miner that did all the work for you? Michael is smart but even he would have trouble making that one." My Uncle Caleb the smallest of my Uncles and the only one not blood related as he was my uncle Ben's best friend whose birth parents left town and left him.
The other laughed at his jab, "You will all know tonight with Moms help they are all finished and ready to be used. They all passed the test. After dinner or if Grandma allows it, I'll hand them out beforehand."
Ben let out a whoop of joy and looked over to my Uncle Elijah and David the twins and favorites of my grandparents. "We will talk with Mom only because we are curious that his work on the engines have saved us a lot of time and some lives."
Dad patted me on the back and gave me a nod of congratulations, my job when I worked in the mines during the winter was to work on the Engines and this past winter I made some upgrades to the engines and one of them was an emergency brake system that saved the lives of multiple miners last month.
"Thanks Uncle E and D, speaking about those I sent a patent to the government for the braking system, I should receive a notice in the next couple weeks along with the one for this gift I have." The patents I had cost most of the money I had been saving but they would net me some money eventually. The mask would make so much more in a couple of years when the war in Europe Starts.
Dad and mom knew and even helped write the letter and forms I needed with the help of a local lawyer my Aunt had married.
The uncles whooped and let out yells of celebration at my announcement, dad pulled me into a side hug, "I'm proud of you son, you are going to do some great things one day hell you are already doing them. But promise to remember where you came from."
Dad said giving me a serious look and I promised him, the ride continued with the men talking about work and plans for the coming work day.
As we arrived at the farm the sun was just nearing the sunset as we arrived but we could smell the cooking grandma had been working on for most of the day.
Uncle J slowed the cart to a stop and helped the women and kids down who immediately ran for the house where my Grandfather treated them with a smile.
My uncles went off to the side of the house after giving a wave to their father to wash off the coal dust in the showers I had made for my Grandmother who was tired of cleaning coal dust when we all visited.
I was the last to greet my grandfather as my younger cousins went into the house looking for my grandmother.
"Good to see you Michael, you've gotten taller pretty soon you'll be bigger than Jeremiah!" My grandfather said slightly muffled from his massive white beard that went all the way down to his belly. He looked down to my hands and smiled, "It seems our little Edison is at it again. What is it this time?" He asked conspiratorly leaning in as he did.
"Hahah, nothing grandiose grandpa just something to help the men in the mines and something to help J breathe a little better." He enjoyed watching me tinker and encouraged me as he loved the Jules Verne books and hoped I would one day become a genius inventor from the books.
"Good Lad, now go see your grandmother while I get the boys moving she made quite the feast for tonight she is just excited to see what you made as I am!" He said as he walked to the out building that held the showers and grabbed his cane.
The farmhouse my grandparents and my Uncle Js family lived in had been in our family since the 1700s and been cared for with expertise, some of the furniture should probably be in a museum with how old it is.
Dodging my younger cousins as they moved through the house to the dining room carrying plates and trays of food for the dining room, Grandmother a woman who had raised five boys and two girls, was still as sharp as a knife and just a strong but was filled with love and wisdom for anyone who needed it.
She sat in a chair in the kitchen telling two of my older cousins (Uncle Js Kids) how to finish making something, probably dessert.
I waved hello to the girls and leaned down to hug my grandma, "Michael sweety it's great to see you, set your invention down for a moment and help the girls carry the meat into the dining room." Knowing not to say no to my grandma I grabbed the massive pot of slow cooked pork and walked to the dining room as she carried my gifts.
The dining room had been changed multiple times over the centuries as the family grew and shrunk. Now at its biggest a new room had to be built to hold the entire extended family.
Placing the pot in the center of the table, grandma gave me a kiss on the cheek and handed me back the packages, the extended family slowly entered the room, my aunts and uncles corralling my cousins to sit down.
Eventually everyone sat and looked to my grandfather to say grace, "Thank you all for coming over to eat tonight, I truly enjoyed having you all visit once a month and hopefully more often. Now tonight is extra special as our very own Guardian Angel has made something new and I'm very excited to find out what it is now Michael if you will."
Standing up I walk around the room and hand out the packages with various thank yous. Upon sitting down they all open the packages carefully not tearing the paper so it can be used later.
Four of them open the package and find identical leather masks that have large glass lenses that have been reinforced and for Uncle J I made him rebreather so that with the help of my chemistry knowledge it makes pure oxygen bottles so he can breathe easier.
"They are filtered masks they will prevent most coal dust from entering your lungs and lower the chance of all of you getting Black Lung, as for you Uncle J it's an oxygen mask it will filter the air and fill these tanks with pure oxygen and will help you breathe easier sorry it's a bit heavy. Here let me show you how to put them all on."
Helping J out on the Mask and start up the pump I hear him take a couple of deep breaths and sigh. He is speechless for a moment. "Wow, kid I feel amazing, hell I haven't breathed this well in years, how often do I have to wind it up?."
I go over the machine with him for a moment while the others put on their own masks and get a feel from them.
With J sorted I sat down with my Dad, "This surprisingly easy to breathe in and this will help us breath down in the mines son?" He said looking down at the mask in his hands I could tell his older brother's diagnosis was eating at him as he was the problem next.
"Yes, it's not 100% as you still need to breathe and with how tight the mines are I can't fit the Oxygen setup that Js have maybe one day but for now these will cut down the coal dust you breathe in by 90%." As I say that mom pulled me in a hug suddenly and I returned it with double strength.
Aunt Marcy, whose husband was the lawyer, spoke up after we parted, "Michael these if they work as you say are worth quite a bit of money, I know most of the miners will want them which is why I'm proud to give you this."
Reaching into his coat pocket he pulled out two letters from the patent office, opening them quickly they both showed that my patent for the Brake system, Mask, and oxygen mask were all accepted.
[The Mask is made of predominantly Leather with a heavy canvas to act as a seal to prevent praticulats from being breathed in, A large glass lens is put in place while the filter is then put into place which is a mix of high thread count cloth and activated Carbon for workers in chemical plants.]
"Thank you Aunt Marcy and Tom. I have to ask you for some more help after dad and the guys work in the mask to open a workshop to make more of these." I said plans forming in my head I would get my father and family out of those mines and help those they would leave behind.
————————-
The mask worked Ben better than I thought as all of them felt better not breathing in the Dust and with the wide lenses they could see clearly without the dust in their eyes.
Within weeks those that worked in the mines were asking when they could buy some from us, so I worked day and night to make the masks with my makers mark a Pickaxe splitting an anvil in half.
Within three months all those working in the mines had one of my masks and I opened a small workshop employing the younger boys and guys my age to keep them out of the mines as many needed their kids to work. Many parents were happy to have their kids work in a safer environment and have better benefits than their parents.
They received weekends off, paid over time, provided lunches and had a free lunch period to eat. By current terms they had made many of these kids become life time employees, even the managers that ran the mines were happy their men worked better and actually had an increase in production.
For points they went into [BUSINESS MANAGEMENT], [LAW], and [PHYSICS] all of these improved my knowledge and gave me the equivalent knowledge of the 1950s in terms of technology.
The chosen "databases" play off each other like business management and efficiency help me choose good managers and company policy that keep things flowing smoothly.
By the end of the year we had to expand as we with the recommendation of the local miners started selling to the other mines, B&L even sent a letter giving their congratulations and support so long as we continued to sell to B&L in majority.
Sadly we had to agree to that as we couldn't fight B&L then but we continued to sell further and further away till most of southern West Virginia was buying the Masks.
Now four years later we can't keep up production as B&L keep opening mies all over Appalachia, so with my decent profits I decided to Charleston to open a factory.
With heartfelt farewells Uncle Tom and J joined me as Tom knew people here and J was coming with us to keep us safe, the plan is to open a Mask Factory first but in the coming years I want to expand making Tread based tractors using internal engines, helicopters, planes and body armor everything needed for the coming wars
—————-
Michael closed his journal and looked up to his Uncles, J was wearing his new oxygen mask setup that is much smaller but still drew the eyes of the people on the train, while Tom read the Charleston newspaper.
Turning to the window he saw the town he grew up in pass in the distance from his family, everything but he had a plan and he would get very rich doing it.
—————
January 10th, 1910
Charleston is a town in the throes of expansion it's the center of all resources in the state as Coal, Timber and steel and factories of all kinds are opening and closing as business fail and open within days of each other.
Uncle Tom guided us through Charleston as he had worked here for a short time before marrying my aunt Marcye, he brought us to his old office which handled property contracts.
Mr.Ligón a second generation polish immigrant that attended school in New York and philanthropist, he greeted us at the door and waved us in.
"Mr.Walsh, it is a pleasure to see you again and working for such a strong up and coming business like Horizon Industries." He spoke with an ever so slight polish accent.
I had founded the company and with the new copyright laws I claimed the copyright immediately put it on all of my products to prevent people from selling knock offs with my name attached to it. "It is good to see you again Mr.Ligón, this is my Nephew Michael Prichard the sole owner of Horizon Industries and his Uncle Jeremiah. My letter gave you the summary but I'll say it again. We are here to open a factory to expand our production and diversify so we are looking for a medium sized factory space." My Uncle Tom said as the polish man turned around and pulled a file from his cabinet with a number of documents.
"I have one property that fit your needs as I am going to be straight with you young man. Most of the factories being built are very subpar and dangerous, this one is one of the older warehouses that were converted and went under as they failed to keep up.
It's In one of the rougher neighborhoods a medium sized warehouse but it's right on the water for easy loading and unloading, the inside is gutted to pay off outstanding debts but the bones are good.
In addition many men need work in that area of the city as they come in from the surrounding small town as the mines dig up what they can and leave." He passed over the file which Tom read over and nodded then passed it to me.
"We will have to see it in person but I trust you Mr.Ligón so if you would have someone write up everything while we look at the property." I said and stretched my hand for him to shake.
The building was exactly as he said it was right on the water with its own private dock and even an rail connection if we paid to have it rehooked up, the building is sturdy made of steel and brick but I'd have to upgrade to my own safety standards like fire prevention along with railings and ceiling fans for air circulation.
It would also fit all of my new production methods which varied based on what part of the assembly line it is for leather large presses machines cut out and form the leather to shape these of course could be completely automated but I chose to have them be manned to provide jobs for the local community.
The glass which is regular glass with a no scratch coating the straps on the back are like normal belt buckles so they can be tightened and preset for the wearer.
After taking a tour we came to an agreement and we bought the place and sent word down to Barlo for the equipment and some men to help train the new workers when we open up production.