Journal of Louis Tyler

January 14th, 1894Rather dull place this used to be. No Tylertown, no work, not even a steam engine. Grandsire told me about the old days, how people lived there lives farming all year long in a repetitive cycle. Plant the crops come spring, grow them come summer, and harvest come fall. And apparently if there were work too hard for a man to do they would rely on wind or rain to spin a wheel. Quite a silly idea, since there wasn’t always wind or rain. That kind of rural lifestyle would never suit a civilized upper-classman of the Tyler family such as me. Yet Grandsire constantly affronts me with his dreadful stories of being a farmer. You see, Grandsire used live in the skirts, just as the rest of them. But seeing that there was not enough work, he moved downtown to work in a mine, which by the by, was no easy task (Perchance I was only given this impression by the inefficiency of my workers).

Now enough of this palaver. So as I was saying Grandsire was nothing special, not like my brother Alfred or I. However even a simple-minded old man like him could understand the gravity of one brilliant creation. Out of iron, fire, water, and a black rock we took out of the ground, the genius James Watt created something that would surpass all the inventions and ideas that ever existed in the past. I am of course speaking of the steam engine – A machine far exceeding the limits of a man. This energy source could be placed anywhere, which also meant we could locate factories wherever was most convenient, not just where there was wind or water. We used it to power steam ships, which could allow us to travel to other places that had the raw materials that we didn’t. England became a powerful empire known to the world. It could do just about any kind of work, it was easy to supply, and most importantly, it never stopped. Its heart of black rock would beat continuously. The black rock we dug out of the ground that would fuel England’s economy. All of this happened because of coal. I know myself that the demand for coal is still rising as of today. But for aught I know, it could all just be Grandsire’s attempt to gull me.

If you ask me all of these changes were for the best. Today’s England, urban England, is much more productive and efficient than the archaic time Grandsire described. Our lifestyles have not simply changed. They have improved.

January 21st, 1896When I was only four, Pa opened a mine. It paid well, and it was certainly a step forward from the way Grandsire lived. He was exceedingly wealthy; however he lived to a young age. My father, known to most as Sir Donald Kentavious Tyler, died of cholera in 1942. It’s a very common cause of death, for anyone in England unfortunately. Our family was devastated. My brother Alfred, who was only eighteen years old, took over the mine. He obviously had no experience, but since Pa was very shy of trusting strangers, we decided to keep it amongst our own family. Alfred thrived as a mine owner; he went on to open a new mine, the Pendyrus mine, and he even built his own town.

Now lets get to the point. If I had the power to erase one year and all it’s events from history, it would have to be 1942. Not only did my father die that year, but it was the year Queen Victoria put a mines and collieries act in place, prohibiting women and children from working in the mines. Now by doing that, she pretty much just got rid of two thirds of our bloody workers! And with this massive obstacle, I remember Alfred had all sorts of pressure meeting the coal demand with fewer workers. The act was put in place just a couple days after Alfred had paid his workers, which meant they were working two days for a week’s worth of earnings. All this piling on to our father’s recent death As a mine owner myself, I think back to how ignorant I was back then. I didn’t think much of this whole mines act thing; after all I was only seven. But now the whole thing just irritates me! Oh how much easier my life would be now If 1942 never happened.

Over the last century we’ve had so many brilliant inventions. All of these inventions were created to aid our productivity. The steam engine gave us a machine that could travel across England within a few days, a steam ship that could sail the world and discover things previously undiscovered. With the Davy Lamp workers could know of coming mine explosions and evacuate. But it seems with this mines act Queen Victoria intends to take us back to Grandsire’s era. I’m aware that I was too young to understand when it happened, but it is still in place to this day, and I have most certainly suffered from it. And I will long remember the evil reign of Queen Victoria.

January 28th, 1896Now this is just infuriating! I’ve got myself in a real scrape here. I have pretty much no family left, hardly any workers, and just when I thought it couldn’t get worse; BOOM! The bloody mine explodes. And taking what workers I have left with it. I tried my best to keep it, I really did. It’s the last thing I have belonging to my brother Alfred before he died of The Pock, and it meant a lot when it was handed down to me. So I went home, hammers and tongs, deciding if I should keep a broken down mine.

At this point I’m struggling between two decisions: Whether I should move away or rebuild the mine, and whether my workers are colorblind or just ill in the head. We’ve been through it many times: When the blue flame betokens that the methane levels are too high. They are expected to evacuate before it becomes more hazardous. What a bunch of imbeciles. Well I can't make money from a mine that I can’t get coal from, and the rebuilding process would be a real burden. It was very difficult to get this mine back into shape after the mines act Queen Victoria put in place.

At this point I’ve decided not to go through the trouble of rebuilding the mine. I might just sell it and have it be someone else’s problem. Coal is no longer of such high value anyways, not since oil was discovered. But if I’m not going to be a coal miner, I need to explore some of my other options here. Spices and cotton have grown very popular, so India and Australia are good strong choices. The value of sugar to make rum is very high so I could make a lot of money in Belize or Jamaica. I personally think India is the best choice; seeing as there is both cotton and spices there. I think I would do well as a cotton farm owner. Yes, this is good, a new beginning for me, and maybe for my future family. Perchance I can sell the mine right now, and set sail for India on the morrow. I look forward to seeing what the cotton business has to offer.