Gil, the fourth child of William
L and Dora R Hager, was born in 1848 at Hannager, a
small mining town in southern Wales,
both now deceased. William was a hardworking coal miner who had spent a good
portion of his boyhood and all of his adult life working in the mines. He died
in 1863. Dora, a tall, well proportioned
woman, had been considered pretty before starting life as a coal miners wife. They produced four children. The oldest, a son
Lowell, now twenty seven, a soft spoken, quiet, bachelor, started work at the mines when he was
sixteen. Second son Herschel is an outgoing, quick to
laugh, easy to meet, fellow of twenty five. Daughter Margaret (Maggie) is
married to her childhood sweetheart, and after the death of Dora in 1865, has
been the crucible binding her husband, two children, and three brothers
together in the large company owned house that had been her childhood home.
Matthew James, Maggie’s husband, a handsome and caring man, is an accepted
member of the Hager family and is like a brother to the three boys. Gil, the
youngest, is now nineteen and taller than his brothers. He has inherited his
mother’s blue eyes and chestnut hair along with her even temperament.
The Hager men are all good
athletes and participate in whatever sporting events that are held throughout
the district. Lowell was district
heavyweight boxing champion for years and still officiates at matches. Herschel is a prominent member of the
community rugby team and loves traveling with them to games throughout the
district. Gil, being the baby brother, received special attention from
everyone. He was instructed early in the rudiments of the boxing ring and rugger football. He loves both. He has won the district
light heavyweight championship two years in a row. The boys cajoled the mine bosses out of the
use of a partially used storage building and have built a passable ring with a
padded canvas mat over the cement floor. They found room for the few pieces of
training equipment they could scrounge. Gil remembers the quiet advice he
received from Lowell on the
occasion of his second championship victory:
“You’re good with your hands lad,
and will do well, but remember this: this skill doesn’t give you any special
privilege over other people. If I ever hear of you bullying folks around I’ll
clean your plow for you myself!”
One day the high pressure steam
tank of the number two engine ruptured.
Lowell, the company steam mechanic, was sent in the wagon to Newport
to purchase a replacement. He took Gil along to help. Gil, also an employee of
the mine, was working as a drift laborer. While there at the supply house, a
young man sought Lowell out for
advice. He was a junior officer from the Dutch coal ship, the Johanna Van Grune, loaded with coal and bound for San
Francisco. He
had come looking for something to power the loading cranes aboard his ship. Lowell
had been pointed out to him as a mining engineer and an expert in the new
technology of steam power. Lowell
agreed to walk back with him to the ship, which was tied up to the dock two
blocks away. It had two heavy duty cranes amidship,
one for each side of the deck. Their purpose was to lift a heavy duty canvas
sling, holding approximately one ton of coal, into and out of the ship’s
holds. These units are now being powered
by four seamen turning a vertical capstan, a slow and cumbersome process. The
ship’s captain wanted to know if he could speed things up with one of those new
fangled steam engines. Lowell
inspected the system methodically and determined that it could be done. He took
the time to sit down and draw a very detailed diagram of the placement of the
unit and its associated cables. He
pointed out to the captain that it would be necessary to have two separate
drums, one for each derrick. A
mechanical system must be devised to select one drum or the other.
“Captain, I would like to stay
and help you more, but I must get back to my work. My brother, here, is a good steam man. He can stay awhile and install it for you if
you wish. He has been working around these engines all his life.”
The captain, although noting
Gil’s youth, accepted the suggestion and hired him to do the job. The third
officer was sent back to the supply house to order the engine that Lowell
had specified, including the modifications that he had written in. It would
take five days. This gave Gil time to go
back home and gather up what he would need.
He ate and slept in the crew’s
quarters below deck. When the engine was delivered he and the ship’s carpenter
began work. They followed Lowell’s
directions to the letter, including the stringing of the hoist lines on the
drums. Their last chore was to build a
small coal box next to the unit. When ready, they fired it up and gave it a
test. It handled full loads as expected.
Gil is a friendly, easy going
fellow. He came to know the crew well,
and joined in their friendly joking and bantering. The captain was a firm but
fair man and his nature was reflected in the crew.
They all respected him. An arbitrary and severe captain can make life aboard a
merchant ship unpleasant. During his
many talks with the crew, Gil paid particular attention to their tales of going
around the Horn of South America and up the west coast to San
Francisco. This was the area of the gold discovery of
1849. Coal was bringing a premium there. As the captain was paying him for the
engine job, Gil asked:
“Captain, would it be possible to sign on with
your crew for the trip to San Francisco?”
“Do you think you could do the
work of a deck hand and work in the lower rigging when needed?”
Gil could and would. He wrote to his sister, telling her of his
decision, saying: Don’t worry. He wo
