05 Miner's Woe

With the Great Depression taking a toll on a small Montana mining town, men are jumping into the mine shafts to take their own lives. 

Mine manager Tim Riley is trying to keep the town afloat, but his efforts are a source of bitterness for many, including Olivia, a miner's wife whose husband has abandoned her. When she arrives at Tim and Lisle's house, her angry accusations challenge their comfortable existence and reveal the vast distance between their lives of "luxury" and her world of "misery". This episode explores the moral and ethical compromises people make during a time of immense hardship. 

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MINER'S WOE
Written by
Rick Regan
March 6, 2025
Rick Regan
919-218-8834
[e-mail]. RILEY HOME - LATE AFTERNOON
In 1931 the effects of economic collapse begin to appear.
LISLE Riley is setting the table for dinner. The home is
comfortable and well furnished, as is appropriate for the
manager of the nearby coal mine, TIM, her husband.
In the main room, there are some chairs, a sofa and a RADIO
by a fireplace. In the dining area, there is a table with
four chairs. A narrow swinging door leads to the kitchen in
the back. Off to the side, a stairway goes up to the
bedrooms.
The radio is on in the background.
RADIO
“Corn down another twelve cents.
Hogs off by a dollar and a half.
Now to weather, expect a cold front
to move through eastern Montana
later in the week. The first of the
season and a reminder of the winter
to come. You’re listening to KATQ
in Plentywood, Montana’s ‘Reliable
News Station’ on the Columbia
Broadcasting System. Now back to
the news in New York.”
Lisle switches off the radio.
LISLE
(quietly)
Down, down, down. Everything down.
Lisle moves around the table with napkins for the three place
settings.
Lisle goes to the front door, opening and looking out. She
calls out.
LISLE (CONT’D)
Charlie! Charlie? Time to come in,
dear. Your father will be home
soon.
(listens)
Well, alright, but come in when you
see Father’s car.
She goes into the kitchen and comes out with a fancy icebucket with chunks of ice for cocktails. Then she sits in the
main room and waits. She hears the sound of footsteps at the
door and the front door open.2.
Tim comes in. He’s thirty-six and the young manager of the
mine. He’s probably the most important man in town because of
the mine and the mining jobs. He looks small and young for
the role and he looks like he’s carrying the weight on his
shoulders. He is not in a suit but does have a tie on.
LISLE (CONT’D)
Charlie?
TIM
No, dear. Just me. Charlie is
playing ball with the Weber-boys
down the street.
She greets him and kisses him on the cheek.
LISLE
Can I fix you a whiskey?
TIM
Thank you dear.
Lisle makes some cocktails for them both and they sit in the
chairs.
LISLE
Dinner will be out soon.
TIM
I have to go back later. More clean
up to do.
LISLE
Oh, Tim.
TIM
Lisle, another fellow jumped into
the mine today. That’s three this
month. It’s like it’s contagious.
LISLE
People are really struggling, dear.
It’s good that the company helps
them out.
TIM
This is all so crazy. It didn’t
used to be like this. Used to be
that we’d move all the coal we
could mine. Now...not even half.
LISLE
Things will turn around, dear. They
have to.
3.
TIM
Honey, are you doing alright? I
mean, it’s a lot of strain on you
too.
LISLE
I’m the luckiest woman in Medicine
Lake. Married to the manager of the
mine.
TIM
Hmmm. Listen, I’ll get Charlie in.
Tim gets up and goes to the door. He yells out.
TIM (CONT’D)
Charlie! Come on! Time to eat.
He waves Charlie in.
Charlie comes through the door.
LISLE
Charlie, go wash up and get ready
for supper.
CHARLIE
OK. What’s for supper?
LISLE
Smothered pork chops and mashed
potatoes.
(to Tim)
It’s from the latest Ladies Home
Journal.
CHARLIE
Oh boy!
Charlie heads upstairs to clean up for dinner.
Lisle heads into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.
Tim sits in the quiet and sips the cocktail.
Tim hears a knock at the door.
SFX: Knock! Knock! Knock!
Tim opens the door and a woman is standing outside, OLIVIA.
She is a small but solid woman, in a simple dress.
OLIVIA
Mister Riley? Is that you?
TIM
That’s right. What can I do for
you?
4.
OLIVIA
Can I talk to you for a minute,
inside? My husband, he works at
your mine.
TIM
(uncertain)
Umm...OK. Come in. Please sit down.
Olivia comes in and they sit in the two chairs.
OLIVIA
This is a nice house.
TIM
What’s this all about? What’s your
husband’s name?
OLIVIA
Clark. Mark Clark. I’m Olivia.
TIM
Oh! Mister Clark. Yes. Is he
alright?
OLIVIA
He’s gone, Mister Riley.
TIM
Gone? As in...
OLIVIA
I suppose he hopped a train. Maybe
rode out on a truck. I don’t know.
I just know he’s gone.
TIM
I’m sorry to hear that. Did he tell
you where he was going?
OLIVIA
He didn’t say nothing. He just said
he had to go. Then walked out.
TIM
When was that? Today?
OLIVIA
Yesterday. I thought for the life
of me that he’d come back. But I
was alone all night. And come
today, I just waited and waited.
That’s why I’m here.
5.
TIM
Why is that?
OLIVIA
I need you to get him back for me.
TIM
Mrs. Clark, I don’t think that I
can be of much use. I’m sorry.
OLIVIA
(angry)
Oh, are you too busy, picking the
workers’ pockets? Too busy,
starving families, with children!
Can’t make time to help a working
family?
TIM
Look, I don’t know where Mister
Clark has gone, and even if I did,
I couldn’t just drag him back.
OLIVIA
Sure you can! Send some of your
‘boys’ to go round him up. He can’t
have gone too far. Besides, what am
I supposed to do?
TIM
I don’t know Mrs. Clark. If he’s
gone, he could be anywhere.
OLIVIA
Mister Riley, you have to get him
back for me!
TIM
I wouldn’t bring him back, even if
I could. I’m up to my ears in
workers, and the mine is close to
shutting down.
OLIVIA
You’re going to shut down the
mine?!
TIM
I’m trying to keep it going, Mrs.
Clark. I really am.
Lisle comes in with some food. She puts mashed potatoes on
the table.
(MORE)
6.
OLIVIA
Are you Mrs. Riley then?
TIM
Mrs. Clark, that’s quite enough!
LISLE
That’s right. I’m Mrs. Riley. And
you are?
OLIVIA
My husband worked at the mine, his
mine!
(pointing at Tim)
And now he’s left me, like a widow.
Just up and gone.
LISLE
Why did he leave you?
OLIVIA
Same reason all those men been
jumping for their life. In debt, no
real work, gonna lose the house,
children sick. All of it.
LISLE
And he left you to face it all?
OLIVIA
I’m behind on my back rent. No food
in the house. Never had a car. I
walked here. Do you know how far
that is? Do you?
LISLE
No, I don’t.
OLIVIA
It’s the distance from misery to
luxury. Look at you all, getting
dinner all ready, food on the
table. I bet your shoes don’t have
no holes, neither.
(looking at Lisle)
That’s a pretty dress though.
LISLE
Thank you. Where has he gone then?
OLIVIA
How should I know? I just need
Mister Manager of The Mine to send
some of the boys to go get him.
OLIVIA (CONT’D)
(MORE)
7.
Elsewise I’m just all alone in this
world.
LISLE
No children then?
OLIVIA
Oh, I wanted children. A little
girl and a little boy, like you
got. I saw him up the road. But
Mark, he must have known that our
time was coming up. He never wanted
to start no family. Now, I’ve got
to wonder if he ever did love me,
or was it just, have somebody
around? I don’t know.
TIM
Look, Mrs. Clark, come by the
office tomorrow. We can check if
Mister Clark had any outstanding
wages.
OLIVIA
You going to pay in sacks of coal,
or company scrip? Cause I can’t use
nothing the company store’s got.
You understand? I need money.
Government money. Because if he’s
not coming back, well, there’s
nothing here for me. I’d just
starve out there in the cold.
LISLE
Ma’am, let me fix you a plate. Have
some supper.
OLIVIA
Mister Riley, if you won’t bring
him back, I got nothing.
TIM
If a man is going to leave, what’s
bringing him back going to do?
Nothing. He’ll just light out,
another time. If he’s gone, then
you’ve got to go ahead, go forward.
OLIVIA
I went to school, you know. I can
read. I can write. Lotta folks
can’t. But I can. Doesn’t matter
though.
OLIVIA (CONT’D)
8.
Ain’t a body around that can find
no work. Nobody pay anyway. You
work, Mrs. Riley?
Lisle shakes her head.
OLIVIA (CONT’D)
Yep, that’s right. You all make
more than the whole town put
together. Pile up everything
everybody’s got, still wouldn’t be
as nice as this house, dinner on
the table.
Charlie comes down the stairs, sees the situation.
CHARLIE
Are we going to eat?
LISLE
Go back up stairs, Charlie.
CHARLIE
Mama?
TIM
Do as your mother tells you.
Charlie doesn’t move, still watching from the stairs.
OLIVIA
He seems like a real sweet boy. I’d
bet he doesn’t know all the
hardship and pain in this world.
TIM
No. And, that’s enough. Come by the
office tomorrow and we’ll look into
it.
LISLE
Hold on.
Lisle goes into the kitchen and comes back out with a plate,
loaded with pork chops, gravy, potatoes and biscuits. She
slides the plate into a paper bag and hands it to Olivia.
OLIVIA
That’s real good of you. There are
good people in this world.
(looks at Tim)
But some make you wonder.
9.
TIM
Listen to me. Our order book for
coal has fallen to half of our
production, in three months. Now in
better times, the mine would let
half the workers go and men could
find work anyplace else. But there
isn’t anything else now. And I know
that if I cut half the men, those
families won’t have anything,
nothing to fall back on. I’m doing
everything I can to keep people
clothed, fed and the roofs over
their heads. Now does that mean
that I have to pay people with
coal? Yes, sometimes it does,
because there ISN’T any money! And
the company store? Yes, it doesn’t
have a lot but what it has is
useful. And I know that if we just
shut everything down, the whole
town would dry up and blow away.
(glares at Olivia)
But if your husband took to the
road or the rails, then that’s one
less worker I have to pay, when
there isn’t much pay to go around.
Do you understand?
OLIVIA
(quiet)
It’s just hard times, I guess.
TIM
Yeah. Hard times.
OLIVIA
Never been easy being a miner’s
wife. They work hard and they love
hard, but when it goes away, well,
it’s gone. But is there any money
you can give me right now?
TIM
(reaches in pocket)
Here’s ten dollars. That would be
more than the pay Clark would get.
That’s all I can give you.
OLIVIA
I’m proud but I’ll take it. Don’t
know how long it will last.
10.
TIM
Please go now. I hope you find your
husband.
Olivia heads towards the door. She stops and turns back.
OLIVIA
Thank you, ma’am, for the food. And
I hope you can keep the mine going,
sir.
TIM
Good luck to you.
Olivia exits.
CHARLIE
Who was that?
TIM
The wife of one of the miners. He
left her all alone.
CHARLIE
But she came up with some fellow in
a car. I saw her pull up. He just
drove around the corner to wait.
LISLE
You mean, he didn’t leave?
TIM
It doesn’t matter. If he did or
didn’t, it doesn’t matter. I have a
stream of people just like her
everyday. She’s trying to get
ahead, just a little bit, and we’ve
been so fortunate, I don’t mind.
Maybe the kindness matters in this
world. Or...
LISLE
Honey, let’s sit down and we’ll say
a prayer before we eat.
They all sit. The table has all the warm food arrayed.
TIM
Let us pray...
END.