Two days before Christmas, an accident occured in the coal mine.  Accidents happened frequently, but this time a large part of the  ceiling had caved in, and not less than 30 slaves had lost their lives.  This was nearly one tenth of the number of forced labors working there.  

The order, the sheriff in the small town received from the  governor, was clear:  
"It is winter and the prices on coal are high.  Production must be kept up! " 

The sheriff knew this ment an bussy Christmass for him and his men.  Thirty new slaves had to be  provided to the mine in only a few days.  He started making some telephone calls to the prison farms.  They replied, they had rented the most of their prisoners out for the whole winter, to do road repairing works .  Because of that, they could only spare ten girls, which they promissed, would be send to the mine at once! 

Then he phoned the brothel -
  The owner told him, that of cause she would help, and promissed him, she would make 2 of her girls ready for him to pick up at her place! 

That ment he would have to arrest 18 free women and have them sentenced before new year !!!

After having send some of his men to the local hotels, to see if any females traveling alone were available there,  he leaned back in his chair at the sheriffs office, and looked through his files. 

 Who´s daughters could he  arrest without problems?
 "Let´s see - Mr. Banks !  His daughter, Helen is a strong and healthy girl.  
He has been seen at the brothel some times durring the last year. 
 I don´t think, he will like his wife to know !"
 

"I am sorry to disturb you at your Christmass dinner Mr. and Mrs. Banks, but there has been commited a hold-up at the drug store tonight.   Some witnesses have pointed out your daughter Helen as one of the robbers !"

"You must be kidding - Our daughter?  Has she commited a robbery?" 

"It´s probably a mistake, but I have to ask Helen to accompany me to the sheriff´s office at once." 

That evening and night the holding cell was slowly filled with young women from all over town. 

They were naturally furious about been arrested, so to get some quick confessions, the sheriff decided to sacrifice one of them, so he could easier persuade the rest.  Anyway, one more or less meant nothing, as long as he could provide a bunch of new convicts in the demanded time. 
 

"Look carefully at her bimboes - She kept on claiming, she was innocent, and now she has committed suicide by hanging herself.  Do you confess now, or will you rather  choose to end up as her?" 
  

"O.K.  Miss Drewel - Think carefully. Did you, or did you not commit the robbery?" 
 

Saving time, the women were often  
sentenced two and two at a time. 

Like Mrs. Julia Dorset and her daughter Masja Dorset. 
Mrs. Dorset had been divorced a month previously, 
and her ex-husband was very pleased now
to get rid of them both, so he could get on 
with his new marriage with a younger woman. 

Young or mature, they all heard the judge 
declare the same verdict:
 
"Life inprisonment with hard labour !"

As soon as the poor women had heard 
their sentence, they were sent straight to the mine, 
so they could be put to work at once without any delay. 
 

"Noo - That poor woman - What has she done?"
"What kind of place is this?" 
"What are we doing here?"

"Stop looking at her, and  take off your clothes.   All of them!  And your rings, wristwatches and all other trinkets you girls like to wear !"
 

While the girls were stripping, the guard cut holes for their arms and heads in some old sacks, he had brought with him for them to wear.  The only ones who weared stripped prison clothes, was they who came from the prison farms.  
 

"I have just been told that a niece of another overseer is arriving this afternoon, so I must save one of the sacks for her, so one of you must do without any.  But don´t worry, we have plenty of chains, so we can put you all in irons !" 
 

"And finally a collar for you my girl. 
Now you are all nice and pretty, 
and ready to be put to work."
 

"Get moving,  and stop wasting energy crying slut !" 
  

"The rest of you goes with me !" 

A strong-build girl said with a hoarsely voice. 
 
"I´am Maria - Your Head-girl!  You better work hard, or I will make you regret, you were ever born !" 
 

"Stop crying Lea ! 
Look - I got some new friends for you." 
 

Together with a girl, who had been in the mine for years,  Helen was put to work at once. 
 

The same were the other new slaves. 
 

Not accustomed to the hard labor, 
they were soon tired out.   Some even fainted. 
 

 
In the meanwhile the sheriffs men were combing the small town and the surrounding countryside thoroughly in the search for possible new slaves.   At a motel along the interstate highway, the receptionist told them, a single traveling young female named Samantha Rawling had booked in for only one night.  Even it was 2 o´clock in the morning, they  walked straight into the sleeping woman´s room and arrested her.  Only clad in her nightdress the terror-stricken girl was handcuffed and taken away.  

At the interrogation Samantha first maintained, as the truth was, she was only passing through in her car on the way to Hollywood in hope of becomming an actress.  She had become tirred from driving all day, and had only booked into the motel to get some sleep.  

First after Samantha was shown the suicidal girl, who had been left hanging in her rope,  she confessed in tears by signing a printed paper saying, she was traveling over the state borders in the purpuse of commiting prostitution.  

"Rest your right foot on the railway track." 

Only an hour later she arrived to the mine - 

"That´s a good girl - And now your other foot ."

 Samantha looked apone bewildered and terrified, as the smith fitted her with leg irons.  

Soon the young actress to be, was only one of the large number of  slaves, condemned to a life in darkness, never allowed to see the sun again.   
 

"So you thought, you could take me by surprise?  
Your body belongs to the compagny, and here it stays! "
 

"Move ! - Stupid slut !"
There `s enough to do for the guard.
There`s always one more lazy girl who needs the whip.  
 

One successful method to get new girls, was to insert false matrimonial advertisements in distant newspapers. 

When young Emma read one of them, she begane dreaming of a life in  luxury, believing she was going to marry a wealthy man, who was now living alone on a big farm in the West. 

Only hours after she got off the train in the small town, and looked for the sheriff´s office as instruct in the letter from her "Future husband." , Emma entered her future home. 
 

In shock she begane obediently, as demanded, to hack out the coals with the heavy pickaxe.
 

Unaccustomed to the hard work, She had to take frequent breaks to get back her breath, hopening the overseer didn´t see it.  But he did, and for the first time in her life, but not the last, Emma was beaten with the whip. 
 

After finally having got through her first endless day as a mining slave, she draged herself through the flooded galleries to her sleeping place, after having received a meager meal of porrige.  
 

With her leg irons padlocked to her iron collar, according to regulations, Emma tried to cry herself to sleep, tormented by cramps in her legs, from being forced to lie down like this, and from hunger and sores from the the overseer´s whip. 

From now on she would only be a number among many others, condemned to a life in chains, and fed only just enough to keep her alive, so she could work. 

All over the mine the women tries to lie down as comfortable as possible.
 

Those who have been slaves for years, drops off to sleep as soon as their leg irons are locked to their collars.
   

Five hours later it is back to work. 

By her stripped uniform, we can see, this young girl originally has been a convict at a detention farm.  
 

"Get that slip and those panties off now !" 

These 4 girls, all arrested for insignificant maked up crimes, as they were passing through town, were lucky.  They all got an old sack to put on, so they didn´t have to work naked.  At least not until the sacks after some months were worn out. 
 

"You go with me !" 

The head girl Maria lead them down the shafts.  
 
The head girls, all blacks who hates the white convicts, are given better food and don´t have to work hard, so even after 3 years in the mine, she is still good looking. 
 

"Begine hacking girl !" 
 

The work begines. 
 

It is very hard and dirty working as a mining slave, and the new girls soon looses, their good looks. 
 

It is a back-breaking job carrying the heavy props through the low-ceilinged passages, but 19 year old Linda knows, her back will hurt much more, if she gets beaten for moving to slow. 
 

The same know´s Carina.  It´s only her first day in the mine, but her fear of the whip is so great, she fights back the growing pain in her back, and continue working as hard as she can. 
 

Some of the girls have to walk for over a mile underground to reach their work places. 
 

Other places the shafts are so narrow, they have to crawl long distances pushing the heavy coals in front of them. 
 

"Start hacking there girl !" 
 
There is always a new job to be carried out, as soon as the last one is accomplished. 
 

 

Lea has been puching carts for 2 years.  She don´t think in days and hours anymore.  Her world consist only of how many carts full of coal, she have pushed the long way to the elevators, where the coals are raised to the surface.  Lea and the other girls will never see the surface again.  Their bones will remain forever in the deap shafts underground. 
 

At last one more work day is over. 
Whole five hours without having to fear the whip.