An undated photograph of the ambulance of the Lykens Valley Coal Company, Bear Gap, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It was used to transport miners who were injured at work to their homes, where the family had to decide whether to get the doctor or seek care at a hospital. In the days in which the mines operated in the Lykens Valley, there was no unemployment compensation or workingmen’s compensation for men injured at work. It was not a good sign when this ambulance was seen on a country road near the mines as it often meant that the injury to the miner would severely limit his ability to provide for his family.
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