Theo Price Sprag Mill at Mountainhome, PA
Spragging The Wheels: As cars rolled by him, a small quick teenager called a "Runner" shoved a sprag ( a short tapered piece of wood) into each wheel to slow it down. If the runner missed too many wheels the car could easily go out of control and crash. Often times the agile teenager had to chase the last car, ducking low ceilings and jumping over debris and moving through water trying to throw a sprag into a wheel.
The Runner: A picture of a runner holding a sprag.
Setting A Mine Timber: A picture of a miner setting a timber to prop a mine ceiling.
Theodore Price: Has been credited with the invention of the sprag and the perfection of it's manufacture. The Pocono Forest also produced wood for mine stays and props from eight to thirty feet long and six to fourteen inches in diameter used as timbers in the anthracite coal mines of Northeastern PA. Records indicate entire trainloads of mine props shipped from Cresco and Mountainhome in a single days time.
