Considering its current definition (see below) and the wish to be politically correct, I wonder whether the word has come to acquire any racist overtone.
What is a coal miner hewer-Ask.com. Coal miner hewer is a person who hews or cuts the coal from its natural situation. The hewer is the actual coal-digger removing it from the coal face.
a portable trough for carrying mortar, bricks, etc., fixed crosswise on top of a pole and carried on the shoulder. 2. a coal scuttle. Up on the plains old hods he got and there his trouble began.