Vancouver Coal Company
As part of the Chinese Historical Wrongs Legacy Initiative, we’ve digitized a small selection of inquests and inquiries from 1872 to 1934, found in series GR-0431. These were chosen to reflect the experiences of early Chinese immigrants to B.C. – their living and working conditions, and their unfortunate accidental or unusual deaths. They range from a woman working in a brothel in Barkerville who died of natural causes to three sawmill workers who died from malnutrition. Learn more.
*All transcriptions are provided by volunteers, and the accuracy of the transcriptions is not guaranteed. Please be sure to verify the information by viewing the image record, or visiting the BC Archives in person.
*Please note that archival source materials are original historical documents that have not been censored, reviewed or otherwise altered by the Royal BC Museum. Some materials may contain content that is racist, sexist or otherwise offensive. The Royal BC Museum is only the custodian of archival materials; the content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Royal BC Museum.
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in the first state in the diagonal slope in the same state with [?Teaque]. I was in the morning shift. Han worked almost six months in the diagonal – in fact since November last. I knew Blundell and have worked in the [?] for [?hood] of where he was working. I did not [?much] [?with] any accumulation of gas over here I heard of any in that vicinity while I was working there. Heard bout three causes from them When I was working in the [?clant] which is almost three weeks previous to the explosion. I heard a report that gas was there and that some of the miners had to retire. I think this is the gas which Malpars and others interested have spoken of and in [increments?] of which they were latter into. I was working in a cross cut. It was ten or eleven feet on one side and five in the other. I have never encountered gas in any quantity in this mine. The [?state] in which I was in might have given off gas but I never perceived it and had it existed I would probably have found it out as I worked with a [?naked] light. One day when the fire man stopped the fire and told me that he had found a little gas in my place and that he had driven it out and it was then safe. My partners in the afternoon shift Mr Frank Tully and William Seales. Seague was my partner in the morning shift. I have never heard my partners complain of gas nor have they stopped working that account. I never knew of gas being there. I heard Martill say that his place was giving off a little gas, but it was not very much. Have been in business where so much gas was given off as to drive all the mine out. I heard parts of Mr Martills [?]. I heard him say yesterday that his place gave off a good deal of gas. I have heard of no other complaints of gas existing except in Martells’ stall. The tamping in [?Seathand] is done with a mixture of grafs stone and fire clay. Tamping in this mine is done with [?raw fed] coal dust expect in