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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. 

BC Archives GR-0431

*Please note that archival source materials are original historical documents that have not been censored, reviewed or otherwise altered by the Royal BC Museum.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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35 for instance. On twenty seventh of April I found gas in in number five stall in number one North. I reported it I have not found gas in the diagonal slope for some time and prior to three weeks before the explosion I found gas [?] once in a while. On March twenty seventh I found and reported gas in the face of the diagonal slope. That slope has been driven twenty yards since that time. On the twenty fifth March I found and reported a little gas in number four stall ([?DavisonJ] South – diagonal slope air comes on the third of May I examined the whole mine. I went down at twenty minutes to six and came up at two in the afternoon. and during that time travelled through the whole of the mine. Have never heard of any complaints of gas from any of the miners in the diagonal slope. I examined some of the parts not working but could not examine all the parts in one day. Mr [?] the firemen of the previous shift all was reported clear. Never received any complaints from [Mr?] [?Martel] but found a little gas in his stall. I did not find any just before the explosion. His stall is about twenty to thirty feet in I examined his stall daily. On April found gas in his stall and entered it in the firemans book also in other [?] of number one north level. Have made not very few entries of gas of late. The gas was never bad enough to [?] out the men. I understood that Muir. The deceased fire - man had to send Damson and his partner home one day. But before I came down the place was cleared out. I have met with {?not] very little bad gas. It is perfectly impossible to make a through examination of the whole mine in one day. It would be possible for one to examine the workings during my shift and as a matter of fact I did do so. I made special examination of any place reported tome. Never found any accumulation of gas in the diagonal slope. In the airways or in the stalls. I noticed while I was travelling that the mine was dry. I obeyed the law and

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