James Burton et al
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.
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after being packed the dynamite is shipped to the magazine. The white man Burton had had experience with [?loader] here but I do not know anything about him prior to his coming here. He had charge of the weighing and was foreman of the room. I do not know what caused the explosion. I know the usual precautions are taken. The men must not carry matches and must wear shoes with wood or brass nails. The company has shoes here made specially for [?loader] factories and men must wear these shoes before being allowed to work. The precautions here are about the same as in other [?loader] factories I have worked at. At this stage of the proceedings a specimen shoe, as used at the works, was produced. Continuing, witness said brass would not cause friction.