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*Please note that archival source materials are original historical documents that have not been censored, reviewed or otherwise altered by the Royal BC Museum.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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[?40]/
the remainder He went into number one level that day almost thirteen hundred yards but not as far where the mean were. He got six bodies in the level that day three whites and three Chinamen. He did not examine very much. He rushed to get out the men. I went down in the seventh and went into number one North level again. He was busy putting in stoppings that day to carry the air in and he also attended to the fire at the foot of the upcast. The shift before us had gone in to where the men were recovered. He went to the face of the level that day. I did not see the bodies of three found in the number one North level before they were disturbed. I think the long Hunter was burned but I am not sure of it. All of the bodies were got out of number one North that day. Sunday – On Monday the ninth I went down and got twenty two bodies in the number five level. I also went down the diagonal as far as the number three level and took observations as to where stoppings might be required. On the tenth I was engaged putting in stopping and carrying air down the diagonal. On the eleventh he continued at the same mark and got three Chinamen in the number three level south. On the twelfth he was carrying air into Burns and Dawsons’ places number three south. On the thirteenth the bodies of Burns and Dawson were got out first before I got down. He explained the diagonal that day and got as far as four stoppings from the face. At Blundell’s place there was a very heavy came of fifteen or twenty feet. I was present when five bodies were returned from the foot of the diagonal. These men [?Will] Scales – Frank Pully and Johnson and two Chinamen. Pully seemed to me to be burnt. Scales was lying outside across a pump – not burned at all. His shirt was clean and I tried it – and it did not seem burned but Pully was burned and he was eight or nine yards from Scales and Johnson three yards from Pully – Smiley was missing but he was afterwards