Chung Chi
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*Please note that archival source materials are original historical documents that have not been censored, reviewed or otherwise altered by the Royal BC Museum.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.
Current Page Transcription [edit] [history]
J: Did you make any test A: Yes sir.
J: What did you do? A: I put up my safety lamp.
J: How high did you raise your safety lamp?
A: Within six inches of the roof.
J: Was there enough to cause you alarm? A: Not to [??] to much, nothing to cause any alarm In fact I have no hesitation in saying that I could have gone in there with a naked light on my head, and walked from one end to the other the same day.
J: How far did you go into the mine that day?
A: I went in after I met Mr. Matthews coming, and got the curtains put up, and as soon as we got the curtains up we had no difficulty in getting around the places
J: How far in did you go? A: Before we went through, we were in every place in that section.
J: I am talking about after the explosion?
A: After the explosion we were in every place in that district.
J: Did you form any opinion as to the cause of the explosion? A: Yes
J: What opinion did you form? A: I believe there had been a great volume of gas given off suddenly, and that something had happened to cause the explosion, either through a defective lamp, or somebody had struck a match, I am not prepared to say which.
J: Did you find anything which would lead you to infer what was the cause of the explosion? A: This is my opinion, that this safety lamp "a" which we found up at No 6 stall, at the switch, if this glass was broken before the explosion, or if the glass had been cracked, it would very probably have caused it. That lamp itself could have caused the explosions I would not say it did cause it, but there
BC Archives GR-0431 / BRITISH COLUMBIA. ATTORNEY GENERAL. / Box 6 File 3 / Inquisitions/inquests conducted by coroners in British Columbia.