Coal miners, probably at the Crow's Nest Pass Coal Company mine near Fernie.
Note the safety lamps, very different from the open flame candles of the metal miners. This is a precaution against the dreaded, deadly methane gas which is highly explosive. The interior mines were not nearly as dangerous as the coast coal mines but the accident rate in mining has always been fairly high. Also note the horse used to haul coal cars out of the mines in contrast to the use, at least in the bigger metal mines, of small electric locomotives.
