At the height of the Great War, when the productive capacity of Nova Scotia's mines was stretched to its limits, provincial mine inspectors' enforcement of safety regulations was sometimes casual. Although the miners stressed the impending dangers, officials placed a higher priority on the war effort. Every miner accepts the inevitability of certain risks associated with mining activity; indeed, minor accidents were endemic among men working at the face. In July of 1917, however, officials of the Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation's New Waterford mine ignored a serious accumulation of gas in the mine and sent in its workers. Sixty men and boys lost their lives when the gas exploded. A coroner's enquiry found the firm negligent but, in the end, company officials were exonerated. Provincial justice officials ignored the miners' appeals and refused to prosecute the company.
This photograph records the anxious tension associated with rescue operations. Gathered around the entrance to the rescue shaft are crews of miners, resting following excavation work in the shaft, and the families of some of the missing men. Few New Waterford families were untouched by this disaster and several of the victims were boys aged ten to sixteen. Draegermen were on the scene for several weeks and the rescue and identification procedure was a prolonged and traumatic experience for the entire community. These bonds of suffering were reinforced by the inaction of provincial justice officials and by the company's failure to provide decent compensation for the survivors. Such developments could not but foster the community spirit and class solidarity which permeated Nova Scotia's coal towns.
Courtesy: National Photography Collection, Public Archives of Canada (PA-30289)
