23 July 2013 Miner's Museum in Glace Bay, and on to Baddeck

[July 29, catching up]

We were only 35 miles from the next RV Park in Baddeck, so we returned to Glace Bay to visit the Miner's Museum. Coal mining on Cape Breton began more than 250 years ago. In the early 1700's the French extracted coal from seams that outcropped in the cliffs near the Fortress of Louisburg and in 1720 the first coal mine was officially opened at Port Morian, just across from the bay from museum and the mine under it. Until 1820 the colonial government, through private leases, mined coal deposits on a small scale. Beginning in 1826 General Mining Association (syndicate of British investors) sunk shafts at the Sydney mines and built a mining complex and railroad to North Sydney. The association surrendered its mining rights to the province in 1856 and by 1893 thirty coal mines were opened in the province producing 700,000 tonnes (tons) a year.

The first large mine, the Hub Shaft of Glace Bay, opened in 1861 and soon after 12 mines nearby were producing coal. In 1894 the government gave exclusive coal mining rights to an American company (Dominion Coal) and by 1912 they had 16 collieries in full operation and producing 40 per cent of Canada's total output. [When I was a boy, Dominion Coal was delivered to hour home.] Most of the coal mined in Nova Scotia went to Ontario and Quebec to provide power for industries located there. [colliery: a coal mine together with its physical plant and outbuildings]

Above ground near the museum entrance, there is a historic minor's village consisting of a stable building, the company store, typical minor's home, and a restaurant. A panel at the stable described how well the ponies and horses were treated. These animals were used to pull the fully loaded coal wagons to the mine entrance. They were led early in the dark of the morning to the mines, worked long days in the darkness of the mines, and were led back to the stable in the darkness of the night. In the stables they had plenty of hay and grain, clean bedding, and a spacious stall where they could stretch our their tired necks. If the horses ever had a vacation from the mine they wore blindfolds because they were not used to the daylight.

In the museum were panels describing the geology of coal; in addition, many coal mining artifacts, panels explaining coal mining and mining techniques, panels that discuss the geologic development of coal reserves, and panels describing stories of coal miners and their families. A mannequin of a minor in full work gear stood in a plastic box with the tools described. The lighting and arrangement of the items was clear and inviting. The highlight of the museum experience is an underground tour of the "Ocean Deep Colliery." Before beginning the tour we watched an eight-minute film that described the life of the early miners and their families. These early miners truly owed their "soul to the company store." In 1873 their pay ranged from 80 cents to $1.50 per day--boys (as young as 8 years old) were paid 65 cents per day. The miners had to pay the company for their tools, equipment, clothing, and powder to fragment the coal. They also had to pay the company rent for their houses, buy their groceries and goods from the company store, and even pay the company for coal to heat their houses. These miners were usually immigrants from many different countries who had been promised free housing, a job guarantee, and the ability to earn money. Money didn't change hands, however.

By the 1930's the miners had to work twelve hour-shifts every day. Problem was they had to ride a train two hours through the mine to their work area in the morning and two hours back at night prior to the work shift and at no pay. Some mines extended out under the ocean, several shafts on top of each other, beneath the sea. Once at the work site the miners undercut, drilled, and blasted a portion of the coal seam. Before they could begin loading the coal cars they had to shore up the ceiling of the mine. All of this work was at no pay. Once they had loaded the coal car they would put their tag on it and send it to the surface. Their pay at this time was based on the amount of coal they produced as identified by the tag on the car. Trouble was that other miners sometimes stole the tags off the car and re-tagged it with their own and sometimes the company would mysteriously lose the tags.

Given the their low wages and the requirement to buy everything from the company the miners were always in debt to the company. (This was the same situation experienced by the early cod fishermen.) If they tried to quit they were hunted down by the company police and dragged back to work.  Injuries and deaths in the mines were frequent. If a deceased miner was the sole male worker in the family another male family member (even a young boy) would need to replace him or the family would lose their home to the company.

Any and every attempt by the miners to unionize was met with physical force by the company. Because the provincial government was paid a royalty for the coal, they would use provincial police to break up the striking miners. Finally a more union friendly provincial government came into power and the miners were able to prevail. However they did not win much as a result of their first victory. The miners work day was cut to 8 hours and the minimum age for a boy was increased to 14 years.

The mines at Glace Bay closed in the 1990's and all the miners and people associated with the mining activities were suddenly without work. Most of those put out of work left Glace Bay and the town nearly became a ghost town. The town then turned to tourism and the Miner's Museum came into being. Retired miners and some of those without work helped build the museum and became guides for the underground tour.

Abby, who worked 34 years in the mine, was our underground tour guide. He gave a 30-minute talk about the mine and the hardships his father, uncles, and grandfather had endured as miners here in Glace Bay. Abby told us that the coal mined here in 12 separate mines was bituminous (a soft coal), that the main mine extended some 8 miles out under the Atlantic Ocean. The floor of the shaft at its far end was some thousand feet below sea level. We put on hard hats and a cape to protects our clothes from dripping water and coal smudges during the tour. We chose walking sticks from a provided container, because much of the tour was at a height of 4.5 feet.

Our mine tour began at the entrance to the "Ocean Deep Colliery" and extended some 1/4 mile to an end point short of the Ocean.

 
The first 1/8 mile was through a well lit, dry, and spacious concrete tunnel. Things were soon to change.

The next 1/4 mile was through a dark and wet mine shaft with a head clearance of about 5 feet. Rusty and wet steel beams had been placed across the shaft about every 6 feet. You could hear hard hats hitting these beams as the headroom diminished. We passed several side shafts where we could see abandoned equipment and look at the coal seams. Abby would stop the tour and explain the mining processes and equipment used. He explained how the pillars of coal were left to support the roof of the shaft and how when the mine closed the company ordered that the pillars of coal be salvaged. As they were being knocked down some of the roofs collapsed killing miners working there.

During the last 1/8 mile our mine shaft was only 4.5 feet high. Near the end of the tour Abby spent several minutes demonstration the undercutting, drilling, and blasting processes. All of the appropriate equipment was available for his demonstration. Finally we went a few more feet and sat down around a flower bed. Abby explained that one of the miners was convinced he could grow flowers underground and here was proof that it could be done. By the time we got to the end of the tour, we were standing up once again, but we were all tired and sore from walking bent over for so long.

The tour was difficult for us older folks; however, we were glad we had done it. We really enjoyed our time at this museum and capped it off with a meal at the miner's restaurant. It is the only building in the miner's village that is open, and it has a clean open feel to it.

We then returned to our rigs at The Golden Arm Campground in Bras d'OR, readied them for travel, and moved westward to Beddeck. After setting up camp we scouted out the town and had some ice cream before calling it another good day.