Mining: The Heart of Westville / The Coal Mining Legacy / The Drummond Colliery Disaster / Boiler Explosion / The Moose River Gold Mine Rescue / Highlights of the Coal Legacy / The Miners Monument
The Acadia Mine
The Coal Mining Legacy
Coal mining gave birth to Westville and for many years it was the backbone of the town’s economy. When its coal mines were at the height of production, so, too was the town’s prosperity. From the discovery of coal within its boundaries in 1865 until the present day, coal has been a part of the town’s existence. The Miner’s Monument on Drummond Road, commemorating the mine explosion of 1873, is a constant reminder of this legacy, a legacy that is not without its price.
Working in coal mines is not always an easy job. Those who dare to enter the darkness to claim the black bounty live with the fear of explosions and cave-ins. Working conditions often include dampness, cold and dust – the relentless dust that fills men’s lungs! Rats mingle with the workers and seek the feed of horses in order to survive.
The coal mining industry produced hardy men who worked together to harvest the coal, miners who called each other butties and yes, they were buddies.
The mining legacy lives on, mining continues, memories survive, books are written, explosions are recorded, but Westville is still Westville – a town west of what once was Albion Mines. The mines close, the workers leave, but the legacy lives on. The Great Seam was there in 1865 and it’s still there today!
The defunct Drummond mine
A Sample Page from the Yard Book Used at the Drummond Colliery for October 24, 1964
The yard book reveals
the names of four miners listed to the right with the days
worked for a one-week period.
To the
left is a list of credits for the shifts worked.
Trees refers
to the wooden supports installed at the mine head.
Road refers
to the number of feet of roadway completed.
The shift tugger
(used to lower and raise the boxes of coal) had to be
advanced as more roadway was laid.
The chucks (supports) were 5 by 5 inches square.
Extra wood included any materials that were used
for repairs or to assist with supports.
The material unloaded included anything that the
miners had to unload to complete their construction.
Coal refers to the number of tons mined.
The rate per ton per tree or per foot is
provided in the list.
A minor might be expected to load 35 boxes per
shift, each box containing 1,350 pounds.
Method of Mining at the Drummond Mine
This picture shows how coal was mined at the Drummond Mine. A section composed of three bords.
Each roadway came out to a steel sheet or turn used to slue boxes onto the balance or jig. These wooden boxes had a capacity of 1,300 pounds. Coal was taken from the roadways to the balance and lowered to a haulage road below to be hoisted to the main slope. At one time coal was mined by hand, using a maul, wedge and pick, but in later years machinery was used by cutting with a radial machine and blasting with monobel powder. The roadways were eight to twelve feet wide. As coal was removed, chucks were built three feet apart to secure the roof, as were spruce timber booms overhead. An average of 30 feet of coal was taken from each bord. Later this method was replaced by the long-wall method that is, stripping the coal from one level to the next. Bottom coal or under coal, as miners knew it, was worked in the Acadia No. 5 mine and Drummond No. 1. This was the most dangerous kind of mining because the miners had to make their roof under the old workings of top coal. In mining circles, these miners were in a class by themselves.
