HISTORY
MINING HISTORY
MINING HISTORY
BOYS OF WABANA
Created by Gail Hussey Weir
May 27, 2023
Created by Gail Hussey Weir
May 27, 2023
While boys as young as 9 were known to have found work with the mining companies, this was mainly in the early years of mining, and their jobs were usually on the surface, doing jobs such as running errands, relaying messages, boiling kettles for tea, picking rock from the ore coming out of the mines after it had been crushed, etc.
Eric Luffman started work at age 11 in 1916 after his father was killed in a blasting accident (see that story above). When recalling that time period and the group of boys with whom he worked, some of whom were the sole source of income for their families, he said:
A lot of these boys were 12 and 13-year-old orphans who had come to work on Bell Island from various places around Conception Bay. Their fathers were among 173 crewmen lost when their sealing ship, the Southern Cross, mysteriously disappeared in early April 1914. The foremen treated these boys the same as they would treat their own sons.
Albert Higgins left school at 13 in 1933, during the Great Depression, to work at unloading coal and freight boats at the pier. At 16, he went to work on the picking belt, working 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, picking rock from the iron ore when it first came out of the mines. This was considered a man's job. Once the large rocks had been picked out, the ore went through a crusher, then onto a rubber belt where the younger boys picked the now smaller rocks from it.
Eric Luffman started work at age 11 in 1916 after his father was killed in a blasting accident (see that story above). When recalling that time period and the group of boys with whom he worked, some of whom were the sole source of income for their families, he said:
A lot of these boys were 12 and 13-year-old orphans who had come to work on Bell Island from various places around Conception Bay. Their fathers were among 173 crewmen lost when their sealing ship, the Southern Cross, mysteriously disappeared in early April 1914. The foremen treated these boys the same as they would treat their own sons.
Albert Higgins left school at 13 in 1933, during the Great Depression, to work at unloading coal and freight boats at the pier. At 16, he went to work on the picking belt, working 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, picking rock from the iron ore when it first came out of the mines. This was considered a man's job. Once the large rocks had been picked out, the ore went through a crusher, then onto a rubber belt where the younger boys picked the now smaller rocks from it.
The 2 Youngest Deaths
in the Wabana Mining Operations
in the Wabana Mining Operations
Edward Devereaux, 13, of Bell Island, died February 16, 1913 from a scalding accident of February 6th at the Scotia Company’s No. 2 Compressor:
From Bown, 1913, p. 40, col. 3, mid:
On Feb. 6, one of the tubes in the boiler of the compressor at the Scotia Company’s plant blew out. Three men, John Callahan, Patrick Hayes, and William Ryan, as well as a boy named Edward Devereaux, were scalded by escaping steam. Ice in the Tickle prevented them from being taken to St. John’s, and they had to be treated on the Island.
From the Evening Telegram, Feb. 17, 1913, p. 4, col. 2, btm:
Died of Injuries. Last week, it will be remembered, three men and a boy were badly scalded in the boiler house of the D.I.S.Co. at Bell Island by the bursting of the boiler tubes. The boy, Devereaux, who lived with his parents on the Island, was the most injured of the four, and died last evening [16th]. The poor boy, who was only 13 years, received a terrible shock and, besides the scalding water and steam going over his body, affected the vital organs. His parents are grief stricken over his early and cruel death.
Richard Lahey, 13, of Bell Island died September 12, 1919 in an ore car accident in the main slope of No. 4 Mine:
From the People page (L) of this website:
Richard Lahey (1906-1919): 13-year-old Gate Boy and Hero, No. 4 Mine, Main Slope. He was born Bell Island, NL to Margaret (Kavanagh) (1869-post 1945) and Richard Lahey (1859-c.1940). His exact birth date is unknown, but he was baptized March 31, 1906. On September 12, 1919, Richard Jr. was 13 years old and working as a Gate Boy in the main Slope of No. 4 Mine when he was killed. The accident happened when the coupling pin of the last car coming from the slope broke and the car went back by the run, striking the gate, and fragments of ore from the car struck the boy, causing his death. He was said to have saved the lives of others working below at the expense of his own life by closing the gate in time to prevent the ore car from running back to the face where men were loading iron ore. He was a true hero.
Sources: Addison Bown, "Newspaper History of Bell Island," V. 1, p. 59; The Evening Telegram, Sept. 13, 1919, p. 6; NL Vital Statistics.
From Bown, 1913, p. 40, col. 3, mid:
On Feb. 6, one of the tubes in the boiler of the compressor at the Scotia Company’s plant blew out. Three men, John Callahan, Patrick Hayes, and William Ryan, as well as a boy named Edward Devereaux, were scalded by escaping steam. Ice in the Tickle prevented them from being taken to St. John’s, and they had to be treated on the Island.
From the Evening Telegram, Feb. 17, 1913, p. 4, col. 2, btm:
Died of Injuries. Last week, it will be remembered, three men and a boy were badly scalded in the boiler house of the D.I.S.Co. at Bell Island by the bursting of the boiler tubes. The boy, Devereaux, who lived with his parents on the Island, was the most injured of the four, and died last evening [16th]. The poor boy, who was only 13 years, received a terrible shock and, besides the scalding water and steam going over his body, affected the vital organs. His parents are grief stricken over his early and cruel death.
Richard Lahey, 13, of Bell Island died September 12, 1919 in an ore car accident in the main slope of No. 4 Mine:
From the People page (L) of this website:
Richard Lahey (1906-1919): 13-year-old Gate Boy and Hero, No. 4 Mine, Main Slope. He was born Bell Island, NL to Margaret (Kavanagh) (1869-post 1945) and Richard Lahey (1859-c.1940). His exact birth date is unknown, but he was baptized March 31, 1906. On September 12, 1919, Richard Jr. was 13 years old and working as a Gate Boy in the main Slope of No. 4 Mine when he was killed. The accident happened when the coupling pin of the last car coming from the slope broke and the car went back by the run, striking the gate, and fragments of ore from the car struck the boy, causing his death. He was said to have saved the lives of others working below at the expense of his own life by closing the gate in time to prevent the ore car from running back to the face where men were loading iron ore. He was a true hero.
Sources: Addison Bown, "Newspaper History of Bell Island," V. 1, p. 59; The Evening Telegram, Sept. 13, 1919, p. 6; NL Vital Statistics.