Old time miner

Audio recording of Harry Mills' presentation about coal mining to the Nanaimo Historical Society in 1991. Mills, a longtime South End resident and the son of a miner, speaks about his experiences working in Nanaimo's mines from 1926 to 1942. Mills recounts starting off at the Reserve Mine's picking table before he was 16 years old, and details several of his other mining jobs including: tally boy, mule driver, rope rider, and digger. Mills also tells the story of his near miss of the December 22, 1940 explosion at the #10 Mine in South Wellington. The explosion killed his brother Chris and two other miners, but Mills missed it because he had turned down the shift to go get a Christmas tree with his son.