James Lennon
A puzzling decision by the Workers Compensation Board left James Lennon’s widow and children without the pension they were owed after his death in 1926.
Lennon was a chute-loader in Stellarton’s Allan Shaft coal mine, meaning he operated a chute that loaded coal into cars (aka boxes or tubs) on rails that carried the coal out of the mine. Chutes had doors/gates on them that the operator used to control the flow of the coal.
On Saturday, February 27, 1926, a tragic accident took Lennon’s life. Because he was alone at the time, there were no witnesses, but what happened seemed obvious. The Evening Mail described it his way: “The unfortunate man was caught in the flow of coal while working around one of the coal chutes. His body was found partly buried in a heap of coal.”
The newspaper suggested he had met “instant death,” crushed by the coal as it fell on him.
The Department of Mines’ annual report for that year recorded the cause of death as a “fall of stone.” That phrase was usually used to describe rock falling from the roof (ceiling) of a mine, but in this case the “fall” was coal flowing uncontrolled through the chute and hitting Lennon.
The Evening Mail’s March 1 edition said, “The deceased was a man of excellent reputation and he was a skilled miner. He was for many years a resident of Stellarton, residing on Coxen Row. He is survived by his widow, three sons, and three daughters.”
The newspaper devoted just three short paragraphs to describing the sad but not unusual workplace accident.
But then, something unusual happened.
Investigations were usually held within days of fatalities in mines to gather evidence and determine what had happened. Government regulators could require changes to rules, equipment or practices to try to prevent a similar accident happening again, and the investigations were an important of the process of making mines safer.
In this case, the investigation concluded that Lennon’s death was just an unfortunate accident. Lennon’s fellow miners and the Department of Mines’ deputy inspector agreed.
However, the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) disagreed. It conducted its own investigation and concluded that Lennon had died of natural causes. This meant his widow and children would not receive a WCB pension since, in the WCB’s opinion, Lennon had not died as a result of his job.
Over one year later, in April 1927, the unusual dispute was in the hands of Judge Allan McDonald. He was tasked by the Minister of Mines and local MLAs with determining the cause of Lennon’s death and whether his widow was owed a pension.
The issue mattered because, as the Evening Mail put it, “Mrs. Lennon, widow of the dead miner, is said to be without means whereby to support a family of eight children.” (Newspaper reports differed on the number of Lennon children.)
Judge McDonald wasted no time. He started his investigation around April 7 and by April 12 the Evening Mail reported that he had forwarded a report to the provincial government: “it is understood that Judge McDonald states that the opinion that Lennon came to his death from natural causes can be nothing but surmise.” In other words, the Workers Compensation Board had no evidence that countered the obvious conclusion that a man partly buried in fallen coal was killed by the coal.
The newspaper said Lennon had been working on the 670-foot level of the mine: “The chute at which Lennon was working inclined from the car at an angle of about 20 degrees. About 400 pounds of coal had been sent down the chute when it was found that the door which was worked by Lennon had not been operated. Upon investigation it was found that Lennon was lying dead with the chute door partly under him.”
The chute’s door had apparently either broken or Lennon had made a mistake, and the coal flowed down unimpeded, killing him.
We could find no records to confirm it, but it seems all but certain that Judge McDonald’s report would have resulted in Mrs. Lennon receiving the pension she and her children so desperately needed.
Historical accidents are partly why Nova Scotia’s mining and quarrying industry is so safety-focussed today. The industry has reduced its injury rate by 90% since the Westray inquiry report was released in 1997.
We tell the stories of accidents in historical mines to honour those miners, and to highlight how different the mining industry is now. Today, we believe the most important thing to come out of a mine is the miner, and our modern safety record reflects this.
Today the Allan Shaft is the site of Sobeys’ headquarters, an example of how former mines and quarries go on to serve communities other ways after extraction is done.
Sobeys' headquarters, on the site of the reclaimed Allan Mine.
The Allan Shaft in 1926-27. Photo credit: Museum of Industry.
