James Mitchell

An accident in a Montague gold mine tragically took James Mitchell’s life in 1898. Historical accidents like his 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.

About 6:20 a.m. on Monday, October 31, 1898, Mitchell was at the top of the mine’s shaft, using a bucket on a rope to draw water from the shaft’s bottom, when either the bucket or rope became caught on something. Mitchell went down the shaft on the cage (elevator) to free it. He then signalled for the cage operator to hoist him back to surface. On the way up, a rope on the cage broke and Mitchell fell down the shaft.

The Nova Scotia Department of Mines’ annual report for that year said, “Some 25 minutes passed before ladders could be procured and he was then found to be under 9 feet of water. It is doubtful whether death was due to drowning or injuries sustained by falling down the shaft.”

The same day’s Evening Mail said, “Dr. Smith, of Dartmouth, who was telephoned for, drove with all speed to the scene of the accident, but his services were of no avail. The unfortunate man never breathed after he had struck bottom.”

James Mitchell was 20 years old and unmarried.

The Evening Mail reported that “the deceased left a bank account of $25,000. His real estate consisted of the beach property and other land.”

Since $25,000 in 1898 dollars would be worth approximately three-quarters of a million dollars today, and owning multiple properties at such a young age would have been unusual, it is not clear whether Mitchell was from a wealthy family or if the Evening Mail simply had its facts wrong. Or, indeed, how the Evening Mail would have known on the day of Mitchell’s death how much money he had in the bank.

The Evening Mail referred to the mine as “Holly’s gold mine” because it was being worked by tributer Ruben Holly at the time.

Tributers were men who leased mines from their owners and worked them. They were common in Nova Scotia’s gold districts in the 1800s but were notorious for poor record keeping, low gold recovery and for paying little or no attention to safety and the environment. Because tributers did not own the mines, their focus was entirely short-term and they had no stake in the longer-term development of a mine or the community. The tribute system helped keep gold mining alive in lean years, but it was arguably not good for the industry overall.

Learn more about tributers at https://notyourgrandfathersmining.ca/tributers