Edward Miller, 19, Larder Lake, Ontario
“The only work in Silver Centre in the early 1930’s, was hand-cobbing for silver in the mine dumps. Eddy and his older brother Roy worked at this until the fall of 1936 when they left to look for work in the gold mines of Larder Lake… Both brothers found employment at the Martin-Bird. Roy got a job as an assayer and Eddy became a helper in the cookery. On September 8, 1937, a driller did not show up for work. His
helper became the driller for that day and Miller from the cookery was sent underground for the first time, to become the driller’s helper. They drilled into a face that had been blasted the previous day and hit a missed hole. An experienced driller would have suspected the presence of an unexploded hole by noticing a poor break, but Renton and Miller were inexperienced in their new positions. Miller, who was guiding the steel, received the full brunt of the blast and was killed instantly. His co-worker who was behind the drilling machine, received serious injuries but survived the blast.”
- from Lamps Forever Lit – A Memorial to Kirkland Lake Area Miners, by Bernie Jaworsky |
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19
years old
Died as an untrained,
substitute driller
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