MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
No Christmas Tree This Year
It was December 9, 1935.
Black smoke drifted from the rooftops, separating into tiny
Shortly after four-thirty in the afternoon, three miners
Rescue efforts began immediately, workers struggled to
The howling wind added its mournful requiem to the scene
Her ashen face staring straight ahead, her eyes full of hope,
Thirty-one-year-old Charley Gresl, who lost three brothers in
The rescue teams made eight trips into the mine before
The faces of the miners were burned beyond recognition,
The identification checks indicated the number under
Another miner, Rohovie, was spared because his wife
"It was fate," he philosophically said afterward.
Three pit ponies were also killed in the blast. Teddy,
The three injured miners, John Saccardo, Frank Prusik
Mine workers began immediately to request an investigation
A telegram was sent to Acting Premier Manning, it said: "At a
On December 12, Acting Premier E. C. Manning ordered an
The subsequent inquiry revealed some startling, but
Fire Boss Harry White, at the time of the explosion, was on
White told the Lunney inquiry he had taken a gas reading
Mike Mogus testified that he had quit work II or 12 days
Others testified that the air in the mine had not been good.
Samples of air taken from the mine 18 days after the
In the first sample only .34 percent of methane was found,
No further investigations ensued and no one was able to
In the days that followed, preparations were made for the
Mayor D. H. Elton of Lethbridge aided the village by requesting
He helped make plans for a special train that brought between
After winning the civic election, Mayor Elton made reference
"There is one thing of greater moment and more vital concern
City merchants, at the Mayor's request, closed their
In its 50 years, Lethbridge had never seen such a day of
Three services were held at 9 a.m., 10 a.m. and 3 P. M.
At 9 a.m., mass was celebrated for A. Prokop at the Greek
In the afternoon the Protestant miners were laid to rest
The funeral procession, the largest ever in the city,
The pall-bearers included friends and family from points as
Pall-bearers for the L. Gresl funeral were Frank Pilchak,
Pall-bearers for E Gresl were Paul Katanchuk,
For A. Gresl were J. Hubka, Mike Pascal, Bill Hales,
A. Gossul: Bill Mykytiuk, Sam Slemko, Nick Abramchuk,
J. Sarog: Joe Filek, John Kovacs, John Pastor, A.
M. Kadilak: Geo Ivanisko, John Polakorecky, John
A Prokop: George Ratvay, P. Kistulinec, George Vasil,
E. Williams: Constable E. B. Davies, W. Kirkham, Jack
J. Cook: Adam Robinson, J. Brown, Tom Kinnell, Andrew
J. Workman: Gerry McLeod, J. L. McLeod, Joe Ashcroft,
K. Zmurchuyk: Paul Tymchuk, B. Nestoruk, Nick Slemko,
B. Lukas: Alex Veres, Alex Baragsosi, Paul Hango, Steve
H. Dugan: Mike Mogus, George Unchulenko, George Chipiski,
A. Simeone: L. Celotti, P. Lazzarotto, G. Chiste, S. Bacedo,
E. Rota: C. Chiste, C. Bridorelli, A. Locatelli, G. Joevenazzo,
A. Ermacora: Joe Pontarollo, M. Caron, Giov Pontarollo, A.
Headed by the hearses, pall-bearers and chief mourners,
It was estimated that over 5,000 mourners assembled in the
An unusual calm rested upon the city and the cemetery where
Forty-eight years have passed since the mine disaster, and
Today, Coalhurst is a satellite community of Lethbridge, a
The mine no longer exists. It was closed down right after the
Today, all that remains of the old mine is a mountain of red shale,
by Janine Coombes
New fallen snow blanketed the small village of Coalhurst,
home to 1200 people, mostly miners and their families.
wisps and finally dispersing against the deep blue of the
sunlit prairie sky. As people made preparations for Christmas,
only sixteen days away, there was no hint of the tragedy to
come.
staggered from the mine gasping for air, their clothing
torn, their faces and ears badly scorched, their burned
and singed hair bearing evidence of disaster. Deep in
the mine, sometime between four and four-thirty, as the
shifts were changing, an explosion had taken place.
reach the entombed miners. As the blackness of night
descended upon them, they came across the first body.
of expenctancy around the large shaft. Electric lights,
there to aid the searchers, gleamed hopefully. More than
two hundred men, women and children, relatives and
friends of the entombed miners, crowded around the mouth
of the pit.
one of the miners' wives waited. She wore a brown kerchief
around her head and a brown coat, its collar high to protect
her from the bitter wind. When there was no longer any
hope, some friends took her home.
the explosion, was one of the many volunteers for rescue
work. He descended into the mine with the rest and was
the first to come across the body of Anthony Gresl, one
of his brothers. Nearby Charley found a glove and a
wrench belonging to the other two brothers. He did not
remain to search the rubble. Later, another group of
searchers found the two bodies close to that of their brother.
they recovered all 16 bodies, which then laid on the floor
of the powerhouse a short distance from the tipple.
and some had suffered severe head wounds. The name
of each miner had to be ascertained through the brass
identification check carried in his pocket.
which each miner worked, and these numbers were
checked with the office lists. Thus each body was
named: Mike Kadilak, married, two children; Steve
Zmurchuk, widower, one child; James Workman, widower,
two children; Eben Williams, married, two children;
Angelo Ermacora, married, eight or nine children; Lee
Gossul, single; Anthony Gresl, married, one child;
Louis Gresl, married, two children; Fritz Gresl, married,
one child; Bill Lukas, married, one child; Albino Simeone,
single; John Cook, married, five children; Andy Prokop,
married, two children; E. Rota, married, two children;
Harry Duggan, married, two children; and John Sarog,
widower, one child.
had given birth to a little girl at two o'clock that afternoon,
and he had not gone into the mine.
a favorite of the miners, had been a pet. He was a bay
gelding who had drawn loaded mine cars for over 10 years.
Teddy had become accustomed to visiting the miners
and begging for food while they ate their lunch. Star, also
a bay gelding, was not quite as friendly as Teddy. The
third horse to perish was Prince, a small pony used to
draw carts in low places.
and Andrew Kucji, were taken to the Coalhurst hospital,
where they were treated for burns. Frank Prusik described
his experience. "God, but we are lucky be here. It was
quitting time. We start to walk out . . . Suddenly, fire, like
mighty wind, come quick explosion! I think this is the
finish. Coal dust swirl through air, gas gag us, we get no air,
fire burn our clothes........Fifteen minutes, maybe twenty,
we crawl along......Pretty soon we stagger out. We were
pretty lucky. Those other men. They never came out
alive...."
of the disaster.
special meeting of the Coalhurst Miners' Union held here, it
was unanimously received that we request the government
to order a public investigation into the Coalhurst mine
explosion and disaster which resulted in the loss of 16
miners' lives, and further that we have the right to appoint
our representatives for this investigation work."
investigation of the Coalhurst mine explosion.
inconclusive evidence. Miners testimony revealed that there
were no mine officials in the pit at the time of the explosion.
the surface making his regular report.
in the morning, but not in the afternoon.
before the explosion. He had once seen a safety lamp
hanging on a nail by the overcast and put it out because
of the flame was dangerously high.
They claimed to have reported their feelings to mine officials,
but there were no investigations.
explosion showed large quantities of methane gas.
not an explosive or ignitable mixture; in the second sample
7.13 per cent of methane was found, a very explosive
mixture, in the third and fourth samples methane was
25.46 and 25.48 per cent, too rich a mixture to explode.
determine what the actual cause had been.
multiple funeral that took place on Friday, December 13, 1935.
that car owners offer to transport village residents to and from
the funerals so that they would not be forced to stay at home.
three and four hundred people to the services in the city.
to the disaster in his speech.
than 'Elections' and that is the awful disaster and loss of
human life of our friends and neighbors at Coalhurst. May I
repeat what I said at the meeting last night and later
communicated to the Herald and that is that the city of
Lethbridge mourns with those who are bereaved and stands
ready to lend any assistance within its power. This disasater
has cast a gloom over the entire southern part of the province.
It will be a very sad Christmas indeed for those afflicted with
grief. I am sure we all very keenly feel their loss and
suffering and extend to them our deepest sympathy,
condolence and consolation.
businesses during the funeral hours in respect to the
deceased.
mourning. Flags hung at half-mast, women wept, children,
sensing the tragedy of it all, sobbed, and strong men were
voiceless in their grief.
Catholic Church in North Lethbridge. The procession then
went to St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church where a
10 a.m. mass was being held for A. Gresl, L Gresl, E
Gresl, M. Kadilak, J. Sarog, L.Gossul, E. Rota, A.
Simeone and A. Ermacora. At the conclusion of the
service at St. Patick's, the funeral cortege proceeded
to the Catholic cemetery where internment took place.
in the city cemetery.
assembled immediately after the service. Thousands
of residents of Lethbridge, along with practically the
whole of Coalhurst's stricken population, walked in the
procession.
far away as Corbin, B.C.; Fernie, B.C.; and other distant
points.
Jack Marsh, John Komer, Fred Stanley, Ted Koiwan
and L. Hardlicke.
Lawrence Pilchak, John Slemko, Mike Slemko, Mike
Boychuk and William McMahon.
Harold Heaton, Gerry McLeod and Carl Peterson.
Nick Mykytiuk, R. Shan and J. Salohos.
Veres, John Tasi and Frank Veres.
Gavandula, Geo Katanchuk, George Ukrainetz and
Paul Katanchuk.
M. Buchko, Pete Sevcov and Mike Ristway.
Owen, Jack Roberts, G. Evans and T. Griffiths.
Barrie, D. Adamson, A. Beveridge and R. Lothian.
Fred Pallett, Joe King and Fred Hamilton.
John Gouryliuk, B. Slemko and John Slemko.
Kurucz, Steve Nyarode and John Nyrade.
William Bratko, Harry Droniuk and George Pohl.
E. Basso and G. Lizzi.
C. Moser and M. Santoni.
Massaro, John Pontarollo and E Sorbora.
the cortege proceeded to the cemetery. Representives of
Coalhurst miners, Lethbridge miners, Shaughnessy miners,
and others from the Crows Nest Pass marched along with
members of the R.C.M.P. and the Canadian Legion. The
Lethbridge Disabled Ex-Servicemen's Band and the Salvation
Army Band, their drums covered with the traditional black
cloth, marched in the procession, playing the funeral march
by Mendelssohn.
cemetery to pay their last respects to the dead.
the crowd gathered for the service. The sky was clear and a
warm sun added a soothing atmosphere to the day. A perfect
peace descended upon the land as the caskets, covered with
flowers, were tenderly lowered, two at a time, into the ground.
As the "Last Post" was sounded by the bugler, the sun set
behind the quiet hills, the throngs turned homeward, their duty
to the dead done.
Coalhurst has not become a ghost town as some thought it
would.
residential suburb of over 1,000 people.
explosion and was never opened again. People drifted away.
Businesses vanished.
some crumbled rock foundations, and a desolate building that
was once the mine's warehouse, mute testimonials to the
tragedy that occurred.
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