and workers’ compensation, 229, 238, 292, 296
silico-tuberculosis. See silicosis
Skinner, Julia, 190
Slaney, Adrian, 226–27
Slaney, Arcule, 16, 82, 123, 226, 239–41, 275, 306
Slaney, Bertha, 16–17, 19, 307
Slaney, Betsy, 312, 314
Slaney, Christine, 232
Slaney, Gerard, 306
Slaney, Herb, 224, 225, 226, 232–33
Slaney, Isaac (“Mr. Isaac”)
autopsy on, 232–33, 237–38, 238–39
diagnosis of, 228–29, 230–32
illness and death of, 223–24, 225, 226, 230–32
Slaney, John, 299, 313
Slaney, Mary, 233, 239
Slaney, Mick, 322
Slaney, Minnie, 240
Slaney, Ray, 306, 311–12
Slaney, Rennie, 223, 315
at autopsy of Isaac Slaney, 232–33
at Black Duck mine, 123, 127, 288
Danny MacIntyre and, 3
death, 305–7, 316, 334
denied compensation, 307
earthquake, absence during, 16, 17
and Father Thorne, 167
as fisherman, 128–29
illness, 225, 241, 287–88, 307
at Iron Springs mine, 167, 187, 206, 207, 288
and lung cancer in miners, 279–80, 287–91, 292
Maclean’s magazine profile of, 294
and Poynter, 233
in rescue of US sailors, 189, 190
and royal commission, 294, 303–5
and Seibert, 123
and silicosis in miners, 225–26, 227, 232–33, 239–40, 241, 301
and working conditions, 230
Slaney, Steve, 312
Slaney, Therese, 223–24, 225, 232
Smallwood, Joseph R., 318, 321
and radiation in mines, 267, 292, 293
and Seibert, 235–37, 262, 271, 272, 321, 352n13
and US Memorial Hospital, 211, 212
Smith, Dr. Warren (Doc), 137
character of, 146, 152, 272
at Director mine, 153, 165
partnership promised to, 154–55
in rescue of US sailors, 189, 193, 197, 199
at St. Lawrence Corp., 81, 139, 153
as unpaid, 118, 119, 131, 132, 138
smoking, 257, 258, 287, 314
smuggling, 18, 69, 131, 219
Smyth, Lt. William, 201
snowstorms, communications knocked out by, 15, 28, 55, 64
South Africa, uranium miners in, 270
South Carolina, earthquake felt in, 25
South Coast Disaster Committee, 58, 59–60, 62–63
Spearns, Peter, 206
Squires, Helena, 58, 93, 96, 97, 98
Squires, Richard Anderson
attack on, 84–87, 91
banks and, 94, 96
corruption and, 57, 58, 99, 101
and the economy, 56–57, 101, 106
and government assistance, 97, 100
lifestyle of, 58, 90, 98
and Peter Cashin, 93, 98
and protests, 102, 103, 104–5
Smallwood and, 235
and tsunami of 1929, 57, 58, 319
St. Francis Xavier University, 331, 332
St. John’s, Nfld., 28
communication with, 15, 55, 57, 64
earthquake in, 27, 68
poverty in, 109
in the Second World War, 218
TB sanatorium, 226–27, 240
St. Lawrence, Nfld.
blockade by women of, 323–24, 324–25
Catholicism in, 113, 320
communications out of, 15, 28, 78
culture of, 15–16, 17, 33, 76–77, 160–61, 164
death rates in, 269–70, 291, 298, 316
earthquake in, 19–20, 26, 33, 182
education in, 76, 77
first African American in, 198–99
fishery in, 16, 17, 26
floating clinic at, 228
fluorspar deposits in, 71, 80, 115, 281
health care, lack of, 126, 133, 135, 158, 176, 177–78, 183, 188, 243
hospital in. See US Memorial Hospital
Irishness of, 161, 320
malnutrition and poverty in, 149, 155, 204, 244
mill at, 237
museum and historical society of, 329
population and demographics of, 26, 316, 322
rescue of US ships at, 188–205
roads and transportation to, 55, 115, 260
tsunami and tidal withdrawal in, 26–27, 40–42, 65, 69, 75–79, 113–14, 182
undertakers, lack of, 314, 316
St. Lawrence Corporation of Newfoundland, 153–54. See also Black Duck mine; Blue Beach mine; Iron Springs mine; Seibert, Walter
anonymous report on, 271–72
as “the cooperation,” 121
equipment purchases by, 125, 158, 162–63, 177
finances of, 120, 132, 138, 234–35, 236–37, 262–63, 271
inspection of mines, 230–32
labour relations, 154–58, 168, 177, 236
legal challenges to, 152
mill built by, 237
partnerships in, 118–19, 154–55, 273
payment arrangements by, 118–19, 120, 128–32, 138, 147–51, 152, 176, 289
production shutdown by, 254–55, 261, 262, 264, 268, 273
recruitment from Nova Scotia by, 205
sale of, 274–75
strikes and walkouts at, 160–65, 167, 169–70, 176
US government contracts, 237, 252, 263, 274
Wilmington, DE, refinery, 236, 237
and working conditions, 162–63, 230, 251, 264, 289, 304
St. Lawrence Fluorspar (Delaware), 236, 263
St. Lawrence Miners and Labourers Protective Union
contract negotiations by, 155–56, 158
coup within, 159–60
founding of, 154
strikes and walkouts by, 155
St. Lawrence Workers’ Protective Union
contract negotiations by, 168, 236, 323
founding of, 160
at inquiries and hearings, 177, 262
strikes and walkouts by, 161–62, 167, 169, 176, 268, 324
St. Patrick’s Day dispute, 160–62, 163–65, 167, 177
St. Pierre, 15, 21, 35, 69, 131, 219, 223
Stapleton, Edward Jr. (Ned), 128, 140, 299, 315
Stapleton, Edward Sr. (Ed), 127, 140, 149, 206, 299, 315, 317
Stapleton, Evelina, 140
starvation, 95, 98, 108–9
steel, 71, 135, 156, 159, 170, 263, 264
Stepaside, Nfld., tsunami in, 60
Stephenson, William, 352n13
stock market crash of 1929, 56, 71, 116
stomach ailments, 155
Stone, Boyd, 297–98, 298–99, 315, 317
store credit, 82, 117–18, 131–32
Strauss, Henry, 197
strikes and walkouts
at Quebec smelter, 326
at St. Lawrence mines, 155, 167, 168, 169, 176, 268
St. Patrick’s Day dispute, 160–65, 167
women’s blockade, 323–24
Stuart, Robert Douglas, 211
Sumatra, 46–47
Sumatra tsunami of 2004, 46–47
Sydney, NS, 24
syphilis, 174
* * *
Tarefare mine, 328
Tariff Board of Canada, 262
tariffs, 252–53, 261–62, 263–64
Tarrant, Fluorina, 153
Tarrant, Pat, 128, 153
taxes, increase to, 101
Taylor, William, 70–72
Taylor’s Bay, Nfld., 47
earthquake and tsunami in, 45, 48–50, 57, 76, 345n18
tectonics, 9–10
telegraph communications, 10–11, 15, 27–28, 35, 64, 78
telephone communications, 64
Thomas, J.H., 99, 106
Thompson, Sir Percy, 96–97, 97–98, 99–100, 104, 1
06
Thorne, Father Augustine
and Al Turpin, 166–69
car owned by, 133–34
connections with St. Lawrence Corp., 167
and the Hope Simpsons, 133–34
Howse and, 148
Kelleher and, 153
Poynters and, 141, 166
rescue of men in snowstorm, 219
Seibert and, 79–80, 82, 120, 166
and smuggling, 131
and tsunami, 65, 75–78, 113–14
Thornhill, Frank, 25
tidal bore, 41
tidal surge, 20, 22–23, 29–30
tidal wave of 1929. See tsunami of 1929
tidal waves. See tsunamis
tides, 22–23
Tilt Cove, Nfld., 145, 146, 213–19
Tobin, Robert, 198
Tobin, Sam, 313
Tobin, Sue, 313
Tobin, Theresa, 198
Tobin family, and Ed McInerney, 198
Torngat Mountains, 173–74
Toronto, earthquake felt in, 25
trade dispute board inquiry, 156, 157, 175–77, 182, 188, 205
USS Truxtun
memorial to, 329
recovery from, 199–200
rescue of, 188–89, 191–95, 197, 202–5
tsunami of 1929, 40–56. See also individual towns
amplitude and height of, 345n18
animals in, 38, 42
communication knocked out by, 78
consequences of, 304
death toll of, 59, 69
emigration after, 69–70
memorial to, 329
news of, 57
property damage value from, 55, 59, 346n32
relief of, 58–59, 64, 88
response to, 319
South Coast Disaster Committee, 58, 59–60, 62–63
tidal surge, 22–23, 29–30
tidal withdrawal, 26–27, 38, 39–40
tsunamis
cause and process of, 36
Lisbon (1755), 46
Sumatra (2004), 46–47
“tidal wave” as name for, 45
tuberculosis, 296
autopsies not performed for, 270
compensation for, 292
death rate from, 108, 174–75, 244
in miners, 287
“miners’ TB,” 226. See also silicosis
misdiagnosis of lung conditions as, 291
in Newfoundland, 18, 133, 244
as official cause of death, 240–41, 243
sanatoriums for, 211–12, 226–27, 240
and silicosis, 226–27, 229–30, 231, 238, 243–44
treatment failure for, in miners, 155, 229, 240
vaccination against, 349n14
Turney, Hugh W., 197, 200, 201
Turpin, Aloysius (Al)
and Father Thorne, 166–69
and lung cancer in miners, 268, 290–91
and Poynter, 168–69
in St. Patrick’s Day dispute, 161–62, 163–64, 165
as union leader, 160, 167, 169–70, 236, 262, 268, 290
Turpin, Doris, 190
Turpin, Ellen, 283, 317
Turpin, Gregory, 16
Turpin, Joan, 313
Turpin, Lucille, 284, 317
Turpin, Mary, 16, 19
Turpin, Mike, 188, 190, 192
Turpin, Priscilla, 283, 284–85, 294, 303, 317, 353n1
Turpin, Rendell, 242
Turpin, Robert, 190
Turpin, Roche, 280–83, 285–87, 287, 288, 292, 300, 303, 316–17
typhoid fever, 175
* * *
undertakers, in St. Lawrence, 314, 316
unemployment insurance. See government assistance
unions, 84, 234. See also St. Lawrence Miners and Labourers Protective Union; St. Lawrence Workers’ Protective Union
attitudes towards, 154, 157, 215, 329
United Nations, 171
United States, 286
campaign to join, 234
cultural connections to, 15–16
health and safety regulations in, 286
immigration to, 317
lung cancer in miners in, 270
in the Second World War, 158–59, 170–73, 171–74, 174, 234 (see also USS Pollux; USS Truxtun)
uranium, 172, 173, 257
in Director mine, 265–66
US Memorial Hospital, 223
founding of, 204, 208–12
Linden MacIntyre at, 335–36
nurses at, 311–16
US Navy. See USS Pollux; USS Truxtun
US State Department, 170
* * *
Valdmanis, Alfred, 235–36, 352n13
Veitch, George J., 57
venereal disease, 174
ventilation
improvements to, 322
and radiation levels, 266, 268, 291, 300
regulations on, 251
in St. Lawrence mines, 163, 230, 231, 264, 289, 295, 300
and tuberculosis, 231
veterans, 58, 101, 104
* * *
wages
increases to, 234
in mining, 129
in St. Lawrence, 151, 176
store credit for, 82, 117–18, 130
unpaid, 81, 117, 130
withheld, 131, 138, 148, 152, 176
walkouts. See strikes and walkouts
Walsh, Alonzo, 177, 334
Walsh, Basil, 53–54
Walsh, Cyril J., 257–58
Walsh, Fred, 164, 176–77, 190, 192, 334
Walsh, Jack, 334
Walsh, Jim, 39, 43, 345n14, 345n15
Walsh, Judy, 53, 54
Walsh, Loretta, 190, 334
Walsh, Mary Anne, 53, 54
Walsh, Mary Elizabeth, 53, 54
Walsh, Mary (McKenna), 39, 40, 43, 44, 345n14, 345n15
Walsh, Sheila, 54
Walwyn, Humphrey, 171, 320–21
Warren, Noel, 299
war reparations, 101
water
drinking water, 126, 155, 156, 163
in mines, 124, 176, 253, 256, 259
uranium in, 265–66
welfare. See government assistance
Which One (ship), 18
whisky, 100–101
USS Wilkes, 196, 200, 201
Wilmington, DE, 236
Wilmington, DE, refinery, 236, 237
Windish, Jack P., 256, 260, 265, 266–67, 268–69, 269–70, 291–92, 299–300
Winter, J.A., 64, 102, 103
Wiseman, Rupert, 260, 268, 304, 328
women
blockade by, 323–24, 324–25
death rate of, 270
women’s suffrage, 58
workers’ compensation. See also Royal Commission Respecting Radiation, Compensation and Safety . . .
cause of death and, 240–41, 242, 243, 295–96, 316
denial of, 227, 242, 257, 283–84, 289, 290, 307
inadequacy of, 290, 296–97, 324
lawsuits for, 239, 241
long-term need for, 301
for lung cancer, 296
regulations on, 238
for silicosis, 229, 242, 292, 296
supplementary funding for, 296
for tuberculosis, 292
Workmen’s Compensation Act (Nfld.), 283, 286
review of, 288, 290, 292–93
Workmen’s Compensation Board (WCB), 292
World War I. See First World War
World War II. See Second World War
* * *
x-rays, 177, 228–29, 282, 286–87
Photo Section
Louis Etchegary’s family in 1929, likely early autumn, shortly before the tsunami transformed their town and their future lives. Front row, left to right: Louis Jr., Florence (later Mrs. Donald Poynter), nephew Bobby Pike and (in white cap) Gus Etchegary, then five years old. Back row: daughter Kathleen Etchegary (left) and Ellen Slaney, sister of
Louis’s recently deceased first wife.
COURTESY OF LISA (SLANEY) LODER.
Father Augustine Thorne, St. Lawrence parish priest and community leader in the aftermath of the tsunami and the early days of the mining industry.
COURTESY OF ST. LAWRENCE MINERS’ MUSEUM.
Patrick Rennie, Lord’s Cove. On the evening of the tsunami, Patrick and his two sons, Martin and Albert, were playing cards at a neighbour’s house. His wife and four other children were at home. His wife and three children drowned in their house. Four-year-old Margaret, asleep upstairs, survived.
COURTESY OF SARAH BRAKE.
Lord’s Cove, days after the tsunami. The Rennie home, where Patrick Rennie’s wife and three of his children died, is slightly in the background to the left of the building in centre-frame. After the disaster, Patrick and his sons became fluorspar miners in St. Lawrence.
PHOTO BY DR. HARRIS MOSDELL, CHAIRMAN OF THE NEWFOUNDLAND BOARD OF HEALTH AND PART OF THE RELIEF TEAM ON SS MEIGLE. COURTESY OF PUBLIC ARCHIVES OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR (PANL), COLLECTION MG 1011, ITEM A 86–90.
Waterfront, Burin district, post-tsunami.
COURTESY OF ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, QE II LIBRARIES, MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY OF NEWFOUNDLAND (MUN).
One of eleven photographs of the Burin area taken by local parish priest Father James A. Miller. Six of his photos were published in the New York Times on December 8, 1929.
COURTESY OF ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (COLLECTION OF NEWFOUNDLAND STUDIES), QE II LIBRARIES, MUN.
The iconic post-tsunami photograph, by Father James A. Miller of Burin, that many mistakenly believe shows a schooner towing a house. In fact, research by Alan Ruffman of Geomarine Associates Ltd., Halifax, a leading authority on the tsunami, reveals that the house, from Port au Bras, was discovered by its owner about a mile offshore and towed back to Little Burin Harbour, where it was then tethered to the anchored schooner, the Marian Belle Wolfe.
COURTESY OF PANL, PARSONS FAMILY COLLECTION, ITEM A 2–149.
St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, east side of the harbour, early 1930s.
COURTESY OF ST. LAWRENCE MINERS’ MUSEUM.
St. Lawrence, Newfoundland, west side of the harbour, mid-1930s, at the beginning of fluorspar mining.
COURTESY OF ST. LAWRENCE MINERS’ MUSEUM.
Black Duck mine, mid-1930s.
COURTESY OF ST. LAWRENCE MINERS’ MUSEUM.
Sir Richard Squires, prime minister of Newfoundland, 1919–23 and 1928–32.
COURTESY OF PANL.
Major Peter Cashin, First World War veteran, minister of finance in the 1928–32 Squires government. He eventually brought down the government by levelling charges of corruption against the prime minister and his cronies, setting in motion the final chapter in the collapse of democratic government in Newfoundland—which would leave the colony in the control of appointed bureaucrats until 1949.