Collection search - Moose River Revisited

Record information – Brief

1

Moose River Revisited

Item number (ISN):

93345

Series title:

Roving Reporter

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Item number (ISN):

93345

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

Link to this record

Add to My Research

Link to this record

This link identifies the web page describing this particular record. Unlike the temporary link in your browser, this link will allow you to access, and reference, this page in the future. To link to this descriptive record, copy and paste the URL where ever needed (wiki, blog, document).

Sign in

Sign in to start saving records using My Research

Sign in
Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

CANADIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, RADIO: GENERAL FILE

Accession:

1988-0247

Media:

Sound

Part:

2 of 2

Release date:

1956-04-21

Production company:

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Production credit:

reporter/interviewer, Ken Homer

Description:

Show detail Hide detail

Reporter Ken Homer revisits the scene of the 1936 Moose River Mine disaster, on its 20th anniversary. Included are interviews with a survivor, members of the rescue team (Draegermen) and reporters who covered the story. J. Frank Willis reminiscences about his marathon broadcast which covered the entire rescue operation. Ken Homer interviews Frank Horn, age 80, a hard rock miner from Moose River, who describes the early rescue attempts. Ken Homer interviews Ralph [Morton], now editor of the Dartmouth Free Press, about early press coverage and the fear that the men were already dead. Frank Horn recalls his discovery that the trapped men were still alive. He pushed a garden hose down the hole to talk to them. Morton talks about the apprehension they all felt on releasing news of the disaster when they all believed the men had died and how reporters from all over North America flooded into Moose River when it was learned that the men were still alive. Arleigh Canning, on the site with Ken Homer after 20 years, says that he came in to do one broadcast and kept sending bulletins for six days. They compare the site now and then. Alexander Semple, George Fraser and Leo McKay, soft core miners who answered Willis' appeal for experienced help, give a detailed description of organizing the rescue teams and finally getting the trapped men out (there is an approximate one-minute break in sound in the middle of this item). This is followed by an excerpt of the J. Frank Willis broadcast on the first rescued man reaching the surface. In a Toronto studio, J. Frank Willis says that the excerpt was the 98th of 99 consecutive broadcasts he did at the time. He remembers the emotional fervour with which the rescued men were greeted as the crowd of rescuers, journalists and others burst spontaneously into a hymn of praise. He talks to Alfred Scadding, the remaining survivor of the cave-in and to George Morell, the remaining draegerman. Scadding gives a graphic description of his ordeal, trapped 140 feet underground. He describes the fear with which they watched the water rise, expecting to be drowned before the rescuers could reach them. Morell says the lack of plans for the mine was a serious hindrance to the rescue work. Another difficulty was the necessity of working in a confined space. He explains that the name draegerman came from a man who invented a machine which gives advance warning of poisonous gases. Ralph Morton says that this particular mine story had a strong impact on the news media because the people trapped were ordinary men, not miners who are aware of the risks they take every day. <30mn>

Language:

English

Notes:

Show detail Hide detail

1. For consultation copy see tape 1982-0195/220, cut 1.

Detailed holdings information:

Show detail Hide detail

Vault ISN:

94820

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1988-0247/1349

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

DISC

Stock:

TRANS

Technical description:

ALUM

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG

Vault ISN:

94821

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

1988-0247/1350

Vault code:

GAT

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

DISC

Stock:

TRANS

Technical description:

ALUM

Made from:

DEPOSIT

Status:

ORIG
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

Open

GENCAT identity number:

GAD 0FD547

Restrictions on consultation:

Available Onsite Only / Seulement disponible sur le site

Reproduction access:

With written permission of Donor / Avec la permission écrite du donateur

You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.

Cannot visit us on site? You can purchase a copy to be sent to you. Some restrictions may apply.