Ralph Hale and the Blakeburn Mining Disaster of 1930

It's a great thing, in our digital age, to have access to so much information.  Some wise folks in Merritt, BC, decided it was time to digitize old newspaper archives.  It created a gold mine of stories, documented history, and a dream come true for researchers of that area.

Take, for example, this Merritt Herald story of August 15, 1930, documenting the mining disaster at Blakeburn, BC....46 men perished in a coal-mine explosion.

One of the men who perished in the explosion was Ralph Hale.  He is listed above as one of the "entombed" men, whose body was not yet recovered.

Later on we see a obituary listing for Ralph, this taken from the Merritt Herald of August 29, 1930, showing leadership and bravery in trying to save his fellow workers.

Mrs. Ralph Hale would go on to place two "memorial" inserts in the newspaper, remembering her husband's untimely death:

(Merritt Herald, August 7, 1931)

and this: 

(Merritt Herald, August 12, 1932)

Here is Ralph Hale's grave in Merritt cemetery.....

And what happened to Mrs. Ralph Hale?

Mrs. Ralph Hale was originally Elizabeth Isabelle Martell (1894 - 1970).  She will re-marry on October 21, 1933...to Thomas William (Bill) Skelton (1899 - 1984) ...another one of the miners of the area.  They will adopt 2 children, William Roy Skelton and Margaret Ann Skelton.

Margaret Ann Skelton is my Mother....born in 1934.

Social Media Status Updates...in 1929

Browsing through old newspapers can be fun.  Especially if your family are mentioned.

I was thinking about our societies "status update" obsession.  That is, our use of social media to tell everyone what we are doing, where we are going...and who we are with.

Today it is instantaneous.  Yesterday, maybe not so much.

This clip from the Merritt Herald, May 17, 1929, is a common page in most newspapers of the day...showing the comings and goings....the day to day life, of those who live in the area.  In fact, you had to contact the newspaper writer who was in charge of that section of the paper to let them know!

If you compare it with today's social media updates, not much has changed.  We want people to be interested in what we are doing...so we tell the world.

Twitter and Facebook were not around in 1919, 1929, but our status updates were!

Even this clip from the Merritt Herald Sept 12, 1919, documents the same "social media".