What was the worst job at the mine? Most
would say it was work at the coke ovens. Men who held this job
were exposed to sweltering heat and poisonous gases.
It took as much as 48 hours to bake coal
into coke. Each man assigned to this task emptied and filled
three ovens in the course of a long day. Five to ten tons of
coal went into each oven. The work was backbreaking and it
didn't stop, regardless of the weather. Working the coke ovens
was an important job at the Elk Valley, BC and Crowsnest Pass,
AB mines. Coke was a valuable product and the bituminous coal at
these mines was perfect for coking.
At the height of production, some mines
used hundreds of coke ovens! When smelters in BC closed
during the 1920s, the demand for coke was reduced. The loss of
the BC market signaled the end of an era for many producers.
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