The Great Boulder Disaster of 1904

A great deal has been written, both in the newspapers of the day and since, on the terrible tragedy of ‘The Great Boulder Disaster’ on May 25th 1904. It would be the greatest number of fatalities in one accident that had been seen on the Goldfields of Western Australia since 2 Apr 1897 at the Mt Charlotte Gold Mine in Kalgoorlie when 6 men were killed. Such a terrible tragedy was not to occur again until the 6th of December 1921 when another six men were killed in one accident at the Golden Horseshoe. Words cannot describe the outpouring of grief and condolences for the families of these miners. I will leave you with the following news article and the photographs of the men and the funeral cortege which stretched for over a mile and went from Boulder to the Kalgoorlie Cemetery.

Yesterday’s dreadful catastrophe in the Great Boulder mine has excited widespread sympathy for the relatives of the deceased men. The funeral of the deceased took place today. The cortege, which was nearly a mile long, was headed by the A.M.A. and the A.W.A. Bands.

About five hundred members of the societies and organisations to which the deceased belonged came next, and. immediately following these came five hearses and five, mourning coaches, with nearly a hundred private vehicles bringing up the rear. Among those who participated in the mournful procession were the leading mine managers of the district and the Mayors of Kalgoorlie and Boulder. The burials took place in the Kalgoorlie cemetery. The bodies of Thomas Bates, Thomas Norley, and John Robert Riseberry were buried side by side in the Anglican portion of the cemetery, and that of Samuel  Jones and James Cauldwell Harper were interred in the Methodist and Presbyterian portions, respectively.

Among those who sent wreaths were Mr Hamilton, the manager of the Great Boulder, the employees of the Great Boulder mines, the Mayors of Boulder and Kalgoorlie, Boulder Masonic bodies, and Oddfellows lodges. Telegrams of condolence with the relatives of the deceased men were received today from the Minister for Lands, Mr Hopkins and Mr G. E. Fraser, M.H.R. The football clubs of the district have decided to donate the takings at next Sunday’s football matches to the relatives of the deceased.

The winding engine in operation on Edwards’s shaft, where the accident happened, is said to be an old one.  It was. formerly in use on the main shaft. According to the story told by Engine driver Matthew Reidell, who was utterly unnerved, as a result of the fatality, it appears that at the time of the accident, he was about, to regulate the steam pressure to retain the gigs that were suspended in the shaft. The reversing lever, through some unaccountable cause, flew over, and this put all steam on to sink both gigs. With the combined power from the steam, and the weight on the drums, the engine “raced” like lightning. Reidell tried to pull the lever back, but he could not do so with the steam on. So he screwed the steam off with one hand, while he tried to pull the lever back with the other. He pushed both foot brakes with all his might and got them on so hard that the blocks commenced burning.

This had no effect, however, until the steam was cut off, and then it was too late, as the momentum gained carried the gigs with a crash to the bottom. Jones and Bates had worked in the Great Boulder mine for seven years. They were, in fact among the oldest employees in the mine. They had mostly done timbering work.  Norley and Riseberry had been on the mine for four years. They were mostly engaged in shaft sinking or timbering. Harper, who was also a miner and a timberman, worked in the mine for about a year.  All the deceased were first-class hands.

On the day of the accident, the funeral was being held for Shift Boss, Patrick O’Connor of the Great Boulder who had died from injuries in an accident some days before. The inquest was to last for five days.