| Title | |  Moose River Rescue Fund Committee |
| Dates of creation | | 1936-1937 |
| Physical description | | 10 cm of textual records |
| Administrative history or biographical sketch | | The Moose River Rescue Fund Committee was established as a result of the Moose River Mine Disaster, which occurred on 12 April 1936. Three men had been trapped 43 metres underground after the gold mine collapsed and dozens of rescuers managed to rescue two of the men after several days. A fund consisting of donations from the public was incorporated and administered under the auspices of the Canadian Red Cross Society. The proper and just distribution of these donations was a matter of political concern, hence a national committee was appointed to determine who had participated in the rescue operation, what role they had, how many hours they had worked, and how much compensation they were entitled to. Cyrus D. Sampson of Westville was chosen to be the investigator. Sampson, a mining engineer with the Intercolonial Coal Co. Ltd., had led a team of miners from Westville to assist in the rescue efforts. After several months of investigation and collecting accurate statements from all who were involved, Sampson was able to present a detailed and accurate report which led to a proper distribution of funds. |
| Scope and content | | Fonds consists of records created and accumulated by Cyrus D. Sampson in his role as investigator with the Moose River Rescue Fund Committee. Includes a notebook containing minutes of meetings, notes, and drafts of letters, lists of miners, sworn personal statements from miners and rescue workers, correspondence between Sampson and fund administrators and government officials, and Sampson's own statements and reports on the rescue effort, in which he emphasized the role Westville miners played -- a role which had been largely ignored by the media. |
| Source of supplied title | | Title based on contents of fonds. |
| Immediate source of acquisition or transfer | | Donated by L. Joan Sampson in 2003. |
| Finding aids | | File list available. |
| Related groups of records in different fonds | | Related records on the Moose River Mining Disaster may be found in the CHNS fonds, which contains audio recordings and other material on the 1936 accident. The Department of Public Works and Mines fonds contains reports, surveys, correspondence and similar material regarding mining accidents. |
| Retrieval code | | Accession 2003-029/001 |
| Provenance access point | |  Moose River Rescue Fund Committee search view |
| Last modified | | January 25, 2008 |
|