GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

The friction and bitterness between the members of the United Mine Workers and the One Big Union were put aside in 1933 when the Provincial Government stepped in and pledged assistance. The Provincial Government now owned and operated the mining industry under the name of the Inverness Imperial Coal Company. Many attempts were made to improve productivity by making the mines less costly, fn July of 1933, No. 1 and No. 4 mines were closed down in order to work on updating machinery and reorganizing some of the slopes. In a Department of Mines Report (1933) it stated that a new compressor was purchased and installed. This apparently did much to rectify some of the problems and added considerably to the efficiency of the plant.

In 1934, a tunnel from No, 1 mine to No. 4 colliery was completed with the purpose of taking the coal out of No. 1 slope and handling it on the new pit-head.

Combined with these corrections the Company used available materials, such as pipes and scrap iron to construct 81 new coal cars. The fan was also converted from steam to electric power to ease part of the financial burden. However, with all these measures being introduced the mines continued to face severe hardships.

When the Deputy Inspector of Mines, S.B. McNeil, appeared on the scene on January 13,1934, he reported that some of the workings should be abandoned due to safety hazards. Initially, only the lower sections of the mine were to be abandoned but problems continued to arise during 1934 that led to complete closure of the No. 1 mine. In his report he stated, "Many good reasons render this action necessary, the first of which is safety. The No. 13 Angle Deep and No, 13 Level are continually closing and it seems impossible to keep them open with timber. Owing to the great pressure, the coal is ground to slack and must be sold for the price obtained for slack. The pillar coal and No. 12 West and No. 12 East are also badly broken and over half of it is slack. I do not consider it safe, as a very slight bump would close No. 13 Level and Deep."

Operations in No. 1 Mine (East Angle) were discontinued on January 15, 1934.

The town was now faced with unemployment but it was partially offset by double shifts at the No. 4 mine. The No. 4 mine carried Inverness through the thirties on a staggered basis and was closed several times during the succeeding years for short periods of time. Between 1934-39 the upper levels of No. 1 were re-opened and employed some men until the workings began to collapse. By January 1939 all operations at No. 1 ceased to exist. The Inverness mines plodded through the 1930's on a day-to-day basis not knowing when the final end was to come. The drudgery and uncertainty of the miners was an everyday experience culminating in a dejected and pessimistic community who watched the coal mining industry begin to disintegrate.

The mine had been worked to such a degree that the remaining pillars on the lower levels were under severe pressure. Although the coal was of good quality the pressure made it unsafe for working due to rock-falls and snapping pillars. When attempts were made to move up the slope to the upper slopes the sea began seeping in until it was necessary to totally abandon the mine.