Dear Editor,
Here’s a bit of an ironic story you may be interested in.
On a midsummer’s day in 1934, my mother and I and several others were huddled on the east side of the big rock between Hill Street and Callinan Lane, about where the 100 Stairs are located.
We were awaiting a big dynamite blast in the HBM&S open pit. Sections of Creighton, Church, Main and Hapnot streets had been evacuated.
The explosion went off as scheduled and after the smoke and dust had settled, we migrated over the hill and were attracted to a crowd of people in and around the house on the northwest corner of Hill Street.
When we were allowed to enter, we saw on the kitchen floor a large rock about the size of a grapefruit. There was a hole in the ceiling and above that a hole in the roof. The house was owned by a Mr. Phil Hicks but was unoccupied at the time.
And now the irony of the story.
Mr. Hicks was the blasting boss for HBM&S and he had pushed the button that triggered the explosion.
Pat Donaghy
Norland, Ontario
