By Charlie Bown
When the iron ore mines started on Bell Island in 1895, they were mostly operated by steam driven machinery. A large coal-fired compressor was built at the bottom of compressor hill near the fire hall. This compressor supplied air for the pneumatic drills. It also provided air for the pumps to keep the mines dry.
In 1918 the company decided to go into electricity in a big way, so they built a large power plant at the Dominion Pier. This plant started generating electricity in 1920. Inside the building were large coal-fired boilers which turned water into steam to drive the turbines, thus generating electricity. A high tower was built outside the building which was kept full of screened coal. A smoke stack made of brick and steel rose over 250 feet in the air. A high walled dam was built in a droke which supplied fresh water to the boilers. The electricity generated was first used for mining, but over the years all homes were electrified.
Inside the boilers was a series of four-inch tubes filled with water which was turned into steam. Very often these pipes would develop a leak. Workmen would have to enter the boilers by way of a small oval opening in which a they had to go through head first with their arms extended straight ahead. After the repairs were completed the men had to come out the same way. One day a man got caught in this small opening. The more he tried to free himself the more he seemed to swell up. The solution was found by spraying cold water over his body, thus lowering the swelling until the man became free.
In 1930 the first electric cable was laid under the ocean by the cable ship Cyprus Field. It ran from Broad Cove, St. Phillips, to the beach at the Dominion Pier on Bell Island, a distance of about three miles. This helped to relieve much of the strain on the power plant. Over the years two more cables were added which supplied electricity to all of the island. The power plant closed in 1948.
Charlie Bown worked in the mines for 28 years. He started off as a miner in No. 6 Mine. He then became a welder, and repaired equipment underground. Charlie is retired and lives on Bell Island. His e-mail address is cbown@avalon.nf.ca.