Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-12-08
GRAPHIC STORYUNITY OF NATION
OF THE TRAGEDY SHOWN TO WORLD
by AN ADlERICANN THE WAR VOTE
Former Portland Man Tells
of the Havoc Wrought by
the Explosion of Ship
Laden With Munitions.

st. John. N. B.. Dec. s.-Declaring he
at first thought the entire city had
blown up and that he did not regain
his senses until after he had labored
long in the work of pulling injured and
dead from beneath wreckage. Roy Will
liams. formerly of Portland, Me-. today
told the United Press of his experiences
in Halifax when the munition ship
Mont Blanc blew up in the harbor.
A graphic description Of the wreck
age, the broken. bleeding bodies, the
pail Of smoke that hung over the town
and made more CHASTITY the screams Of
the injured. came from the lips Of Will
llams over the telephone to st. John
from Windsor. where he had been sent
with other wounded. Word received
here stated that rescue crews are
working valiantly today in the teeth of
fierce northeast gale. Bodies are be-
ing removed from deep drifts Of snow
in many places.
BURIED BY WREckA0E.
williams was buried by flying
wreckage.
II was standing on harrington street
waiting for a car" said Williams
when felt the sidewalk shake. The
roar that followed made me think tina,
the whole city had blown up"
/ Insanity" was the word he used tc
| describe the scenes that followed
Screeching women. weeping men, dis
tracted children mingled in the TORI
streets. he declared.
II remember hearing the awfu
Noise" he continued. but for som.
time after that didn't know anything
had been struck by a flying bricl
from chimney. My side is very sort
and 1 am bruised. but am lucky.
MASS OF FLAMES.
All below me when I awoke was
mass of flames. For miles it seemed
to me that every building had bee,
destroyed. II seemed as If some fore,
had turned the foundations Of thes,
buildings to jelly. They had simpl.
crumbled and sunk to jumblet
shambles.
People were dashing through tn,
streets. Some were part dressed, 9th
ers with blood streaming from wounds
Others mutilated beyond hope of iden
tification were lying in the streets
some at my very feet
II tried to run toward Hollis street
the wreckage was indescribable. Build
ings l had passed only short tim
before were lying In ruins. Only thel
did l realize the full force of the bias
that had struck the town. I began t
hurry into the North End where mos
Of my friends lived. / met men an,
women, tears in their eyes. blood II
their faces, searching for lost friend
and relatives. One man, his vote
choked with sobs, rushed up to me OF
the street and wanted to know II I ha,
seen his wife and children. They wer
missing, he said.
PICKING UP INJURED.
"Firemen began rushing about tn
streets. The confusion became s.
great l decided it was useless to pusl
ahead and began to help pick up tn
injured.
Men and women writhed IN tn
flame swept ruins. As we worked t
get them, their screams spurred u
on. Many Of them were silenced lonl
before we could aid them.
Il continued in a stunned way I
help pick up the charred and tor
things that had been men and womer
l worked until was driven from tn
scene by fire and smoke. l began t
get dizzy and realized 1 had bee
bleeding from wounds. My hands wer
torn from clawing at the wreckage.
Some time in the afternoon l CAV
up. My lungs were burning. My eye
were hot Goals. I was stumbling in
daze from loss of blood. The cit
swan before me.