Connecticut western news., 1917-12-20
A LETTER FROM HALIFAX
Tells of Terrible Havoc Wrought bY
 the Explosion.

' A letter has been received by the Rev. A. B. Crichton telling that his uncle Major H. D. Creighton and family are safe, but that their houss, was badly wrecsed. They live in Dart mouth across the harbor from Halifar and about a mile and half from tho devastated section of the city. The letter was written by Major Creigh- tons daughter who has been doing her bit by acting as her fathers secretary during the war.
 The letter reads in part:
 Ut is impossible for me to begin to give you any idea of the awful tragedy that has come upon Halifax, it is too awful for words. We are fortunate enough to be among the people who are not badly hurt. Father and Mothes were both cut rather badly about tho face and escaped without a scratch Nearly everyone has been trightfully cut and SO many people have lost their eyes by the falling glass. The number of dead is at present about two thou-. sand and of coarse the number wiIn greatly exceed that as 90 many people are very seriously injured and the aw-. ful blizzard we had yesterday woul& kill great many more. This morning stood at the top of nur hill and looke6 at the \ orth end of Halifax and there was nothing to be seen but a snow- covered plain There is not one house leit in two square miles, and the Nortk end of Dartmouth is almost as bad'.
 The paper tonight said that if ths explosion had occurred on land there would not have been living thing left in 10 square miles. As it was the water broke the force of the explosion, but don't see how anything oouId have been much worse than it already is as the City and Dartmouth are sim. ply wrecked"
 "I think the Americans nave beew simply wonderful in sending help. here. Besides lumber, hospital suppliesb clothing, doctors and nurses they nays voted $5, GOO, 900 and are sending 1, 0uO portable houses".
 "On Thursday morning I wa@ crossing the harbour on the o'clock boat as usual and fortunately for me E was up on dock When we were about half way across We all went to the North side of the ferry boat to look as a ship that was on fire. We saw great volumes of smoke and then suddenly this all broke into flames with the most terrific roar that ever expect to hear and this terrible sound kept up for a minute. My first thought was thata German ship had got in and was she'll. ing the City. A soldier shouted to us to lie down and we got flat on the deck. really think we got of better than anyone as there was no glass to break. Down in the cabins it was aw- ' ful as the big glass windows fell OF the people sitting there and they had their faces horribly cut. After landing walked around the town bit ana 1, although it was a scene of desolation. had no idea then of how bad things were. When got back to the ferry station saw so many faces sCisAzniz-s , with blood that tainted and two meu carried me on the boat On the trip across we could see that the whoIs , North end of the City was in flames. I got home to find that our house was a . wreck but that mother and Dad weSn safe with the exception of their cuts which are not serious. Mother had been standing in front of the kitchen win dow putting up curtains and the glass all came right in her face. It isn miracle that her eyes were saves. Father was in Mir. Bishops office ana a big plate glass window simply buried him. When Mir. Bishop went home EM couldn't find his wife anywhere. Sfrs had been in the kitchen and he finally fouud her unconscious on the back stairway with one us LsT eyes out. Siis had been blown right out of the kit- chen and up the stairway"
 ''It seems so triviai to speak of our losses when they are nothing in com parison 10 what others have sufferea- Of course there isn't window leit im the house and in some cases the saslles were torn out by the roots. The back door was flat on the floor aLd the hot water boiler almost there. The pantry floor was a mass of jam where dozeas of pots had smashed. The side of CIT house next the Creeds was wrenchcd away from the floors and ceilings ara the plaster has nearly all gone from the wall between my room and the back bedroom. Of course the first thing to do was to get something over ths windows and we have carpets, oil- clcth, blankets, sheathing.paper aud anything that will keep out ths weather. By now Father has quieesa number of windows boarded up ard we think sthat they are quite grand Great pieces of plaster are out in every room and a great many of the ceilings are cracked, but we have managed ts get one or two rooms liveable and the rest do not matter. My room is out af