Evening star., 1917-12-09

ght in the ruins of homes buried
he physically exhausted searchers
r sickening task, 1000 bodies had
1t in sight.
york Interrupted. That was last
rom the north with force that
ent viewed scores Of trees. burly OF
trunk. that literally were snapped in
two ten feet from the ground. Big brick
structures came down with smaller ones
of frame, but 1t was in these modest
dwellings, that the greatest loss Of life
occurred.
Fortunately it happened before hum
dreds OF children had gathered at the big
school in the heart of the district, which
was wrecked. But most OF these Same
youngsters were caught while playing
about their homes.
VIII Not Forget Ships Name.
The steamer Mont Blanc. a name
never to be forgotten here. lies across
the stretch Of water from the section
heap. Nesrby. hard sson the beach
where 4 wAa HrtFan hys the explcgten.
lies ne crippled relief ship: and NEAR
/ stands with no apparent sign of dam
age. Other and smaller ship hulke
Offer mute evidence OF the disaster.
! while 1.4eo freight cars on the water.
front were burned to the base.
All over this wide area the story is
the same. There is a sloping hill that
runs down to the water and at the
window gone. its walls cracked and
its steepie leaning like the Tower of
Pisa. Around and about on every side
are the black and charred ruins where
ther to the edge OF the devastated
area another church escaped. but every
window frame was ripped out clean.
Ice Defies Searchers.
1t was almost impossible to make
progress lover the streets. because OF
the great drifts of snow. 1t lay deep
upon the wreckage, and tonight It had
turned to a solid mass of ice. that de-
fled the attempts OF searchers to dig
through with picks.
How long it will take this ice to thaw
nobody knows. In any other time the
blizzard yesterday would have caused
much suffering. but coming on top OF
the greater disaster. It simply stunned
the thousands of volunteers, not per.
sonally afflicted. and demoralized all ef.
fort for concerted searching.
Right in the heart of this area fires.
starting Thursday. blazed tonight like
bonfires, and the crowds moving along
the rough snow paths caught some
thing that made the atmosphere here
well nigh unbearable. 1t was the odor
Of burning flesh.
No Accurate Census Of District.
The flames laaya Et+ro <-,a. 80 ...-
fact may give substance to the new
official estimate Of 1000 dead. There
was no accurate census of the popula-
tion of Richmond district. Families came
and went. and when whole families were
lost there was no one left to report their
deaths. The Halifax man who had not
looked upon this action can no more ap-
proximate the death toll than can the
Boston man. Picture two and a half
square miles Of homes torn down by an
explosion and then left to the fury OF
miles away can get an idea of the ex-
tent of the disaster.
There are dismantled buildings in the
rows of streets that have not yet been
dragged down. The walls lean at dan
gerous angles. and window blinds. coated
with ice. kept UP an all-day Tapping as
the wind swept through. There are piles
and piles of ruins that no available force
at present here can clear away in wee1ks.
Not much will be found to help solve
the maddening riddle as to the number
gone.
Tents Shelter Homeless.
Going out from the business section
the newspaper correspondents obtained
the first vivid impression in passing a
wide snow-covered park with 600 tents
in which part Of the homeless were be-
ing supplied with food and heat. There
were not houses enough to shelter
them. but the fact stands out that
while the city was stunned Thursday IL
provided quarters for every person in
distress. The tent quarters were COM
Portable without doubt.
mond district are the morgues. A four
story school building, badly damaged
by the jar. IL the main morgue, into
which hundreds tramped today in
search OF the missing. But the view
was heartbreaking to those who feared
and blackened to7such an extent that
the only chance Of Identification Law
in the possible finding Of q trinket. OF
the 800 in this morgue not more than
so bodies had been claimed tonight.
Die at Relief Stations.
Various reports regarding large
numbers killed In certain buiidfnrs
have been accsStsd s ssnsrai,y - oor-
lief stations while being removed to
hospitals and el0oWherA Heretofore
II has been moro or lees gueoowork.
bat the oficer in charge OF the morgueo
axed 5000 as the nnmbex: this being
based bag .go upon reports ts, sre. es,esrs yse
with svsrythins bsrssa ynaw the