Evening journal., 1917-12-17
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an CorirSnordence
HALIFAX, Dec. To- .Delayedl.-"You
should have had a pass. but your Gre
dentlals appear to be satisfactory and
you may go through Mind that you
stay no longer than necessary"
With these words a lieutenant Of
Canadian artillery waved his hand to
a Gordon Of soldiers posted across Bar
rington street, a few hundred yards
north Of the demolished Canadian Pa
ciflc Railway terminal, and the writer
started on a six-mile zlg-zag hike over
the smouldering section Of Richmond
and Africville.
The SHOWS Of Saturday had been
partly washed away by a deluge that
fell all day Sunday and restored some
age stretched to the north as far as
the eye could see.
Street Sirewn with WreckaGe.
The immediate foreground from the
harbor edge westward across the slop-
ing hills Of Richmond was a mess OF
misplaced and misshapen things. The
street itself was strown with massive
telegram poles iheir heavy Gross ms
wrapped in a tangle Of the wires they
once supported. In places il was dim
cult TO tell that the section ever haC
had a street.
Scattered over the debris at intervals
objectn which at frst glance seemed
TO be a part Of the blackened shamble:
moved about. They were peOple-boys
girls, women and men-pokng about
aimlessly, helplessly, seeking 60 discern
something in that charred junk hear
that resembled their lost kin Nobody
was in there out Of curiosity.
A few hundred yards up the road from
the line Of military guard a boy crawlod
UP out Of a smoking cellar. laborer
said he had been there for two days
looking for his father and mother and
baby sister, the only relatives he had
this side Of Scotland. Throughout that
time he had wormed in and out Of
the beams and brick and plaster. pryng
his way with a piece Of twisted water
pipe.
Only once did he speak and that was
90 ask the labOrer TO help him throw
over a beam that blocked the way to a
heap of brick and plaster that once
had been the bedroom OF his mother.
No one thought 10 bring the lad food
and never did he ask for it, content
to MUNICH occasionally upon a pile Of
baked potatoes that lay on the cellar
floor.
Nothing short Of four thousand tons
Of TINT" could have served up such
an astounding variety Of wreckage. No
two lots were alike.
Despite the SHOWS and the rainfall the
ilres in many Of the razed homes con-
tnued to flare and at night lighted up
largo areas Of the district.
Small Animals Escape.
A curious feature OF the catastrophe
was the large number Of small animals
that escaped death A cat singed and
sooty with an ear gone came up Out
OF a cellar and followed the writer q
half mile over the snow. A white fol
terrier smeared with SCOT hoped in anC
out OF the wreckage Of one dwelling
giving no heed to the calls OF passersby
Ties been at 10 all day" remarked
a soldier. "and we can't catch him fo
a mascot. A while ago he scared up
couple Of chickens and chasen them NJ
the road. That's the only time he's lefl
the nlace."
It had been generally reported that
the Richmond district Of Halifax was
a settlement Of poor persons, but IN
the journey over the ruins the writer
observed an abundance OF furnishings
Of the sort not found In the homes
OF the poor. Practically all Of the build
ings were OF wood and from the un-
scathed sections Of the outer walls IL
was apparent that many Of th5 dwell
ings were shingled cottages common
IN suburban development.
few hundred yards away IN the
middle Of what had once been a cross
street lay two big bay horses One was
IN a sitting posture, both front feet
protruding as n the creature had fallen
and was trying to rise It's mate lay
over on It's side. the right foot stretched
over the other horses back. The hlr-
ness on each animal was intact. .BehirC
them lay the frame and wheels Of The
OF tank wagon tbfy had been drawing
The tank itself having been hurlyd about
three hundred yards away.
The hike had lasted some hours. when
the writer turned westward to the hill
tops, journeylng back In Gottlngen
street, which led southwark TO the rear
Of the citadel.
On the crest OF the hill there was less
damage than on the slopes below, hul
one house. a quaint little place recently
built by a man named Andrew Green
the foreman Of a sugar refinery al the
waters edge, was crushed Ike a nat.
tened egg she'll
a man Of about 80 provincial anc
talkative, walked about the place pick.
ing up splinters and throwing then
down again. He was the only human
being In the locality He had boen wan.
dering about the house aimlessly fol
two davs. although he knew there were
no bodies under the ruins.
Oh mister That is awful amt it2'
he asked. He was the married son o.
Andrew Green, Of the refinery. "Tha
square section you see sticking ou
there was fathers room" he said
Father and Joe and Edward wer0
burned up In the refinery. Father voul,
have gone, anyway, if he had stayed a
home. ] climbed up there this mornin.
M