Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1917-12-14
Thousands More Injured, Ship.
ping Destroyed and Millions
of Dollars Property DAM
age Done in British
Naval Base.
TWO SQUARE MILES OF
CITY Is DEVASTATED
Hundreds Trapped in Wreckage-Chil-
dren Among Victims, and Schools
Are Turned Into Morgues-ToWn in
Darkness and Panic-Relief- Rushed
From Many Sources-Soldiers and
Sailors Patrol Streets.

From Many Sources-SoIdiers and
Sailors Patrol Streets.
Halifax.-Confused whistle signals
! exchanged between the French mull'
] ton ship Mont Blanc and the Belgian
relief steamship Iona resulted in a
collision that caused an explosion
which killed more than 1000 persons,
| injured thousands and destroyed mil.
lions of dollars worth of property.
The disaster, which has plunged the
Dominion into mourning, probably will
rank as the most fearful that ever oc-
Cured on the American continent.
! Residents of Halifax and thousands Of
/ volunteer relief workers who have
come into the city lave been almost
dazed at the extent of the horror.
Temporary morgues have been es.
tablished in many buildings, to which
a steady procession Of vehicles OF all
kinds have been carrying for hours
the bodies of men, women and chill
dren. Most of them were so charred
| that they were unrecognizable.
Thousands of persons seeking trace
of relatives and friends have passed
by the long, silent rows, attempting
by the fickering light of lamps and
lanterns to identify the ones they
sought.
Virtually every building in the city
which could be converted into hos.
pital is filled with wounded, many OF
them so desperately injured that there
is no hope of their recovery. Scores
already have died in these temporary
hospitals.
Soldiers, sailors and police patrolled
the streets, and upon them fell the ma
jor portion of the burden of search
ing among the ruins for the dead and
wounded. The Canadians were assist
ed in this work by bluejackets from an
American warship in the harbor.
Five thousand tons of high explo-
sives on board the Frenchman blew
up with terrific force. Two square
miles of the town of Halifax and the
suburb of Richmond were shaken and
devastated and a. fire that followed
completed the havoc that had already
been begun Ships in the harb0r,
among them the Canadian cruiser Nj
ODE, were damaged Two of the crew
of the Niobe were killed and many
more injured.
The French steamship was coming
into port and was headed for Pier g.,
one of the new piers constructed along
the northern end of the waterfront.
The Belgian ship was outward bound.
The Mount Blanc signaled that she
, was going to starboard. The Belgian
did not get the signal correctly AMI
rammed the munition ship.
There came at first minor explosion
and fire on board the Frenchman. Her
crew took to the boats and escaped.
Seventeen minutes after the first
shock the entire 5000 tons of high ex-
| plosives in her hold exploded.
The fame swept area covers approx
imately two and one-half square miles.
1t begins at what is known as the
North Street Bridge, extending north
to Pier on the Richmond waterfront
! and back to a point running parallel
with Cottingen street. Nothing has
been left standing in this section Of
the city.
Only a pile of smouldering ruins
marks the spot where the great build
ing Of the American Sugar Refining
Company stood.
The great drydock and the buildings
which surrounded it were all destroy
ed. The Richmond school, which
housed hundreds of children, was de-
molished, and it is reported ony three
escaped.
Canadian officers who have seen
long service in France characterize
the catastrophe as "the most fearful
which has befallen any city in the
world"
Most of the residents of Halifax
were at breakfast when the explosion
occurred, at half past eight o'clock.
The kitchen cook stoves that were
sent sprawling amid the ruins Of
homes started fires simultaneously in
scores of places, and that fact contrib
uted heavily to the latter damage done
by fire.
So terrific was the concussion that
most of the buildings in the northern
part of the city, covering an area Of
two square miles, and many of them
as old as the city, tumbled down like
child's row of standing dominoes. In
them and under them were caught the
hapless persons who had not an ink
ling Of warning of the catastrophe
that was upon them.
The blast stretched its hand OF
death even across the harbor and laid
WASTE a large part of the beautiful lit.
tle saburb of Dartmouth. From towns
and Mllages miles back in the country
cams aassaarts Of desolation and death.