Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1917-12-09
.|CE-T0PPED SNOW
HAI Te pESrnERe !:,'>l''
Halifax Turns From Wreck
age to Save Lives of Her
Injured Thousands.
NEW DEATH ESTIMATE 1000
Property Loss Will Total Not
Less Than $30,O00,000;
Fires Still Burning.
SEA GIVES BACK 200 BODIES
First of Relief Trains Reaches
City After Flowing Thru
Deep Snowdrifts.
SEA GIVES BACK 200 BODIES

HALIFAX, n. s., Dec. S.-Four
thousand dead. This is the new esti-
mate tonight of the superintendent of
the morgue. whose duty it is to as
semble and expose for Identification.
If possible, the bodies of those who
perished by shock or fire when the
munition ship Mont Blanc blew up N
the harbor Thursday night
His estimate, that startled even
those who have lived thru three days
of horror, was based on the records of
his district assistants, who late to-
night reported n total OF one thousand
bodies recovered. They have figured
on a certain number for "A prescribed
area. There appears to be no other
way of determining the loss. Hun
dreds. perhaps thousands, of bodies
have been consumed by the flames and
in scores of cases not only whole fam
lilies, put whole neighborhoods. have
been wiped out, and the names of all
their dead may never be known.
Wounded Dying Rapidly.
Tut the Outstanding fact that has
been faced by the authorities with IL
courage that catalogues the admira-
ton of their kinsmen from the south
of the border Is that tweny thousand
persons are destitute and of that NUM-
ber perhaps ore out of seven is suffer-
Ing from injuries which in many cases
are bound to prove fatal.
1t was almost impossible to make
progress over the streets because of
the great drifts of snow. 1t lay deep
upon the wreckage and tonight II had
turned to n solid mass of ice that de-
fled the attempts of searchers 10 dig
thru with picks.
How long Vt 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 thousands of volunteers not
personally affected and demoralized all
effort for concerted searching.
Fires still Burning.
Right in the heart of this area fires
starting Thursday were blazing to-
night Ike bonfires and the crowds
moving along the rough snow paths
caught something thnt made the at.
mo3phere well nigh unbearable. II
was the odor of burning flesh.
Men of the naval forces dragged the
water front today and recovered the
bodies of two hundred sailors, SOL
diers and workmen.
Tonight the work of organizaing
the various relief units into a work.
able whole with general direction
that would avoid duplication of Of
forts and tend to the greatest effici-
ency, was well under way.
Federal, provincial and Red Cross
aid, supplemented by volunteer units
from other cities and the United
States. were being utilized to the best
advantage. The Massachusetts relief
train, which had been stalled much
of the night in snow drifts near the
Nova Scotian border. arrived today,
bringing the first contingent of ply
siclans. nurses and supplies 1t was
the first OF several trains en- route
from the American side.
Snow Blocks Traffic.
More than a foot of snow fell last
night. Today the storm passed and
the weather was clear and cold. Street
cars were stalled In the drifts during
the night, but today the service had
been restored. The day also saw the
lighting system renewed In part and
after Darkness fell the city looked a
little less black and forbidding. Fortu-
natelv the telephone service is good.
but there is a sombre Significance in
the report Of so many dead" mum.
bers.
The water supply is causing the
most concern. Emergency repairs arc
being made as fast as 1t Is humanity
possible, but the system was still Sc
riously deranged this afternoon.
The. property loss, variously esti-
mated at from twenty to fifty mil
CoNIINuED ON PAGE FIVE.