The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-12-08
First Train From Suffering
City Brings Sinister
Report.
CHILDREN BLINDED
BY FLYING GLASS
Passenger Tells Of Injured
Mother Petting Dead
Babies.

Boston, Dec. "A report that ma
val magazine blew up, preciplta,lne
the Halifax disaster. and that the body
of German was found near the mag
azine was brought to this city tonight
by A. ], Goldberg, a merchant of New
York, who was in the first party of
refugees to reach here from the shat
tered city.
Goldberg did not vouch for the re-
port. He said the information was
given him by a railroad official who
said he had it from u member Of the
municipal government of Halifax
According to this story. when the
naval magazine exploded ships in the
immediate vicinity cut loose their
moorings and scurried out into the
stream. In the fleet was a heavily la
den munitions steamer. During the
scramble for safety she was rammed
by freight steamer and blew up
spreading havoc far and wide.
Goldberg, in company with Charles
j. Clark, a travelling salesman Of Mon
treal, was on a train bound from St.
John to Halifax.
Children slindsd BY Glass.
I'VE were about eight miles out Of
Halifax" said s8olubets, when there
was slight explosion and then a ter
rible one. The train came to "a sudden
stop. Almost Immediately the Pullman
car began to rock and the glass began
to break. Il was clear morning and
as we got out of the car, we could
see great cloud of smoke hanging low
nnls i,, =, a lte.ta TtNa
gineer started up the train and We
proceeded slowly to Africville. We got
out and were Mortified at the sight We
saw.
"The platform of the railroad sta
tion was crowded with wounded people
most of them children. Many of the
children were cropping about. They
could not see. Their eyes We're filled
with bits of glass. ! noticed, too, thai
most of the children were cut abou,
the neck. 1t seemed just as if IA keen.
edged knife had slashed each little
throat.
! Mother Carried Dead Babies.
I'VE took about $50 OF the injured
aboard the train and gave them wha1
medical aid we could. All the passen-
gers turned doctor. The first one
treated was little girl. She could no
see. Her eyes We're filled with glass
/ got the glass out, but she could no
see then. She was blind. The glas.
had cut into her eyeballs. She was
brave little mite. She didn't cry on,
bit.
"Clark deserves great credit. II,
knows a little about medicine and will
coat off and sleeves rolled up h
pitched right in. l bet he treated s.
of the wounded. He had a bottle o
brandy in his grip and that helpe,
some. There was one mother with tw
babies in her arms. Her face was GOV
!ered with blood, but she kept wipin
the blood from her eyes, hugging tn
babies to her breast all the while. w
took the babies from her In order tina
we might treat her wounds with band
ages that we made from the Pullma
bed linen. The two babies were deat
We didn't tell the mother, but put tn
little ones away in a berth.
Men Blown From Ship.
After a while the train was starte
back4to Truro with the wounded. Fou
children died on the way.
1.-TWO sailors on the train said the
had been blown off a tug in the harbo
They were soaked to the skin and wei
shivering from cold.
On the way back to Truro, we got
view of the harbor. saw three Be
gian relief ships and apparently the
hadn't been damaged"