Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1918-11-28

6O0O0O-one Of the greatest contributions ever
made BY "a bighearted public to stricken city.
What has been DONE or Is being done. with this
vast sum! Many people who opened their hearts
and their purses to Halifax would like to know.
and this article is designed to supply the infor-
NATION.
The figures given above tell in part what WINS
done for Halifax. but what Hnlifax has done for
itself is far longer story. Although the victim
Of disaster which at once ranked her among
the great trngedy cities of the world-Pompeii.
martinique. Galveston and San Frnncisco-Hali-
Tax staggered to her feet few seconds after the
titanic blast had laid waste her streets. de-
Stroyed her homes and Uttered the snow with her
dead. and went to work to fetch order out Of
chaos
"From spectacular and heroic point Of view"
declared George Macdonald OF the Canadian
Press "this continent has never produced such
daring set of civilian heroes sprang up ut the
Gall Of duty In those bleak December days In Hn
FAX History teens with horrors-recent his
tory paricularly-but no parallel exists for the
sequence Of aflicti0n with which Halifax was
deluged. Swift and appalling denth from the
whitening explosion, mnd panic at the fear OF
worse disaster from magazine disruption. horror
from the fires which greedy devoured the ruins
torture from the rapidly changing weather condi-
lions which went from blizzard to rain and from
rain to zero conditions in the three days succeed
the day. Of the catastrophe. Fate seemed to have
ceased its assaults only when 1t had exhausted
HIR repertoire OF cAlnmitleA
''Set against this appalling challenge the
unknown and untried courage Of Halifaxs ctti-
{ kens. How they batted through the combination
of anguish and misery almost nlOne for week.
~ Of the most inspiring dramas OF history
So much for what Halifax started to do. from
4 the pen of zone who watched thie Homeric bat
tle" az press correspondent. Chief among the
plain business men of heroic mold was Robert 7.
MacIlreith an ex-mayor of Halifax who had or
tganixed an emergency relief station at the city
nall within an hour after the limo had rammed
the Mont Blanc and let loose the devastating ex-
plosives pent up in the hold Of the latter ship.
Macbeth and his loyal associates not only got
on the Job at once but stayed there. practically
without rest sleep for ten days. succoring the
wounded, housing the homeless feeding the desti-
tute, caring for the dependents. providing fuel
and transportation fighting fire and burying the
dead. t#s}
Every man Of force and initiative and man
ageria ability went to work without moments
delay. The private car of George e. Graham Of
the Dominion Atlantic partly wrecked by
the blast, but General Manager Graham Mt once
became leading spirit in the great task Of Or
Ranixing temporary relief and his railroad gave
Invaluable assistance In the crisis.
In a week the emergency shelter committee. d.
kected by w. s. Davidson. chairman housed 5000
people and large number were even cared for
the very first night. Hospitals were established
and 1900 patients treated In IN incredibly short
time. Two thousand bodies were handled by the
mortuary department
The reconstruction committee. headed BY G..
tFred Pearson. a newspaper proprietor. lost no
thine In organizing the work Of building temporary
homes for the homeless to cover the period which
Il Must elapse before permanent construction could
BE- inaugurated. Mr.. Pearson asked Col. Robert
ID Low. the man who built the environments for
Hhe Canadian army. to give Halifax tho benefit Of
his experience and the colonel went to work ut
once with plenty Of energy. and without pay. 70
put roofs over the heads OF thousands Of Halifax
beople. When he had struck his stride. the man
rho built valcartisr camp coe tAs Canadian q.