The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-11-28
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5OO0O-onc Of the greatest contributions ever
made by n bg-i,enrted public to a stri cken city.
What has heen done. or is being done. with this
vast sum: Many people who opened their hearts
and their purses to IInfnx would like to know.
and this article Is designed to supply the infor-
nation.
The figures given above tell in part what was
done for Halifax. but what Halifax has done for
itself Ia far longer story. Although the victim
Of disaster which Mt once ranked her anon:
the great trrgely cities of the world-Pompeii.
Martinique. Galveston and San Francisco-flnli-
fax staggered to her feet n few seconds after the
titanic blast hnd laid waste her streets. de-
rtroyed her homes and Uttered the snow with her
dead. and went to work to fetch order out OF
chaos.
"From q spectacular and heroic point Of view.
declared George Macdonald of the Canadian
Press. this continent has never produced such
daring s"t Of civilian heroes sprhng up ut the
call Of duty In those blenk December days in Hal
flax. History teens with horrOrs-recent his
tory pnrticulnr'y-but parallel exists for the
sequence OF amiction with which Halifax was
deuged Swift and appalling death from the
whitening explosion. mad panic Mt the fear of
disaster from magazine disruption. horror
from the fires which greedy devoured the ruins.
torture from the npidly changing weather condi-
. tfons which went from blizzard to rain and from
rain conditions In the three days succeed
the day OF the catastrophe. Fate seemed to have
ceaseti It's ASSAULTS only when 1t had exhausted
its repertoire Of cnlamities.
unknown nnd untried courage of HalIfaSs citi-
zens. How they hnttled through the combination
Of anguish and misery. almost alone for n week.
II Of the most inspiring dramas Of history"
So much for what Halifax started to do. from
fhe pen Of lone who watched This Homeric bat
fle" press correspondent. Chief among the
plain business men Of heroic mold Robert T.
MacIirelth. ex-mayor of Halifax, who had or
ennized an emergency relief station at the city
hall within an hour nfter the limo hnd rammed
the Mont Blnnc and let loose the devastating
plosves pent up in the hold of the latter ship
MacIlreith 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
dend. ~.
Every man Of force and initiative nnd man.
agerial ability went to work without moments
delay. The private of George f. Graham of
the Dominion Atlantic was partly wrecked by
the blast. hut General Manager Graham at once
became leading spirit in the great task of or
ganizing temporary relief and his railroad gave
invaluable assistance In the crisis.
In week the emergency shelter committee. d.
rected by w. s. Davidson. chairman housed 6.0OO
people and large number were even cared for
the very first night Hospitals were established
and 1905 patients treated in incredibly short
time. Two thousand bodies handled by the
mortuary department..
The reconstruction committee. headed by @.
Fred Pearson newspaper proprietor. lost
time in organizing the work Of building temporary
homes for the homeless cover t. period which
must elnpsc before permanent construction could
- inncgurated. Mr. Pearson asked Col Robert
q Low the man who built the cantonments for
fhe Canadian army. to give Halifax the benefit of
~ experience. snd the colonel went to work Mt
Snce with plenty of energy. and without pay, to
put roofs over the heads Of thousands OF Halifax
people. When he had strurk his stride. the man
UhO built vaicsrtier camp for the Canadian ex-