The Red Cloud chief., 1918-12-05

Inc sum totals ~
bOO,OO0-One of the greatest contributions ever
made by blghearted public to a 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 wns
done for Halifax, but what Halifax has done for
itself Is far longer story Although the victim
OF disaster which at once ranked her among
the great tragedy cities Of the world-POmpeii,
Martinique, Galveston and San Francsco-FIali-
fax 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 a 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 at the
call of duty in those bleak December days in Hall
flax. History teens with horrors-recent his.
tory OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES no parallel exists for the
sequence OF affllctOn with which Halifax
deluged. Swift and appalling death from the
whitening explosion, mad panic at the fear Of
worse disaster from magazine disruption, horror
from the fires which greedy devOurcd the ruins.
torture from the rapidly changing weather c0ndl-
lions which went from blizzard to rain and from
rain TO zero conditions I'm the three days succeed
the day of the catastrophe. Fate seemed to have
ceased It's assaults only when IL had exhausted
its repertoire of caamities.
"Set against this appalling challenge the
Unknown and untried courage of Halifax's clti-
zens. How they battled through the combination
Of anguish and misery. almost alone for week,
is one of the most inspiring dramas of history"
So much for what Halifax started to do. from
the pen Of lone who watched this Homeric bat
tie" II press correspondent. Chief among the
plain business men of heroic mold was Robert T.
MacIlrpith an ey-mayOr Of Halifax who had
ganized an emergency relief station ut the city
hall within an bOur after the limo had rammed
the Mont Blanc and let loose the devastating
plOsives pont up in the hold of the latter ship.
Mac1lreith 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.
Every man OF force and initiative and man
ageral ability went to work without moments
delay. The private car of George +. Graham Of
the Dominion Atlantic was partly wrecked by
the blast, but General Manager Graham at once
became a leading spirit in the great task of or
ganizing temporary relief and his railroad gave
Invaluable assistance In the crisis
In n week the emergency shelter committee d.
rected by w. s. Davidson chairman. housed GOOO
people and n large number were even cared for
the very first night. Hospitals were established
and 1000 patients treated In an incredibly short
time. Two thousand bodies were handled by the
mortuary department
The reconstruction committee, headed by G.
Fred Pearson, a newspaper proprietor lost no
time in organizing the work of building temporary
homes for the homeless to cover the period which
must elapse before permanent construction could
be inaugurated Mr.. Pearson asked Col Robert
q. Low, the man who built the environments for
the Canadian army to give Halifax the benefit of
his experience, and the colonel went to work at
once with plenty Of energy. and without pay to
put roofs over the heads Of thousands Of Halifax
people. When he had struck his stride. the man
who built valcartier camp for the Canadian ex-