Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1918-12-05

IL SUN tidlh 9~pi
M0,0G0-Ona Of the greatest contributions ever
made by a hig-llearted public to n stricken city.
What has been done, or is being done, with TINS
vast SUN? Many people who opened their hearts
and their purses to Halifax would like to KNOW
and this article is designed to supply the ihior-
mation.
The figures given above tell in part what was
done for Halifax, hut what Halifax has done tor
itself ls a far longer story. Although the victim
OF a disaster which at once ranked her among
the greet tragedy cities of the world-Pomp@l'
Martinique. Galveston and san Francisco--iaHF
fax staggered to her feet a few seconds ar'er i've
titanic blast had laid waste her streets oe
stroyed her homes and Uttered the snow with her
dead, and went to work to fetch order out Oh
chaos.
"rrom n spectacular and heroic point Of view
declared George Macdonald Of the Canadiah
Press. this continent has never produced such II
daring set Of civilian heroes as sprang up at the
ee,, Of duty In those bleak December days In hal
fax. History teens with horrors-recent ms
tory particularlv-but no parallel exists LOT 'e
sequence Of affection with which Halifax was
de,ured. Swift and appalling death from the
whitening explosion, mad panic {. the rear OF "
worse disaster from a magazine d'sruntoh' horro'
from the fires which greedily devoured the runs
torture from the rapidly changing weather condl-
lions which went from blizzard TO raln ana from
min To zero conditions in the three days succeed
the dsv NJ the catastrophe. Fate seemed TO nave
ceased its assaults only when 1t had exhausted
tts repertoire Of calamittes.
"set against this appalling challenge was tne
unknown md untried courage or Hali1aAs clu-
Gems. How they battled through the combination
Of anguish md misery. almost alone TOT u week.
n one OF the most inspiring dramas OF history"
30 much FOR what Halifax started to 40, IRON
the men Of lone who watched this Homerlc bat-
% =. - s..., ,nrrocpnpdpnt. Chief among the
MAIN business men Of heroic mold was Robert !.
Mocnreith. nm ex.mnyor Of Halifax, who had or
sanized an emergency relief station at the city
hail within m hour after the lmo had rnmlnea
,he Mont Blanc and let loose the devastating ex'
o,os,yes pcnt up In the hold Of the inter snip,
MacIlreith and his loyal associates NOT only so'
on the lob mt once. but stayed there, prartlcaliy
without rest or sleep for ten days. succoring the
wounded. housing tho homeless, feeding the desti
INTO. caring for the dependents. providing fue'
and TRANSPORTATION. fighting fire and burying the
dead.
Every man Of force and initiative md man
aRerial ability went to work without n moment
hclay. The private car Of George u. tira'nm !"
the Dominion Atlantic was partly wrecked I"
the blast, but General Manager Graham NJ ono
becnmc n leading spirit In the great task OF or
enn,z,ng temporary relief and his railroad CAV
invaluable assistance In the crisis.
In ! week the emergency shelter committee. d
rected nv ". s. Davidson, chairman. housed GOO
ceon,e and n large number were even cared ff
me very Arst night. Hospitals were e~stahlishe
ana 4,oOO patients treated In nm incredibly sho'
dine. Two thousand bodies were handled by tn
mortuary department.
The reconstruction committee. headed ~ I
Fred penrscn. n newspaper proprietor. lost q
time In organizing the work Of building te'nporni
homes for the homeless to cover til" period VINE
must elapse before permanent construction ro"
be inaugurnted. Mr.. Pearson nsked Col !o"s
Low mo man who built the environments Il
--~--the Canadian army. to give IlnlIfax the beneht
his experience. and the colonel went to work
once with plenty " energy. and without pay.
ont roofs over the heads ~ thousands vt HAHN
peop,e, When hp Ind struck hla stride. the MI
who built va,cartier camp s"- the Gambia" 2