A NARRATIVE
OF THE
EXPLOSION AT HALIFAX
25 CENTS
By JOHN T. GAMMON
Author of
AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE DISASTER
By a Victim
TO THE MEMORY OF THE UNFORTUNATE
VICTIMS AND DEEPEST SYMPATHY
TO THE SURVIVING RELATIVES
The writer is also a sufferer, home totally
destroyed, two youngest children lost their lives,
wife seriously injured. Read the former article.
'An Illustration by a Victim of the Halifax Explosion'
on sale for 10 cents at H. H. Marshall's
Book Store, Halifax, N. S.
PROLOGUE
THE 6th December, 1917, is a never-to-be
forgotten day. Calendars of the future will
probably recall the Halifax disaster. Through the
colliding of the Belgian Relief Ship "Imo" and
Munition Ship "Mont Blanc", the deck cargo of
benzine on the "Mont Blanc" caught fire, and shortly
after the flames reached the under cargo of 3,000
tons of T.N.T., the most powerful of explosives,
which immediately exploded with a resounding roar,
destroying the whole North End of the City, causing
the death of 2,000 people, injuring 3,000, and
rendering 6,000 people homeless, damaging property to
the extent of 25,000,000 dollars.
Hundreds of injured persons were rushed by
trains out of the City to various towns near by, the
local hospitals were unable to cope with such large
numbers.
Wounded soldiers who had returned from the
front, got up and dressed, giving their beds to more
serious cases.
Hundreds who lost homes, relatives, and were
themselves badly hurt, bore their sorrows with
great heroism.
Nearly 4,000,000 dollars was collected and sent
from all parts to assist in the relief of the stricken
City.
CHAPTER ONE
Situated on the eastern shores of North America
and washed by the broad Atlantic is the old
historical port of Halifax. It has been noted for years
for its great activity in the shipping world, its fine
harbour has many advantages. At the head of the
harbour we had Bedford Basin, which is entered
through the Narrows and capable of anchoring
hundreds of vessels, large and small.
During the war several ships with notable people
have entered the harbour, but not one has left such
a record of frightfulness as the French Munition
Ship "Mont Blanc."
The dawn of the ill-fated morning opened with
the making of a glorious day, the inhabitants little
dreaming that before the sun had crossed the meridian,
Halifax would be visited with a catastrophe that
baffles description.
The majority of husbands, fathers, brothers, had
left their homes for their daily toils, mothers were
getting breakfast for the little ones, others had sent
the children to school, the usual daily tasks were
just starting, and the thoughts of most were to get
the house work finished early in order to get out and
enjoy a brief respite in the beautiful sunshine.
CHAPTER TWO.
The harbour was busy as usual with its small
craft bustling around, everything seemed to be tuned
to the highest pitch with the prospects of a lovely
day.
The Belgian Relief Ship "Imo" had left her
anchorage at the Basin preparatory for her trip to
New York, where she was to load with relief stores
for that plucky little country Belgium.
The French Munition Ship "Mont Blanc" was
proceeding up the harbour, prior to entering the
Basin, where she was to await convoy.
As the ships came into view, the pilots saw the
danger, and according to testimony at the subsequent
enquiry, each blew their sirens for the right of
way, but some one blundered, and the two ships
crashed together, and almost immediately the deck
together, and almost immediately the deck cargo of
cargo of the munition ship caught fire.
The advent of the ships in collision and later,
fire breaking out, attracted large crowds of workmen
from the workshops, women ran out of their
houses, their curiosity aroused, dozens of men
flocked to the pier heads to get a closer view. A
well known merchant of the North End telephoned
for the fire engine, and a few moments later the fire
engine "Patricia" with its gallant Chief and attendants,
appeared on the scene to fight the flames.
The warships in the harbour dispatched their
steamboats with brave sailors on board to assist
also. Meanwhile the French crew with the captain
and pilot were abandoning the ship and making for
the Dartmouth shore and safety, — they knew the
dangerous cargo she held.
CHAPTER THREE
About 9.15 a. m., the flames reached the cargo
of T. N. T., which, with a tremendous roar that was
heard for miles around, blew up. The whole of
the North End of the City for two square miles
instantly became a blazing ruin; hundreds of
individuals were ushered into eternity not knowing
what had happened; hundreds were burned to death,
and hundreds more maimed for life. Miles of piers
were swept away, carrying scores of lives with it;
some bodies were recovered later by divers, others
never found; also the steamboats with their crews,
were sunk; boats were damaged and left high and
dry upon the roads, washed up by the tidal wave
which followed the explosion. There was hardly a
pane of glass left intact in the whole City.
Part of the gun which was on the bow of the
"Mont Blanc," was found two miles away. Huge
fragments of the ship were thrown for miles, killing
and maiming human beings and animals. The
comfortable homes purchased by long years of labour
by the owners were destroyed. Huge factories
employing large numbers of hands were demolished
and workmen horribly mutilated. Parts of human
limbs strewn around; frantic mothers terribly
injured heard the cries of their little children caught
in the burning debris of the houses and were unable
to rescue them. Dead bodies of men, women and
children, mingled with the remains of horses, cats
and dogs.
Men who had left their work and rushed home
to try and find their loved ones, desperately tearing
at the burning brands to reach the inmates inside;
others carrying their friends on planks and doors,
placing them on teams to rush them to the hospitals,
everyone covered with dirt and filth and unrecognizable.
Then again to see women and children rushing
along with their clothes blown off but practically
unhurt; mothers with blood streaming down their
faces, sitting near their old homes nursing dead
children, and many other pathetic sights.
CHAPTER FOUR.
About one hour later, the news was flashed around
that another explosion was expected as the flames
were spreading from a ruined factory to an
ammunition yard.
People already dazed were running wildly around
not knowing where to turn. "Get into open ground!"
was the cry. Teams were commandeered, loaded
with human freight, horses were lashed and headed
for the open country.
"Put your child on this team," said a driver to a
man who was trundling along with his wife and
child; there was only room on the team for the
baby. "No," said the man addressed, "if there is
another explosion we will be together." Motor cars,
coal wagons and vehicles of all kinds raced to put
as much distance between them and the danger spot
as possible.
Everyone seemed terror stricken. "What is it?"
asked one poor woman badly injured, her home and
children gone, "is this the end of the world, or have
the Germans come?"
Women in jewellery and furs huddled with her
poorer sisters, all drawn together in one common
flight.
Meanwhile, at the time the people were fleeing, a
party of sailors were taking the explosives from the
broken sheds and throwing them into the harbour.
The bravery of these men, although not recognized,
was one of the redeeming features. They belong
to the Silent Service and were only doing their duty.
Later on in the day the news was passed that all
danger was over, and some returned to the City,
others would not be persuaded.
CHAPTER FIVE
The hospitals had not escaped, the windows and
doors were destroyed and hundreds of unfortunate
people were taken there. Corridors and lavatories
became piled up with the never ending stream of
victims. The doctors and nurses were overworked
to the breaking point.
Messages were flashed over the wires for help,
which was answered nobly. "We are coming with
relief trains, doctors and nurses," said Boston and
Massachusetts, and with utmost despatch these
helpers arrived, and at once set to work to relieve
the already over-burdened heroic doctors and
nurses.
Our own women in the City vied with each other
to do all in their power to relieve the suffering.
The injuries were frightful to witness, eyes and
upper part of faces blown away, limbs torn off,
others badly burned.
Several remarkable incidents happened. One
woman who was in bed with her baby was blown
through the side of the house and landed in the street
still on the bed. The only injury was a slight blow
on the hand, the child was unhurt. Her little boy
who was in the bed also with her a few moments
before, but had got out and gone to the window
with his grandmother to watch the burning ship,
had his eyes and top part of his face torn
completely off, and his grandmother was killed; a total
of seventeen persons lost their lives in this family.
Another peculiar experience: A man was just
stepping from the gangway of his ship in which he
was serving and was going to visit his captain who
was in the hospital; when the explosion occurred, he
found himself whirling through space and landed on
Fort Needham, a distance of half a mile, denuded
of all clothing and badly shaken.
Another case occurred where a girl was blown
from the road, caught in some telegraph wire over
head, where she was subsequently rescued bruised
and shaken.
The freaks of the displacement of the air caused
by the explosion played numerous tricks on that
never-to-be forgotten day.
CHAPTER SIX
A number of prominent citizens of Halifax
organized relief committees to assist the distressed
people, and every available vehicle was requisitioned
for transporting the dead and injured to the various
hospitals and morgues.
Tents were erected to accommodate the homeless,
and persons whose homes were not totally
destroyed, quickly got together, boards, carpets,
tarpaper, and tried to block up the huge rents and gaps
in their homes, and kindly took in less fortunate
than themselves, and as many as five and six
families were herded together in a couple of rooms.
Relief stores were opened to supply the people
with food and fuel, which was sadly needed; clothing
was collected and sent from all parts of Canada.
The following day to make matters worse and
increasing the misery and suffering of the people,
the City was visited by a blinding blizzard, making
the work of rescue extremely difficult, and many
persons who might by chance have been alive amidst
the ruins died from exposure.
It seemed as if the elements delighted in the
havoc already wrought. The houses in which the
people were housed were coated with ice, water
pipes were frozen, clothing and food scarce.
For several days after the disaster, Halifax
seemed in a torpid state, streets were in darkness,
car service stopped, telephone and telegraph system
interrupted, storm raging.
CHAPTER SEVEN
On visiting the Chebucto School Morgue were
seen piles of corpses. On one side the women and
children and on the other the men. The sights were
hideous to behold, — here we see a poor woman with
her child, the head of the mother is gone, the child
is mutilated beyond recognition. They are all
covered with a sheet and numbered. The roof of the
morgue was damaged, windows blown out, rain and
snow beating in, about two inches of water covered
the floors, and the bodies were lying in pools of
water. At night a few dim lights were burning, the
sentries off duty huddled around oil stoves for
warmth, — it was one of the most gruesome
spectacles ever witnessed.
Day by day bodies were collected and taken by
the morgue to await identification, and at times the
stillness would be pierced by cries of enquirers who
had recognized some relatives amidst the
Not infrequently would be seen little heaps of
charred remains collected in a pail, and a card having
such words as "Remains of five persons," giving
the names of victims and where found, headless
trunks of males, a ghastly solitary human leg.
Hundreds of corpses were buried and unidentified, funeral
services were held by representatives of the different
denominations.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A man was picked up near the Naval College,
he was to all appearances dead, and placed with the
corpses and taken to the morgue. Towards evening,
probably through the cold water dropping on him,
he recovered from his unconscious state and groaned.
The sentry on duty, hearing noises proceeding from
what he thought was the dead, became alarmed and
called the sergeant in charge. On investigating,
this man was discovered and immediately taken to
the hospital, where he was treated and has now
recovered with the loss of one eye.
Numerous victims lost the sight of one or both
eyes, caused through broken glass. A pathetic
picture
to see was a poor woman who had lost her sight and
by her side she was fondling her little son who was
also totally blind. For days after, on going through
the streets, almost every second person you met, was
bearing the scars of one kind and another, showing
the number of injured persons ran into thousands.
The snow which fell after the accident, although
hampering the searchers in their work, mercifully
covered the blackened and charred timbers with a
mantle of white.
Every day victims were being discovered in all
kinds of poses beneath piles of wreckage. A woman
with a little boy frozen on her lap were dug out;
evidently she was sitting by the stove in the act of
dressing the child when the explosion occurred.
To stand amidst the devastated area and see the
complete destruction caused by the ammunition ship,
it seems hardly creditable that any human being
escaped alive.
It was impossible to tell the different streets,
etc., for burned telegraph poles, trees, tram cars,
railway tracks, factory chimneys, furniture from the
houses all mingled in awful chaos.
Sentries were posted to prevent curious spectators
from visiting the ruins, unless by pass.
Series of workmen are employed cleaning up the
rubbish.
Halifax is endeavouring to rise to the occasion
and out of the ruins, emerging to a brighter and
more prosperous city.
