112“When the crew walked past the drums . . .”: Bird, The Town That Died, p. 6.
113“Instead, the ship was equipped . . .”: Armstrong, The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy, pp. 35–36.
113“and another two hours . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 48.
113“Taking all this information in . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 20.
Chapter 13: December 5, 1917
118“At about 2:30 on Wednesday . . .”: This exchange is derived largely from Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 22.
119“What time CXO Wyatt ordered the antisubmarine gates closed . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 16–17.
120“But when he scanned . . .”: Armstrong, The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy, pp. 29–30.
120“In fact, Freeman thought Mont-Blanc . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 16.
120“Any chance Le Médec . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 19.
120“Freeman understood Le Médec and Mackey . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 17.
121“Noble Driscoll was watching . . .”: Kitz, Survivors, pp. 2–8.
122“The Reverend William J. W. Swetnam . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 39.
123“Ethel Mitchell, the nineteen-year-old . . .”: Ibid., p. 11.
Chapter 14: A Game of Chicken
124“A light haze . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 26.
124“Back at the Mitchells’ home . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 17–18.
125“Mackey read Le Médec the message . . .”: Bird, The Town That Died, p. 15.
125“At 7:50 a.m. . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, pp. 28 and 54.
127“The list was quite small . . .”: Bird, The Town That Died, pp. 47–48.
128“All ships in the harbor . . .”: Mont-Blanc cargo contents, Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 365.
129“But all these scenarios . . .”: Ibid.
129“When the guard ship . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 30.
129“After Imo had cleared . . .”: Ibid., pp. 29–30.
131“Nickerson saw Imo stirring up foam . . .”: Ibid., p 31.
132“The bloody fool!”: Bird, The Town That Died, p. 41.
133“Fuel oil . . .”: Ibid., p. 21.
133“At 8:27 a.m. . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, pp. 28–33.
134“At that moment . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 34.
135“At the same time . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 34.
137“Knowing Hayes as I do . . .”: Ibid., p. 40.
138“I knew that in the No. 2 ’tween decks . . .”: Ibid., p. 37.
138“Thanks to Archie Orr’s whooping cough . . .”: The Orrs’ story derives from Kitz, Shattered City, p. 17; and Kitz, Survivors, p. 29.
Chapter 15: “Look to Your Boats!”
140“If the French freighter . . .”: Armstrong, The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy, p. 37.
141“could feel something like . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 39.
141“The Orr children’s astonishment . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 17; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 30–31.
142“A few men . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 44–48.
143“If Le Médec heard Mackey’s plan . . .”: Bird, The Town That Died, pp. 33–36.
143“At 8:48 . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 232.
144“Le Médec went to retrieve . . .”: Bird, The Town That Died, pp. 35–36.
144“Jump into my boat!”: Armstrong, The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy, pp. 36–37.
145“Ralph Smith . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 74.
145“The other sailors in the harbor . . .”: Bird, The Town That Died, pp. 46–48.
147“As Mackey later said . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 60.
147“When the Mont-Blanc crew . . .”: Ibid., pp. 59–61.
149“Running for their lives . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 57.
Chapter 16: Box 83
150“it might blow off in an instant . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 64.
151“Jack Tappen was a nineteen-year-old . . .”: Tappen’s story comes from Kitz, Shattered City, p. 21.
151“At 8:52 . . .”: Most of the times cited in this section were established by Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 432.
153“On the Curaca . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 316.
154“After the fireworks . . .”: Ibid., Shattered City, pp. 18-22.
154“The Burfords had emigrated . . .”: Ibid., p. 22.
154“In the harbor . . .” Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, various websites, 2000.
156“Racing through the city streets . . .”: Halifax Professional Firefighters Association website, http://www.hpff.ca/memorials/halifax-explosion/.
156“On this day . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 22.
156“His friends on the truck . . .”: Halifax Professional Firefighters Association website.
Chapter 17: “Oh, Something Awful Is Going to Happen”
158“In the Pattisons’ home . . .”: Kitz, Survivors, p. 37.
159“At the other end of Richmond . . .”: Ibid., pp. 34–35; and Kitz, Shattered City, p. 22.
160“Mr. Huggins, the principal . . .”: Kitz, Survivors, p. 42.
161“The owner of Richmond’s general store . . .”: Ibid., pp. 37–42; and Kitz, Shattered City, p. 37.
162“The Orr children . . .”: City of Ruins: The Halifax Explosion,” CBC, 2003.
163“Lt. Commander James Murray . . .”: Bird, The Town That Died, pp. 46–51.
164“William Lovett . . . immediately called . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, pp. 391 and 432; and Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, various websites, 2000.
Part V: 9:04:35 a.m.
Chapter 18: One-Fifteenth of a Second
167“To try to grasp the magnitude . . .”: Robert MacNeil, Burden of Desire, New York: Bantam Doubleday Publishing Group, Inc., 1992, p. 22.
167“The detonation itself . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 277.
168“with its barrel drooping . . .”: Raddall and Kimber, Halifax: Warden of the North, p. 245.
168“The explosion also produced . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 277.
169“This attracted the attention . . .”: All these observations come from Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 322.
170“Ian Forsyth, a student . . .”: Ibid., pp. 317–18.
170“Also called shock waves . . .”: Ibid., pp. 277–78 and 302.
172“The explosion, the ground waves . . .”: Ibid., p. 330.
172“Phillip Mitchell, the grandfather of . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 26.
173“George Dixon worked at a small . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 341.
173“had been snapped . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 25.
173“All told . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 245.
174“Corpses were scattered . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 26.
Chapter 19: Parting the Sea
175“Farther from Pier 6 . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 26–29.
176“Curaca, the American ship . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 338.
176“McCrossan jumped onto the Calonne . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 28.
176“The tugboat Hilford . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 338.
177“Just a few hundred feet . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 30.
178“The Dartmouth Ferry . . .”: Ibid., p. 31.
179“When the authorities arrived . . .”: Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, various websites, 2000.
179“A full half-mile . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 82–83.
Chapter 20: Blown Away
181“After the fire on Mont-Blanc started . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 35.
182“Amelia Mary Griswold lived on Needham Street . . .”: Ibid., pp. xvi–xvii.
183“Jack Tappen, the nineteen-year-old apprentice . . .”: Ibid., p.
50.
185“At twenty-one, Joe Glube . . .”: Ibid., p. 62.
185“Constant’s brother, Charles . . .”: Ibid., pp. 37–39; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 55–56.
187“The morning after Grove Presbyterian . . .”: Kitz, Shattered, p. 42.
191“That morning Reverend Swetnam’s wife . . .”: Ibid., pp. 39–40; and Kitz, Survivors, p. 57.
191“Missing school didn’t improve your chances . . .”: Ibid., pp. 43–44.
191“When the Richmond School . . .”: Ibid., pp. 44–45.
Chapter 21: They’re All Gone
193“The real nightmare . . .”: CBC, The Halifax Explosion: City of Ruins, 2003.
195“fourteen-year-old Barbara Orr . . .”: Orr’s account was captured by Janet Kitz in Shattered City, pp. 32–34, and Survivors, pp. 45–48.
198“On Noble Driscoll’s walk . . .”: Noble Driscoll’s account was retold by Janet Kitz in Shattered City, p. 32-33, and Survivors, pp. 49-50.
200“A little after 9:00 a.m. . . .”: The Pattisons’ story comes from Janet Kitz’s Shattered City, p. 34, and Survivors, pp. 52–54.
202“Eileen Ryan, eleven . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 48–49.
203“Across the harbor in Dartmouth . . .”: Ibid., pp. 46–47.
203“Jack Tappen, who had been shot . . .”: Ibid., pp. 49–50.
Chapter 22: The Panic
205“At 10:00 a.m., a young lieutenant . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 54; and MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 96–101.
207“Richmond’s Chebucto Road . . .”: Raddall and Kimber, Halifax: Warden of the North, p. 247.
208“When a soldier ordered Joe Glube . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 62–63.
209“T. J. Wallace, an optometrist . . .”: Ibid., pp. 55–56.
210“After Charles Upham had coaxed . . .”: Ibid., p. 57; and Kitz, Survivors, p. 71.
211“George Grant, the governor of Rockhead Prison . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 57 and 76; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 71–72.
212“Mrs. Rasley’s son Reg . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 57; and Kitz, Survivors, p. 73.
213“Gordon Pattison, fourteen . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 56–57 and 77; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 68–69.
215“Barbara Orr was grateful . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 54 and 66; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 61–62.
216“Then I realized there was something funny . . .”: CBC, The Halifax Explosion.
218“No one shall leave this building . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 54.
218“After the panic . . .”: Ibid., p. 53; and Kitz, Survivors, p. 64.
220“With every Halifax facility . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 248.
220“At 3:30 p.m. that day . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 1 and 68; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 65–66.
Part VI: Help
Chapter 23: No Time to Explain
225“The Great Chicago Fire . . .”: All four disasters are addressed in NPR’s “An American History of Disaster and Response,” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4839530.
228“On February 10, 1917 . . .”: MacDonald., Curse of the Narrows, pp. 104–5.
229“Boston was way ahead . . .”: Ibid., pp. 93–95.
231“For God’s sake . . .”: Ibid., p. 95.
231“Organize a relief train . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, p. 19.
232“His message sparked a series of telegrams . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 103–5.
233“Quick decision at the risk of occasional error . . .”: Ibid., p. 102.
234“In Dartmouth, Col Ralph B. Simmonds . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 58–60.
235“Colonel Thompson and his staff . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, pp. 20–21.
236“Between Halifax and Dartmouth . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 245.
237“Dr. Elliott immediately asked Barss . . .”: Joseph Ernest Barss, letter to his uncle Andrew Townson, December 14, 1917, Barss family archives.
Chapter 24: Ready to Go the Limit
239“The telegram from Halifax . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 104–5.
239“Understand your city . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, p. 19.
240“Since sending . . .”: Ibid., p. 19.
240“On Thursday, December 6 . . .”: Ibid., pp. 21–22.
241“Boston Post, December 7, 1917 . . .”: Ibid., p. 19.
242“The most we obtained were rumors . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 165.
Chapter 25: A Steady Stream of Victims
244“Dr. Percy McGrath had graduated . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 65.
245“Of course you have read of the terrible disaster . . .”: Joseph Ernest Barss, letter to his uncle Andrew Townson, December 14, 1917, Barss family archives.
246“G. H. Cox . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 249.
246“Captain Frederick T. Tooke . . .”: Ibid., p. 245.
247“Because the records of those admitted . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 67.
247“I wish I could describe . . .”: Quotes of Dr. Murphy, Dr. Kenny, and Dr. Lawlor from Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, pp. 246–67.
248“When Murray reported for duty . . .” Florence J. Murray, At The Foot of Dragon Hill, New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, Inc., 1975, pp. vii–x.
249“When a volunteer at the Armories . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 75.
249“Murray’s classmate and close friend . . .”: His stories and others from the hospital come from Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, pp. 246–49, except those about tetanus, the bucket, and the C Company, which are found in Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 66–67 and 77.
253“Although Barss had no medical training . . .”: Joseph Ernest Barss, letter to his uncle Andrew Townson, December 14, 1917, Barss family archives.
Chapter 26: Blizzard
255“The sunny, balmy conditions . . .”: Raddall and Kimber, Halifax: Warden of the North, p. 247.
257“Far worse was . . .”: Raddall and Kimber, Halifax: Warden of the North, p. 247.
258“the worst in a decade . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 144–45.
259“While the horse-drawn sleighs . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 125.
259“One day after workers had restored . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, p. 125.
260“The Dartmouth Relief Committee . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 74.
261“Since Indian days . . .”: Raddall and Kimber, Halifax: Warden of the North, p. 247.
Chapter 27: Lost and Found
262“For the many families . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 76–77.
263“Gordon and James Pattison woke up . . .”: Ibid., pp. 77 and 81; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 81 and 86.
264“Bertha’s letter to her fiancé . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 78.
265“If this was the work of God . . .”: Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, various websites, 2000.
265“While almost everything had been destroyed . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, p. 15.
265“Barbara Orr lay in her bed . . .”: Kitz, Survivors, p. 75.
267“The little girl became . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 76.
268“As soon as the mechanics . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 174–75.
Chapter 28: The Last Stop
271“Three lots from . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 106–7.
271“A two-story house . . .”: Ibid., p. 107.
272“The Halifax Herald . . .”: Ibid., p. 105.
273“they still needed a burial permit . . .”: Ibid.
273“Mr. Huggins, the principal . . .”: Kitz, Survivors, p. 74.
274“Help. Help. Please help me.”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 163–64.
Chapter 29: The Yanks Are Coming
276“ . . . and treated an estim
ated 90 percent . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 1.
276“Doctors and nurses arrived . . .”: Raddall and Kimber, Halifax: Warden of the North, pp. 248–49.
277“Ratshesky recalled . . .”: MacDonald, Curse of the Narrows, pp. 178–79.
278“Borden’s ‘answer came . . .’”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, p. 22
278“The building was turned over to us . . .”: Ibid., p. 23.
279“Bellevue had been transformed . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 78 and 87.
279“More good news from Boston . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, pp. 23–24.
280“Ernest Barss and his mentor . . .”: Joseph Ernest Barss, letter to his uncle Andrew Townson, December 14, 1917, Barss family archives.
Chapter 30: A Working Sabbath
282“From certain parts of Canada . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 95.
283“We would deliver . . .”: Ibid.
284“Henry B. Endicott . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, pp. 23–24.
284“This afternoon I visited the hospital . . .”: Ibid., p. 23.
286“Canada’s Governor General Thanks the President . . .”: Ibid., pp. 68–69.
286“The impulse to blame someone . . .”: Zemel, Scapegoat, p. 1.
Chapter 31: “It’s Me, Barbara!”
288“Barbara’s hope waned by the hour . . .”: Barbara Orr story in Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 79–80; and Kitz, Survivors, pp. 75–78.
289“Millicent Upham was moved . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 90; and Kitz, Survivors, p. 82.
290“Frank Burford, the fifteen-year-old . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 56 and 81.
290“Coleman, Vincent, funeral . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, p. 35.
Chapter 32: Small Gifts
293“The prostitutes who had come from all over Canada . . .”: Ruffman and Howell, Ground Zero, p. 131.
293“Six days after the explosion . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, pp. 79–80.
294“There were good people . . .”: Ibid., p. 91.
294“Jean Hunter . . .”: Ibid., pp. 92–94.
296“Cliff Driscoll found the family cow . . .”: Ibid., p. 94.
296“The leaders of society . . .”: Beed, 1917 Halifax Explosion and American Response, p. 17.
297“the Clothing Committee . . .”: Kitz, Shattered City, p. 92.
299“The Ford Motor Company . . .”: Ibid., p. 94.
The Great Halifax Explosion Page 37