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Th Dis is the Most Awd Which Has Befallen Any City in the ' Harrowing Details of the Explosion Which Wrecked the Northern | World. Section of the City and Caused Death and Injury of Thou- sands--UCollision in the Harbor Between French Munitions Ship Mont Blanc and Belgian Relief Steamer, The Imo. nb i i. Many hundreds of people are dead and thousands are injured and home: less 'because of a frightful explosion and the fire which followed it on Thursday of last week. All the ex- treme north end of the city is devast- ated. The city is cut off from tele- graphic communication with the world. , "The disaster was caused primarily by the Belgian relief steamer, the Imo, going out and a FreXch munition steamer, the Mount Blanc, entering the harbor coming into collision. Then the munition ship took fire and the crew left her. They landed on the Dartmouth shere, and soon after the ship blew up, with 5,000 tons of high explosives. The Belgian ship was beached on the shore of the har- bor opposite Halifax. Fragments of the ship and her ammunition were scattered all over the northern part of the city, and the violence of the ex- plosion wrecked all the buildings in that part of the city. "The most awful catastrophe which has befallen any city in the world." Such is the opinion of all officers and men who have returned from the front who hgve been in the thick of the fighting since Canadians went into ac- tion. And they are right. The, men from the trenches, the men behind the trenches or in the rear, and the man | who has been through the times of distress in London and the southeast coast when Zeppelins and enemy air- planes bombed the Capital of the Empire and the coastal towns, they all know that they never met with such dire casualties as befell the city of Halifax on Thursday of last week. At nine o'clock on Thursday of last week the city was' enjoying its usual period of calm and the streets were + crowded with people wending their way to work, little thinking of that which in a few minutes was to befall them. Suddenly, like a bolt from the blue, there came an explosion. From one end of the city to the other glass fell, and people were lifted from the side- walks and thrown flat into the streets. In the down-town offices, just begin- ning to hum with the usual day's ac- tivities, clerks and heads alike cower- ed under the shower of falling glass and plaster which fell about them: The collision was a terrific one, the munition boat being pierced on the port side almpst to the, engine- room. The reliéf vessel, which was practically uninjured, kept going - ahead with the wounded craft, and when the fire was seen to break abodrd her, backed away, and the crew started to abandon her. The Mont Blanc drifted away, a burning wreck, while the relief boat beached near Tuft's Cove on the Dart- mouth side of the harbor. Seventeen minutes after the collision the explo- sion occurred. Under the force of the explosion houses crumpled like decks of cards, while the unfortunate resi- dents were swept to death in the de- bris. \ The main damage was done in the north end of the city, known as Rich- mond, which was opposite the point of the vessels' collision. Here the damage was so extensive as to be to- tally. beyond the field of description. Street after street is in ruins and flames swept over the district. - Five minutes after . the explosion occurred the streets were filled with 'a terror-stricken mob of people, all trying to make their way as best they might to the outskirts in order to get out of the range of what they thought to be a German raid. Women rushed in terror-stricken mobs through the streets, many of them with children clasped to their breasts. In their eyes was a look of terror as' they struggled in mobs through the streets with blood-stain- ed faces and endeavored to get any- where from the falling masonry and crumbling walls. Among the hundreds who were kill- ed by the explosion was one particul- arly sad case of a Canadian Govern- ment employee named MacDonald, who, on rushing to his home after the explosion, found that all his family consisting of his wife and four chil- dren, had perished. Before Lim on the roadway were the mangled re- | mains of his little two-year-old child, | who had met death while playing on i the roadside. | + Many of those composing the-crews { of ships in the Larbor were killed and !injured. The damage along the water front is very serious. The munition ship, after the crew left her, veered in towards the Hali- fax side of the harbor, and the city received the full force of the explo- sion. A part of the town of Dartmouth is also in ruins. Nearly all the buildings in the dock- yard are in ruins. Practically all the north end of the city has beerb laid waste/ The destruction extends from North street railway station, as far north as Africville, to Bedford Basin, and covers about two square miles. The buildings which were not de- stroyel by the explosion were laid waste by the fire that followed. Thousands Homeless Thousands of persons are rendered homeless. The Academy of Music and | many cther public buildings have been thrown open to house the homeless. Five hundred tents have been erect- ed on the Common, and these will be occupied by the thoops,~ who have given-up their barracks to house. the homeless women and, children. Temporary hospitals and morgues have been opened in the school houses in rendering aid to the ipjured. Later Details Order is beginning to be restored. CONFUSION OVER 2 WHISTLES BLAMED Pllot Frank Mackie, who was on the munition ship, declares that the accident was due to a confusion of whistles, sounded by the Belgian Relief steamer. In addition to her cargo of muni- tions, the Mont Blanc carried a . deckload of ben2ine, and this caught fire, following 'the explo sion. Co The Captain -of the Mont Blanc ordered his crew to take to the boats. . The men hastily left the ship in two boats and rowed for the Halifax side of the harbor, which they reached in safety. - The men ran for refuge, as they felt that an explosion was inevit- able, Twenty minutes fater the, explosion occurred, and the men were hurled flat on the ground. under control, and the emergency committee has matters well in hand. A howling blizzard set in Friday. afternoon and impeded the rescue work, but the homeless are being tem- porarily sheltered and made us com- | fortable as possible pending the ar-| rival of supplies, doctors and nurses, which are already pouring in on special trains from other cities of the province and New Brunswick, and will be largely supplemented from Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Quebec ani Ontario on Saturday, Temporary hospitals have been secured sheds and stores where inmates of charit- able institutions whose buildings are in danger of collapse will be removed The Bank of Nova Scotia will furnish all necessary funds to the various committees now organized. It is estimated that as much as a year will be required to furnish en- ough glass to provide for the city's needs. Omitting altogether e wrecked district, which eventually will still standing, there is scarcely a house in which the glass is igtact. It is as if the whole city had be builf, and al] the glassing left for one job. Stores are doing buciness without daylight, as 'all windows are now boarded mp, and artificial light is used by day and night. 7 Afnong the citizens still able to at- tend to business, bandaged heads and hands are common sights, and for the; most part, they think themselves fortunate to Lave escaped that well. | The battlefields of Europe do not furnish a parallel to the scenes wit- nessed at Halifax, says Duncan Grey, who arrived in St. John on Friday. He was engaged in inspecting shells in a shed on the waterfront when the devastation began, and barely escap- ed before the building collapsed. This is his story: "A few seconds after the roar of the explosion a gust of wind swept thfough the shed and then down came be rebuilt, in that portion of the city, | pillars, boards and beams. see in this world. "I have been in the trenches 1 have gone 'over the top. France, 1 rushed to the open and the sight that met my gaze wag the worst that I hope ever to in Friends and comrades have been shot in my presence. 1 have seen scores of dead men lying upon the battlefield, in the western section of the city, The doctors and nurses worked heroically The fire department reports all fires but the sight that greeted me yester- day was a thousand times worse, and far more pathetic. "1 saw people lying 'around under timbers, stones and other debris; some battered beyond recognition, and others groaning in their last agonies." HAIG ADJUSTS CAMBRAI LINE British Slightly Advance Lines Southwest of La Vacguerie.- A despatch from London says: The British have slightly advanced their line southwest of La Vacquerie, on the Cambrai front, it was announced of- _ficially on Thursday, ; _ On Tuesday night, the official state- ment says, the British troops with- to the southwest of Noyelles- sur-I'Escaut and Bourlon Wood withdrawal, it is added, was acconr- plished without the Germans appear- ing to be aware of it until late yes- terday. > Minor severe loss to the enemy. Erpeliien To Get Mails. being formed. here to about tic coast. The party will EE hostile attacks south of Bourlon Wood were repulsed with ep 4 THREE MONTHS' TRIP TO ARCTIC Will Leave Dawson Soon A despatch from Dawson says; Conan RAW cpedition i re to leave Dawson |. the first of the year for the Are- The across the Rocky Moun miles, all in the wilderness, using dog Yeams. Corp. Richardson will have charge, with three other officers and Indian guides making up the party. At Fort McPherson they will meet & atrol from Herschel Island, which ns back there, after eXchanging mails. The expedition will reach possibly bringing advices: from the Arctic exped others. / ! § ren een' Just Like Home. The Scotch Haig evidently feel that he'is fighting in his Aisne coun- Seely Pass to Fort McPherson, 500 | Dawson on the return trip in March, | ition of Stefansson and 0 The 7.000 ton steamer Porsanger Nov. 29 by the Cal n Vickers Com the largest n-going vessel co of Mr. P. L. Miller, n BRITISH Sh nager of the C FE © A despatéh from London says: has occupied the town of Hebron, in Palestine, the British War Office offi- cially annourices fo-night. x Ancient Hebron, to-day dalled by the Arabian name EI Khulil, is sit uated about 20° miles south-west of Jerusalem, with approximately 15,000 inhabitants. Although the British forces are nearer to Jerusalem on the: west and the nort¥-west, the taking of Hebron is of intérest because tra- dition identifies it asthe site of the tombs of Abraham and other pa- triarchs. It is a hill of shining white i { and set between hills rich with olive, fig and pomegranite trees. In the mosque is the reputed tomb of Abra- hie vessel St ta ! THE WORLD, 3 ¥ -------------- - To Situated 20 Miles South-West of Jerusalem--Site of the Tombs of Abraham and Other Patriarchs. : Genéral E. He Allesiby reports that he |! in the picture ture anadian Vickers Co. Tr ham, Isase and Jacob, to which the 20,000 Mussulmans and the 2,000 for- eigners alike do reverence. ? v . One of the oldest towns in the world, Hebron, in the days of Jose: phus, was believed to have existed for 2,800 years. According to legends' of the Jewish and Samaritan = writers, the "field of Damascus," near the town, is that stretch of red earth from a handful of which God created Adam, : There is a place where their 'expulsion from Paradise--the spot where. they mourned for Abel, murdered by Cain. The Mussulmans otto pointed out as the houses banked about a noble 'mosque, | even mark the place, three miles to! the. south-east, where the murder oc- curred, and have a tomb which they believe to be Cain's. rr ITALIANS CAN 4 / HOLD ASIAGO PASSES. A despatch from Italian Headquar- ters in Northern Ttaly says: The im- po! %e of the fighting around Asiago is not under-estimated, but it is believed the line of resistance on which the Italians have retired is capable of holding the Franzella and Gadena passes leading into the Brenta Valley and the open plains below. The fighting has been of the most desper- ate character, and while the enemy has paid dearly for his success, the Italian losses also have been very CEREAL FOOD IN PACKAGES. Food Confroller Announces Change in Regulations. A despatch from Ottawa says: An- nouncemént is made by the Food Con- troller that licenses would be issued, permitting the manufacture and im- portation of specific cereal foods in packages of less weight than twenty pounds, under certain , regulations. Dealers, other than those manufactur= ing or importing packages, of cereals, will be exempted from thé provisions of the order-in-Council of October 19. WE'LL GET WELL,BUT BILL'S GOT SOMETHING HE NEVER WILL GET ROWE is HEART Re Tien John Bull and Uncle Sam ones compared to Kaiser Bill' = have th 3# / wo i$ They Should Worry. oR NY ir own troubles, but they are little ANCIENT HEBRON i: dam and Eve hid after CAPTURE OLDEST TOWN IN| ie i ithered Pi toes eo Rolesalers jwers and country. ship $105 for first-class stock, 1.0. points, : a 'Whol selli trade a © Cheese--New, 33 lo 2c oa Lsneese c large tw: 0 3 2 52 Butter--Fresh dairy, choice. 40 ko 101, ery prints, 46 to 46¢c; 80] fhe. EL AS 1% New laid. in carto No. 1 storage, 42 to 43c; select ee Li Atry--Spring chicke ress oultry: cl ; to 28¢; owl, 22 to 26c; squabs, per doz, i to $4.50; turkeys, '30 te 38c; ducks, bring. 33 fo She; geese; 20 to 2c. Live try--Tur 25c: & 1b, 20¢ Spring, 20 ney---Com esaers are t th var b--Ext ; 12 oz, $8: raine 4, tins, 2% to $6.76 per bush; 7 to io 173c. + i otatoes, on track---Ontario. bag, $2.10 $2.25. Detawares, bag. $2.35 to $2.50, 1 / Provisiona--Wholesale . 7 Smoked meats--Hams, medium, 30° 81c; do. heavy, to. 27¢; cooked, 41 42¢: rolls, 27 to 28c; breakfast bacol 38 to 42¢; backs, plain, 40 to 41c; bone- less, 43 to 44¢. 3 Sa Cured meats--Long clear bacon, 27% to 28¢c 1b; clear bellies, 263 to 27c. | Lard--Pure lard, tlerces, '283 to tubs, 282 to 29%c; pails, 29 to 20jc compound, tierces, 24 10 24%c; tubs, 24 to 24kc; pails, 243 te 248c : Montreal Markets Montreal, Dee. .11--Oats--Canadian = Western, No. 8, 9030: extra No. 1 feed. 904c; No. 2 local white, 85¢; No. 8 i $4c. - Flopr--Manitoba Spring "wheat = patents, firsts. $11; do, onds, 1L10 strong bakers', $10.90; straight ollers, bags, $5.20 to $5.35. ~ Milifeed=-- $36 to $37; shorts, $40 to $42; $48 to $50; mauillie, $55 to ' No. 2. per tom, car lots, $16.50. --¥Finest westerns, 21ic; . Butter--Choicest C 433c; seconds, 42 ti e 64 to Bbc; selected, stock, 40 to 4lc; Dressed hogs--Al $25.60; do., count --Heavy Canada to 45 pieces, $52 t cut back, barrels, $51. .Lard--Compound., wood Ibs not, 25 to 26c; We. pure, wood 20 1bs net, 274 to 28c. T "Winnipeg Grain Winnipeg, Bee to No. 2, do. battoir-killed, $24, United States Markets Dec... 11--Corn--No. 3 1.95 to $2. Oats--No. 3 white, & fic. Flour--Unchunged. Bran' ec. 11--Lingeed--On track, . $3.264; December, $3.23%; July, -$3.20% Minneapolis, ellow, 43. to 7 41. 3.333; 2 arrive, 3,233 asked; May, bid. ; 3 ; -Tdve Stock Markets . ' Poronto, Dec. 11=BExtra choice heavy steers, $11.50 to $12; do, 'heavy, + 10.76 to $11.40; butchers' 10.50 to $10.76; do.. & do,, menium, $9 7.76 to $8.25; 8.50 to $9.25; 4d ; do, medi o., rough bulls, choice, » ' d Pt da med. $76 t 0050 To 3180; ign i heavy, $6. 7.76 mii ed, IAN SHEEP \ i CAN 3 'ARE PRIZE-WIN