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HALIFAX DISASTER RECORD OFFICE
CHRONICLE BUILDING
HALIFAX, N.S.


saw soldiers outside and asked if they needed help. Said they did. They found the pipes burst, and the floors flooded. They had to wade through water. Lying in the office floor, they found 12 or 13 children, covered with blood. They asked the captain what to do. Dr. Schwartz [handwritten Droyer ? ] told them to leave the bad wounds alone. They were better with the blood congealed. They started to sweep up the glass and water. They bathed minor wounds which were chiefly in the arms and hands, and tried to make the women and children more comfortable. The kitchen was down below in the basement and was not damaged. There was a woman cook. They kept coffee going.There was nothing to eat, only a few soda-crackers which the girls brought themselves. Rations came in late in the afternoon consisting of bread, butter, ham, eggs and cake in sufficient quantities. Most of the patients had had nothing to eat. Some had to be fed with teaspoons. By twelve o'clock noon, December 7th, all the patients had been taken away. They had been removed all through the night.

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Towards morning, when all the patients had been attended to, the girls lay down and tried to sleep, but could not for excitement. Miss Helen Crichton did not lie down.

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The orderlies were very nice, and were glad of their assistance. Three little girls died in the night, of burns. One was about ten years of age. The four girls came away in an ambulance, with the cook and three corpses. They wanted to walk in but the orderlies would not hear of it.

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The patients were "so grateful for everything". "Go to the others first."

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Miss Wright noted that the building of the H.L.C. [Halifax Ladies College] shook. Thoughts "her ear-drums were broken." The glass of a window went past her without injuring her. Mr. Laing would not let pupils go out. He was very calm. "Really wonderful."