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HALIFAX DISASTER RECORD OFFICE
ARCHIBALD MACMECHAN, F.R.S.C.
DIRECTOR
HALIFAX, N. S.

FIRST GREAT RESTORATION WORK WAS DONE BY NOBLE BAND OF VOLUNTEERS.
Much has been said at various times about the work that was accomplished by the various Emergency Relief Committees who were appointed immediately after the Disaster of December Sixth, but little has been noted that gives even an approximate idea of what these pubic spirited men and women accomplished. It is well to remember that in the beginning these men and women had no precedent to go by, and were guided merely by their own meagre information of what had been done under similar circumstances.
If there were any errors made in those awful days immediately following the explosion they were errors of omission rather than commission; and who can rightly stand forth and criticize those who with all the attributes of good citizenship in its nth power came forward and wrought almost modern miracles in aiding the stricken while others were paralyzed with the immensity of the ruin that surrounded them?

Noble Volunteer Workers.
This preliminary statement is not intended as a defense against the somewhat caustic and certainly unmerited criticisms which have appeared form time to time; for these workers stand forth as a fine example of what constitutes the best in our citizenry. This applies to the volunteer workers who for many weary weeks toiled ceaselessly in the interests of the suffering. There was never a lack of willing workers. Time for them ceased to be a factor worthy of consideration, and in the majority of cases they labored from eight o'clock in the morning until well past the our of midnight. Weather such has seldom been the ill fortune of Halifax stood between them and the path of duty yet they "carried on;" tasks of herculean proportions were presented to them day after day and they worked on to their completion.
For several days after the disaster they had no supplies to meet the insistent calls for help that kept pouring in except what could be procured locally. Every available resource was pressed into service, and then they were called upon to administer the distribution of a flood of supplies of all description which flowed into the City from a sympathetic continent.
First in importance were the gigantic questions of food, shelter and clothing. When one stops to consider that an area of about two square miles was blasted beyond recognition, and that hundreds not residing in the area proper were deprived of their means of livelihood, some idea of the task facing these workers may be gathered.

Emergency Shelter Work.
The Emergency Shelter Committee with W. S. Davidson as chairman and H. H. Marshall as vice-chairman, was organized the day of the disaster. Both the men in question are engaged in business which requires all of their time but without hesitation they place their private interests aside, and with characteristic energy threw themselves in the task which had arisen without a minutes warning. With their aides they went over the devastated area and ascertained the people who had lost homes and as quickly as possible had them under shelter. A large number were housed in improvised shelters and homes that night; and while many places were of necessity overcrowded and conditions were at times far from what was desired, as far as could be traced everybody had shelter of some description.
The blizzard of December 7th brought a new phase of work to be attended to, but with the assistances of the Transportation Committee the people who could be induced to leave their shattered homes were provided for in the emergency shelters provided. To the larger institutions and buildings are due the thanks of the community for their promptness in acceding to the requests of the Committee and offering the quarters without waiting for the requests of those who had undertaken to provide accommodations.

6000 People Were Housed
The Academy of Music has the distinction of being the first shelter officially opened and placed at he disposal of the relief. Later it was followed by practically every society and church building in the City which had not suffered too seriously by the explosion to be of use.

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MG 1 vol 2124 number 292