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[printed letterhead]
HALIFAX DISASTER RECORD OFFICE
ARCHIBALD MACMECHAN, F.R.S.C.
DIRECTOR
HALIFAX, N. S.

{affixed sheet]

THE ST. PAUL'S CHURCH PARISH MAGAZINE.
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The injuries to the fabric of our parish buildings were serious and such as to require large expenditures to restore.

The church building, "timbered in times when men built strong," suffered perhaps less than other public buildings, although doors, windows, partitions, tablets, ceilings and chimneys were e[corrected in the margins to] affected.

In the parish hall the great skylight fell, the art glass was destroyed, doors were blown off their hinges, the gas system deranged, and much other damage done. The St. Paul's Mission on Market Street, shared the same disastrous effects.

St. Paul's Home for Girls suffered in common with the dwellings of the region, but was temporarily repaired. Here children from the School for the Deaf were cared for, and also some survivors from the Protestant Orphanage. In the record of relief the part it played must never be forgotten.

The St. Paul's Glebe properties were in the very heart of the ruined area, and the houses thereon were levelled to the ground, and in one instance the occupants killed.
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In this respect, that of loss of life, the parish suffered irreparably, so many of its members having lived in the affected district, for St. Paul's draws its congregation from near and far. And not only so, but many of its men were at work in the region where the disaster was felt most severely.

About three hundred families who made this their church home have been in need of relief, while we estimate the number of those who have been injured as in the neighborhood of 500. The list of dead is not yet complete. In some cases whole families have been called away. In one small casket we buried all that was mortal of a mother and four children. In another a father, mother and grown up daughter were interred. The clergy have officiated at 128 funerals, more in the single month than in any entire year in the history of the parish.
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To all who have suffered we extend our deepest sympathy, and commend them to the God of the fatherless and the widow.

To those who remain, whose hopes and hearts are broken, we pray that they may find fortitude and strength in the great Pitying Heart above.
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With regard to the immediate future, the first concern of this parish for many weeks to come must necessarily be relief. The calls to aid those in dire need are still most urgent. Food, stoves, coal, bedding, shelter, all are required, and required at once. The attending to those in want, the giving of relief orders the finding of temporary homes, the filling of insurance, compensation and military forms, the filing of claims, the writing of birth and burial certificates, the ministrations to the sick and the burial of the dead, occupy every moment of time.

Secondly, there must be more district visiting. Our visitors have done splendid service and the conditions of three hundred families have been reported, and in the emergent cases assistance already given. This work must be continued until the complete survey is made, the needs discovered, and the families traced.

If in their hour of trial the church fails them not, the ties of affiliation will be strengthened as never before, and they will hear and receive the word of Life, because through it they were visited in their affliction, and through it warmed and clothed.

We believe that St. Paul's faces the greatest opportunity of the long years. If we can only stand together, loyal, liberal dispensing to those in need, there will result a quickening of parochial life which will react on the parish for years to come.

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It will be possible only to mention in this issue a few of the many things which occupied the moth previous to the disaster:
Mr. Clarke's organ recital.
The Y.P.S. patriotic pie Social.
Addresses by airmen Henry and Kane.
Cadet Corps welcome to Sergt. Sclater.
Entertainment of soldiers at Union Jack Club.
Address of Capt. Kneale.
Entertainment of wounded men and of Dental Corps.
Preparations for concert and play by Girl Allies and Boys Club.
Preparations for Christmas Cantata by Miss Kellogg's Junior W. A.
Pound Social for St. Paul's Home.
Preparation of Girls' Friendly for Christmas Sale.
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HONOR ROLL.
No. 60 - Frederick Charles Stacey.
61 - James Oak.
62 - Frank Albert Symons.
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Through the kindness of Mr. Theakston, the Parish Magazine is issued this month at the Commercial Print. It was impossible to have the work done in its hold home, Holloway Bros., where it has been prepared for so many, many years.

To our publishers ,advertisers, and all our readers, we offer sincere sympathy for the injuries and losses they have sustained. To them and all we wish a Bright and Happy New Year.

[handwritten in pencil, top right, "MG 1 vol 2124 number 293 a"]