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HALIFAX DISASTER RECORD OFFICE
CHRONICLE BUILDING

HALIFAX, N.S.
December 18, 1917.

JOURNAL

after the explosion, got little sleep after the cyclonic wind really started in. Houses that had had a merely temporary "first aid" treatment by inexperienced tenants, suffered severely. The wind blew in at cracked glass panes and rain poured through the twisted frames of doors and windows. Cellars again became flooded and small pieces of wood or light boxes floated around like tiny toy boats on a pond.
Out in the harbor, the vessels pulled and tugged at their moorings and though no serious damage was reported, there was great anxiety and distress, while those who were interested in ships at sea felt the strain severely. Late in the afternoon the wind fell and the skies cleared with every prospect of a cold snap to follow.
The rain was expected to wash most of the snow way and thus make the work of exhumation easier, but it did not improve the condition of the streets. Walking was quite dangerous and the gutters as usual were full and none of the catchpits were noticed working overtime. It was a severe storm even for the time of year and the work of searching the ruins was much delayed in consequence. It is marvellous, considering the weather, how much progress has been made.
Hundreds of bodies have been recovered, but there still remain, it is to be feared many more that are supposed to be somewhere in that mass of wreckage which once teemed with life and all its activities, and now is blotted out.
The storms of the past two weeks have been as severe as could well be expected and the delay occasioned has caused much extra nervous strain, for no matter how morally certain one may be that in certain districts escape was impossible, still the heart clings to even a forlorn hope until the exhumed body bids hope cease forever.
One of the most pitiful things in all this tragedy is the broken nerve and restless anxiety of those who are still hoping against hope. A few more days of clear weather, not too cold, would greatly relieve the tension that is in the very atmosphere and must be more or less felt until the last body is reverently laid to rest in some one of "God's Acres."