15 DECEMBER 1917, Page 3

The city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was partly destroyed on

Thurs- day week by the explosion of a ship laden with munitions, which collided in the harbour with a Belgian relief ship, took fire, and blew up. The force of the explosion was so great that it shattered the warehouses on the water.front and demolished many of the small wooden houses in the northern part of the city. Fires broke out, and in the course of the day half the city was destroyed. It is feared that twelve hundred people lost their lives, including many children • who were attending school at the time. Twenty.fivo thou- sand people were left homeless in the midst of a severe winter. The Lord Mayor has opened a Mansion House fund for the relief of these unfortunate people, • the victims of a strange and sudden easter.