III
HELPING HALIFAX
On Thursday, December 6, 1917, the people of Halifax appealed to the world for help in their distress caused by the collision of two steamers, the Mont Blanc and the Imo, and the resulting explosion and fire. Immediately the Christian Science organization responded. The Christian Science Board of Directors of The Mother Church appointed a committee of five members to proceed to Halifax with relief. Obstacles such as storm, limitation of time, and lack of transportation at once presented themselves. No through train was available on Saturday when the Committee was to leave; therefore the Board of Directors authorized arrangements with the Boston & Maine Railroad to finance a special train from Bangor to Halifax. Large supplies of clothing were quickly gathered and placed on the train, and at 7.30 p.m., Saturday, December 8, the Committee left Boston in a terrific snowstorm, “to go,” as one member said with uplifted thought, “not to a city of disaster, but to a city whose builder and maker is God, a city of harmony, in the ever-present kingdom of heaven.”
About thirty people besides the Christian Science party made up the passenger list on the special train. There were doctors, nurses, newspaper reporters, and those bound for Halifax who were seeking out relatives. These were grateful indeed for the opportunity
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