Page 33 - 1918 February - To Dragma

126 TO PRAGMA OF ALPHA 0MICRON PI

A LETTER FROM HALIFAX

We hope in an early number of To DRAGMA to publish an article by-
Mary Rust, written especially for us. Meanwhile we are very glad
to print this clipping from the Minneapolis Journal. Mary Rust is
a member of Omicron Chapter, and one of To DRAGMA'S life sub-
scribers.

Gratefulness and a non-complaining attitude by the Halifax dis-
aster sufferers were outstanding features especially noted by Miss
Mary Rust, who lives near Halifax, i n a letter to her uncle, C. B .
Westfall, 2440 Garfield Avenue, in which she tells of her experiences
as an emergency nurse during the aftermath of the explosion. *

"The people were so grateful for everything that was done for
them. One woman kissed my hand and when I stooped down over
her she kissed my forehead. None of them ever complained about
anything, they seemed so thankful to have a roof over their heads and
to be warm. Another thing that struck me was that I never saw any-
one crying, no matter how much sorrow had come to them. Another
thing, no one seemed to be the least bit panic-stricken at any time.
Everyone seemed to be stunned. I think the first thought that came
to everyone was that the Germans were either raiding or shelling
Halifax. Everyone seemed to think his house was the only one hit.

D E T E R M I N E D TO G O , ANYHOW

"When the call came for nurses and helpers I decided that I would
go along with the nurse from the school. When we went to go on
the train the conductor said, 'No Halifax passengers allowed.' We
were determined to get on that train i f there was any possible way
to do it, but fortunately we did not have to display a determined spirit,
for some gentleman, who was either a railway official or a relief
worker, stepped up and told us to get on the train and that he would
instruct us later about what to do, etc. The train did not expect to
get any nearer than a half hour's ride from the city, but we did get
as far as Rockingham, which is about ten minutes' ride.

"When we reached that point 'our' gentleman came and told us he
had a machine waiting to take us to the city hall where we could
register. As soon as we had reached the city hall we were sent to
the Y . M . C. A., where we started to work. There seemed to be
plenty of helpers there so we were sent to Camp H i l l , a hospital for
returned wounded soldiers. The people were crowded into both
of these places, and at Camp H i l l they were lying all over the floor
and sitting i n chairs.