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Archibald MacMechan

Halifax Disaster Record Office Materials

"Halifax Explosion heard at Black Brook, Port Morien, C.B., 205 miles Distant"

2 pages : 30 x 41 cm.

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Halifax Explosion Heard At Black Brook, Port Morien, C. B. - 205 Miles Distant.
Edward L. Dillon Heard Explosion at Mira Gut C. B. - Distinctly Noted Two Blasts - - a "Zone of Silence" From One To Three Seconds.

(Mr. Edward L. Dillon was written to, at his home Mira Gut, C. B., in regard to the matter of the explosion in Halifax, on Thursday December 6, 1917, being heard by him. Mr. Dillon is a reputable resident of that part of the island of Cape Breton, and here is what he says, in regard to the greatest explosion, the World has ever known being carried for more than 200 miles by the air waves - Ed. News.)

Mr. Dillon's Letter.
Mira Gut, C. B.
Jany. 24, 1918
My Dear Mr. Dimock,
Editor Daily News;-
I received a communication from you on the 22nd inst., and on the 24th a copy of the Truro Daily News, referring to the matter touched on in your letter.
I am a building contractor and carpenter by trade, and was working on the piazza of a new bilding, erected for Mr. William Parsons of Mira Gut (said bilding being about one and a half miles from the entrance of Mira River, known as Mira Gut) on the morning of the Halifax explosion and I
Heard Two
very distinctly clear reports; the distance of time between being anywhere between one and three seconds, as near as I can remember.
I was struck by the particular direction from which the report came and also the peculiar tone of the reports being somewhat similar in sound to that of a heavily loaded shot gun being fired into water at a couple of feet distant.
I noted the time shortly after, and knew later through the medium of the press, that the hour was the same as the


Reference: Archibald MacMechan Nova Scotia Archives MG 1 volume 2124 number 305

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