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J.D. Gagner
October 24, 2014
Book review #1
Blizzard of Glass was written by Sally M. Walker, and it is a nonfiction story from World War I.
Sally M. Walker wrote about many different families in the capital of Nova Scotia, Halifax and the fight
for their lives and the loss of others after a big explosion. In the beginning of the story she told about
the boats that crashed their cargo, the captains mistakes and how they created the largest man made
explosion before the atomic bomb.
It all started out with the two boats, one was named Imo. Imo was a Belgian relief boat carrying
things like food to Europe. Imo was filling up its coal supplies in Halifax but didnt get out of the harbor
in time. The harbors closed at 5 pm because Halifax was afraid of enemy submarines getting into the
harbor. The other ship was called Mont~Blanc, and was coming from Brooklyn, New York. Mont~Blancs
crew noticed something fishy about their boat and how it was being prepared. Things like a copper
lining installed, instead of iron and wooden linings, around the hull. When they saw this they realized
the cargo they were carrying was probably highly explosive. Lots of picric acid, TNT, gun cotton and lots
and lots of benzene, Mont~Blanc was a potential floating 2,925 pound bomb. Because the harbors
closed at 5 pm, the Mont~Blanc arrived but didnt get into the harbor in time so Imo and Mont~Blanc
both had to wait until the harbor opened up in the morning. When it did both of the ships were up and
ready to get in and out. All would have been fine if the captain of Imo hadnt thrown it in reverse
because when he did that it caused the boat to veer to the right. When this happened a collision was
unavoidable. Imo hit Mont~Blancs and went nine feet into the explosive hull. Benzene came flowing out
and in the process of backing up Imo scraped its hull on Mont~Blanc and the metal on metal created lots
of sparks and lit the Benzene. Mont~Blanc floated to shore and was abandoned. The captain of the boat
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Stella Maris, another boat in the harbor unaware that Mont~Blanc is carrying explosives, hoped that his
fire house could pump enough water on it to put out the fire. The citys fire truck was also racing down
the street to help extinguish the fire, but did not get there in time. Thirty seconds later Mont~Blancs
main cargo exploded and filled the whole sky with thick black smoke. Halifax was in ruins, but that was
not surprising because of all the ammunition on board. This was the largest man made explosion before
the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima Japan in August 1945. In just a few seconds a devastating
shock wave damaged hundreds of homes and turned them into piles of broken boards. Within a 16 mile
radius, twelve thousand homes had been damaged and houses 50 miles away had broken windows. Not
only had this explosion caused damage of life and property, it also caused a tsunami. The tsunami
caused water to be pushed 700 feet inland, and swept many people out into the sea.
As people began to reunite with their families, help also started to come. Random people
started to dig through broken houses to save people and get injured people the help they needed.
Someone also sent out a telegraph to other cities that something bad had happened and medical
assistance was going to be needed, sadly this man lost his life when the explosion occurred. Despite the
help from other people, lots of people still died. Help continued though, relief trains from other parts of
Nova Scotia come in carrying lots of food and medical supplies. The question was where are people
going to live? Many of the houses were destroyed in the explosion. People started to build houses and
building supplies were shipped up in relief trains. Also money was given out according to how many kids
live in a house hold or how much money was made before the explosion. All of these relief trains
carrying clothes tools and other supplies were very helpful. When a big disaster happens, manmade or
not, lots of people will contribute to save the people affected by the disaster.
Blizzard of Glass was a great non fictional story about different people in a city during World
War I. It enforced that people can do big things when they put their mind to it, and can help the needy
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in situations like this. This is shown all throughout the book when people are helping people with
clothes, money, and places to stay. I liked this book because it was adventurous and at the same time it
told about peoples fight for survival. Someone looking for a book to do research on the Halifax
explosion should definitely read this book. This book would also be good for any people that like stories
about other people. Even if you are looking for stories of how people can help other people or just like
the explosion in the beginning, I would recommend you to read the book Blizzard of Glass by Sally M.
Walker. I liked this fun exciting nonfiction story of the Halifax explosion of 1917.