Titanic Halifax

Gordon Turner is the author of Empress of Britain: Canadian Pacific’s
Greatest Ship and the editor of SeaFare, a quarterly newsletter on sea
travel.

What connection did Halifax’s Mayflower Curling Club have with White
Star’s ill-starred liner Titanic? Answer: It was a temporary morgue
for bodies fished from the Atlantic after the ship’s 1912 sinking.
Nowadays a store occupies the site, and no commemorative plaque marks
the location. Other Titanic-related sites still exist today and are
clearly marked. Three cemeteries contain the remains of 150 people who
perished on that fateful night. The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
exhibits fragments of ornate wood paneling that decorated the ship’s
lounges, as well as other items that were plucked from the water by
rescue ships.

The basic story of the sinking of Titanic has been told countless
times, but the authors of this attractively designed book have uncovered
some new details. Alan Jeffers writes of finding in the basement of
Province House, Halifax, long-forgotten documents and artifacts related
to the sinking; although the artifacts mysteriously disappeared, the
documents are housed in the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. Rob Gordon
had a great-aunt who survived the sinking; he provides a brief account
of her rescue.

The authors’ brisk, informative, and well-written text is enhanced by
period and contemporary (black-and-white as well as color)
illustrations.