It was the largest manmade explosion up to that time. SS Imo had been delayed and was traveling above the speed limit and on the wrong side of the channel. SS Mont Blanc was fully laden with explosives for the French and she was in Imo’s way. The two ships engaged in an argument SS Mont Blanc signaled. SS Imo didn’t agree and signaled back. SS Mont Blanc signaled again. SS Imo didn’t yield one inch. Each kept their position and a host of other ships gathered to see the expected collision. Pluto, still undiscovered lies on 4° Cancer, the symbol is “a cat arguing with a mouse.” The ships collide.
The question is why did the mouse, Mont Blanc, argue with Imo? The mouse was carrying 2,300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, and ten tons of guncotton. Impatient Imo, the retrograde Gemini Jupiter, didn’t think anything of challenging the smaller ship and, missing the head-on collision, took the first opportunity to reverse causing the actual collision that was quite like a flint being struck. Mont Blanc has now become the retrograde Leo Saturn in the 8th house. At 14° Leo, the Sabian symbol is “a human soul seeking opportunities for outward manifestation.” Less than 20 minutes later, the largest man made explosion blasted Mont Blanc into shrapnel and leveled a big part of Halifax, Nova Scotia killing 2,000 people and wounding many more.
The moral of the story is if a mouse stops to argue, just let him be. When a timid animal resists, he might be explosive. This is especially true when 14° Scorpio is involved. This degree “telephone linemen at work” seems to be about communication but appears over and over again in scenes of destruction with columnar elements managing to survive while debris lies around them. The 14° Scorpio Pallas lies in the 10th house. The 10th house represents the public square and public buildings. The connection the linemen are making is unleashing deep and potentially destructive forces. The square aspect to Mont Blanc, 14° Leo Saturn, ramped up the power Mont Blanc manifested. Mont Blanc might have appeared small and unassuming but she was secretly Mighty Mouse in disguise.