THE STORY OF JULY TWENTY-FOURTH

Note - Throughout this article you will find no mention of individual employees by name. So many participated in the work of the last week in July, and all performed their self-imposed tasks with such self-sacrificing devotion and such remarkable effectiveness, that to single out any individual for personal mention seemed unfair to the rest. For the same reason, no individual portraits are shown in this issue, other than those of Mr. Thayer and Mr. Albright.

Foreword
There is no need, at this date, to tell how the Eastland disaster befell. There are few readers of the News who are not already all too familiar with the tragic details of the catastrophe. However, as a matter of record, let the facts be put down as briefly as possible:

For several years the Western Electric employees have held an annual excursion and picnic. The event has usually taken place on the last Saturday in July. On this day the Hawthorne Works have been closed, and as many of the employees as have cared to make the trip have gone by steamer to Michigan City, Indiana, a four-hours' sail from Chicago, and have spent the day at the picnic park there.

The interest in the picnic has steadily grown, and each succeeding year has seen a larger proportion of the Hawthorne employees in attendance. The 1915 picnic was to be held on a more elaborate scale than ever before, and nearly seven thousand people, including employees, their relatives, and their friends, had planned to go.

The steamers for the lake trip were furnished by the Indiana Transportation Company, which owns the steamers Theodore Roosevelt and the United States, and which chartered three additional steamers - one of them the Eastland - in order to accommodate the crowd.

On Saturday, July 24th, at 7:31 in the morning, the Eastland, on the point of being cast loose from her dock at Clark and Water Streets, Chicago, overturned, with over 2,000 people on board.

At this date (August 2nd) the exact number of the dead is unknown. It exceeds nine hundred - 468 of these having been Hawthorne employees.

Such are the main facts of the Eastland disaster. What follows is an attempt to chronicle the subsequent events of the last week in July.

The Information Bureaus
The news of the disaster spread with incredible rapidity, and within half an hour of the catastrophe the streets of the Loop district were jammed with enormous crowds. A large proportion of these people were, of course, curiosity seekers, but there were hundreds who had friends or relatives on the boat, and were frantically trying to get some news of them. It was imperative that some means be found for collecting and distributing information concerning the Eastland's passengers. The Western Electric information stations that met this need may be said rather to have sprung from necessity, on the spur of the moment, than to have been planned.

The first of these organizations, if it may be so termed, was formed at Sprague & Warner's big grocery store warehouse. The lower floor had been thrown open for the reception of survivors, and the room in which they happened to be sheltered, the order department, contained dozens of telephones. Within fifteen minutes of the accident, Western Electric employees were busy collecting the names of what survivors they could, and telephoning to friends and relatives.

It soon became evident that the large numbers of people involved would be too much for such a makeshift solution of the problem, and a number of the employees, who had taken some of the survivors to the large downtown hotels for temporary shelter, decided to establish some sort of immediate information bureau, where information could be collected and given out concerning the dead and the saved. There was a vacant store at 214 North Clark Street, less than a hundred yards from the dock, and after trying vainly to find the owner, the men broke the lock on the door and took possession.

Speed was the first requisite, and a remarkable amount of work was accomplished within a very short time. The room was heaped up with old furniture and rubbish of all sorts. This was hastily swept into one corner, and chairs and tables were brought in from a neighboring saloon. Meanwhile, one of the employees ran down the street to a stationery store and bought a thousand index cards. By half-past nine, about half an hour after the inception of the idea, the Clark Street information bureau was in full swing.

The bureau started with a nucleus of 25 names, which had been collected at Sprague & Warner's. These were hastily written out on sheets of paper in alphabetical order, and pinned to the wall, for the benefit of those making inquiries. Another employee went down near the dock with a megaphone, and as the survivors came out on the street requested them to register at the information bureau. The rescued were also asked to give the names of any others who they knew were either definitely saved or dead.

As the list of names grew, the pressure on the information bureau grew correspondingly greater. At first, one man had been assigned to preside over the sheets containing the names of those rescued or dead. But this plan had to be modified. The letters of the alphabet were hastily chalked on the wall in a row extending the entire length of the room. Under each letter an information worker was stationed to handle the names beginning with his letter.

Meanwhile the Chicago Telephone Company had been doing some very quick work, and by ten o'clock had made an emergency installation of telephones. These, of course, greatly increased the efficiency of the work of the bureau. The bureau was also assigned a number, "Franklin 188."

The roll of dead and injured was steadily growing, and as the various warehouses in the neighborhood opened their doors for the reception of the victims, information workers were sent down to collect the names of the living and of the identified dead. Other workers visited the Iroquois Memorial Hospital, The Franklin Emergency Hospital, and the Sherman Hotel, where an aggregate of about 150 people had been taken. These new names were telephoned to Clark Street.

By noon, the telephone company had installed about twenty telephones for the use of the bureau, as well as others for the use of those who wished to telephone home or make inquiries about the missing. The owner of a vacant store next door offered the use of his place also, and a dozen additional telephones were installed there for public use. All calls made over these various telephones were free.

In the meantime a card index file of all names received had been made, in addition to the alphabetical lists. As soon as an inquiry was received, the name of the person inquired for was put on a card, together with the name and nearest telephone number of the person inquiring.

Whenever a name was reported upon definitely, it would be looked up in the card index before posting. If the name did not appear, it was immediately given a card, and posted as well. If it did appear, the bureau was able to telephone the information to the person whose inquiry appeared on the card. This information was also added to the name where it appeared in the lists along the side of the room.

By noon it was found that many people were asking where the bodies of the dead had been taken. The bureau accordingly secured from the police a list of the temporary morgues. This list was hurried to a printer, who set it up as it was read off to him. By two o'clock, 3,000 cards had been printed and were being distributed as widely as possible.

By Saturday afternoon the inquiries had begun to pour in at Hawthorne in such numbers that an additional information bureau was obviously necessary there. The telephone company made another rush installation, and established a battery of extra telephones in the employment department at Hawthorne, just inside the 48th Avenue gates. A partial list of the names on file at Clark Street was hastily secured, and another group of employees started a bureau at the works. When they arrived they found a crowd of several hundred anxious inquirers gathered at the gate. The bureau was in operation by half-past two, when the waiting crowd was admitted and given all information as fast as it came in The Clark Street bureau was in constant communication with the Hawthorne bureau, and telephoned fresh information as soon as it was received.

The telephone company also completed an arrangement whereby it received duplicates of all information that came in at Clark Street. Many of the telephone inquiries were then diverted by the company, who gave out information direct from the exchange, thus helping materially to lessen the burden upon the Clark Street bureau.

A great many pieces of jewelry, watches, pocket-books, and the like, had been taken from the bodies of the unidentified dead. Owing to the great number of the bodies, as well as to the fact that many of the victims had been very hastily stripped of their clothing in the efforts to resuscitate them, it was impossible to know from which bodies the various articles had been taken. A vast amount of personal property of all sorts was also taken from the wreck. By Saturday night all these articles were piled up in the offices of the city police custodian, in apparently hopeless confusion. A number of the employees accordingly went to work at this office, to help police in the task of sorting and restoring the property.

Articles were first sorted into piles, each pile containing pieces of one kind. Watches, for example, were all together in one pile, pocket-books in another, and rings in another. Where property was marked so as to make identification of the owner possible, the latter was notified; in case the owner was dead, or listed as missing, the custodian tried to locate the nearest relatives of the victim. A vast amount of this property was, of course, impossible to identify. Exhaustive classified lists were made, containing a complete description of each article. These lists were posted at the Hawthorne information bureau as fast as they were completed. The Western Electric workers were also able to be of assistance to the police when the owners began to appear to claim their possessions. By their acquaintance among the employees and their familiarity with the Company's organization, they were able to help confirm the identity of the claimants.

On Saturday afternoon the Second Regiment Armory had been established as a morgue for the reception of all the unidentified dead. By Sunday morning the telephone company had installed twelve telephones in the bandstand gallery. A third information bureau was accordingly organized at the armory. This bureau kept in constant communication with the Clark Street and Hawthorne bureaus. Its organization was similar to theirs, except that it did not operate a card index system.

The armory bureau obviated a great deal of unnecessary suffering and suspense among those who visited the morgue, as it was able, in many cases, to give good news that had come over the telephone from Clark Street and Hawthorne.

It was also of great service in getting the names of the identified dead to the other information bureaus. On Saturday morning the A.T. & T. Company placed at our disposal a direct wire from the armory to our New York Office. An extension from this wire was later in the day carried to the Clark Street bureau, where an operator was in constant attendance.

The armory bureau worked in connection with this wire. Western Electric employees were scattered throughout the armory. As soon as the identity of a body had been established, one of the employees would call out, "Identified." This would bring a couple of policemen, who would see that the body was carried over to the coroner, who had an office in one corner. Other employees were stationed here, one of whom would take down the name of the identified victim as it was given to the coroner. He would immediately run upstairs to the gallery and hand the name to the telegraph operator stationed there, who would send the information simultaneously to New York and the Clark Street bureau. That bureau would in turn telephone the information to Hawthorne.

About half-past nine Sunday morning an information stand was established outside the armory, on a street corner. This was a taxi-cab, attended by employees, and with a telephone installed in it. The line of people waiting to get into the armory had to pass this stand. About a dozen employees kept going up and down the line, questioning the people, and getting telephoned information for them from Clark Street. In this way many people obtained definite information concerning those for whom they were looking and were spared the ordeal of searching through the bodies in the armory.

Not all of those in line had any good reason for wanting to get into the armory. Many were merely curious to see the bodies. In questioning the people, the Western Electric employees were usually able to determine those who had any real right to enter. Whenever one of these inquirers was located he was taken to the taxicab, where an effort was made to get information from Clark Street regarding the missing person. If none was available, the inquirer was given a signed pass. By an arrangement with the police, the holders of these passes were allowed to enter the armory ahead of the line. In this way, the genuine inquirers were spared the terrible strain of waiting, while the morbidly curious were kept standing in line indefinitely.

On Sunday morning also several employees made the rounds of all the Chicago hospitals, securing a number of additional names in this way.

The information work was fully organized by Sunday afternoon, and it was then and on Sunday and Monday nights that the heaviest work of the week was done. Both the Clark Street and Hawthorne bureaus kept open all Saturday night, and by Sunday it was obvious that the information work would have to go on night and day for some time. The crowds at the Clark Street bureau on Sunday and Monday were enormous. There were great crowds at the Hawthorne bureau, also, and in addition, such an avalanche of telephone inquiries that there was not even an attempt at keeping track of their number. There are ten trunk lines connecting the Hawthorne PBX board with the Lawndale exchange, a large number for a private branch. Yet on Monday night the calls were coming in so fast that the Lawndale operators were putting them through three to a trunk. In other words, while one inquirer was talking to Hawthorne, two other calls were connected up on the same trunk line, waiting their turn. It was next to impossible to make outgoing calls. "Long distance" simply did not answer. Temporary additional trunk lines were installed later in the week, and relieved the congestion.

The information stand outside the armory was discontinued about the middle of the week. The work of tabulating the articles at the custodian's office was completed by Thursday. The armory bureau was discontinued on Friday, when the last of the bodies had been identified. The Clark Street bureau was open night and day until Saturday at six P.M., when it was closed permanently. The bureau at Hawthorne finished its work on Sunday, August 1st. In the course of the week it succeeded in determining the fate of every Western Electric employee who had been aboard the Eastland, with the exception of one man, who is still recorded as "Missing."

The bureau also compiled a similar listing of all the other passengers on the boat. This list contains a larger number of "Missing," but is otherwise complete.

The Relief Bureaus
The imperative task on Saturday was the rescue of the living; on Sunday, the identification of the dead. There still remained the task of giving help to the dependents of Western Electric employees who had lost their lives.

The relief work, like the information work, began more or less without any formal organization. It was certain that many families would be left in great financial distress, in spite of the Employees' Benefit and Insurance Plan. For under the Plan, death benefits are payable only to families of deceased employees who have been five years or more with the Company, while many of the employees who were on the Eastland had been with the Company for only a comparatively short time. As early as Saturday afternoon a number of volunteer investigators began visiting the homes of some of the employees who were known to have been lost, in order to find out what help their families would need.

The formal relief work of the Company began, however, on Sunday, when, following the arrival of President Thayer and Vice-President Halligan, a meeting of the executives was called, and the sum of one hundred thousand dollars voted available for relief purposes.

A relief bureau was immediately organized, and began active work Sunday afternoon. It was at first planned to have only one bureau, which would send its investigators to the homes of the dead, but so many relatives and other dependents came to the Works direct, to apply for relief., that the original plan was modified. Two bureaus were organized, one to handle "outside" relief work, and one for "inside" relief work. In addition, committees were appointed to arrange for funerals, both out of town and in town, wherever the families desired to have the Company make such arrangements. At Sunday's meeting also, the homes of as many as possible of the known dead employees were located on a large map of the city and its suburbs, and routes were planned in order to facilitate the work of investigators.

On Monday morning both bureaus were in full swing. Of the hundred thousand dollar fund, fifty thousand dollars in cash was at Hawthorne, ready for immediate use.

Outside Relief Work
It was imperative that the families of the victims be relieved of immediate want as soon as possible. By Monday afternoon there were as many as 150 relief workers visiting homes all over the city. The workers usually went around in automobiles, which enabled them to cover their territory with a minimum of delay. The number of investigators was greatly reduced toward the end of the week, when most of the families had received immediate relief.

The outside relief bureau kept in close touch with the information bureau. As soon as one of the dead had been definitely identified as a Western Electric employee, the information would be transmitted to the relief bureau, together with information as to the employee's department and length of service. One of the relief workers would then be assigned to visit the victim's home, in order to determine the circumstances of the family and whether any relief was needed. The investigator would then report to the committee members in charge of recommendations. These members would then, after consulting with investigator, authorize the payment of a certain sum to relieve the family's immediate needs, the investigator making a second trip to take the money. This process was not as lengthy as it sounds. "Red tape" was reduced to a minimum. A case could be investigated and relieved in the course of a few hours.

The sums paid out ranged anywhere between $10 and $100, and were used for many different purposes - in payment of rent, to buy food, to buy mourning clothes, or in payment of cemetery charges. Although no money was advanced for funeral expenses, the Company, through the two special committees, made all arrangements for funerals and assumed all the expense, whenever the families desired it.

Money might be paid out to the same family more than once. In some cases three or four payments were made during the course of the week.

Inside Relief Work
The inside relief bureau was organized to help people who came direct to the plant for relief. The committee members interviewed the applicants, and after learning the name of the applicant and of the employee in whose name relief was asked, would determine whether, as often happened, the outside bureau had already reported the case. This method avoided duplication of records.

Where the identity of the applicant was established without question, the chairman of the committee would immediately pay over the amount determined upon. If there was a doubt as to the applicant's identity, an investigator would be sent back with the applicant in order to ascertain conditions at home. This investigator was authorized to pay out money, generally a fixed sum, in case he thought it advisable. For this purpose the investigator was usually a responsible employee from the department in which the lost employee had worked.

During the latter part of the week many people were interviewed, but few who were in need of immediate relief. These later applicants came usually for information, generally as to death benefits under the Plan.

Red Cross Work
Meanwhile the United States branch of the International Red Cross Society had established a relief station at Hawthorne. The station occupied offices in the Central Works building, being in charge of J.J. O'Connor, district superintendent, and Mr. Bicknell, national director. This organization was likewise in operation by Monday morning, and conducted relief work among the families of victims who were not Western Electric employees.

The Permanent Organization
By Thursday all the families of victims had received immediate relief, and the relief bureaus began to wind up their affairs preparatory to turning their work over to the so-called permanent relief organization.

This organization superseded the temporary relief bureaus on Sunday, August 1st. It is under the direction of A.W. Hitchcock, Assistant Superintendent of the employment and welfare branch. The organization will administer the balance of the hundred thousand dollar fund, and will take up the work of affording permanent relief to the dependents of those of the employees who went down on the Eastland who had been less than five years with the Company. In the case of employees who had been in the Company's employ five years or longer, the regular death benefits will be administered by the benefit fund committee.

In Conclusion
This record would be sadly incomplete without some attempt to thank those who served so generously during that terrible Saturday in July and the days of grief and horror that followed it. All Chicago stepped forward. Warehouses along the docks threw wide their doors to give shelter for the living and a temporary resting place for the dead. The downtown hotels took in scores of the survivors, and department stores furnished wraps and blankets. Employees of the American Express Company worked all day Saturday on the hull of the Eastland, helping in the rescue work. Dozens of private automobiles and taxicabs were offered to carry information workers about the city and to take the survivors of the wreck to their homes. On July 31st the information committee, having located the owner of the store on Clark Street, went down to pay the rental for the week. It was refused.

By the night of the 24th, the Commonwealth Edison Company had wired the Clark Street store, and had installed a battery of 200-watt nitrogen-filled lamps. The People's Gas Company had meanwhile installed a meter and had turned on the gas for use in case of emergency. By noon of the same day our Chicago house had installed ten electric fans, ready for service.

It would be hard to overestimate the value of the results accomplished through the splendid co-operation of the Chicago Telegraph Company. Working at lightning speed, its installers put in dozens of emergency telephones. At the Clark Street bureau the men had to do their work in midst of a frantic, jostling crowd that jammed the entire room. Yet they completed an installation of nearly forty telephones in three hours. Without the help of the telephone company the efficiency of our information bureaus would have been lowered one-half.

By turning over to us a direct wire to New York, the Long Lines department of the A.T. & T. Company made it possible to transmit names as fast as they could be spoken. The later telegraphic connections from the armory to Clark Street and Hawthorne insured complete accuracy in transmitting names and department numbers.

As for the Hawthorne employees, the work they accomplished is unbelievable. During the three days immediately following the accident there were dozens who worked for twenty-four hours at a stretch. Many had an aggregate of less than five hours sleep out of seventy-two. One man, after barely escaping with his life from the water, went home, put on dry clothes, and returned to the morgue, where he was on duty for twenty-six consecutive hours. Another did not go to bed from Saturday to Wednesday. These are not isolated instances. They are typical.

Nor was it merely a matter of going without sleep. They worked; and wonderfully efficient work it was. No one was told to do anything. No one waited to be told. All organizations were voluntary, and the volunteers willingly did whatever it fell to them to do, whether it was the compilation of endless lists of names, or the ghastly work of keeping watch at the morgues.

There were no men, no women at Hawthorne that week - only people, who worked. To many of the girls who volunteered, the typists, there fell work that was little better than sheer drudgery. They did it - twelve, eighteen, twenty-four hours at a stretch. Concerning the work of the telephone operators the News speaks more at length elsewhere. It remains only to be said here that during Saturday afternoon and evening it was impossible to reach most of the regular operators. Girls from the clerical departments offered to do what they could, and took tolls, recorded messages, and even helped to operate the switchboard. In relief work the girls were invaluable, accomplishing results that would have been impossible for the men.

How to thank such people? It is hard to find words to express what they did. Yet, if the spirit of Hawthorne could speak, she would only say, "I did what I could. It was little enough."

They did what they could. They gave of what they had to give - of their strength, their pity, and, above all, their loyalty. The Western, even in her grief, is proud of Hawthorne.

{Picture} Monday, July 26th. The Hawthorne Gates Draped in Mourning

{Picture} The "Copy" for This Card Was Read Off to the Printer at Noon on Saturday, July 24th. By Two O'Clock 3,000 Had Been Printed and Were Being Distributed by the Clark Street Information Bureau.

{Picture} The Doors of the Chicago City Hall Draped in Mourning in Honor of the "Eastland" Victims.

{Picture} Relief Automobile Leaving the Works

{Picture} Looking Out Through the Hawthorne Gates. The Entire Week Following the Disaster Was One of Rain and Mist.