Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Sun, 26 May 91 0:17:32 CDT From: TELECOM Moderator Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: A Memorial: The Eastland Disaster Message-ID: Organization: TELECOM Digest Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 396, Message 1 of 6 Lines: 193 Who wrote the song a few years ago with lyrics which said (in discussing old memories) 'those too painful to remember, we simply choose to forget ...' ? Since it happened 76 years ago this summer, people can be excused if they don't remember it -- indeed, if they never even heard of it. Summer, 1915 was a time which found the employees of AT&T in great shock and sadness over the 'Eastland Disaster', an event intended to be a happy, joyful day of relaxation for the employees of Western Electric and their families ... but which became a hellish nightmare remembered in great detail for many years afterward. They'd talked about it for weeks before: Saturday, July 24, 1915 was the day for the annual company outing; a day when faithful employees of the company's Hawthorne Works (WECo's plant in Cicero, IL) would be rewarded with bonuses; when promotions would be announced; and all employees and their families would enjoy lunch, entertainment and a cruise on Lake Michigan. Nearly three thousand people attended the outing. Hawthorne Works had about seven hundred employees in those days, and nearly every employee was in attendance. They brought their spouses and children, but it was not that uncommon for husband and wife to both work for WECo together at Hawthorne Works. Their children and grandchildren came; boys brought their girlfriends and girls their boyfriends. AT&T was a very generous employer; there'd be no charge for anyone at what had become an annual summer outing, since the company would foot the bill, at a cost later estimated by the {Chicago Tribune} at nearly $10,000, when the cost of renting the cruiser ship Eastland was included. The Eastland was a very large, very modern steamer. It was a favorite way for Chicagoans to spend an afternoon or evening, with dinner and drinks on a lake cruise which lasted about four hours. Twice daily the boat left from the Clark Street docks on the Chicago River and traveled east several blocks to the lake, then out into Lake Michigan for a cruise which eventually found its way back to Clark Street. It made two trips daily most days, at noon, then again at 7 PM. But on Saturday, July 24, 1915 the Eastland had been chartered by WECo for use the entire day. Throughout the morning, food and beverages were being loaded aboard the ship by a crew of several dozen people who would serve the employees of WECo. Part of the day's events would include the obligatory speech by the Hawthorne Works superintendant, and the presentation of monetary bonuses and awards to employees whose work had been superior during the past year. The week before, discussions among employees had been devoted almost exclusively to the event, including transportation to and from downtown Chicago, since most employees of Hawthorne Works lived in the western suburban area of our city. Car pools were planned, and the company had rented busses to bring employees without cars who gathered at the plant that Saturday morning at the specified time. They even closed the plant that day, suspending the production line so that everyone could attend. The {Chicago Tribune}, Sunday July 25, 1915 noted: "The caravan arrived almost en-masse. For almost one hour yesterday morning, they came for a day of pleasure and joy-riding; hundreds of machines within minutes moving along Randolph Street and Washington Boulevard. They parked the machines where space permitted and the happy and sometimes boisterous employees walked to the dock and began boarding the vessel which would for many be the instrument of their death minutes later ..." The Eastland was equipped to handle large crowds. It had accomodated over two thousand passengers at one time in the past ... but the load this day was too much. As the ship pulled away, the passengers would go from one side to the other to see the sights as described by the master of ceremonies. In a matter of only minutes, the rush of passengers from one side to the other caused the boat to overturn and then sink. The overturning was very rapid, with hundreds of passengers thrown in the water and trapped underneath the vessel. Many were able to swim to shore while others held on to the side of the boat as long as possible waiting to be rescued. Good swimmers helped poor swimmers to reach shore. But the panic and general confusion ensuing caused 812 people to lose their lives that Saturday afternoon, most just a matter of yards from the banks of the river. Of the 812 dead, about 200 were employees at Hawthorne. The other 600 or so were families and friends of employees who had attended to take advantage of AT&T / WECo's generosity that day. Over 400 were women and children who had gotten trapped under the boat when it first turned over. Five pregnant women were killed. Although the Chicago Fire Department and Rescue Team were quick to arrive on the scene within minutes of the alarm being given, their efforts were almost useless considering the magnitude of the problem and the number of people needing immediate help. In the {Chicago Tribune} on Sunday, July 25, 1915, the headline screamed of "hundreds who met their death in an instant" and noted the problems facing the rescuers: "Not realizing the magnitude of the dilemma, the first Batallion of Rescuers arrived to see the horror which confronted them, and immediatly a dispatch went out for all available men from other Batallions in the vicinity to proceed at once to the scene. Because South Water Street was clogged with machines -- the police having earlier given permission to the company's employees to park as space permitted in the vicinity, the Rescue Teams were thwarted in their attempt to quickly approach the banks of the river. "As the bell in the steeple of City Hall continued to peal, announcing the disaster and calling men to the scene, it also called thousands of office workers and shoppers in the downtown area who went as curiosity seekers to the location, further hindering the Rescue Teams in their efforts until finally the Chief of Police and many officers barricaded the area and urged people to leave at once. "Groups of physicians and nurses moved among the victims as they were brought to the shore, helping those they could, and pronouncing dead those they could not. Throughout the afternoon and evening, even as this newspaper went to press, police and rescuers continued to remove bodies from the water. A salvage vessle has begun the task of uprighting the Eastland and towing it to the shore where investigators will board the ship to learn the exact sequence of events which caused this terrible incident to occur." There were numerous stories in the paper over the next few days, including an announcement of hearings by the Chicago City Council into the incident. The exact death toll was announced and revised on at least two occassions during the week ahead. Monday, July 26, 1915 was a day of great sadness at Hawthorne Works as emplyees milled about, discussing their many co-workers who would not be returning to their tasks. Flags were flown at half-staff for many days afterward. Funeral services were conducted daily that week, and a company-wide memorial service later in the week was attended by thousands of people from AT&T and Western Electric offices throughout the Chicago area. Executives came from corporate headquarters, and two persons present were Alex Bell and his wife Mabel. Going to Hawthorne Works the day after the memorial service, they stopped at each work area to speak briefly with the workers. Mabel took extensive notes of the names of the victims as they walked along, and the circumstances of family members who survived. As each story was told, she'd make notes, and occassionally turn her head away when the tragedy slapped her in the face: "Oh, that's John Parker's work bench. He lost his wife and their little daughter; they buried her this morning." Although Alex Bell had not been involved in telco management for many years at that point -- he had resigned long before as a corporate officer after severe disagreements with the management -- both he and Mabel retained considerable stock holdings in AT&T. Later on, every person on Mabel's list -- and there were hundreds -- received a note of condolence from Mr. and Mrs. Bell, along with a modest financial gift from their personal funds sent 'to be used where the need is greatest, and hoping it is understood that although we cannot be with you at this time, we think about the events of that day often, and feel a personal obligation to assist.' Had the Eastland disaster occurred in later years, our legal beagles would *still* be going at it in court ... but 1915 was a different time. Labor regulations were *much* different; workplace environments were unlike anything we are familiar with today; and in general people were far less sophisticated about their rights, and legal remedies available to them. Within weeks, production was resumed at about normal at Hawthorne. New workers had been hired, the grief had been resolved by many of the survivors, and although not forgotten, the incident had been put in the back of the minds of most of those involved. The {Chicago Tribune} spoke about it occassionally for a few months, and the City Council passed some very strong ordinances regarding safety precautions when large crowds of people were gathered in one place, including rules pertaining to the maximum number of people permitted on the dock at one time, or on vessels in the river or lake. Then all went quiet, and only the victims who surivived remembered. The victims of the Eastland disaster had a reunion annually for a number of years. By about 1945, no one was left at WECo who had been present that day ... then the reunions stopped occurring. Perhaps there are two or three people living today -- they'd be in their nineties if they are alive -- who were there the day the company picnic turned into a nightmare. How easily we forget ... by 1990 most Chicagoans were unaware of the event at all, until the {Chicago Tribune} reminded them on the 75th anniversary of that day. And to mark the 75th anniversary, a group of high school students constructed a marker to show where it all occurred on Clark Street at the river. Along with the Mayor of Chicago, a representative of the Chicago Fire Department, and someone from AT&T who attended, they installed the marker. The marker stands on Wacker Drive, between Clark and Dearborn Street on the south bank of the Chicago River should you ever be in the area and want to look at it. Very simply it states that 812 persons employed by or associated with AT&T's Western Electric Hawthorne Works lost their lives at that spot on July 24, 1915. Most folks walking by unfortunatly don't even see the sign, or stop to read it. Patrick Townson