COUNTRYWIDE EXPRESSIONS OF SYMPATHY

As soon as word of the disaster flashed over the country, messages of condolence began to pour in to all of our offices. The accompanying telegram from the chairman of the Board of Directors of the Pacific States Telephone & Telegraph Company was one of the first received, and is typical of all that followed.

The General Electric Company, Westinghouse Electric Company, and Wagner Electric Company early sent messages of sympathy. From other companies in the electrical industry and from corporations all over the United States not directly associated with our business came hundreds of telegram and letters of condolence, many of them offering or extending financial assistance. Lack of space alone prevents the reproduction of these letters. In every case they were acknowledged by an officer of the Company, and where checks were enclosed, they were at once endorsed over to Mayor Thompson's relief committee in Chicago.

Many sympathetic telegrams and letters came from old employees of the Company in all parts of the country.

From local electrical and telephone societies and Jovian leagues throughout the country came like messages of sympathy. The employees of the Gamewell Fire Alarm Telegraph Company, of Newton Upper Falls, Mass., were at their annual outing on July 24th when news of the disaster reached them. They at once dispatched a message of sympathy to the employees at Hawthorne. The officers and employees of the Stromberg Carlson Telephone Manufacturing Company and the Automatic Electric Company also sent assurances of their sympathy. Another message of special interest came from the Western Pennsylvania Independent Telephone Association, in session at Johnstown, Pa.

From the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company. One of the First of the Telegrams.

Letters and telegrams of condolence were received by the Hawthorne Club from the following: Boston Western Electric Club; Telephone Society of Charlotte, N.C.; Telephone Society of Atlanta; Telephone Society of Louisville, Ky.; Telephone Society of New Orleans; Telephone & Telegraph Society of New England, Springfield, Mass.; Telephone Society of Nashville, Tenn.; the Jovian Order.

The distributing houses were notified of the extent of the disaster by Vice-President Halligan, and the attached letter from Dallas is typical of the replies which he received. In several cases the employees passed formal resolutions of condolence, while at San Francisco a special Mass, requested by Mrs. W.S. Berry, was held in old St. Mary's cathedral. It was attended by San Francisco employees of all denominations.

All of our offices in America remained closed on Wednesday, July 28th, the day designated by the city of Chicago as the official day of mourning for the Eastland victims.

NEW YORK'S SHARE IN THE WORK

The first intimation of the disaster came to F.B. Jewett, Assistant Chief Engineer, shortly before 9 o'clock Saturday morning. The message said simply that it was rumored that a number of Western Electric people were on the boat. Knowing that the Hawthorne picnic was scheduled for that day, Mr. Jewett and the other officials, who quickly joined him in his office, were apprehensive of bad news; and their worst fears were realized when a few moments later a brief confirmation of the over-turning of the boat was received. The earliest reports indicated only a few casualties, but as the morning wore on, the number was gradually increased.

Inside of a few minutes after the first news was received, Mr. Jewett had organized an information bureau at New York, and arranged for the use of an A.T.&T. wire for special telephone and telegraph facilities between his office and the A.T.&T. office in Chicago. Later on this line was extended from the long distance office in Chicago to the dock, so that New York had information up-to-the-minute.

Mr. Jewett took charge of the work at New York, and the suite of offices occupied by Mr. Scribner, Chief Engineer; Mr. McQuarrie, Assistant Chief Engineer, and Mr. Jewett, were turned over to the force of assistants who started tabulating the information as fast as it was received.

Mr. Jewett first telephoned the news to President Thayer at his home in New Canaan, Connecticut, and then to Vice-President Halligan, who was spending the weekend at the summer home of R.H. Gregory, Comptroller, in Princeton, Massachusetts.

As soon as the extent of the disaster was realized, both officials took immediate steps to catch the Twentieth Century, Limited train for Chicago.

As soon as the bulletin boards of the New York papers began to post early news, calls began to come in from all over the metropolitan district, seeking information of friends and relatives. A card record was made of every inquiry, and if the information was not at hand, it was secured from Chicago and the inquirer promptly notified.

The large number of former New York shop employees who had moved to Hawthorne during the past few years left behind them a vast circle of friends and relatives; and at times there were several telephone lines busy simply handling inquiries of this kind.

Bulletins of information were issued by Mr. Street, and posted on the bulletins boards in the New York office, which were surrounded by an eager throng of friends and fellow employees.

The information bureau also issued authorized statements of the disaster to the New York press, the information secured over the Company's private wire being invariably later than that received through the usual channels through which news is gathered by the papers.

All of the officials remaining at New York and a large number of other employees volunteered for special duty in connection with the bureau, which remained open continuously day and night until noon on Saturday, July 31st. As a matter of fact, there were many more volunteers than the work in hand demanded.

During the first part of the week the telephone lines were quite busy at night as during the day, and the all-night telephone service between New York and Chicago enabled the bureau at New York to answer these inquires almost as soon as they were received. A force of stenographers were on hand for the necessary typewriting work.

This bureau handled the eastern end of the arrangements necessary for the transportation of those bodies that were to be buried in the East; and looked after the funeral arrangements in many cases and the measures of financial relief that were made necessary in each case.