Tragedy in Chicago

In the capacity of a Field Tuberculosis nurse, on July 24th, 1915, after having had a good breakfast at Anna Pieper’s boarding house on Ackenwald Avenue I started for the Root Streetcar enroute to my day’s service at the South Side Tuberculosis Dispensary at 47th and Halsted. At Cottage Grove I transferred from the Root car to the Cottage Grove car going south.

As I boarded the car, I heard the conductor announce excitedly. “As we crossed the river on State Street a large boat turned on its side and hundreds of people on the deck were thrown into the water.”

Later as I dismounted from the car at 47th and Halsted I rushed into the Dispensary to tell the news. The telephone was ringing furiously as I entered. The message was from the main office and gave the orders for the clinic to be closed for the day and all doctors and nurses to report to the Reed Murdock Co. Building at the north end of the State Street bridge.

“The Eastland has turned over, dumping its cargo of hundreds of people into the river. Nurses bring your bags and all bandages possible”. The telephone message was then repeated.

Fortunately, the physician was very tall whom we nurses followed through a hard rain as we left the streetcar downtown and started to walk across the bridge. No cars were crossing there then. As we formed a line to get through the gathered crowd of people it was almost funny to watch the heavy rain run off from the doctor’s hat that we dare not lose sight of. As we entered the bridge we could see small boats carrying bodies taken from the water to the Reed Murdock Building where they had cleared a vast area of everything but desks and large tables. Just across the river from the disaster firemen were bringing in pails of hot water and the three largest department stores had sent over blankets which were wrung out of the pails and placed over the bodies. The nurses then would remove some of the clothing from under the blanket. All day long the work of resuscitation went on. After one group had worked for some time they would move on to another and a second group would take the case they had just left.

No outsiders were admitted until the latter part of the afternoon. As this group of people were all employed by one company the bodies were all claimed by noon of the next day. The company had chartered the boat for a trip on Lake Michigan. Their ages were generally from 18 to 24. Over 800 lost their lives, 40 were saved.

The bodies were finally laid in two lines. One of women and another of men, and a number was placed on each one. Authorized people went down the lines removing any jewelry or money which was placed in an envelope bearing the number of the body. In the middle of the afternoon some kindly restaurant keepers sent pails of coffee and cups. Until then I guess no one of us realized we had not eaten all day. Nor probably did many of us eat much when we arrived home. Perhaps the firemen and policemen had to eat because of the brawn and muscle they had used all day tearing off the outside of the boat where some had crawled in to try and find someone who might be alive and to bring out those bodies that were found. Sometimes it was a wage-earner for a family, or an only son or daughter. One of the firemen was pulled out, having given his life to save others.