The Story of the Christmas Ship

Title: The Story of the Christmas Ship by Lilian Bell (1867-1929)

Location: Google Books       Date: 1913

CHAPTER XIV

How Chicago’s City Council Indorsed The Christmas Ship

THERE is not room in this book to tell of even a tithe of the generosity which filled the Jason’s hold with gifts.

I sit and pore over the files of newspapers which daily keep arriving, and I select with care all I feel I must use. Then I am appalled by the bulk of material.

So I go over and over it, weeding out, cutting down. If I didn’t, this book would be the size of a dictionary and would have to be issued in sections—like Balzac’s complete novels, that you buy on the installment plan and think you will read on rainy nights.

In Chicago the City Council came in, and not only promised to work but were singularly unanimous in praising the thought of the Christmas Ship:

“The Christmas Ship idea is a glorious one,” said Alderman Nance. “What cheer it will carry to those in the very shadow of the great war, whose cups of sadness and desolation are overfull! The movement inaugurated by the Herald should become nation-wide and all citizens should esteem it a privilege to have a part in its work. Especially should the children be interested in the plan. The whole idea spells a spirit of generosity and brotherly love.”

Alderman Merriam said that at Christmas time no greater expression of good will could be shown than by the sending of the ship.

“The idea carries out the ‘Peace on earth, good will toward men,’” said Alderman Merriam, “and no better time for this will be found than the time the ship reaches the war country.”

“A beautiful sentiment,” was the way Alderman Harding expressed himself. “This should have the approval and aid of all.”

“One of the most high-minded ideas,” said Alderman Littler.

“Nothing can do more to cultivate the international spirit,” said Alderman Krause. “The plan is a splendid one, and I for one will do all I can to make it a success.”

“Anything that will bring joy to orphans at Christmas time,” said Alderman Bergen, “deserves the help of every one.”

“Everybody should get back of this plan and make it a complete success,” said Alderman Norris. “This plan is wonderful.”

“I believe the undertaking is something that appeals to the mind and heart of every American man, woman, and child,” said Alderman Kearns. “The substantial things it aims to accomplish need but little comment.”

“I think the idea is a grand one,” said Alderman Capitain, “and should be encouraged by the grown-ups as well as by the children. It is a big undertaking, and should have the support of all.”

These men, who have so much power in the city government, are in the habit of looking at ideas as to their influence and productiveness of good or evil. Therefore their recognition of the moral uplift and spiritual import contained in the idea back of the work conducted so ably by the Herald, indicated that they were awake to the sublime results which would emanate from the Christmas Ship in the hearts and lives of the children of the United States.

A few weeks later, in regular session, Alderman Nance introduced a resolution, followed by these most significant words: “The city council of the city of Chicago hereby indorses the laudable project and urges the generous cooperation of all citizens in making it an unqualified success.”

It was with these words that the city’s official representatives made history.

“It is rare in the annals of municipal government, either in America or abroad, that a great city has thought the suffering of other nations of concern immediate enough to inspire action toward its alleviation,” said Alderman Nance after the session.

” Never before in the history of war has a great city initiated action, or indorsed action initiated by others, to offset even in part the ur aappiness and misery which follow in the wake of war.

“That the council of the city of Chicago has taken such action is a fact not only of importance as an aid in the loading of the ship but also as a great moral step in the direction of the realization of civilization’s ideal of universal peace.

“The fact that one of the world’s largest and most cosmopolitan cities has deemed international sympathy and brotherhood of sufficient importance to merit official action, is an influence for good which will reach not only the people of Chicago but in time all the people of the world.”

Even more explicitly expressed is the commendation of the general superintendent of the United Charities of Chicago:

“Christmas Ship Editor of the Herald:

“Permit me to express my keen interest in your Christmas Ship idea. Charity workers know what fatherless homes mean to family life. They spell grief, gloom, and want. Now comes your plan to throw among these stricken little ones a kind of rainbow of cheer. It is a great idea, and I want to add my little word of encouragement. Two fairies in our own home, as I write, are busy at the front lawn to earn contributions to the cause.

“Of course this will mean money taken out of Chicago, where the needs of the poor are so great, but I am confident there will be plenty left for all. Chicago is rich, her people are generous, and their means are sufficient to meet all reasonable calls. How fitting that cosmopolitan Chicago, harboring peoples from every nation, should look with compassion upon the stricken children of all the many countries at war. Social workers ought to, and I am sure will, say Godspeed to your brilliantly conceived project.

“Eugene T. Lies”

While in another issue came this from the secretary of the Illinois Vigilance Association:

“Christmas Ship Editor of the Herald:

“To me the Christmas Ship plan seems one of the greatest influences for good I have heard of since the United States remitted a portion of the war tax on China after the Boxer rebellion. It is an act of kindness and sympathy that will do more than any diplomacy could hope to do. It will do much to quiet the war spirit in Europe and make it almost impossible for any foreign nation to declare war on us while the memory of such a kindness lasts. It is a kindness to mothers and little children that will be a source of happiness to the heart of the giver as well as to the receiver.

“Wirt W. Hallam”

Two hundred women’s clubs of Chicago, through their representatives in the executive committee of the League of Cook County Clubs, enlisted in the work of the Christmas Ship.

Notice of the league’s action was conveyed to the Herald in a letter signed by the president, Mrs. Charles H. Zimmerman, and the corresponding secretary, Mrs. A. P. C. Matson. The letter read as follows:

“At a meeting of the executive committee of the League of Cook County Clubs, held September 15, it was voted to indorse the Christmas Ship movement.”

All the time I was teaching my Santa Claus Class, and 1 wrote for them as I would write had each day’s story been going into a book.

Was there ever a more delightful play-combined-with-work and work-combined-with-play invented than all of us mothers and children sitting down to prepare such a shipload of joy?

Can you imagine what the children of Europe are thinking right this minute? For already thousands know what we are doing.

And the best of it is that we are all happy about it.

For my own part, I wear that smile that won’t come off. I smile when I am with people and when I am alone. Sometimes I get to smiling so in the street car that I have to turn and look out of the window for fear people will think I am not quite right in my mind!

But we Christmas Shippers can’t help smiling, can we?

This smile of ours is one which will circle the earth.

Bell, Lillian (Mrs Bogue) (b.1867-d.1929) Published her first novel at age 26. She wrote mostly from her experience and her travels as the wife of upper-crust Arthur Hoyt Bogue of Chicago. [The couple divorced in 1913] Her father, Maj. William W. Bell, fought in the Civil War, as did did her grandfather, Gen. Joseph Warren Bell  (a Southerner, who sold and freed his slaves before the war, brought his family North, and organized the 13th Illinois Cavalry). Her great – great – grandfather, Captain Thomas Bell, served Virginia in the American Revolution. Lilian Bell was born in Chicago, but she was brought up in Atlanta.

Works include: The Love Affairs of an Old Maid (1893); Hope Loring; A Little Sister to the Wilderness (1895); The Under Side of Things; From a Girl’s Point of View (1897); The Expatriates (1900); Abroad with the Jimmies (1900); At Home With The Jardines (1902); As Seen By Me; Carolina Lee (1907) – Vintage Women’s Books

By Water to the Columbian Exposition

Title: By Water to the Columbian Exposition by Johanna S. Wisthaler

Location:  Google Books         Date: 1894

There are many books concerning the Columbian Exposition of 1893, but this one has to be considered unique. The author traveled 1, 243 miles by yacht, from Schenectady, New York to Chicago to visit the White City: down the Erie Canal, through the Great Lakes following the shore line, past Detroit up to the Straits of Mackinaw, then down Lake Michigan to Michigan City, Indiana and finally to the Fair itself. It’s a wonderful book, but, unfortunately, the pictures that Ms. Wisthaler took are not included in this edition nor have I found them in any other addition available on the Internet. That aside, it is a terrific tale. Following is the author’s description of her companions and the yacht itself: (Note: the spelling and grammar has been left unedited.)

INTRODUCTION

Experience, this greatest of all teachers, will undoubtedly have convinced many of my readers that the most delightful voyage is only capable of maintaining its charms when made amidst congenial fellow-travelers. The grandest scenes can be fully enjoyed and duly appreciated when viewed through an atmosphere of physical comfort. Thus, in order to demonstrate the accuracy of the assertion: Voyaging with Mr. James and his family was attractive and enjoyable to me in every respect,

I must make the reader acquainted with my amiable traveling companions, as well as with their floating home, the beautiful steam yacht “Marguerite.”

Her owner, Captain S. R. James, is a stately, fine-looking, accomplished gentleman, and quite a linguist. To me it was a source of unusual pleasure to discuss French and German literature occasionally during our voyage with one who has given so much attention to these languages.

Mr. James was styled by the Buffalo Courier “a typical New Yorker;” but he impresses me more as a typified English gentleman of the thorough school, and this impression is confirmed as I reflect upon his conduct to those fortunate enough to be associated with him in any capacity. I trust the reader will pardon me if I warmly eulogize Mr. James, his lovely Wife and their Foursweet Children, together with Miss Sarah E. Campbell, the very amiable sister of Mrs. James — who were my traveling companions on this eventful trip’; for, certainly, I was extremely fortunate in my compagnons de voyage, whom I have thus introduced to the reader. They abandoned their lovely home for the purpose of undertaking the gigantic enterprise of making a canal and lake voyage to the White City.

 

The reader may well judge that sailing on a yacht presents innumerable novelties and advantages not attainable by any other conveyance. Since the parties on board a pleasure-boat concentrate all their thoughts to the expected enjoyments they cast aside all irksome forms and straitlaced habitudes, delivering themselves up to the free air to live less conventionally than at home. The preferableness of such an existence, freed from all unnecessary ceremonies, is still more perceptible when the trip is of long duration and having, moreover, for its terminus the World’sColumbian Exposition, a place where the wonders, beauties, and evidences of nature’s power and man’s skill are gathered from all lands.

The great anticipations we had of our unique voyage were justified in every respect. For it offered us the opportunity to store our memories with that which will never die, and to adorn them with pictures whose colors will never fade.

All this will be revealed subsequently to my courteous reader, who is cordially invited to follow me now on board the steam yacht, which formed our home for six eventful weeks.

 

What first strikes the observer on approaching the “Marguerite,” are the graceful lines which run from the sharp, slightly bent stem to the well-rounded stern. So beautiful is her form, and so majestically does she rest upon the water, that you will have no difficulty to recognize her, even at a great distance. You observe that she is painted with taste, and all the mouldings are gilded; you also perceive that the railings are of oak wood, surmounted by finely polished brass, and the deck of narrow deal planks is as white as snow. There is nothing wanting to make her equipment harmonize with the requirements of the present era. She has a length of a hundred feet, a width of about fifteen, with a draught of five feet eight inches; being fitted out for both steam and sail navigation.

Now, dear reader, let us go below. If you consent, we will first visit the engine-room, since it contains the most essential part of the working machinery. A force of from eighty-five to ninety horse-power is developed to propel the boat. The engine is of the triple expansion type; the diameters of the cylinders being 6 1-2, 10 and 16 inches respectively.

Are you not pleased with this piece of machinery, so elegantly finished and neatly polished? From it you can conclude that the yacht is capable of running with considerable speed, amounting to thirteen miles an hour, if desired.

Let us descend to the cabin next; can anything be more tasteful and convenient? Is it not luxurious? And, although small, does not its very limited space astonish you when you view so many comforts? This is the diningroom. What can be more complete! Just look at this

side-board, with its sumptuous outfit in silver and crystal. A multum in parvo.

The kitchen is admirably arranged; the spacious refrigerator making it possible that a considerable amount of all sorts of provisions and delicacies can be kept on board for some time.

Let us peep into the cozy staterooms. Are they not nicely furnished? Glance at the large and comfortable berths, which can be extended so as to form double berths, as in a Pullman car. All the rooms receive light, either through side-windows or from the upper deck. Every facility for enjoying open air exercise is offered by the main deck running the whole length of the ship. The portion pertaining to the stern is especially commodious, and constituted our dining-room on pleasant days. Even when the weather was unfavorable, the awnings which inclosed this delightful place formed an excellent shelter, giving the impression we were living in a large tent.

Thus, you observe, that nothing is omitted to secure comfort. Do you see this electric bell? Well, all the staterooms are provided with such bells, which are connected with the steward’s pantry.

Now, let us go forward. These two doors form the entrance to the pilot-house; please, step in. Here is the steering wheel, and by means of these brass tubes the steersman communicates with the engineer. Look up to the ceiling. It is decorated with multitudinous charts and maps. Before we leave this room do not forget to glance at the mariner’s compass in its elegant brass case.

Close by is the entrance to the fore-castle, which contains the men’s berths. The crew occupying them consists of the captain, the engineer, the cook, the steward, and the seamen.

 

There not being accommodation for more female servants, Mrs. James was attended by only one maid. She, however, could easily spare larger retinue, because this excellent girl has assisted her mistress in performing the manifold domestic duties for more than fourteen years, and during this long period Mrs. James has learned to value her for her dexterity in all female occupations. She is also a faithful guardian of the children whom she tenderly cares.

Flattering myself that I have given my kind readers a satisfactory, introductory description, I shall now advance with the narrative, and proceed on our journey, traversing the longest artificial waterway ever constructed by human hands; and sailing on the unsteady billows of the great lakes, which contain the largest amount of sweet water on the globe, in order to visit the World’s Fair, the grandest and most complete exposition that hum-in eyes ever beheld.

Iroquois Theater…Chicago

Title: Iroquois Theater…Chicago: Souvenir Programme

Location: Google Books       Date: 1903

On November 23, 1903 Chicago’s new Iroquois Theater opened. Six weeks later it would be the site of the deadliest fire in Chicago history killing 602 people – mostly women and children. But, opening day of the majestic theater was grand! Just in time to entertain the Loop’s weary holiday shoppers! To commemorate the event, a souvenir program was published and included many details of the theater’s beautiful entrance.

The latest and most noticeable achievements in theatrical construction, not reckoning the cost to secure the finest results, are significant in the recherche New Amsterdam Theatre in New York, the finest concrete example of L’ Art Nouvean in the world: the beautiful Nixon Theatre, now approaching completion in Pittsburg, and last but not least, the Iroquois in Chicago, the finest and most complete of its many modern houses devoted to the drama.

The desirable site chosen for the Iroquois is close to that associated with the very beginning of things theatrical in this municipality nearly sixty years ago. It is located within ” The Loop,” is more readily accessible from traction and railway lines than any other Chicago theatre, and has a frontage on three thoroughfares, with many avenues for exit. The practical part of its promotion as an elegant edifice as well as a perfect theatre show the result of skill added to good judgment in unstinted financial outlay, with a determination to secure the best as befitting such an important artistic adventure. Every penny of the large expenditure represented in the Iroquois was made in the theatrical business. Mr. Will J. Davis and Mr. Harry J. Powers, as the result of ripe experience, understood exactly what was needed. The judicious character of their investment is unquestionable and the artistic addition to the city most advantageous. Associated with the Chicago managers are Messrs. Klaw and Erlanger of New York, and Messrs. Nixon and Zimmerman of Philadelphia, both firms being large producers as well.

The George A. Fuller Company is second to none in handling building enterprises of magnitude, and in carrying them to completion in spite of all obstacles that the uncertain temper of the times may impose. It may be recalled that this corporation carried the Illinois Theatre to completion under conditions that seemed prohibitive, and has been equally successful in completing the Iroquois at a time when other builders have been seriously delayed or entirely abandoned constructions, discouraged by the attitude of labor and contract conditions.

Mr. Benjamin H. Marshall, the architect, has shown admirable capability as a modern theatre builder, and in this instance has again given Chicago its most beautiful temple of the drama. The Illinois Theatre was the first monumental structure of the kind in Chicago, and the Iroquois is a surpassing second, as the entire building is devoted to theatrical purposes.

The Iroquois presents the most imposing and attractive facade to be seen in this city of modern structures, and will impress even the most superficial observer by its beauty and grandeur. The style, architecturally, is French renaissance, which has a strong suggestion of the classic. This mingling of the heroic and lighter lines is artistically adroit, and the result very satisfactory. The Randolph Street front is of Bedford stone deeply recessed (sixty feet wide and eighty feet high), the admirable proportion and architectural treatment making it appear larger than it really is. The central feature is a deep French coved arch thirty-five feet in width and fifty-two feet high, flanked on either side by stone columns four feet in diameter and thirty-eight feet high, weighing thirty-six tons each. Next to these in correct architectural spacing is an engaged pilaster four feet wide that returns back of the columns, acting in double function. The front view gives the impress of double free columns on either side of the arch, adding grace and strength to the uplift of the edifice. These columns and pilasters rest upon a mammoth pedestal of St. Cloud granite sixteen feet square. The width of these bases will serve as bulletins of attractions, for which a space five feet square is recessed and framed in carved leaves of laurel, the top center being a rich cartouche. The columns and pilasters are surmounted by a cornice nine feet high, running across the entire front from pilaster to pilaster, breaking back to the face of the arch at the top of either column. These returns are sustained by elaborately carved massive brackets of French pattern. The upward continuation of the cornice forms a pediment or gable, the apex of which is seventy-five feet above the pavement. Above its crown moulding is a parapet. Surmounting the center as a terminal is a monolith of stone twelve feet wide and fifteen feet high. The massive character of the masonry will be appreciated when it is stated that this upper wall is fourteen feet thick.

The ornamentation of the pediment is emblematic, showing the semi-recumbent figure of a woman heroic in size, representing Tragedy, and the figure of a jester, typifying Comedy. They support a richly carved cartouche as the central ornament.

The sculptors of this large group are Beil and Manch, and the carver, Joseph Dux. The figures are cut out of the solid stone projection, the relief being 3 1/2 feet from the face of the pediment. The size of these sculptures may be judged by the fact that the ornamental head forming the keystone of the arch ten feet below them is 3 1/2 x 4 feet.

Springing up within the arched entrance are a pair of stone pilasters thirty-four feet high, supporting a cornice spanning the arch at the beginning of the curve. The upper members of this gable are cut out as a broken pediment, allowing space for the sculptured bust of a noble Iroquois that Mr. Davis selected as typical from his large library Americana. Back of this arch is an elaborate screen of ornamental iron work (in which the Winslow Brothers have fairly outdone the Germans in their handicraft). This screen is set with heavy plate and jewel glass, giving light and airiness to the inner lobby and outer front. Five pairs of wide mahogany doors with glass panels give entrance to a vestibule 20×40 feet, with an eighteen-foot ceiling beamed and paneled with marble. This is elliptical in shape, allowing room for ticket and other offices on either side, their windows being an attractive feature of the otherwise plain solid construction. At the east end ornamental iron stairs lead to the business offices of the house and to the third floor above, the manager’s private office. A second series of swinging doors admit to a foyer truly palatial (sixty feet wide and eighty feet long), with a colonnade of pavonazzo pillars carrying the ceiling upon groined arches sixty feet above the tessellated floor. It is-by far the most majestic interior in this city or in this country, rivaling many vistas to be seen in the Congressional Library in Washington. In the dignity of its decorative disposition it suggests some kinship with the latter noble structure: but its lines are lighter, its treatment not so severely studied, while its originality is worthy of the highest praise.

For more on The Iroquois Theater Disaster, please see The Chicago History Journal.

The World’s Parliament of Religions

Title: The World’s Parliament of Religions: an illustrated and popular story of the World’s first parliament of religions, held in Chicago in connection with the Columbian exposition of 1893 edited by Rev. John Henry Barrows

Location: Google Books Date: 1893

Today all Americans remember the tragedy and horror of September 11, 2001. We mourn for our lost sisters and brothers and for our lost innocence. This day, however, should also remind us of the need for tolerance and understanding between all nations and religions so I believe it is appropriate to feature the hopeful meeting  of the representatives of the world’s religions that occurred at the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

It should be noted that the editor, John Henry Barrows, served as minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago from 1886 to 1891, authored numerous books and was a highly respected man in the religious community. It is even more interesting to note that the University of Chicago Divinity School department on the study of Islam is named after Rev. Barrows.

Religion is the greatest fact of History.

This book will show that it is one of the most picturesque and interesting. These volumes are enriched with views of Eastern Temples, painted and tiled Pagodas, superb and stately Mosques, humble meeting-houses and all the beautiful forms of Christian architecture in Europe and America.

How these efforts of Man to embody his thoughts of God and of worship give a celestial gleam and glory to his struggling and sorrowing life!

The human soul, with its upward look, catching the reflection of Heaven, transfigures the sombre annals of Time.

This book records a grand event, the most important incident of the greatest of World Expositions. In preparing for it, the editor of these volumes has been brought into friendly and delightful relations with Catholic Archbishops, Greek Priests, Jewish Rabbis, disciples of the gentle Buddha and followers of the gravely-wise Confucius. Pleasant friendships have been formed with men of a score of Christian denominations. Contact with the learned minds of India has  inspired a new reverence for the thought of the Orient. He has seen in imagination Milton’s

“Dusk faces, with white silken turbans wreathed.”

And, in the disciples of Zoroaster and of the Prophet of Islam, he has found the spirit of the truest human brotherhood.

It is my inspiring duty to bring before my readers a most varied and stately procession of living scholars, reformers, missionaries, moral heroes, delvers in the mines of the soul, seekers after Truth, toilers for humanity.

In this book will be found Theology, Science, Philosophy, Biography, History, Poetry, Experience, Political and Social Wisdom, Eloquence, Music, the rich lore of the head, the richer literature of the heart, Revelations from God, the story of Man’s outreachings toward the Infinite, his triumphs and partial failures, his hopes and despairs, the bewildered efforts of noble souls

“Who, groping in the darks of Thought,
Touched the Great Hand and knew it not,”

and the sublime joy of those to whom Religion was a daily walk in the light of the Eternal.

This Book will show Man seeking after God, and it will also tell the diviner story of God seeking after Man.

Striking the noble chord of universal human brotherhood, the promoters of the World’s First Parliament of Religions have evoked a starry music which will yet drown the miserable discords of earth.

This Book is the record of Man’s best thinking to-day on the greatest of themes. For the first time in all the centuries, the wonders of Art and Science and the wonders of Faith and Thought have been exhibited side by side.

The faces of living men of all Faiths, the Temples wherein they worship, the record of their highest achievements, the reasons for their deepest convictions, and the story of their earliest meeting together in loving conference, are for the first time presented in one comprehensive work.

The Western City which was deemed the home of the crudest materialism has placed a golden milestone in Man’s pathway toward the spiritual Millennium.

As some of my readers look into the pictured faces of robed and mitred ecclesiastics, earnest pulpit orators, highhearted women, grave reformers and strange-featured wise men from far Eastern lands, the scholarly representatives of Faiths which are alien to the habitual current of Western thought, and as they read these varied chapters in the wondrous history of the Soul, I am confident they will experience a widening of thought, and be glad that the Providence of God has, in the process of the suns, blessed them with truer tenderness and a broadened sympathy.

This Book will also be read in the cloisters of Japanese scholars, by the shores of the Yellow Sea, by the watercourses of India and beneath the shadows of Asiatic mountains near which rose the primal habitations of man. It is believed that the Oriental reader will discover in these volumes the source and strength of that simple faith in Divine Fatherhood and Human Brotherhood, which, embodied in an Asiatic Peasant who was the Son of God and made divinely potent through Him, is clasping the globe with bands of heavenly light.

May this record speed on the day foreseen by the English Laureate, who looked forward to the Parliament of Religions as the realization of a noble dream, the day when

“All men’s good
Is each man’s rule, and Universal Peace
Lies like a shaft of light across the land,
And like a lane of beams athwart the sea,
Thro’ all the circle of the Golden Year.”

John Henry Barrows.

Chicago, Nov. 8, 1893.

The Bomb by Frank Harris

Title: The Bomb by Frank Harris

Location: Google Books     Date: 1909

It began as simply a labor rally for striking workers.  But, when a bomb was thrown and seven Chicago police officers and numerous citizens were killed, it became known as the Haymarket Riot. Eight men considered to be anarchists were put on trial; four were executed and one committed suicide. But, the question of who threw the bomb has been left unanswered until this day.

One man, however, is at the top of the suspect list:  Rudolph Schnaubelt (1863-1901). Schnaubelt was identified as the thrower and indited but fled the country before his guilt or innocence could be determined. Through the years, the basis for Schnaubelt’s guilt has been based primarily on a fictionalized account of the incident written from his point of view. That book is “The Bomb” by Frank Harris.

A minute afterwards, as it seems to me now, we had reached our goal; we were in Desplaines Street, between Lake Street and Randolph Street. Desplaines Street is a mean thoroughfare on the west side, three or four hundred yards from the river, and fully half a mile from the edge of the business centre downtown. The Haymarket, as the place was afterwards called, is nearly a hundred yards away. As we came up from the south we passed the Desplaines Street police station, presided over by Inspector Bonfield; there was already a crowd of police at the door.

“They mean business,” said Lingg, “tonight, and so do we.”

When we got to the outskirts of the meeting we saw the mayor of the city, with one or two officials; the mayor was an elderly man called Carter Harrison. He had been, asked to prohibit the meeting, but was unwilling to interfere with what might be a lawful assembly; he attended in person to prevent any incitement to rioting.

The speakers’ stand was a mere truck-wagon, placed where a blind alley intersected the street, in the centre of the block. We were at the rear of the building occupied by the Crane Brothers’ great elevator factory. I should think two or three thousand people were already gathered together.

Rudolph Schnaubelt

Spies had finished speaking as we came up. He was followed by Parsons, who rose to the height of the argument if ever a man did. He began by asking the crowd to be quite orderly; he assured them that if they kept order, and simply gave expression to their grievances, the American people would hear them with sympathy, and would see that they had fair play. He really believed this claptrap. He went on to say that their grievances were terrible; unarmed men, women, and children had been shot down. Why were they shot? he asked, and then began his reform speech.

The mayor listened to everything, and evidently saw nothing in the utterances to object to. “Parsons’s speech,” he said afterwards, “was a good political speech.” After Parsons had made an end, the Englishman, Samuel Fielden, with his bushy beard, stood up and began to prose. Some rain-drops fell, a lull came in the rising wind; darkness began to overshadow us. Evidently the storm was at hand.

The crowd began to drift away at the edges. I was alone and curiously watchful. I saw the mayor and the officials move off towards the business part of the town. It looked for a few minutes as if everything was going to pass over in peace; but I was not relieved. I could hear my own heart beating, and suddenly I felt something in the air; it was sentient with expectancy. I slowly turned my head. I was on the very outskirts of the crowd, and as I turned I saw that Bonfield had marched out his police, and was minded to take his own way with the meeting now the mayor had left. I felt personal antagonism stiffen my muscles. It grew darker and darker every moment. Suddenly there came a flash, and then a peal of thunder. At the end of the flash, as it seemed to me, I saw the white clubs falling, saw the police striking down the men running along the side-walk. At once my mind was made up. I put my left hand on the outside of my trousers to hold the bomb tight, and my right hand into the pocket, and drew the tape. I heard a little rasp. I began to count slowly, “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven”; as I got to seven the police were quite close to me, bludgeoning every one furiously. Two or three of the foremost had drawn their revolvers. The crowd were flying in all directions. Suddenly there was a shot, and then a dozen shots, all, it seemed to me, fired by the police. Rage blazed in me.

I took the bomb out of my pocket, careless whether I was seen or not, and looked for the right place to throw it; then I hurled it over my shoulder high in the air, towards the middle of the police, and at the same moment I stumbled forward, just as if I had fallen, throwing myself on my hands and face, for I had seen the spark. It seemed as if I had been on my hands for an eternity, when I was crushed to the ground, and my ears split with the roar. I scrambled to my feet again, gasping. Men were thrown down in front of me, and were getting up on their hands. I heard groans and cries, and shrieks behind me. I turned round; as I turned a strong arm was thrust through mine, and I heard Lingg say—

“Come, Rudolph, this way”; and he drew me to the side-walk, and we walked past where the police had been.

“Don’t look,” he whispered suddenly; “don’t look.”

But before he spoke I had looked, and what I saw will be before my eyes till I die. The street was one shambles; in the very centre of it a great pit yawned, and round it men lying, or pieces of men, in every direction, and close to me, near the side-walk as I passed, a leg and foot torn off, and near by two huge pieces of bleeding red meat, skewered together with a thigh-bone. My soul sickened; my senses left me; but Lingg held me up with superhuman strength, and drew me along. “Hold yourself up, Rudolph,” he whispered; “come on, man,” and the next moment we had passed it all, and I clung to him, trembling like a leaf. When we got to the end of the block I realized that I was wet through from head to foot, as if I had been plunged in cold water.

The Lost City! Drama of the Fire Fiend

Title: The Lost City! Drama of the Fire Fiend, or Chicago, as it was, and as it is! and its glorious future! a vivid and truthful picture of all of interest connected with the destruction of Chicago and the terrible fires of the great Northwest by Frank Luzerne and John G. Wells

Location: Internet Archive     Date 1872

“When the general alarm sounded, and all the steamers flew through the streets, prolonging the boom of the bell in shrill shrieks, thousands of citizens rushed out to learn the location and progress of the conflagration. Most of the buildings in Dekoven and Taylor streets wore already destroyed, and the great tongues of flame were licking up the wooden structures in that part of the city as though they were the merest tinder boxes, leaving no trace of their form or material to mark the place’where they stood, but a moment before. The crackling of the fire among the dry lumber resembled the regular discharge of musketry by an army corps in retreat ; but there were still worse evidences of panic than are usually displayed by a routed army, in the hundreds of people, men, women and children, already fleeing to a place of safety, and bearing upon their shoulders such articles of household use as seemed to theni valuable at the moment. They were utterly demoralized, and mingled screams of agony, shouts of alarm, prayers and imprecations, with occasional blows right and left, in a jangling noise of words unknown, and gabble without meaning. Eyes blind with blood, and features wildly distorted with terror, people unclad, half-clad, some wrapped in bed-clothing, women dressed in the apparel of the opposite sex, and some protected only by their night-wrappers, carrying beds, babies, tables, tubs, carpets, crockery, cradles, almost every conceivable thing of household use, formed the most noticeable features of this terrific route.”

The Century World’s Fair Book for Boys and Girls

Full Title: The Century World’s Fair Book for Boys and Girls: Being the Adventures of Harry and Philip with Their Tutor Mr. Douglass at the World’s Columbian Exposition by Tudor Jenks (1857-1922)

Location: Internet Archive     Date c. 1893

The Administration Building

This charming book on the Columbian Exposition is described as, ” A humorous fictional account of a visit to the World’s Columbian exposition illustrated with actual photographs and sketches of the buildings, exhibits, and fairgrounds.” Normally I do not include fiction in my listings , but the numerous illustrations and photographs make this an extremely worthwhile read for those interested in the Fair .  Jenks provides some quite readable narrative and gives us a glimpse of not only the Fair, but traveling by sleeper car and finding a place to stay in Chicago and Chicago itself.  Unfortunately, the amazing photographs (some of the construction of the Fair) are not credited.

The story begins at the boy’s school in New York…

MR. DOUGLASS wants to see you, Master Harry,” said the maid, coming to the door of the boys’ room. “What ‘s he found out now, I wonder?” said Harry to Philip, in a low tone. ” I don’t remember anything I have done lately.”

” He ‘s in a hurry, too,” said the girl, closing the door. Harry ran down to Mr. Douglass’s room on the first floor. The two boys were beginning their preparation for college, and were living in a suburb of New York city with their tutor,
Mr. Douglass, a college graduate, and a man of about thirty-five. Harry’s father, Mr. Blake, was abroad on railroad business, and did not expect to return for some months. Philip was Harry’s cousin, but the two boys were very unlike in disposition as will be seen. Their bringing up may have been responsible for some of the differences in traits and character, for Harry was a city boy, while his cousin was country-bred.

When Harry knocked at the door of Mr. Douglass’s study, he knew by the tutor’s tone in inviting him in that the teacher had not called him simply for a trivial reprimand. It was certainly something serious; perhaps news from Harry’s father and mother.

” Sit down, Harry,” said the tutor, ” and don’t be worried,” he added, seeing how solemn the boy looked. ” I have had a message by cable from your father; but it ‘s good news, not bad. Read it.” He handed Harry the despatch. It read :

Take Hal and Phil to Fair. My expense. Letter to Chicago. See Farwell about money and tickets.

“Rather sudden, is n’t it?” said Mr. Douglass, smiling.

“Yes,” said Harry, “but immense! Don’t you think so?”

” I ‘m glad to go,” the tutor said. ” It seems to me that a visit to the Fair is worth more than all the studying here you boys could do in twice the time you ’11 spend there ; and it ‘s a lucky opportunity for me.”

“Then you ‘ll go?” said Harry, to whom the news seemed a bit of fairy story come true, with the Atlantic cable for a magic wand.

” Of course,” answered the tutor. “The only thing that surprises me is the quickness of your father’s decision.”

“That ‘s just like him,” said Harry. ” He ‘s a railroad man, you know, and they always go at high pressure. Why, he ‘d rather talk by telephone, even when he can’t get anything but a buzz and a squeak on the wire, than send a messenger who ‘d get there in half the time.”

” But has he said anything about sending you before? “

” No. The fact is, people abroad are slow to know what a whacker this Fair is ! They think it ‘s a mere foreign exposition. Father ‘s just found out that Uncle Sam has covered himself with glory, and now he wants Phil and me to see the bird from beak to claws the whole American Eagle.”

An example of the construction photographs. "Making 'staff'" (the material used to cover the frames of the buildings.)

Eastland Disaster Relief, American Red Cross, 1915-1918

Title: Eastland Disaster Relief, American Red Cross, 1915-1918: after the capsizing of the steamer “Eastland” in the Chicago river, July 24, 1915 to completion of relief work. Final report, Eastland disaster relief committee, Chicago chapter, American Red Cross.

Location: Google Books     Date: 1918

The American Red Cross sprang into action when the Eastland disaster occurred and spent three years assisting its victims. Be sure to read the “Case Reports” for a personal view of the tragedy.

Removing the dead from the Eastland.

The capsizing of the lake passenger steamship Eastland, which caused the death of 812 persons, occurred in the Chicago river at the Clark Street bridge, in the very heart of the City of Chicago, about 7:20 o ‘clock on the morning of Saturday, July 24, 1915.

The boat was one of four which the employees of the “Western Electric Company had chartered to carry 7,000 men, women and children on an annual outing to Michigan City, Ind. The Eastland was to have left the dock at 7:30 o ‘clock, and was to have been followed at halfhour intervals by the other steamers.

The excursionists began to arrive at the dock as early as 6 o’clock in the morning, wishing to sail on the first boat and make the day as long as possible. As soon as the gates were thrown open a solid line of people, two abreast, moved upon the boat, and by 7:10 o’clock there were approximately 2,500 persons aboard.

The Indiana Transportation Company, which furnished the boats for the excursionists, had announced that if the boat were loaded before the hour set for sailing, she would not wait until 7:30. When the boat was filled, preparations were made to sail at once. One line had been cast off and the boat was beginning to swing into the stream.

The 2,500 or more passengers, largely women and children, were in high spirits. The little ones were romping as well as they could on decks so crowded that one could scarcely walk, and the older ones were waving and shouting to their friends who were boarding the other boats.

About 7:10 o’clock the boat listed slowly over away from the dock, swayed back almost to an even keel, then began to list again, and slowly turned over and lay flat on her port side in some 18 feet of water, with the keel only a few feet from the dock.

At first the people thought there was nothing unusual about the movement of the boat. It was not until the second listing had progressed so far as to overturn a refrigerator that the crowd became alarmed.

Then the cheers and wavings and shouts of glee gave way to cries of terror, and a mad panic ensued. A number who were on the starboard side of the boat, next the dock, scrambled ashore or dropped into the water and were pulled out by rescuers, for the boat turned over very slowly.

Several hundred, gathered on the upper or hurricane deck, were spilled overboard into the river, and swam ashore, or were saved by the rescuers.

But many of the hundreds between decks were penned in and drowned or crushed to death. Some of the imprisoned held on until holes were cut in the side of the boat which remained above water, and were taken out alive, but terribly shattered by the horror. Hundreds were dead when finally the rescuers reached them.

News of the tragedy spread rapidly. The fire and police departments were called out; the river boats of both departments and other craft came to the rescue; scores of volunteer rescuers plunged into the work, and the task of taking the passengers from the boat and from the water where they had leaped or had been thrown, went on for hours. Some 1,700 reached shore alive, while the dead were already being laid in windrows along the bank.

The tally of dead finally reached 812, with a considerable list of injured, some of whom died later.

The people of Chicago sprang at once to the relief of those who had been bereaved. Entire families had been wiped out. Parents had gone to their death leaving a number of children. Sons and daughters had been drowned, leaving the parents childless. All the bread winners of other families had perished, leaving a number of dependents. And everywhere were funeral expenses and doctor bills to be met, while the survivors were almost or quite crazed.

Such was the situation when the American Red Cross was called upon to take charge of the relief work, prevent suffering for want of necessities of life among the survivors, see that the dead were given suitable burial, and adjust living conditions for the hundreds of women and children left without their natural protectors.

The accident was less than an hour old when the American Red Cross, represented by John J. O’Connor, Director of its Central Division, was at work at the scene.

The World’s Fair City and her Enterprising Sons by C. Dean

Title: The World’s Fair City and her Enterprising Sons by C. Dean

Location: Internet Archive     Date published: 1892

There were many books published about The Columbian Exposition immediately following its closing; guide books of all sorts, books about the awards given out and even cookbooks. The purpose of this book was to promote the Fair and, more importantly, Chicago, to the world. Chicago had a reputation for being a bit bawdy, shall we say, so the author here endeavered to place the city in the best light possible, emphsizing its enterprising businessmen and their charitable deeds. No robber barons here! Our millionaires are kind, generous and humble! 

The following excerpt is on Nathaniel K. Fairbank (1829-1903), the millionaire mogul who made a fortune as a lard processor and soap maker (N. K. Fairbank & Co.) , by-products of Chicago’s meatpacking industry. His Fairy Soap was extremely popular. Fairbank was also the owner of the land now known as “Streeterville” in Chicago, a founder and president of the elite Chicago Club, a founder of the Commercial Club of Chicago, an original trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, president of The University of Chicago, a major trader on the Chicago Board of Trade, a member of The Chicago Literary Club, and a benefactor of St. Luke’s Hospital. As far as Chicago’s early millionares go, he was honestly considered one of the good guys.

Following is a description of Mr. Fairbank from Chapter VIII. 

 

NATHANIEL K. FAIRBANK

 

Nathaniel Kellogg Fairbank

At this age in which so many seekers after wealth are devoting their lives, before and after maturity, to the hoarding of riches, it is restful and comforting to find a man who is satisfied that he has in his possession enough of this world’s goods.

 Nathaniel K. Fairbank is one of Chicago’s most wealthy men, but he has retired from business pursuits, and is enjoying life as a man who has done his duty, and has learned what follows in the consistent order of such events. To say the least, it is refreshing to note such men for they are like the angel visits scarce. But he should not be eulogized simply because he is a sane man, but should be counted in as one of the select who see further than the common millionaires, who are not strong enough to discontinue accumulating, and are not willing to take a rest and let some one else have a chance.

 

Mr. Fairbank was born in 1829, in the town of Sodus, Wayne County, New York, consequently he has now reached the age when he can look back upon a long life of work, successful results, perhaps some mistakes and not a few of good deeds rendered to the human family.

His personal appearance is strikingly pleasing. An intelligent brow, with eyes direct in expression, denoting a tendency to generalization rather than to special observation, a nose somewhat Roman in outline, but modified enough to escape the accusation of carrying pet ideas to extremes, yet prominent enough to make him appear at times a trifle stubborn, a mouth bespeaking tenderness and refinement, all of which are set in a framework of snow-white hair and whiskers, make him a conspicuous personage among Chicago’s enterprising sons.

  Mr. Fairbank has been a resident of Chicago since 1855. He amassed his large fortune in the lard and oil refining business, but he made his first start in industrial life as a bricklayer, when only fifteen years of age. This fact was probably due to his environments at that time, for, according to the record of his life, he soon changed his employment to that of bookkeeper in a flouring mill, in Rochester, New York, where he afterward became apartner in the firm.

His course was ever onward, and his aim was for the attainment of success. The success that would make him comfortable, and place him in a position to lift up humanity. At the age of twenty-six he came to Chicago as western representative of a grain commission house of New York. In this position he remained over ten years. It is inferred that he accumulated money in the business for he is next recorded as a member of the newly organized firm of Smeadley, Peck & Company, and as furnishing capital for the building which was erected for the great enterprise lard and oil refining. For four years business was carried on successfully, when fire destroyed the plant, causing a loss of $50,000. But the next year, 1870, a new building, which is now standing at the corner of Eighteenth and Blackwell streets, was constructed at a cost of $80,000, and the business grew more prosperous, becoming one of Chicago’s most substantial enterprises.

 

Although Mr. Fairbank says that he is naturally inclined to be somewhat indolent, it is very plain that he had a very nice conception of the manner in which it should be indulged; for he seems not to have let this little weakness exist without ample provision. ‘ ‘ Life is a search after power. ” And, if it is a fact, that wherever the mind aims suitable environments follow, this man has drawn, the elements of a power for certain ends, by the means of intellectual guidance. ‘ ‘ When a god wishes to ride, any chip or pebble will bud and shoot out winged feet, and serve him for a horse. ” Goethe said, ‘ ‘ What we wish for in youth comes in heaps on us in our old age. ” Here is a proof of this statement. Mr. Fairbank courted ease of the princely style; consequently he never borrowed trouble, kept to the even path, and was served by his instincts. He may call himself a man of luck, but, as ducks take to the water, eagles to the sky, hunters to the forest, soldiers to the frontier, Mr. Fairbank has proven the same law of  cause and effect, and the force of intellect over environment.

 

Having gained wealth, he commenced at once to show his interest in public matters relating to the building up of the city, and has proved a powerful factor in that capacity. He was one of the prime movers in carrying out the late George B. Carpenter’s conception of  building Central Music Hall, a structure located on the corner of State and Randolph streets. This building, which has a number of office rooms, is occupied by the Chicago Conservatory of Music, Professor Cohn’s School of Languages, and by a great number of physicians. In 1879 Mr. Fairbank presented the plans for Central Music Hall before the public; and, by the influence of his endorsement, capitalists quickly invested in stock. There is probably no better paying building in the city; stockholders realizing about two per cent, a month net profits.

 

The Newsboys’ Home was at one time under the cloud of a heavy mortgage, but Mr. Fairbank took it in hand and soon raised the money to release it. Always giving liberally himself, he inspired others to do the same. In this way he performed double acts of charity; for there are wealthy men who are never inclined to bestow favors unless prompted by the example of  other rich men, or by the desire for public applause. ‘ ‘ Human nature grows by what it feeds upon, and if the material side be over-fed it will expand at the expense of the spiritual.” In this way the habit of accumulating money grows stronger and stronger with those who have neither the inclination nor desire to relieve the wants of the afflicted.  

Chicago Race Riots, July 1919 by Carl Sandburg

Full Title: The Chicago Race Riots, July, 1919  by Carl Sandburg, Walter Lippmann

Location: Google Books     Date: 1919

MR. JULIUS ROSENWALD INTERVIEWED

At Sears, Roebuck & Co., where the volume of business is $200,000,000 a year, where they send out 8,000, ooo copies a year of the most widely circulated book in the United States—the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalogue —there sits in the administration office the president of the company, Julius Rosenwald.

In the midst of an array of wall photographs of Greek parthenons and Egyptian sphinxes there is a large photograph of Booker T. Washington, the negro race leader. Near at hand is a remarkable collection of books on the race question.

“If we say the negro must stay in slums and shall not invade white residence districts, then we shall have to make more stringent health laws to protect us from the evils that go with slums,” said Mr. Rosenwald. “If we say the negro must continue to live in slums, we must prepare for a brighter crime rate.

“They came here because we asked them to come, because they were needed for industrial service. There is no solution for the problem apparent now. That is all the more reason both sides must be fair. It will do no good to see red.

“With immigration restricted, it will be necessary for business to seek another source of labor supply. This exists in the colored population. When they settle here and become workers in the community they have a right to a place to live amid conditions that insure health and sanitation.

“I know from experience that the negroes are not anxious to invade white residence districts any more than white people are willing that they should come.”

The face of Julius Rosenwald softened.

“The negro is the equal of the white man in brains,” said Mr. Rosenwald. “I have talked with men who said they started with a theory that the negro is inferior, but when the facts were arrived at, there was no other conclusion to be derived from those facts than that the colored man is the equal in intelligence of the white man.

“I attended the graduation ceremonies of this year’s class at Hampton institute in May, the fifty-first anniversary of this negro institution. I heard Columbus K. Simango tell ‘The South African’s Story.’ Here he was, straight from the jungles of Africa, a full blooded negro who came direct from Melsetter, South Rhodesia, to Hampton institute. His speech, his markings in classes, his general behavior showed intelligence and competency. He is a specimen of what can be accomplished by education.

“He didn’t know he wanted an education till he met a missionary who told him about Hampton. He walked 200 miles to a port, and was started for America three times and then turned back by authorities. He arrived in America a grown young man, unable to read or write. And now he is able to pass any college examinations in America.

“Another speaker was a Fisk university man, Isaac Fisher. He has taken thirty-two prizes offered by newspapers and magazines in competitions open to all without regard to color. While living in Arkansas, he wrote to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat the twelve best reasons why Missouri is the best state to live in, and was awarded the prize. Everybody’s Magazine had a contest with 3,000 competitors, and the award of $1,000 was made to Isaac Fisher, a type of the pure negro, a little thin fellow who is all intelligence.”

Mr. Rosenwald quoted Walter Hines Page, a southerner, ambassador to Great Britain during the late war, “The most expensive thing we can do is not to educate the negro.”

He quoted Booker Washington, from memory, as saying that in some southern states it was found that $16 per capita was spent on the education of white children in the public schools and $1.29 yearly on the colored (children, and Washington’s comment that such a dis- ^. parity presumed too much on the intelligence of the eager [blacks.

There are now more than 300 Rosenwald rural schools in operation in southern states, 300 more partially established and 400 others projected. They are maintained by three contributors, Mr. Rosenwald, state treasuries and miscellaneous donors.