Arizona republican., 1915-07-26
Pitiful Scenes in Drill Hall of Chicago Armory as the Relatives Recognize Loved Ones in the Silent Ranks
RELIEF WORK
 IS UNDER WAY
The ProcesSionS of Dead from the Steel Coffin Met by Another Procession Removing the Dead to UndertakerS'
IAssocrArED PRESS DIsrATcHl

CHICAGO. July 25.-The sorrow which spread over the city with the Eastland disaster engulfed thousands of homes. hung lowest over the si- lent forms of the victims in the drill hall of the Second Regiment armory. Chica go's temporary morgue-
 Side by side they lay, from one end of the hall to the other with narrow pathways between, along which slowly walked hundreds of anxious seeking to identify missing loved ones. Time and again the group would pause beside pitiful bundle. There would be a gasp, a low voiced exclamation. a flow of tears. and another would be taken from the list of unidentified dead, and placed in the known" column
 All through the night, load after load of bodies were received at the morgue and through the morning at less frequent intervals, the procession continued.
 While the victims were being iden- tified. fifty undertakers and forty embalmers who had volunteered at the call of Coroner Hoffman. work ed rapidly in space at the north end of the hall. preparing the bodies for burial
 As the mdrning wore along, Curtiss street in front of the armory became crowded with hearses and the incom- ing stream of bodies from improvis- ed morgues and from the overturned vessel was passed by another line of bodies. identified and in the keep ing of an undertaken.
 Before a body was passed out. the identification was recorded by dep r1ty coroner and the name of the nearest relative was placed on file. So perfect had been the preparatory work Of the coroner that from noon until 1 o'clock more than a hundred bodies were taken away. and a few hours later not less ahon 200 bodies remained in the temporary morgue.
 At a meeting of the mayor, and the citizens advisory committee. call ed by Acting Mayor Moorhouse il was planned immediately to raise 8 fund of S2OO.000 by public subscrip- ton for the relief of the families of EastIand victims In addition 10 this sum. officials of the Western Electric company. who attended conference
  ed that the EmplOyes Benefit Asso- ciation had s1OO.OOO available for re- lief work.
 The Western Electric company offi- rials stated that not more than one third of the victims were employees of the company, the others being members of the employees families. and friends
 Acting Mayor Moorehouse said that the s2OO,0OO relief fund was guaran- teed by a subcommittee and would be available for use within twenty four hours The relief work will be in charge of the National Red Cross. the Associated Charities of Chicago and the City Health department
 At noon, Acting Mayor Moorehouse telephoned a detailed report of re- lief work begun to Mayor w. H. Thompson Mayor Thompson affirm ed everything that had been done and replied that he would leave San Francisco late on special train ex- pected to arrive in Chicago next Wednesday morning.
 The managers of the Chicago the atres instead of closing their places of amusement, announced that they would keep them open and give a percentage of the receipts to the re- lief fund The entire force of the city government will be at the dis posaI of the National Red Cross so- ciety, Acting Mayor Moorhouse an nounced He said the nurses of the health department were giving attcn- ton to the mourning families. The department of public welfare, in charge of Mrs. Louise Osborn Rowe opened a bureau of information and used it's employees in relief work
 Ernest P Bicknell, national direc- tor of the National Red Cross, vii