The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-07-26

grief. For It will be one gerat funeral
rather than many.
Two thousand dollars has been ap-
propriated by the city Of Cicero to
assist in local cases needing immedi-
ate attention. Two Of the city trus.
tees lost members Of their families.
one a wife and one q daughter and
son.
Acute distress among many Of the
families of Western Electric employees
is feared unless quick action Is taken.
Many Of the workers had been on half
and onethird time and in many cases
the sole support of the family went
down with the boat.
Plant Opened Today.
! CHICAGO, July 26.-All the horrors
Of the Eastland were lived over again
today when heart-sick employees of
1.-THE Western Electric plants at Haw-
| thorne and Cicero, dragged themselves
to their benches and desks today.
The plants opened at the usual time.
There was hardly department
which had not lost at least two or
three workers who had been at work
Friday. Some departments were
completely wiped out. In one Of the
Irvine rooms" in which a score ct
girls on Friday had chatted happily of
the big day that was to come Satur-
day, there was not a single worker on
hand today. They were all among
those lifeless forms that had been
dragged from the river or among those
that still lay in the Eastland's now
fervently hated hull.
Officials explained today that It was
through re-opening the plants that lay
their chief hope Of tabulating just
who were on the Eastland. Then too,
as some Of the red eyed, drawn faced
workers explained, they could ill-as-
ford--now less than ever before--to
lose even a days wage. There were
some whose fingers never flew SO fast
in their work before. They wanted
work, and more work that would bring
at least part fors rsetfulness and check
back the tears that dropped into tho
twines from the eyes of the girls and
women, and that fell from the eyes OF
men unashamed, who were at more
Iaborous duties At times and not
only in the rooms where there were
women only. all pretense of WORK
would be forgotten as some one prob
ably saw again the tipping, ever-tip-
ping Eastland and heard a minds
echo of those awful screams from
babies, women and men, and would
break into weeping that would draw
everyone in the room into veritable
vortex Of open grief
There were many, during the day,
who were denied even the surcease OF
work. Scarcely able to reach their
desks and benches, some employees
refused kind orders to leave work I'M
done, only to Sive way completely and
be returned to their homes to sit in
dlness and think.
General Manager Fl. S. Albright OF
the Western Electric company, an
nounced today that no definite step
had yet been taken by the company 20
provide for those affected. At meet
ing OF directors today he said the
company will arrange to buy collins
and pay every cent Of funeral expenses
for any who asks it. Later this week,
Manager Albright said, the officials
will adopt a pension system to provide
for all who have been incapaCiated or
who have lost bTeadwinners.
W. P. Sitley, vice president and gem
eraI counsel Of the Western Electric
company, stated today that investiga-
ton showed that only about one-thtrd
of those lost on the Eastland were
actual employees of the company. The
others were relatives or friends of en-
plOyeS
Others besides the bereaved went
to the Western Electric plants today.
They made quite little army. There
we're men, women and girls in their
teens. They began arriving befora
the entrance gates at daybreak, first
in little knots of twos and threes,
later they came in crowds of twenty
to thirty. They were not jostling nor
did they exhibit any special signs q.
Continued on page 5.)