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Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of I Heart

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Speaker 1: Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Monkey. For the

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Speaker 1: rest of her life, she never forgot the screens. They

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Speaker 1: echoed in her head whenever she closed her eyes at night.

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Speaker 1: At two, Dorothy Gibson had already made it to the

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Speaker 1: silver screen. Life had been full of promise. Now, as

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Speaker 1: she sat in lifeboat number seven at two in the morning,

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Speaker 1: shivering and nothing more than an evening gown and coat,

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Speaker 1: none of that mattered. The men on the ship's deck

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Speaker 1: frantically yelled to the oarsmen below, row hard and fast.

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Speaker 1: They feared that I see swirling water around the sinking

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Speaker 1: ship would pull the lifeboat down with it. The men

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Speaker 1: were owned and strained to row faster, but Dorothy couldn't

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Speaker 1: take her eyes from the ship. Lifeboat number seven had

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Speaker 1: been the last to leave the Titanic. People gathered at

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Speaker 1: the railings, some looking for more lifeboats, some just watching

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Speaker 1: the ones already in the water slip away. Dorothy didn't

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Speaker 1: have to be close enough to see their expressions. Without

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Speaker 1: more lifeboats, the remaining passengers knew they were going to die.

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Speaker 1: All twenty lifeboats had been deployed just twenty for two thousand,

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Speaker 1: two hundred and twenty eight passengers. Even had they all

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Speaker 1: been filled capacity, only about half the passengers could have escaped,

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Speaker 1: but many were lowered sooner in panic. Women, children, and

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Speaker 1: first class passengers were given priority, but even among them

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Speaker 1: there were casualties. Some of the richest people in the

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Speaker 1: world had bought a ticket on the Titanics made in voyage,

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Speaker 1: yet no amount of money could buy all of them

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Speaker 1: a spot off of it. Another survivor, Elizabeth Shoots, recalled

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Speaker 1: the cries as well. One of the men in the

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Speaker 1: lifeboat yelled, she's gone, lads, row like hell, or we'll

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Speaker 1: get the devil of a swell. When they had rowed

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Speaker 1: a little further, fear welled up in the women. Except

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Speaker 1: for the other lifeboats bobbing on the Sea of Black,

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Speaker 1: there were no other ships. No one knew how to

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Speaker 1: navigate by the stars. The men's fingers became so cold

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Speaker 1: that they could no longer hold onto the oars. Some

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Speaker 1: slipped from their hands and disappeared into the dark water below.

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Speaker 1: Twenty lifeboats were now adrift in a vast ocean, The

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Speaker 1: passengers exposed to freezing temperatures. The ship was huge, over

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Speaker 1: a thousand feet through the screaming, The band still played

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Speaker 1: while men in tuxedos and women in gowns cried and

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Speaker 1: held onto the railings and each other. The musicians would

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Speaker 1: later be listed as heroic. They died trying to offer

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Speaker 1: some calm, some sense of normalcy to the doomed passengers

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Speaker 1: on the deck who had no way off the ship.

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Speaker 1: White Star Cruise Lines had planned everything aboard the Titanic.

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Speaker 1: The luxuries were second to none. They had provided a gym,

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Speaker 1: smoking lounges, reading rooms, and state rooms with their own promenades.

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Speaker 1: On the middle deck, passengers could enjoy two diners, a

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Speaker 1: swimming pool, Turkish baths, or visit their dogs at the kennels.

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Speaker 1: Of course, there was also the ballroom with its grand

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Speaker 1: staircase for first class passengers that thought of everything, it seems,

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Speaker 1: except enough lifeboats or red flares to signal an emergency.

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Speaker 1: That put all the importance on comfort and accommodations instead

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Speaker 1: of safety. The cruise line insisted the Titanic was unsinkable

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Speaker 1: and any lifeboats at all were merely a precaution. The

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Speaker 1: number of people left on the deck that night was

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Speaker 1: a fraction of the people still on board employees, along

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Speaker 1: with second and third class passengers, were trapped in the

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Speaker 1: decks below. Even after the ship had started to say,

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Speaker 1: certain passageways in the lower areas remained blocked. People flailed

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Speaker 1: in the water, screaming for help from the nearby lifeboats.

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Speaker 1: The oarsmen on all but one kept going, afraid that

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Speaker 1: the panic victims would capsize them in their frantic attempts

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Speaker 1: to climb in. Lifeboat number four returned, pulling five people

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Speaker 1: from the freezing water, but sadly, two of them still died.

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Speaker 1: A survivor on Lifeboat thirteen would later swear it was

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Speaker 1: his new lucky number. Around three in the morning, Dorothy

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Speaker 1: Elizabeth and the others watched the Titanic slide beneath the

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Speaker 1: icy surface, the lights aboard the ship shining eerily from

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Speaker 1: below for a brief moment before going out. The cries

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Speaker 1: for help stopped, and the waters grew quiet. The Titanic

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Speaker 1: and all still aboard. We're gone. I'm Lauren Vogelbaum. Welcome

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Speaker 1: to American Shadows. The us S Eastland had been late

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Speaker 1: to the docks for the annual Western Electric Company's Hawthorne

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Speaker 1: Works Factory picnic in nineteen fourteen. To ensure it wouldn't

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Speaker 1: be late for the nineteen fifteen event, the excursion company

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Speaker 1: called for the ship to arrive earlier. The ship hadn't

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Speaker 1: been late the previous year because of a lack of

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Speaker 1: capacity for speed. Once, the steamer held the nickname the

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Speaker 1: speed Queen of the Great Lakes, but lately those who

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Speaker 1: knew the Eastland's history quietly called it something else. The

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Speaker 1: hood boat. Commissioned in nineteen o three, the Eastland had

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Speaker 1: issues right from the start. While at port, the ship

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Speaker 1: collided with another boat. Although the steamer suffered minor damage,

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Speaker 1: the other boats sank. After repairs, the Eastland went into

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Speaker 1: service as a cruise ship in August of nineteen o three.

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Speaker 1: The firemen aboard refused to stoke the fire for the

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Speaker 1: ship's boilers and retaliate Shan for not being served potatoes

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Speaker 1: with their dinner. When the ship reached port, the captain

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Speaker 1: had them arrested at gunpoint and charged with mutiny. Not

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Speaker 1: long after, the captain was replaced. That maiden year, the

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Speaker 1: Eastland was anything but fast. It didn't meet the targeted

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Speaker 1: speed it had been designed for twenty two miles an hour.

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Speaker 1: Fast steamers were popular and highly sought after in the

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Speaker 1: early nineteen hundreds as a cruise ship. There were other

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Speaker 1: issues the ship's draft, that's the distance between the deepest

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Speaker 1: part of the boat and the water line. The Eastland's

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Speaker 1: longer draft prevented it from cruising the Black River in

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Speaker 1: South Haven, Michigan. In late nineteen o three, the ship

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Speaker 1: pulled into Port Huron for modifications to reduce the draft

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Speaker 1: and increased speed. Those modifications came at a cost, though

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Speaker 1: The changes went against the original design, making the steamer

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Speaker 1: heavier and reducing the ship's stability. With the new model occasions, though,

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Speaker 1: the Eastland returned to South Haven the following year and

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Speaker 1: easily defeated another ship in a race. That impressive victory

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Speaker 1: earned the ship the nickname the speed Queen of the

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Speaker 1: Great Lakes. Satisfied with the wind and modifications, the owners

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Speaker 1: put the Eastland back into service. Problems stemming from the

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Speaker 1: modifications showed up later that year. Out on a cruise,

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Speaker 1: the ship nearly capsized with three thousand people aboard. To

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Speaker 1: keep the modifications but lose some of the weight, the

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Speaker 1: owners produced the maximum capacity to two thou hundred passengers

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Speaker 1: and removed the cabins. As a precaution in case the

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Speaker 1: ship listed in the future, lifeboats were added. It's hard

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Speaker 1: for you and me to imagine that ships didn't have

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Speaker 1: lifeboats or rafts, especially after the tragedy of the Titanic,

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Speaker 1: but changes to existing ships cost money, and that ate

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Speaker 1: into profits. The meager reductions in weight didn't stop Eastland

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Speaker 1: from listing. It was sold to the Chicago South Haven Line,

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Speaker 1: and the ship nearly capsized again, causing formal complaints against

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Speaker 1: the company. The ships seemingly cursed history earned it the

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Speaker 1: nickname the Hoodoo Boat around this point, and the incidents continued.

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Speaker 1: The new owners had some of the ship's stacks removed

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Speaker 1: and others shortened, but on July one, the Eastland listed

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Speaker 1: twenty five degrees while loading passengers in Cleveland. The company

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Speaker 1: sold the problem ship, this time to the St. Joseph

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Speaker 1: Chicago Steamship Company, Thinking that lowering the passenger count again

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Speaker 1: would be the least time consuming and costly way to

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Speaker 1: resolve the ship's issues. The company reduced to the maximum

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Speaker 1: load to two thousand, five hundred. The steamer returned to

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Speaker 1: Chicago's docks, where it transported passengers between Chicago and Michigan,

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Speaker 1: including for the annual Western Electric picnics. Factory employees had

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Speaker 1: looked forward to the nineteen fifteen picnic for months. The

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Speaker 1: company chartered five boats, including the Eastland, to carry the

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Speaker 1: employees and their families across Lake Michigan to Washington Park.

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Speaker 1: For most of the workers, the picnic was a highly

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Speaker 1: anticipated event. The majority of the employees were check immigrants

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Speaker 1: who worked six days a week and weren't given holidays off.

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Speaker 1: They've been looking forward to the much needed time away

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Speaker 1: from work. Over seven thousand tickets were sold for the event.

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Speaker 1: To the workers, summer just wouldn't be summer without that picnic.

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Speaker 1: The park had roller coasters, a merry go round, games

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Speaker 1: and treats for the kids. There was also a bowling alley,

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Speaker 1: dancing pavilion, the beach at Ballpark, and plenty of picnic areas.

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Speaker 1: Tickets were a dollar for adults or seventy cents if

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Speaker 1: purchased in advance. Boarding began early that July at six

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Speaker 1: thirty am. Families gathered at Chicago's Wharf near Clark Street Bridge.

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Speaker 1: The morning was cool and damp, though they held hope

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Speaker 1: that the weather would improve. From the size of the crowd,

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Speaker 1: it looked like the event had drawn more families than

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Speaker 1: the previous year, so many employees brought their families that

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Speaker 1: traffic to the docks was backed up for miles. While

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Speaker 1: the ship's history might have been common knowledge on the docks,

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Speaker 1: the people of Western Electric Company were completely unaware of

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Speaker 1: the danger. No one bothered to tell Western Electric about

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Speaker 1: the Eastland's issues either. The inspectors and harbor master felt

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Speaker 1: that the addition of the lifeboats made the ship safe enough.

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Speaker 1: They didn't account for the weight of the lifeboats required

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Speaker 1: as part of the Seamen's Act. The Act had been

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Speaker 1: passed earlier that year in the wake of the Titanic

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Speaker 1: disaster and a number of other pressures. A federal law

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Speaker 1: required that all ships such as the Eastland be retrofitted

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Speaker 1: with lifeboats to account for at least of the passengers.

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Speaker 1: Happy sided families lined up to board. Many of them

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Speaker 1: had gotten up bright and early to be one of

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Speaker 1: the first in line. They wanted the best seats. Federal

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Speaker 1: inspectors stood by as boarding began, much to the dismay

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Speaker 1: of those on the dock, and the weather didn't get

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Speaker 1: any better When it began to drizzle. People hurried aboard

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Speaker 1: At about fifty passengers a minute, causing the ship to rock.

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Speaker 1: Those who boarded first quickly moved below deck to stay

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Speaker 1: out of the rain. Deck hands hauled up the gangplank

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Speaker 1: of forcing a factory employee who had been running late

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Speaker 1: won e w slad key to make a running leap

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Speaker 1: from the dock. Once aboard, he studied himself and joined

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Speaker 1: his coworkers. The band played ragtime for anyone who wanted

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Speaker 1: to dance. Deck passengers leaned against the railing to call

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Speaker 1: out to friends and co workers still on the dock

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Speaker 1: and awaiting passage on the next ship. With all the

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Speaker 1: boarding dancing and people leaning against the rail, the harbor

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Speaker 1: master noticed the ship list a little too much toward

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Speaker 1: the port, and some passengers noticed too, but didn't think

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Speaker 1: much of it. Now that everyone had boarded, the Eastland

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Speaker 1: seemed to right itself and putting the harbormaster, inspectors, and

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Speaker 1: passengers at ease. But then moments later, with the number

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Speaker 1: of people moving from one side of the ship to

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Speaker 1: the other, the Eastland began to rock once more. At

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Speaker 1: first the passengers thought it was a joke. Others thought

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Speaker 1: that simply hit a series of waves that would subside

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Speaker 1: with more rocking. More people shifted around. The more people shifted,

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Speaker 1: the more the ship rocked. By seven twenty three that morning,

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Speaker 1: the ship listed so far towards the docks that water

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Speaker 1: poured in through the open gangways and into the engine room.

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Speaker 1: The experienced crew knew what was happening and made their

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Speaker 1: escape up the ladder onto the main deck. With the

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Speaker 1: amount of water pouring in and the way the Eastland

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Speaker 1: was listing, they had no intention of staying below deck

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Speaker 1: while the ship capsized. Five minutes there, the Eastland rolled

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Speaker 1: to a forty five degree angle. The ragtime music stopped

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Speaker 1: abruptly when the piano barreled across the promenade deck and

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Speaker 1: smashed into the port side wall, barely missing two passengers.

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Speaker 1: Others weren't as lucky. Refrigerators slid across, pinning two women.

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Speaker 1: Those who couldn't manage to hold onto the railing were

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Speaker 1: pitched overboard. Water poured into the portholes and the deck below,

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Speaker 1: where families had gone to get out of the rain.

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Speaker 1: Passengers panicked. They scrambled to reach the stairs and staying

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Speaker 1: below would be a death trap, But pushing and shoving

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Speaker 1: to the limited access points to the upper deck proved

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Speaker 1: to be just that anyway. Another large piece of furniture

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Speaker 1: crashed into the stairs, demolishing them, leaving those below without

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Speaker 1: a way to escape. As water flooded the ship, families

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Speaker 1: screaming on the Eastland were echoed by those watching in

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Speaker 1: horror on the dock. One survivor later recalled thinking that

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Speaker 1: he and the others resembled children fall down a hill.

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Speaker 1: People rolled and slid across the deck as lunchboxes, furniture,

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00:14:05,160 --> 00:14:09,200
Speaker 1: and everything else not nailed down slid across too. Chairs

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Speaker 1: and other debris crashed into passengers, sending people tumbling and

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00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:19,280
Speaker 1: knocking those standing at the railings loose at The Eastland

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Speaker 1: flipped onto its side in twenty feet of murky water.

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Speaker 1: People were flung off the deck like they had been squatted.

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Speaker 1: Many couldn't swim. The ship, unfortunately, was still tethered to

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Speaker 1: the dock. For a moment, passengers dotted the river's surface.

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Speaker 1: No one had had time to get to a life preserver,

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Speaker 1: much less a life boat. A slat key who had

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Speaker 1: made the stunning leap onto the ship managed to climb

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Speaker 1: over the starboard railing and walked across the hull and

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00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:50,760
Speaker 1: onto the dock. Without so much as getting his shoes wet.

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Speaker 1: The captain had no intention of staying aboard and abandoned

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Speaker 1: the ship, leaving passengers and crew to fend for themselves.

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Speaker 1: Parents who could swim struggled to keep their children and

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Speaker 1: infants afloat or from being swept away. Coworkers who had

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Speaker 1: shown up at the dock for the next boat tossed

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Speaker 1: crates and boards into the water and the hopes that

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Speaker 1: drowning people could use them as flotation devices. The effort

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00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:16,680
Speaker 1: did more harm than good when the objects knocked some

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Speaker 1: of them unconscious. More screams erupted from inside the ship

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Speaker 1: as the decks below took on more water. One man

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Speaker 1: on shore had been contemplating suicide, but on that day

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00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:32,320
Speaker 1: he jumped into the water to rescue people. He wouldn't

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Speaker 1: be the only hero. Helen Reppa, a nurse at Western Electric,

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00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,160
Speaker 1: didn't exactly have the day off. Still, the idea of

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Speaker 1: working outside on a park rather than inside at a

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Speaker 1: factory appealed to her. Her ship was due at the

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Speaker 1: dock after the Eastland and Helen couldn't wait to get there,

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Speaker 1: But the trolley car she road was stuck in traffic

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Speaker 1: at Lake Street, as she thought about the festivities and

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Speaker 1: the day ahead, screams erupted the direction of the docks,

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00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:04,680
Speaker 1: loud enough to hear several blocks away and over the traffic.

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Speaker 1: The screaming was like nothing she had ever heard before,

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Speaker 1: even in her own worst nightmares. Something horrible had happened

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Speaker 1: to the docks, and all Helen knew was that somehow

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Speaker 1: she had to get there and help. A mounted policeman

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00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:32,640
Speaker 1: galloped past the trolley, stopping in the intersection, not that

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00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:35,520
Speaker 1: he needed to, but he signaled for all traffic to stop.

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00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:39,680
Speaker 1: Excursion boat capsized. He shouted look out for the ambulance.

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00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,720
Speaker 1: Helen ran to the front of the trolley. The driver

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00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,560
Speaker 1: tried to stop her, but she leaped off, and while

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00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,120
Speaker 1: the policeman cleared the intersection, she convinced the ambulance driver

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00:16:50,280 --> 00:16:53,560
Speaker 1: he might need an extra nurse. With their way clear,

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00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,800
Speaker 1: Helen and the ambulance crew sped off toward the docks,

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00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,440
Speaker 1: but when she arrived, dock workers were using blowtorches on

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00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:04,479
Speaker 1: the Eastland's hull in an attempt to free those trapped

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00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:09,720
Speaker 1: below deck. The people stumbled around in shock, others lay motionless,

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00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:13,280
Speaker 1: bleeding on the ground, and the dock in the water.

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00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:17,000
Speaker 1: Passengers continued to scream and grab for anything they could,

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00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,880
Speaker 1: a small floating raft, bits of wood. Some grabbed other passengers,

268
00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:26,240
Speaker 1: effectively drowning their coworkers and themselves in their panic to survive.

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Speaker 1: Rescuers on the docks pulled victims from the water. Some

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00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,639
Speaker 1: looked seriously injured. Sizing up the situation, Helen chose to

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Speaker 1: work on those who were unconscious. First word of the

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00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:44,240
Speaker 1: disaster spread factory workers. Family members gathered around the docks,

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00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:46,359
Speaker 1: hoping to catch a glimpse of a loved one who

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00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,080
Speaker 1: might have survived. Some stood all day, clutching each other

275
00:17:50,119 --> 00:17:53,280
Speaker 1: and sobbing, hoping they're missing family had somehow made it.

276
00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:58,359
Speaker 1: Some staggered around frantically calling for their children, husband or wife.

277
00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:03,439
Speaker 1: There weren't enough cars to transport the victims, so Helen

278
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,640
Speaker 1: hurried to the closest intersection and asked motorists for help.

279
00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,800
Speaker 1: American Express and a fleet of their trucks as well.

280
00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:15,200
Speaker 1: Injured and critical survivors were transported to Memorial Hospital, though

281
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:17,879
Speaker 1: it was ill equipped to handle so many patients at once.

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00:18:18,680 --> 00:18:20,840
Speaker 1: She noted that only two nurses were on duty and

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00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,879
Speaker 1: that they didn't have enough blankets. She asked to make

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00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:27,520
Speaker 1: a phone call and contacted the department store Marshall Fielding Company,

285
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:32,120
Speaker 1: which sent over five hundred blankets. By eight am, efforts

286
00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,200
Speaker 1: switched from rescue to recovery. Out of the two thousand,

287
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:40,119
Speaker 1: five hundred passengers plus crew, eight hundred and forty four

288
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:44,280
Speaker 1: people were dead. The ship and the waters had grown quiet,

289
00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:50,480
Speaker 1: but for Helen Reppa, the screaming would never stop. When

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00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,720
Speaker 1: she returned from the hospital, she found navigating through the

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00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:58,080
Speaker 1: thick crowd almost impossible. Though there were no survivors left,

292
00:18:58,160 --> 00:19:01,720
Speaker 1: she stayed helping and transport bodies to a nearby warehouse.

293
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:06,880
Speaker 1: A lone figure aimlessly wandered the alleyway. He muttered, over

294
00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:11,439
Speaker 1: and over, I lost them, I lost them all. He

295
00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:14,080
Speaker 1: told Helen that his wife and three children had drowned.

296
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,600
Speaker 1: She comforted him for a moment before leaving to help

297
00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:23,840
Speaker 1: move more bodies. Divers recovered those trapped below deck, mostly

298
00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:26,080
Speaker 1: women and children who had sought shelter from the rain.

299
00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,560
Speaker 1: The water had been so frigid their bodies were stiff

300
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:35,080
Speaker 1: and cold. Priests arrived to offer last rites, but finding

301
00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:39,320
Speaker 1: no survivors, left the city workers skimmed the waters with

302
00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,440
Speaker 1: nets to collect bodies that had floated away. The warehouse

303
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,679
Speaker 1: couldn't hold all the dead. The military set up the

304
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,680
Speaker 1: second Regiment Armory as a makeshift more and laid out

305
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:55,320
Speaker 1: the deceased in neat rows, five bodies long. Around four pm,

306
00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,280
Speaker 1: Helen went home, away from the crowds and chaos. For

307
00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:03,000
Speaker 1: a while, she stared at her clothes, her white uniform

308
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,280
Speaker 1: in shoes where blood stained and caked with mud. At

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00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,880
Speaker 1: the armory, the process for identifying the dead began at midnight.

310
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:15,640
Speaker 1: Thousands had gathered outside. Not all of them were anxious

311
00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:18,640
Speaker 1: family members, though, a large part of the crowd where

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00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:21,439
Speaker 1: bystanders come to gawk at the bodies to get a

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00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:26,000
Speaker 1: closer look at the disaster for themselves, and as despicable

314
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,520
Speaker 1: as it may seem, others who waited in line where

315
00:20:28,560 --> 00:20:34,040
Speaker 1: thieves looking to pocket the dead's personal belongings inside, lay

316
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,280
Speaker 1: fifty eight infants and young children, two hundred and twenty

317
00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,960
Speaker 1: eight teenagers, and five hundred and fifty seven adults. A

318
00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:45,320
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy five women went home widows. Two of

319
00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:49,480
Speaker 1: those women were pregnant. Eighty four men became widowers that day.

320
00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:55,840
Speaker 1: Twenty two entire families were killed reporters painted the scene

321
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,480
Speaker 1: in all its gruesomeness. Headlines of the disaster and its

322
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:04,400
Speaker 1: graphic details were splashed across newspapers across the country. Enterprising

323
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,399
Speaker 1: boat captains charged fifteen cents a person to view the

324
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:12,240
Speaker 1: wreckage up close. But with every story about a disaster

325
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,160
Speaker 1: comes a story about a survivor, someone who was supposed

326
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,240
Speaker 1: to be there but wasn't. And when it comes to

327
00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:24,560
Speaker 1: the Eastland, we have a man named George Easy. George

328
00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:28,040
Speaker 1: was late that morning. In fact, he didn't realize until

329
00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:29,879
Speaker 1: the next day that his name was still on the

330
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:33,400
Speaker 1: manifest and because of that the newspapers had reported him dead.

331
00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,159
Speaker 1: He went immediately to his parents house to reassure them

332
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:39,760
Speaker 1: that he was safe. They were in for the happiest

333
00:21:39,840 --> 00:21:43,160
Speaker 1: sort of shock, and it was a stroke of luck

334
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,840
Speaker 1: that paid off for many people in Chicago in the

335
00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:49,240
Speaker 1: years to come. Rather than ending up is just one

336
00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,320
Speaker 1: more name on a tragic list, George would go on

337
00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:56,280
Speaker 1: to coach one of the city's legendary teams, the Chicago Bears.

338
00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:07,280
Speaker 1: His name was George Halla. It took fifty two grave

339
00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:11,159
Speaker 1: diggers working twelve hour days to prepare for the funerals.

340
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:15,359
Speaker 1: The Bohemian National Cemetery alone had a hundred and fifty

341
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:21,119
Speaker 1: graves dug On July, Chicago became the city of Funerals.

342
00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:24,480
Speaker 1: Seven hundred Eastland victims were to be buried on the

343
00:22:24,560 --> 00:22:29,240
Speaker 1: same day. Among them was the entire Sindelar family. The

344
00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,639
Speaker 1: couple perished along with all five of their children, ranging

345
00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,720
Speaker 1: in ages from three to fifteen. All seven white caskets

346
00:22:36,840 --> 00:22:39,119
Speaker 1: arrived at the cemetery stacked in the back of a

347
00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:43,840
Speaker 1: Ford Model T. Marshall Field and Company provided thirty nine trucks.

348
00:22:43,920 --> 00:22:46,679
Speaker 1: Due to the shortage of hearses for the remainder of

349
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:53,800
Speaker 1: the victims, Identification or other funeral plans were underway all

350
00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:58,360
Speaker 1: except for one small boy, known simply as Number three

351
00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,640
Speaker 1: s this some with the armory couldn't bear to call

352
00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:03,880
Speaker 1: him by a number, so they referred to him as

353
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,399
Speaker 1: Little Feller. It seemed the boy would go to his

354
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,480
Speaker 1: grave without anyone to claim him. He was taken to

355
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,199
Speaker 1: a funeral home where two children recognized him. Now he

356
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:19,960
Speaker 1: had a name, Willie Navatni, just seven years old. He

357
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:22,920
Speaker 1: had remained unclaimed because it had taken his grandmother time

358
00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:27,680
Speaker 1: to recognize Willie's parents and nine year old sister united

359
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:31,080
Speaker 1: in death. The family was laid to rest on July one.

360
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 1: Chicagoans who had heard of Little Willie's plight attended the service.

361
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:40,560
Speaker 1: The procession stretched for more than a mile while families

362
00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:45,359
Speaker 1: attended funerals. Cook County asserted jurisdiction over the inquiries. A

363
00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 1: one attorney told reporters that the United States Steamboat Inspection

364
00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:52,439
Speaker 1: Service was responsible. Though the city was quick to investigate,

365
00:23:52,880 --> 00:23:57,120
Speaker 1: litigation over the disaster wasn't concluded for another twenty four years.

366
00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,359
Speaker 1: The cruise lines president and three officers were indicted for manslaughter.

367
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,959
Speaker 1: The captain and chief engineer were also indicted on charges

368
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:10,320
Speaker 1: of criminal carelessness. When the case finally went to court,

369
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:14,080
Speaker 1: the defense attorneys pointed out that the Eastland had successfully

370
00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,440
Speaker 1: carried passengers for years without incident. The jury found no

371
00:24:18,600 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 1: justifiable reason to hold the six men responsible, and all

372
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 1: charges were dropped. After the disaster, the Eastland was dredged

373
00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:31,399
Speaker 1: from the water, repaired, and renamed the Willamette. The newly

374
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,160
Speaker 1: renamed ship served as a naval vessel, where it remained

375
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 1: stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Base. In August of

376
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,880
Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, the Willamette transported President Franklin D. Roosevelt

377
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,439
Speaker 1: during a ten day excursion to Whitefish Bay, where he

378
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:48,680
Speaker 1: took part in discussing war strategies. The ship was decommissioned

379
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,640
Speaker 1: in ninety five and offered for sale, but even after

380
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:58,480
Speaker 1: renaming and renovation, the ship couldn't shake its reputation. After

381
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,640
Speaker 1: nine months and no taker, the ship was sold for scrap.

382
00:25:06,480 --> 00:25:09,120
Speaker 1: There's more to this story. Stick around after this brief

383
00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:23,040
Speaker 1: sponsor break to hear all about it. Henry Tewkesbury just

384
00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:28,919
Speaker 1: wanted some sleep. He spent the evening of February entertaining

385
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,399
Speaker 1: a crowd in Windsor, Vermont, with a lecture on the

386
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:35,119
Speaker 1: Battle of Gettysburg. It seemed the crowd enjoyed the details,

387
00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 1: every gory one. His knowledge of the subject was extensive.

388
00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:42,959
Speaker 1: The money he earned supplemented his income as a lawyer. Nicely,

389
00:25:44,520 --> 00:25:46,879
Speaker 1: A close friend of his, who had firsthand knowledge of

390
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,280
Speaker 1: the war, attended lecture. Smith's servant had fought at Gettysburg

391
00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,919
Speaker 1: as a teenager. After the lecture, he walked with Henry

392
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:57,879
Speaker 1: to the train station. The two were heading north to

393
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:02,439
Speaker 1: White River Junction. There they would part ways. Henry planned

394
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:05,400
Speaker 1: to spend the night before returning home and Smith would

395
00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:08,560
Speaker 1: board the Montreal Express to start his shift as the conductor.

396
00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,560
Speaker 1: Sleep would elude Henry, though the White River Junction House

397
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: didn't have any rooms that night, forcing Henry to walk

398
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,920
Speaker 1: back to the station in the bitter cold. Exhausted, Henry

399
00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,640
Speaker 1: had no choice but to catch the Montreal Express back

400
00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: to Randolph, Vermont. The train had started its route in Boston,

401
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:31,280
Speaker 1: and Henry found it crowded with passengers headed to Montreal's

402
00:26:31,320 --> 00:26:34,760
Speaker 1: Winter Carnival. After an hour and a half delay, the

403
00:26:34,840 --> 00:26:39,400
Speaker 1: train was finally on its way. When Smith collected the tickets,

404
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 1: he found his friend asleep, slumped over in his seat.

405
00:26:42,680 --> 00:26:45,440
Speaker 1: He woke him and kidded Henry about the change in plans.

406
00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:51,560
Speaker 1: Neither man realized this would be their last conversation. Henry

407
00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,840
Speaker 1: fell fast asleep again, but the train swaying side to

408
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,280
Speaker 1: side woke him. As the train approached a bridge near

409
00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:01,600
Speaker 1: West Hartford. Ten minutes later, we had a feeling something

410
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,959
Speaker 1: was wrong. Then the train lurched and Henry felt a jolt.

411
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,359
Speaker 1: Having been in two train accidents before, Henry knew a

412
00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:13,040
Speaker 1: couple of things that the wheels were running on the

413
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:17,440
Speaker 1: ties and the train was about to derail. He jumped

414
00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 1: up and pulled the cord that would signal the brakeman

415
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,160
Speaker 1: of the issue. Elsewhere in the car, smith also realized

416
00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: the problem and pulled the cord to The brakeman looked

417
00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:30,479
Speaker 1: out the window to his horror, the train was jumping

418
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:33,200
Speaker 1: the tracks as they approached the bridge, and a forty

419
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:36,960
Speaker 1: foot dropped to the river below. Instead of breaking, he

420
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,400
Speaker 1: leapt from the train into the snow drifts. The rear

421
00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:43,200
Speaker 1: sleeper car left the tracks and plummeted into the river,

422
00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,399
Speaker 1: taking several cars with it. The connection between one of

423
00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:51,600
Speaker 1: the cars broke, which spared the rest. The falling cars

424
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:55,359
Speaker 1: crashed into the frozen river, breaking the ice. Other cars

425
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,080
Speaker 1: piled on top of it, crushing most of those inside

426
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,760
Speaker 1: in seconds. The oil lamps burst into flames, igniting the

427
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:07,880
Speaker 1: wooden cars draperies in upholstery. A fortunate engineer who survived

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Speaker 1: in one of the disconnected cars, found the brakeman in

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Speaker 1: the snow bank. Seeing as he wasn't hurt, the engineer

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Speaker 1: ordered the brakeman to go and get help. It took

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Speaker 1: him a while. He walked to a nearby farm and

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Speaker 1: borrowed a horse to ride to White River Junction. Help

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Speaker 1: wouldn't arrive for forty five minutes. Henry, still alive and

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Speaker 1: pinned between two seats, frantically tried to free himself as

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Speaker 1: the fire raged toward him. An elderly couple also pinned,

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Speaker 1: cried and hugged each other as the flames engulfed them.

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Speaker 1: Fearing the worst, Henry pulled his coat over his eyes

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Speaker 1: so he wouldn't see the fireball reach him. Then he

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Speaker 1: felt two men trying to pull him free. They almost

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Speaker 1: gave up, but Henry's plea convinced them to keep trying.

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Speaker 1: As the fire neared, the men pulled once more, freeing him,

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Speaker 1: though breaking one of his legs in the process. They

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Speaker 1: dragged him to safety near one of the bridge's stone supports.

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Speaker 1: Then they went back for other survivors. Smith crawled toward them,

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Speaker 1: totally engulfed in flames. Rescuers threw snow on top of

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Speaker 1: him to douse the fire and managed to get him

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Speaker 1: out of the car just in time. Help finally arrived,

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Speaker 1: and Henry Smith and a few of the other survivors

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Speaker 1: were taken to the nearby farmhouse. Smith died from his

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Speaker 1: severe burns. Rescuers went back to the wreckage to find

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Speaker 1: that the bridge had collapsed, sending debris on top of

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Speaker 1: the now burned out cars. There would be no more survivors.

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Speaker 1: For two days, rescuers searched the area. Most victims found

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Speaker 1: had been burned beyond recognition. Others had slipped through the

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Speaker 1: broken ice and into the river. To this day, there

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Speaker 1: isn't an accurate number of victims of the eighty nine

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Speaker 1: passengers and crew, it's believed that as many as sixty perished.

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Speaker 1: An investigation into the disaster stair uncovered a defective rail

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Speaker 1: and some of the survivors sued the railway, and one

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Speaker 1: new legislation established safety measures. Gas lamps were replaced by

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Speaker 1: electric lights and national safety checks enforced. Over the next

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Speaker 1: several years, railroad accidents dropped sharply, not due to the

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Speaker 1: lawsuits or money the railway companies paid out, though it

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Speaker 1: had more to do with the past that haunted them.

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Speaker 1: As with the Titanic and Eastland, it took something irreplaceable

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Speaker 1: and for some unforgettable lives. American Shadows is hosted by

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Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was written by Michelle Muto, researched

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00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:55,400
Speaker 1: by Ali Steed, and produced by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor

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Speaker 1: Young with executive producers Aaron Mackey, Alex Williams, and Matt

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00:30:59,720 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 1: fred Rick. To learn more about the show, visit griman

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00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:06,720
Speaker 1: mild dot com. From more podcasts from iHeart Radio, visit

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Speaker 1: the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get

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Speaker 1: your podcasts. H