Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

Pencils, Presses, and Persistence: The Eastland's News Heroes

• Natalie Zett • Season 2 • Episode 77

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Join me on a thrilling journey through time as we uncover the hidden world of early 20th-century journalism during one of Chicago's darkest hours--the Eastland Disaster of 1915.

Highlights:

  • My personal pilgrimage to a family grave site that started everything.
  • The forgotten technology that powered breaking news in 1915
  • "The Scoop," a trade journal that described the inner workings of Chicago's press
  • An adrenaline-fueled race against time as reporters covered the Eastland disaster
  • Unsung heroes who risked it all to bring the truth to light

Fascinating Facts:

  • Origins of the term "Bulldog Edition" in newspaper lingo
  • Telegraph technology's role in shaping modern journalism
  • The Chicago Tribune's staggering deployment of reporters and photographers

Questions to Ponder:

  • How has journalism evolved since 1915, and what remains the same?
  • What can we learn from the dedication and resourcefulness of early 20th-century reporters?
  • In our age of instant digital news, what lessons can we draw from the meticulous fact-checking and collaboration of the past?

Come along as we peel back the layers of history, revealing the human stories behind the headlines and reminding ourselves of journalism's vital role in our society

Music:

  • Artlist
Natalie Zett:

Hello, I'm Natalie Zett and welcome to Flower in the River. This podcast, inspired by my book of the same name, explores the 1915 Eastland disaster in Chicago and its enduring impact, particularly on my family's history. We'll explore the intertwining narratives of others impacted by this tragedy as well, and we'll dive into writing and genealogy and uncover the surprising supernatural elements that surface in family history research. Come along with me on this journey of discovery. Hey, this is Natalie, and welcome to Flower in the River podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to new listeners, welcome to existing listeners. I'm always glad when you come back to existing listeners. I'm always glad when you come back. And this is Labor Day weekend in the United States, and this is a long weekend for most of us, and it reminds me of another Labor Day weekend over 20 years ago. During that time, I had a full-time job, but I was working as a part-time journalist, and I had just learned about my family's connection to the Eastland disaster, and I had just learned about as much as I could learn about my great-aunt, martha, who was 19 years old when she was killed on the Eastland. And since very few people seem to know about the Eastland, at least in 1998, I decided to write an article and the article was due right after Labor Day. I live in Minnesota and I was already kicking around the idea of taking a road trip to Chicago for that weekend, because it was a long weekend. Since I was already becoming obsessed with this story, I thought I really needed something to anchor me. And my best friend at the time said drive down to the cemetery and just take a look at the grave so you can see that this was real, so you can see that this thing happened. And I hesitated because, number one I had, and still have, no sense of direction and GPS did not exist at that point, at least not in an affordable, reliable capacity. So I just had MapQuest. But eventually I decided to drive down there and so I did. I drove all the way down to Chicago. I broke the trip up by staying overnight in a hotel in Wisconsin, but from Minnesota it's probably about a seven, eight hour trip, depending on how slow you drive, and I drive pretty slow. Once I got down to the cemetery, the problem was it was a holiday weekend, cemetery office was closed and the cemetery weekend, cemetery office was closed and the cemetery it's Bethania Cemetery. Injustice is huge and I thought, oh my God, I'll never find the grave. What did I do to myself? I got this article due in a couple days and what am I supposed to do? If you listen to the audio book or read my book, the account is in there.

Natalie Zett:

Exactly as it happened, I parked in front of my family's grave. I didn't see it at first. I spent 45 minutes running around Bethania Cemetery like a crazy person, then walked back and tripped. I didn't fall, but it pushed me in the direction of the car again and as I turned I saw the grave and it was very emotional because it was new information to me. These people were brand new to me. I had no idea I even had this family and I was trying to play catch up and I was trying to put out a really good article about this. I wanted people to know about the Eastland disaster. I wanted people to know about my great aunt and I wanted her very short life to be honored, great aunt, and I wanted her very short life to be honored.

Natalie Zett:

And so I found the grave or I should say graves, because four of them share the same plot and it was very moving. I really don't have words to describe what it all meant to me or how it felt. But I had to be practical too. I couldn't stay too long because I had to head back to the Twin Cities, and so I did the photos, stayed there as long as I could to take it all in, and saw the graves of my two great-aunts Martha, who was killed in 1915 on the Eastland, her baby sister, frida, who died when she was just about three years old, and the graves on the other side were those of my great-grandparents who immigrated to the United States in the late 1800s. They initially were in Johnstown, pennsylvania, and then they moved to Chicago for a better life. Let's just say things didn't work out. But I got back home, got that article out and it was one of the better articles that I wrote. In fact, I got a phone call from one of my favorite writers at the time at the Star Tribune, which is one of the big dailies in the Twin Cities, and he congratulated me on the article and he said I got it posted here in our bulletin board for everybody to see. Post it here in our bulletin board for everybody to see. That's a slice from my life as a journalist and that's going to be the theme for this particular episode of Flower in the River podcast, so I hope you will stay tuned.

Natalie Zett:

During the last 77 weeks of this podcast, I have learned one thing. Well, I've learned a few things, but this is the one big thing here. It is the obscurity of the Eastland disaster story has not been due to a lack of documentation or coverage. In fact, if you come here each week, you know that I explore mostly old newspapers and describe old photos and other items that I found from 1915. And let me tell you, as of today, I still have more than enough stories to share with you. It's incredible. There's just been a disconnect, I guess, between what's available about the people of the Eastland and what's been shared over the years. Hopefully I've made something of a dent into that, but believe me, when I look at what is actually there, it's like looking at Mount Everest. It's like I'm not sure I'll get to the top, but we'll just keep walking right.

Natalie Zett:

For this episode, I decided to step way back and I started thinking about how the Eastland disaster was recorded in the first place. I mean, think about 1915. Well, no one can remember 1915, right. But then even radio wasn't as prevalent as it is now, and television, that was just a wild dream. But there were newspapers. But here's the question how did the information get into the newspapers? It sounds so obvious, right, but how did that happen, particularly in 1915, when the technological advances are nothing like they are now? And furthermore, once that information was in there, how in the heck did it get disseminated so quickly, not just in Chicago but around the world? Well, here's a clue.

Natalie Zett:

The sound you just heard was that of a telegraph. That was a device that allowed people to send messages over long distances using electrical signals sent through wires. A telegraph well, a lot of telegraphs look like a small box with a lever or a key on it that you press down to send a signal, and that took some skill, by the way. So each time you press the key, it sends a burst of electricity along a wire. These bursts of electricity can be short or long, like what you just heard, and they form a special code that is called Morse code. I bet you've heard of that, even if you hadn't really thought what that actually is. So in Morse code, each letter of the alphabet and each number is represented by a unique combination of short signals dots and long signals dashes. The person on the other end of the wire listens to these signals and writes down the letters they represent, turning them back into a message. So, in a way, when you think about it, a telegraph is like an early version of text messaging, but instead of typing on a phone, you think about it. A telegraph is like an early version of text messaging, but instead of typing on a phone, you're tapping on a key and instead of sending your message through the air, it travels through a wire. This was one of the fastest ways to communicate over long distances. There actually were telephones, but they were few and far between back in 1915.

Natalie Zett:

And speaking of telegraph technology, western Electric played a significant role in the development of telegraph technology, starting in 1869 as a supplier of telegraph equipment to Western Union. The company initially focused on manufacturing telegraph instruments and other electrical devices, although it became the manufacturing arm of the American Bell Telephone Company, later AT&T I know you've heard of that. In 1881, western Electric continued to produce and innovate in telegraph technology, contributing to the advancements like printing telegraphs and multiplex systems. Their expertise was crucial during both world wars for military communications. So let's go into the anatomy of a news story in 1915. So how did that story get from the event to being shared all over the world?

Natalie Zett:

So when the Eastland capsized on July 24, 1915, in the Chicago River newspaper reporters if they weren't there already, they rushed to the scene to gather firsthand information. They interviewed survivors, witnesses and rescue workers taking detailed notes. Reporters on the scene get this. They would have had to use pencil and paper to take notes. Ballpoint pens hadn't been invented yet. Those didn't come into common use until much later, around the 1940s. They only had, I believe, at that point, fountain pens to work with. So I can't imagine taking a jar of spillable ink and a pen to a scene like the Eastland disaster.

Natalie Zett:

And the other commodity that we take for granted is being able to type in real time our stories or speak them into a phone. But in this case they only had paper and pencil. They couldn't even take a typewriter to a scene like that. Maybe some inventive people did that, but for the most part taking a typewriter to a scene like the Eastland disaster would not have worked out. So I as a reporter would have to finish my notes to then somehow get back to the newspaper's office. Let's just say it's the Chicago Tribune.

Natalie Zett:

And once I'm back at the newspaper's office I would maybe type up my notes. I would have had to hand over my typewritten notes to my editor or my editors. And don't forget, this is the Eastland Disaster. So you've got multiple stories coming from multiple people. So the editors or multiple editors had to look at all these stories, quickly review them. Then they had to combine them, make necessary edits, separate them and then write headlines to grab the reader's attention. So once the story was ready, or the stories were ready, they were sent to the composing room where skilled workers used linotype machines to set the text in metal type. Now, this type was arranged on large plates which were used to print the newspaper. Sounds laborious, doesn't it? I can't imagine. So the newspaper was then printed on large rotary presses.

Natalie Zett:

For a major event like the Eastland disaster, the newspaper might publish multiple editions. In fact many of the newspapers did, and they would do this throughout the day, updating the public as new information came in, distributed to newsboys and vendors who sold them on street corners and at train stations. In some cases, extra editions were rushed to print and sold immediately, often with newsboys shouting the headlines to attract attention. Tension that's something of what you would have heard on the street corners the day of the Eastland disaster. And again, thanks to the telegraph and telephone, newspapers outside of Chicago could also receive the story quickly and publish it in their own editions. That is why we have so many stories of the Eastland featured in papers all around the world at the time it happened. In essence, the telegraph and telephone served as crucial links that allowed newspapers to rapidly disseminate breaking news.

Natalie Zett:

Now this technology is going to factor mightily into the stories that I'll share with you today, because were it not for those many newspapers back then, we would not have this incredible history of the Eastland disaster and, more importantly, about the people of the Eastland disaster. And it also underlines the importance of newspapers. I mean, I am heavily relying on those old newspapers now to share these stories with you. And as a journalist myself, I look back to my I don't know ancestral journalists. They aren't really relatives, but they are spiritually, I guess, and I tip my hat to them for the wonderful work that they did do during such a horrible situation. But it reminds us too reminds me anyway that the job of a journalist and a news outlet was and still is important. So throughout this podcast I have shared lots of stories about the incredible journalists, photographers, cartoonists and even poets who either witnessed the Eastland disaster or who lived during that time and who were profoundly affected by it Because of the records they left behind. We are able to experience this, of the records they left behind. We are able to experience this.

Natalie Zett:

Each news outlet reported on a different angle of the Eastland disaster and, honestly, I have been amazed at what these journalists, editors and photographers were able to pull off back in 1915. I'm thinking, of course, of photographer Jun Fujita. I mean, those photos are incredible, but he wasn't the only photographer or even filmmaker on the scene at that point. But all of this left me wondering how did they do it? And just this week I found a partial answer, and let me tell you it is a good one. It came in the form of a trade journal, and it's called the Scoop. The Scoop was more than just another publication. It was tied to the Chicago Press Club, a powerhouse organization of journalists, writers and editors in the early 20th century. And this journal wasn't just about the news, it was about the people behind the news. It featured articles, essays and commentary on everything from journalism ethics to the role of press in society and it served as a professional journal and a record of what was going on at the Chicago Press Club.

Natalie Zett:

I'm going to start reading from the scoop, but it's important to note that we'll be encountering a lot of dated, unusual and, yes, a lot of sexist language in these articles. But I hope you'll remember that these were people of their times, just as you and I are people of our times. We don't try to do anything deliberately inflammatory most of us anyway but it does help to understand the context and also this kind of context reporting on how things were shows us how far we've come, but it also shows us what can happen if we aren't aware of history. History can repeat itself if we're not aware of it. Not the good parts either. So I want to talk about how these early journalists shaped the world in which we live today, today.

Natalie Zett:

So, william D Eaton, who was the editor of the Scoop during 1915, he was 68 years old. He was born either 1847 or 1848 in New York, not sure how he ended up in Chicago, but according to the records I could locate, he was always a printer, writer, journalist and editor. And oh, by the way, I should mention that he was one of the founders of the Chicago Herald, so he wore all the hats of the media outlets at the time and he was known for his sharp editorial sense and his involvement in chronicling the press's influence on public opinion. During his editorship the Scoop focused on how the press handled significant events like the Eastland disaster, analyzing the coverage from different angles and critiquing how the tragedy was portrayed. So I am going to start reading William Eaton's very own words as he introduces us to this reporting from different news outlets at the time and how they handled the Eastland disaster. Because there were so many newspapers at that point in Chicago, I will only do the Chicago Tribune because the amount of information that is available. But in upcoming episodes I will provide the analysis that the Scoop did on the reporting that the other newspapers did during the time of the Eastland disaster as well. But I'm going to pepper that in with other stories just to keep things fresh and interesting. I'm going to read from the Scoop the date is July 31st 1915. And, by the way, the price was five cents.

Natalie Zett:

William D Eaton is the editor and here are his words. This is the inside story of the Eastland story, showing how each Chicago office handled it. It was the biggest that had broken in this city since the fire of 1871. It broke sharply in that part of the day which belongs to the afternoon papers. How they rose and met, it is shown here under Bearing in mind the short time between the happening and the morning release hour for those papers. Their achievement would be hard to understand by people unaware of their mobile organization. The Associated Press and the Dailies have published all the news.

Natalie Zett:

The Scoop is not concerned with that, but it takes occasion to show the newspaper men in other cities how the newspapers of Chicago handled the greatest calamity that had ever overtaken any American city. In a time of peace, the event teemed pity pathos, majesty, the majesty of mass calamity. Among the silent, poor, no newspaper has sounded its diapason. The time is not yet here. In a little while some of them will be inspired to such an utterance, but not until perspective shall have been found and responsibility fixed. Chicago has lost heavily of its best blood and sinew those Juan and Sully dead. What can condone the deep damnation of their taking off, of their taking off how the Associated Press handled the case.

Natalie Zett:

With more than 900 newspapers to supply with news of the Eastland disaster. The Associated Press, guided day and night by the cool hand of Superintendent Paul Coles, who managed the story of the San Francisco earthquake and fire in 1906, kept a steady stream of copy flowing from Chicago to both oceans, to the Gulf of Mexico and to the Canadian border, from the time the steamer sank until every phase of the accident was cleared up many hours afterward From New York. The story was cabled over the world by allied agencies. The police were called by Assistant Harbormaster Lynn before the Eastland had rolled over and word was flashed to the office of the City News Bureau and thence to the AP in such short time that a bulletin was written by Charles P Dunkley, early morning city editor, at 7.30, almost as soon as the boat capsized and cleared to all points in the United States, by manager E L Powell a minute or two later. Bulletins continued to record developments for an hour or so and then George Wharton, day City Editor, began a running story under the direction of E T Cutter, day news editor, and Ted Payne, day manager. Superintendent Cowles, in his usual calm but inspiring manner, took charge of the general arrangements and called all the night reporters and editors to the office. Jc Hamilton, correspondent at Cincinnati. Jc Hamilton, correspondent at Cincinnati, was in Chicago on his vacation and he also was placed at work covering the morgues. Harry Dodd, state editor, covered the rescue work as later reports increased the death toll.

Natalie Zett:

A fresh lead was written by ME Coleman, director of the inspection service. Was written by ME Coleman, director of the Inspection Service. This lead reached all papers from the Atlantic to the Pacific in time for regular editions and rounded up the whole story so completely and smoothly that almost every AP afternoon paper in the United States ran it flat without rewriting or ordering specials. From many places came telegrams saying that the AP report was ahead of other services most of the time and never behind. Messages of congratulation poured in on Mr Cowles, thanking him especially for the completeness and smoothness of the report and for a story kept within due bounds. In addition to handling some 9,000 words on the Eastland during the day report, the AP carried almost its full quota of 25,000 words of other news, markets and sports. Before the day report was concluded at 4 pm, arrangements were made for a night lead to catch the Saturday night bulldogs. This lead of 2,000 words was turned over by Basil D Weirich, night news editor, by 6 o'clock and was in all newspaper offices before seven half of it being distributed in time for the bullpup editions.

Natalie Zett:

I'm going to pause momentarily and then explain a little bit about the history of the Associated Press, as well as this reference to Bulldogs. What's that all about, right? So the Associated Press, the AP, was founded in 1846 by five New York City newspapers, and it's still going strong today, and is one of the oldest and largest news organizations in the world. Originally established to share the costs of transmitting news about the Mexican-American War, the AP was set up as a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers and broadcasters. Over time, the AP expanded its reach across the United States and globally, becoming a major force in news reporting by the late 19th century. Known for quickly adopting new technologies, the AP began with the telegraph and later incorporated telephone, radio and television into its operations. Serving as a clearinghouse for news, the AP collects, writes and redistributes news to its member newspapers, radio stations and now telephone networks, allowing even the smallest outlets access to a broad range of national and international stories. That's the AP.

Natalie Zett:

Now, this bulldog reference. What is that? In the context of the early 20th century journalism, particularly in Chicago, the term bulldog was often used to refer to a specific edition of a newspaper rather than the reporters themselves. Well, at least at first. So the Bulldog edition was typically the first edition of the newspaper printed late in the evening or super early in the morning, and it was intended to be distributed overnight or early the next day. And these editions were often more aggressive in their news coverage and had to be produced quickly, which might explain why the term bulldog came to be associated with the tenacity and determination of the journalists who worked on these editions. The idea was just like a bulldog. The reporters and editors working on these early editions were tough, relentless and ready to sink their teeth into a story. Okay, back to the article from the scoop. Then there were sent by 9 pm subhead stories on investigation, morgue recovery of bodies and incidents and a list of dead compiled by JJ Jones, auditor, and Arthur Park, relief editor. All this made a total of 7,000 words.

Natalie Zett:

Saturday night, only a few ads being required from Rex Lardner to cover developments, jc Royal, night manager and the filing editors shot the copy across the country, while city editor PP Pomeroy and others furnished information from the various scenes of distress Serving so many papers. The Associated Press used every effort to avoid wild rumors and exaggerated figures. In the day lead Mr Coleman set the total dead at from 700 to 1,200, probably 1,000. Mr Weirich in the night lead, after a conference with the editors, made the loss 1,000, although Chicago papers played all the way from 1,700 to 2,300, while the AP in its succeeding stories took cognizance of larger figures. In mentioning the various estimates the lead stuck to a thousand and as late as Wednesday night only 831 bodies had been recovered and divers said a few more would be found.

Natalie Zett:

The AP Sunday morning papers had some 16,000 words, of which 12,000 were usable discounting bulletins. A full staff was spread over the city Sunday so that 8,000 words were on file when the night wires opened, the AP having no regular day service on Sunday. All this copy was cleared before 9 pm and only a brief lead to round up later developments was necessary to close the night's report. The Sunday night lead was written by CK Eastman East. Editor Art King and EL Powell carried the story through till 8 am and by that time it was in smooth water. During the run of the story, papers which buy specials frequently ran the report of the Associated Press in preference, using only a paragraph here and there of Leeds, ordered overhead and discarded.

Natalie Zett:

So that concludes William D Eaton's introduction to this feature on the Eastland disaster, and now he's going to discuss how each newspaper handled the disaster and he's going to share some stories from those newspapers. I'm going to start and end with the Chicago Tribune, but we will continue in subsequent weeks to talk about all the other newspapers. But, folks, this is huge. There are so many stories behind what happened here and I wish I had the scoop when I was starting this podcast, because that really sets the framework and the context for this. But the history is all over the place and hopefully by the time I'm done with this. But the history is all over the place and hopefully by the time I'm done with this, if I'll ever be done with this, I'll have it in a state of organization and have a timeline, because it really helps to put everything in context. Context is so important in a story like this and, frankly, that's one of the things we've been missing for forever with this. So the next headline is the Tribune.

Natalie Zett:

Garfield McEdwards walked into the local room of the Chicago Tribune at seven o'clock last Saturday morning. Mcedwards was earlier than usual. He took off his hat and coat and settled down for the routine of a bulldog day. Usually there is little for the early man to do before 10 o'clock but it is the policy of the Tribune, to quote have a man there to do it if there is anything to do. For 20 minutes McEdwards busied himself with the early morning city press copy. Then the telephone bell rang. It was one of McEdwards' friends who worked for the Reed Murdoch Company. Quote there's a boat tipping over in the river, said the friend. It's the Eastland. There's a boat tipping over in the river, said their friend, it's the Eastland. In an instant McEdward snatched another phone and called up city editor William Howey, day city editor Stott and managing editor Beck. In just five words he told each what had happened. He was instructed by Mr Howey to notify every man employed by the Tribune. Before another three minutes passed, two office boys, the telephone operators, five men from the business office and five stenographers were on the phones calling up every man connected with the editorial department.

Natalie Zett:

Fifteen minutes after the boat had turned over, city editor Howey and Mr Stott arrived at the office. When the first reporter came. Ten minutes later, the city editor had completed his assignment sheet Within 35 minutes. 30 Tribune reporters had received their instructions and were on the scene. In another half hour 60 other men were sent from the local room and before 10 o'clock the Tribune had more than 100 reporters and photographers on the job.

Natalie Zett:

As the case is in most big stories, the policemen on duty used as little good judgment as possible and caused much delay. The first reporter there was a tribune man. When he arrived inside the lines, after several serious arguments with policemen, he climbed aboard the overturned boat. The first person the reporter saw was a tribune photographer with his camera focused on a group of men taking bodies from a hole in the side. How did you get here, asked the reporter. Why Mr Howie assigned me to cover the excursion last night was the reply. The hell you say, said the reporter. Did you get a picture? Sure, was the reply. I got a picture when she hit the water, but I haven't had time to phone the office. It was the same on every angle of the story.

Natalie Zett:

Every man had an early start and each had specific instructions from the city editor. Each man's duty dovetailed with another. To facilitate the work of the outside men, everything possible was arranged for in the office. The city editor's first action after instructing his men was to order a number of new telephones. Phones were placed on every table in the office and a man was stationed to answer each phone. Thirty minutes after Mr Stott turned up at the office, he had made arrangements to install a temporary Tribune office at the Eastlands dock. In less time than it takes to write this, the telephone company had installed a phone and the Tribune reporters at the boat were shooting their copy from their own headquarters.

Natalie Zett:

Before noon, every Tribune reporter had covered his angle of the story in all the details up to the hour and the story was in type. The photographers working in shifts had each turned in dozens and dozens of photographs and when deadline for the bulldog came, the city editor and the managing editor found the most difficult task of the day confronting them. Assigning men to cover the story was a simple matter compared to the new duty, for when managing editor Beck and city editor Howie began sorting out the live stuff that was to be used, they found they had enough real news to fill five newspapers and enough photographs to fill 80 pages. Every photograph was good and there wasn't a word written that didn't deserve the front page. The makeup staff, with Mr Howie and Mr Beck, began the work of eliminating wheat from the chaff and found there was no chaff. The Tribune was limited to a certain number of pages. Story after story and photograph after photograph was thrown aside until there was left just one newspaper full of the best stories that a hundred eager newspaper men could gather.

Natalie Zett:

The efficiency of the Tribune system was demonstrated in more ways than one In the early edition of Saturday Night. Freedom from the Fault of Repetition, which is so noticeable in many male editions, was a thing to be proud of. In the later editions, the editors trimmed and sliced the stories until the final result was perfect. The story was far from finished, however, when the Sunday paper was put to bed. There was to be a story the next day and if possible it was to be just as big as the first one. The city editors, managing editor and copy desk had worked every minute during the whole day and night, but there was no going home to the beds they had occupied so few hours. The day before, city editor Howie, who all day had guided the actions of each man, had the appearance of a stoker who had been working at the door of a furnace. His hair was tousled, perspiration and dust streaked his face and he hadn't had a bite to eat for 36 hours, but he had the Tribune machine working with swift certainty when the paper came off the press. The city editor and managing editor would not have taken any prize at a fashion show, but what did that matter? The Chicago Tribune had a perfect story.

Natalie Zett:

So that's the end of that piece about the Tribune, and, oh my gosh, I had to contain myself from getting weepy there toward the end. It was so touching to learn about what these folks did to bring the news to the people. Yes, and there are other stories that I will share with you from the Scoop, and they include stories from the Herald, the Examiner, the Journal and the Daily News, the Post, the New York Times and the New York World. This was all covered again in the Scoop that will be in the coming weeks. Are a good number of women involved? Or I should say there's a good number of women who are listed in some of the articles, but I have the feeling that there were a lot more women who will unfortunately go unnamed, but I want to remember them anyway. So this is a very exciting piece of work to have located this week. It's almost again another form of a Rosetta Stone. That unlocks the order of things and unlocks the perspective that we sometimes need to see, and we have William Eaton to thank for being the editor of the Scoop and for putting all of this together. William Eaton died around 1933. He was living in California with his adult son and unfortunately I don't have a detailed obituary for him, but I'm still looking and I will share that with you when I get a hold of it.

Natalie Zett:

Thanks to all of the folks who worked in the media back in 1915, they were just trying to get their jobs done the best way that they could and they probably had no idea that they were creating a message to the future and that they were creating records and that they were creating remembrances of people all of them who were involved in the Eastland disaster. So the next time you see a journalist, thank them for all the work that they do, because many of them actually sacrifice or risk their own lives to get the story. I've never done that, but many have. The job obviously can be intense, it can be dangerous, and I do think a certain type of person is attracted to the work of a journalist. Not only do you have to be able to write, but you have to have this tenacity of a bulldog to not let anything go, anyway.

Natalie Zett:

So next week we'll shake this up a bit. I have some more stories for you, but we will get back to the scoop, because the stories of these newspapers are absolutely incredible. They're so compelling. So have a good week, take care, and I'll coming along for the ride. Please subscribe or follow so you can keep up with all the episodes, and for more information, please go to my website, that's wwwflowerintherivercom. I hope you'll consider buying my book as audio book, ebook, paperback and hardcover, because I still owe people money and that's my running joke. But the one thing I'm serious about is that this podcast and my book are dedicated to the memory of all who experienced the Eastland disaster of 1915. Goodbye for now.

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