Flower in the River: A Family Tale Finally Told

Wired for Rescue: The Unsung Telephone Heroes of 1915

• Natalie Zett • Season 3 • Episode 122

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In this episode, we revisit the Bell Telephone News from August 1915 and the stories of  extraordinary individuals who responded to the Eastland disaster with courage and quick thinking:

  • Fred J. Lippert - The telephone company engineer who happened to be wearing his bathing suit that morning (planning to swim after work) and dove repeatedly into the Chicago River to rescue victims. But his heroism didn't stop there - his entire life was defined by service and sacrifice.
  • George Spiegelhauer - The methodical rescuer who knew how to operate the cutting-edge "pulmotor" resuscitation devices when others couldn't. His story has a beautiful twist involving beekeeping that perfectly captures his caring nature.
  • H. Haberstroh - The vacationing boatman whose pleasure craft was pressed into rescue service by police.
  • James Carney - The unsung hero who literally had to swim 100 feet in semi-darkness to install emergency telephone lines at the life-saving station, ensuring communication could flow during the crisis.

The Fire That Almost Was

I'll also share the spine-chilling story of an unnamed plant department worker who prevented what could have been a catastrophic fire at the Second Regiment Armory - where hundreds of people were gathered to identify their loved ones. Imagine the panic that could have ensued.

The Bigger Picture

Though freely available in digital archives, these firsthand accounts have remained largely overlooked for more than a century. They reveal not just moments of individual heroism, but the critical, behind-the-scenes work that connected rescuers, hospitals, morgues, and desperate families—long before the digital age. In just a few hours, the telephone company installed nearly 40 emergency lines, creating a vital communication network during one of Chicago’s darkest days.

These stories raise important questions about historical memory: Who gets remembered, and why?  By reclaiming their stories, we not only honor their courage, but also gain a fuller understanding of how communities respond in moments of crisis.

Resources

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. I hope you're doing well and I want to welcome you to episode 122. We're going to dive right in because there's so much to talk about.

Natalie Zett:

The article I'm about to share comes from the August 1915 issue of the Bell Telephone News. This was an internal publication created by the American Telephone and Telegraph Company AT&T as part of the Bell system. It was one of several house organs or in-house magazines designed to keep employees informed, connected and inspired. These newsletters included company updates, technical innovations, employee stories and, in this case, firsthand accounts of major events like the Eastland disaster. So, while it was technically a corporate communication tool, it also offers a unique window in how workers experienced and responded to crisis in real time and responded to crisis in real time. Bell Telephone News began circulating in the early 1910s as part of the Bell system's broader effort to boost employee morale and build internal communication networks. And from an independent researcher's perspective, a publication like this is invaluable. And yet, despite being freely available on Google Books, I've never seen it cited in any major accounts or included on any of the Eastland disaster-related websites. That's a real oversight, because the Eastland tragedy deeply affected not only Western Electric employees but also those at the Bell Telephone Company who worked closely with them and played a behind-the-scenes role in the immediate aftermath.

Natalie Zett:

This is another rich historical resource hiding in plain sight. Hiding in plain sight Bell Telephone News, august 1915. Headline Chicago's Day of Mourning. The sympathies of a horror-stricken world go out to Chicago in her hour of grief, a grief felt most keenly by the men and women of the telephone organization because of our intimate association with those of the sister organization which furnished so many of the victims. On the morning of Saturday, july 24, the steamship Eastland, loaded with carefree merrymakers, bound to a picnic to be given at Michigan City, indiana, by employees of the Western Electric Company, overturned while leaving her dock in the Chicago River, carrying to death more than 1,000 people. Almost all of the dead were employees of the Western Electric Company, members of their families or friends. Before the gaunt fact of a tragedy like this, mere language fails. Nothing can be said now or ever can adequately express the profound sorrow and sympathy which go out from all our hearts to the saddened families and relatives of the victims of the calamity.

Natalie Zett:

Chicago Telephone employees feel with particular force the awfulness of this tragedy. They have been most closely associated with the Western Electric men. Chicago Telephone and Western Electric men have been comrades. They have been rivals, always in friendship and affection, on the athletic field and in the arena of sports. They have been fellow workers in the same endeavor, that of furnishing to the public a great service To the Chicago forces. Therefore, the grief of this tragic occurrence is personal. The full resources of the Western Electric Company and the entire energies of the surviving portion of its organization have been pressed into the work of Sucker. The general officials and department heads, their hearts wrung with grief, have worked unceasingly, sleeplessly, to relieve the distress of the unfortunate. They are doing everything humanely possible to lighten the weight of misfortune to those who feel it most heavily. Dazed as they were by the suddenness and the frightfulness of the emergency, they have met the great task imposed with energy and fortitude. To them, also in their day of trial, our sympathies go out. We will continue with more stories from the Bell Telephone News, august 1915. Headline Heroic work of two telephone men.

Natalie Zett:

George Spiegelhauer, both connected with the power and light branch of the equipment department, did heroic work in the rescue and recovery of bodies after the Eastland disaster. Lippert was at the main office when he first heard of the accident. Being an expert swimmer and hoping that he might be of some assistance, he immediately started for the Clark Street dock. On this way he met Sergeant Frank of the 1st Illinois Cavalry, of which Lippert is regimental color sergeant. They both were able to get through the police lines, lippert, using his telephone identification card, reaching the overturned boat. About 8 o'clock he recognized an old friend, art McDonald, fireman on the tug Kenosha, which had the Eastland in tow.

Natalie Zett:

Lippert went into the fire room of the tugboat and took off his outer garments. He had put on his bathing suit before leaving home in the morning, expecting to take a swim in the lake that afternoon. After finishing his work, clad in his bathing suit, lippert walked up the sloping side of the Eastland. He made a dive into the water off the edge of the boat and brought a man's body to the surface With the body over his shoulder head downward. Water was taken from the lungs by methods used in resuscitating persons apparently drowned. Dr Springer, who was also working on the body, said that a spark of life still remained. The body was then handed over to those who were using the pull motors.

Natalie Zett:

Lippert made his second dive, but did not succeed in bringing up a body. The third dive resulted in the recovery of a woman's body which still seemed to have life in it. The body was handled in the same manner as the one previously recovered. The city firemen would not permit Lippert to do any more diving on account of the danger from floating wreckage and the numerous pike poles that were then being used to bring up bodies. Lippert went back into the tugboat and put on his outer garments as he was beginning to feel the chill of the air. Returning to the Eastland, he crawled through a hole in the side of the boat in company with a fireman of truck number nine landing on the side of an inner cabin. From this point, lippert and the firemen recovered numerous bodies, mostly women and children, by use of pike poles. Lippert says that the horror of this work cannot be described. No life remained in any of the bodies recovered in this manner. This manner, lippert continued to recover bodies until 1.30 pm and from then until 8 pm he helped carry bodies from the ship Theodore Roosevelt to the Reed-Murdock building. Unable to be of any more assistance in rescuing, he then went home.

Natalie Zett:

On the morning of July 24th, a few minutes after the Eastland had overturned, george Spiegelhauer was walking across the Fifth Avenue Bridge, which was a short distance from the scene of the accident. Seeing many people struggling in the water, he rushed over to the north shore of the river, going directly to the LaSalle Street dock, and helped take the rescued people out of the small boats From the north shore of the river. He could see rescuers taking nearly drowned people from the river and laying them out on the side of the overturned ship, with not enough men to give them proper attention. Having had some training in reviving near-drowned persons and thinking he could be of assistance on the side of the ship, he penetrated the police lines by explaining his mission. He went to work at once assisting a Red Cross surgeon to get the water out of the lungs of a young girl who had just been taken from the river by artificial respiration and the use of the pull motor. In about 15 minutes the girl began to show signs of life. She was then taken away to a hospital by order of the physician. During the time Spiegelhauer was there. He worked on six bodies with the assistance of others. They never gave up a case as hopeless until advised by the surgeon that there was no life left in the body. Mr Spiegelhauer said that several pull motors were useless on account of lack of knowledge on the part of those who were attempting to operate them.

Natalie Zett:

That's the end of that article and we'll continue with the next article in the same magazine, headline Telephone Boatman Gives Aid. H N Haberstroh of the Plant Accounting Department Chicago Telephone Company was on his vacation at the time of the Eastland accident. With a number of other young men. Haberstroh was cruising in a large motorboat in and out of the surrounding park lagoons, the lake and the river. Their craft was in the river near the Eastland when it went down. They went immediately to the rescue. Their boat was pressed into service by the police and they worked with the rescuers until late that night.

Natalie Zett:

Next article in this publication is Plant Man's Presence of Mind. One Chicago telephone company plant department man showed rare presence of mind during one period of excitement following the Eastland disaster, taking care of telephone equipment in connection with service rendered at the 2nd Regiment Armory, and was in the rear of the armory in an alley when he noticed a small volume of smoke coming out of the crack in a door of a small building nearby. At first he thought someone was smoking in the building, but instead of letting it go at that, he investigated and found it was a cooper shop and that a fire had started in some shavings on the floor. He realized that if he turned in an alarm at the regular way, it might start a panic in the armory among the hundreds of people there. Therefore, he ran to the firehouse a short distance away and gave the alarm verbally, saying it was not necessary to bring the engines. The fire was put out quietly with a hand extinguisher, thus avoiding what might have been a serious panic. It would be hard to overestimate the value of the results accomplished through the splendid cooperation of the Chicago Telephone Company. Working at lightning speed, its installers put in dozens of emergency telephones At the Clark Street Bureau. The men had to do their job in the midst of a frantic jostling crowd that jammed the entire room, yet they completed an installation of nearly 40 telephones in three hours Without the help of the articles in this magazine.

Natalie Zett:

Can you imagine what would have happened had a fire broken out in the 2nd Regiment Armory, with all of the corpses, with all of the people there trying to identify their loved ones? Just when you think something can't get worse, it could have gotten worse and thanks to this unsung hero we don't know who he was this potentially disastrous scene was averted. So thank you, whoever you were. And the article mentions a cooper shop. This is where barrels, casks, tubs and other wooden containers were made by a craftsperson called a cooper, and coopers were essential in the days before plastic and industrial bottling. They built watertight containers from curved wooden slats held together with metal hoops, often used for shipping liquids, storing dry goods, fermenting and aging, and the Cooper shop itself would have been filled with woodworking tools, steam for bending wood and a lot of pounding and clanging from fitting hoops. A lot of pounding and clanging from fitting hoops.

Natalie Zett:

Next article Telephone service at Life Saving Station. The Life Saving Station for Chicago is on the end of the breakwater, at the mouth of the Chicago River, and, in order that Captain Carland and his lifeguards may communicate quickly with the city and other stations. Telephone service is maintained at the Coast Guard stations. A three-conductor submarine cable crosses the harbor for this purpose. The substation equipment consists of a number 50A protector and two desk sets, the main instrument being located at the life-saving station and the extension about 150 feet away in the quarters of the United States engineers.

Natalie Zett:

The extension instrument was installed only a few days ago and the work was done under very unusual conditions. In order to protect the wiring, a no 18 bridle wire was placed underneath the structure of heavy beams and spiles on which the buildings rest. As it is not possible to get a rowboat inside of this spile work, it was necessary for Installer Carney to swim about 100 feet in the semi-darkness with the wire. Installer Osborne paid out the wire from a temporary platform built of planks. As Mr Carney swam, the Lifesavers were interested spectators. A small hole was made in the flooring above and a porcelain knob fastened near the top of the spile, near the center span, thus supporting the wire from the center well out of the waves, except in most extreme weather.

Natalie Zett:

So let's talk about Installer Carney. I actually found out that his name was James Carney. He wasn't a traditional rescuer in terms of pulling people from the river, but nonetheless he played a critical behind-the-scenes role by ensuring that communication lines were installed and functioning at the life-saving station right on the Chicago River. And here's why this was important. First of all, in a situation like this, rapid communication was essential. In a chaotic, pre-cell phone world, landlines were the only lifeline for coordination. So Harney helped extend telephone service to the Riverside Life-Saving Station, allowing first responders and officials to communicate swiftly with the city and each other. This also helped in providing real-time updates, and having a working telephone line at the disaster site meant messages about survivors, fatalities and logistics could be relayed instantly, and that was vital for hospitals, morgues and families searching for news. And the article praises Carney's calmness amid the confusion, calmness amid the confusion. He had to string line and do technical work while surrounded by emergency crews, grieving families and utter chaos. His ability to focus and complete that task helped stabilize part of the communication system that the city desperately needed that day. He was one of the many who's been ignored in the retelling of the Eastland disaster history story, but he's a hero as well, and without his work the coordination and relief efforts would have been slowed significantly. And he's one of those unsung figures whose technical skill literally connected the city in its moment of crisis.

Natalie Zett:

The first two people I introduced you to or reintroduced you to if you were listening to a previous episode of this podcast, they were Fred Lippert and George Spiegelhauer. I'm bringing them up again in this retrospective because this will mark the third time they have been mentioned in any history having to do with the Eastland disaster. The first time was August 1915, when they were featured in the article I read to you from the Bell Telephone News. The second time was last year, when I first featured them in an episode called Selfless Saviors Two Extraordinary Rescuers in the Eastland Disaster, and that would be episode 62 of this podcast, and of course, I'll put a link to it in the show notes. And now the third time is this episode, where I've included not just their stories but stories of a couple other people too, who were also mentioned in other articles in that same issue. It is important that everyone who was associated with the Eastland disaster and who has been left out of the history of the Eastland disaster is included. I would encourage you to listen to that previous podcast episode because it goes into a lot more detail In terms of introductions.

Natalie Zett:

Fred Lippert, his whole life was service and courage. Fred was either born in Germany or Chicago in 1889. The records show all kinds of contradictions, and that wasn't unusual for immigrant families of that era, by the way. What is unusual is the absolutely remarkable series of events that define Fred Lippert's life. On July 24, 1915, fred was working as an electrical engineer for the Illinois Bell Telephone when news of the Eastland disaster reached his office. Being an expert swimmer, he immediately headed to the Clark Street dock. Using his telephone company identification card, he managed to get through police lines and onto the overturned vessel. What happened next reads like something from an adventure novel. Fred had put on his bathing suit that morning, planning to swim in the lake after work. Still wearing it, he dove repeatedly into the Chicago River, bringing up bodies and working with doctors to revive victims. He recovered at least two bodies that still showed signs of life, then continued the grim work of body recovery until 1.30 pm. Here's what's remarkable this was not a one-off act of heroism. This was simply who Fred Lippert was.

Natalie Zett:

As a regimental color sergeant in the 1st Illinois Cavalry, a position of tremendous honor and responsibility Fred carried the unit's flag during ceremonies and parades. This role was typically given to soldiers with proven leadership and bravery. Fred's military record is extraordinary. He served in various capacities he was a private and sergeant in the cavalry in 1916, second lieutenant in both the cavalry and field artillery in 1917, first lieutenant from 1917 until 1919, and captain in field artillery in 1921. But it was his service as military police that truly showcased his character.

Natalie Zett:

In 1917, while protecting a Mexican man from being beaten, fred was accidentally shot, sustaining a shattered jaw. The injury was so severe that doctors considered removing a bone from his foot to graft where his jawbone was destroyed. Just months later, another incident occurred, as described in a Houston newspaper. Fred was the nervy chief of military police who walked into the muzzle of a gun held by a drunken man and took the charge full in his face rather than retreat or let the man escape. The article noted that Lieutenant Lippard had the honorable scar of that pistol ball furrowed across his face. Now Think about that Multiple facial injuries from acts of protecting others. This wasn't someone who occasionally did brave things. This was someone who consistently put other safety before his own.

Natalie Zett:

Fred married Louise in 1913 and had three children Fred Jr, robert and Lois. What's fascinating is how this spirit of service seems to have flowed through the family line. Fred Jr became a Navy veteran of World War II, serving aboard the USS Santee and receiving four bronze stars. His grandson, keith Lippert, became a Navy Vice Admiral. There's something remarkable about seeing these characteristics transmitted through generations not always, but sometimes that call to service really does seem to be in the DNA. Fred passed away in 1948, having lived a life of extraordinary service and sacrifice.

Natalie Zett:

George Spiegelhauer is the other person mentioned in this article. His story is less dramatic but also compelling. George Spiegelhauer was born in 1882 to German immigrants in Wisconsin. By 1900, his family had moved to Chicago where his father worked as a salesperson. On the morning of July 24, 1915, george was walking across the Fifth Avenue Bridge when he saw the Eastland disaster unfolding. Without hesitation he rushed to the LaSalle Street dock and began helping rescue victims. What set George apart was his practical knowledge. He had training in reviving near-drowned persons and understood how to operate the pull motor devices. Those were early mechanical resuscitation machines that were cutting-edge technology in 1915. While others struggled with the equipment, george worked methodically with Red Cross surgeons, successfully reviving at least one young girl and working on six bodies total.

Natalie Zett:

George's life after the Eastland disaster was markedly different from Fred's military adventures. He continued working for Illinois Bell Telephone Company, married Grace and they had a son, bob, who went on to attend Coe College in Cedar Rapids, iowa. The family lived in Wilmette, illinois. Here's where George's story takes a delightful turn. In his later years, george developed a unique hobby that perfectly captures his methodical, caring nature. He became a beekeeper. A 1957 newspaper article described how his swarms supplied neighbors with honey and he kept glass-sided hives. That offered an interesting and instructive lesson in natural histories for nearby schools. There's something beautiful about this detail. The same man who carefully worked to save lives during the Eastland disaster spent his later years nurturing bees and sharing that knowledge with local children. George lived to be 90 years old, passing away in Wilmette on February 3, 1972.

Natalie Zett:

What strikes me most about both of these men is that what's missing from their obituaries Neither mentions their work on the Eastland disaster. For whatever reason, these extraordinary acts of heroism were not included in their final biographical summaries. For Fred and George, what they did on July 24, 1915, wasn't some defining moment of heroism to be celebrated. It was simply what decent people do when others need help. Yet because so many stories have been excluded from the Eastland disaster narratives. It's time to put them back in, and that's the purpose of this retrospective. And that's the purpose of this retrospective, and we'll continue with new stories as well as doing the occasional retrospective after July 24th 2025, because there are so many stories that were left out. I want to conclude with a quote from American Ancestors, which is the oldest genealogical organization in North America and it was founded in 1845 in Boston.

Natalie Zett:

Family history is more than names and dates. It's about uncovering the stories that connect us. These stories spark curiosity, offer healing, bring joy and remind us of who we are and where we came from and where we came from. With every discovery, we deepen our understanding of the cultural and historical forces that shaped our families and communities. I'll have more stories for you next week. Take care of yourselves and each other. Talk to you soon. Hey, that's it for this episode and thanks for 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, available as audiobook, 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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