Chapter XI: The Relief Work

The work of relief started almost before the flames of the first section destroyed had died away. Acting Governor Draper, who had arrived in Chelsea about the middle of the afternoon, at once realized the immediate need of assistance, turned about and had his chauffeur take him speedily to his office at the State House. Here he got into communication with the City Hall, and a meeting was arranged at the mayor’s office. Mayor Hibbard, who was at his summer home in Provincetown, arrived about six o’clock. The first move was to get hospital service to the city and all available doctors, nurses, and ambulances were sent to Chelsea.

Messengers were despatched to bring many prominent citizens to a citizens’ meeting, and among the first to arrive was Major Henry L. Higginson of the firm of Lee, Higginson & Company, who at once offered all immediate financial assistance necessary. Provisions for the refugees were the first necessity, and the authorities in Boston and Chelsea combined to secure them. Bakers, provision dealers, and restaurant keepers readily volunteered to furnish them, and what is more important, had them ready and delivered in Chelsea by midnight.

Meanwhile, the residents of Chelsea had not been idle. While the fire was at its height, J. Travis Roberts went to the junction of County Road and the Boulevard, and stopped every motor car that came along, courteously requesting the drivers to loan their cars to the city. In a very short time about fifty cars had been secured, and their help was of great value.

Dr. Charles N. Cutler organized a rescue corps with motor cars to take the needy people to the First Congregational Church on County Road, where Mrs. Henry A. Tenney had charge, and was assisted by Mr. Herbert Slade, Miss Florence H. Mitchell, and many others. H. P. McManus of the firm of Atwood & McManus summoned all his teamsters and got out ten double wagons, which he ordered into the burning district and put at the disposal of the fleeing population. In this way a great many families saved most of their belongings. He then secured ten bushels of sandwiches to feed the fire fighters. All about the edge of the fire luncheons were to be had for the asking. Mr. R. H. Grant made and served many gallons of coffee. Dr. Charles Reeds went through the burning district near his home, handing out food to the soldiers and firemen. Every namable kind of relief sprang into action, and the organized Relief Committee was relieved of a large proportion of its duty. The National, American, and Adams Express companies put their teams at the disposal of the Relief Committee and offered to transport all relief supplies free.

Mr. Albert Tenney, manager of the Suburban Electric Company of Malden, placed five automobiles at the disposal of the committee, and ran one himself for several days.

The Chelsea Relief Committee, which was selected early in the evening, set up headquarters in the High School building just outside the fire lines. The first step was to open an information bureau, where the homeless were directed to churches and other places open to receive them, and where the missing could report and the lost get in touch with their friends.

The next morning there were organized a bureau of general information, a committee for medical relief, and a housing and employment bureau. The insurance companies also established a bureau of information. In the basement a bakery and lunch counter was started, and great four-horse loads of food were delivered at one door and distributed at another.

The Scenic Temple on Second Street, at the other end of the city, was opened as a dispensary distributing station, in charge of George H. Willie and George H. Dunham. Other places of refuge were the Salvation Army Barracks in Chelsea Square, Saint Luke’s Parsonage, the Cary Avenue Methodist Church, the First Congregational Church, the Soldiers’ Home, and scores of other places where small numbers could be cared for.

William E. McClintock, chairman of the Relief Committee, opened his headquarters at his residence opposite the High School. The Young Men’s Christian Association opened headquarters in the Review Club next door. Voting booths were erected on the club’s tennis court for the use of the city officials. Crowds gathered on the streets about these buildings, and it took a large detail of soldiers to keep things straightened out. In the High School, lines of young women were busy making card catalogues of new addresses and telling the inquirers where their friends and relatives were to be found. In the rooms off the corridors, committees inquired into each case, and issued cards for food and clothing. At every entrance stood sentries to keep out the merely curious, and outside other soldiers kept the deserving crowd in a line, which for days reached far down the street and turned the corner. On the third floor were piled articles of clothing. At first there was naturally a great confusion, but soon the committee got things down to a system.

BY WM. J. MCCLINTOCK

THE BREAD LINE]

The Massachusetts Chelsea Relief Committee issued the following bulletin for information of fire sufferers and others:--

Executive Headquarters--Chamber of Commerce, Boston, Mass.;
telephone, Fort Hill 1834. Edmund Billings, executive
secretary, James J. Storrow, chairman.

Treasurers--Lee, Higginson & Company, 44 State Street, Boston,
Mass.

Chelsea Relief Committee--High School Building, Chelsea.

Insurance Information--High School Building, Chelsea.

Receiving Station--For supplies, except food, Keany Building,
251 Causeway Street, Boston; telephone, Richmond 777.

Registration for Lodgings--Municipal Building, 427 Blossom
Street, Boston; telephone, Haymarket 427.

Registration for Volunteer Workers--Room 31, Charity Building,
Chardon Street, Boston; telephone, Haymarket 847.

Automobiles--Owners who can loan their machines for use,
telephone Room 31, Charity Building; telephone, Haymarket 847.

* * * * *

All supplies (except food) should be sent to the Keany Square
Building, 251 Causeway Street, which is in charge of Miss
Katherine D. Loring of the Red Cross Society.

From this point they are distributed on proper requisition to
the various points where the refugees are located.

There is a great necessity for underclothing, men’s, women’s
and children’s, babies’ blankets, blankets, sheets, and pillow
cases.

They cannot use anything that is dirty or torn, nor clothing
trimmed with lace, or evening dresses.

Offers of food, milk, and other perishable supplies should
be made to Mr. Billings, the executive secretary. Chamber of
Commerce Building; telephone, Fort Hill 1834.

* * * * *

All persons who had any fire insurance and who had a fire loss
should apply to the Insurance Information Committee, High
School Building, Chelsea, Room 11.

The fire insurance companies have established this committee
to furnish free information and advice to any person who was
insured and suffered any fire loss, whether their policies were
burned or not.

There is a great need for automobiles to be used in moving the
sufferers and in distributing nurses, etc., both in Chelsea and
Boston.

Owners who are willing to loan their cars for such use should
telephone to Room 31, Charity Building, Boston, Haymarket 847.

The following relief stations were established by the committee:--

First District--High School Building, Crescent Avenue.

Second District--Lincoln Hall, Second Street.

Third District--First Congregational Church, County Road.

Fourth District--880 Broadway.

Fifth District--Spencer Avenue School Building.

These were the only ones provided for by the committee in Chelsea, although special interests looked out for their own people. Among them were the following stations:--

Central Congregational Church--Washington Avenue opposite Heard
Street.

Christian Science Church--Rear of 2 County Road.

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church--Parish house, Washington Avenue,
corner Spruce Street.

All denominations--Cary Avenue Methodist Church.

Catholic--Old parochial residence, Crescent Avenue near
Broadway.

Labor Unions--195 Broadway.

Elks--Corner Williams Street and Broadway.

Eagles--Broadway, opposite Court House.

Foresters and Knights of Columbus--66 Williams Street.

Red Men--Towne’s store, Broadway Square near Second Street.

Hebrew Information Bureau--129 Winnisimmet Street.

N. E. O. P.--371 Spruce Street.

Masonic Bodies--136 Broadway.

District Nurses--Lincoln Hall, Second Street.

Knights of Columbus--Old Salvation Army building, Park Street.

Christian Scientists--General distribution of relief supplies,
carriage house rear of Wilson estate, Carter Street off
Washington Avenue.

The regular relief stations in Chelsea in one day distributed the following supplies:--

FOOD
Milk, gallons 400
Coffee, gallons 600
Canned meat, cases 75
Canned soup, cases 100
Canned salmon, cases 50
Dry codfish, large boxes 50
Coffee, pounds 100
Condensed milk, cans 1,200
Granulated sugar, pounds 500
Eggs, dozens 1,000
CLOTHING
Boys’ suits 500
Children’s underwear 500
Men’s underwear 500
Men’s trousers 250
Men’s shoes, cases 25
Women’s shoes, cases 25
Women’s underwear, suits 100
Hosiery, men and women, pairs 1,500
Blankets 1,000
Mattresses 500
Pillows 500

Among the Chelsea women who worked untiringly for days at the relief stations were: Mrs. Grace D. Bancroft, Miss Mary Keen, Miss Alice Dorkhann, Mrs. Charles Bourne, Mrs. Boyd Bartlett, Mrs. Andrew T. Hunnewell, Miss Ethel F. Bourne, Mrs. C. Willis Gould, Miss Edith Bush, Miss Margaret H. Ames (Naval Hospital), Miss Agnes Peck, Mrs. F. L. Avery, Miss Abbie Tarrell, Mrs. E. Frank Guild.

It was found after the second day that many applicants who crowded into the relief stations were simply taking bundles of clothing and supplies across to Boston and selling them for what they would bring. It was learned that some of these people did not live in Chelsea at all, being impostors from various quarters, who were fraudulently obtaining places in the relief line, and it was found absolutely necessary to have some kind of personal identification. The committee, therefore, adopted the following identification card:--

SAVE TIME FOR YOURSELF

and help the committee by having the attached card of
identification filled out and signed by your pastor, doctor,
or some business or professional man known to the committee.
With the identification card you will be served without delay.
Without the identification card you will go to Room -- and be
specially examined.

Below is a blank, as follows:--

I am personally acquainted with ---- of No. -- ---- Street, and
know that he is worthy of aid. I recommend that he be given
----, etc.

An average of twelve thousand people a day were fed at the various relief stations for weeks. H.P. Hood & Son sent wagon loads of fine milk free of charge. Henry Siegel wired his Boston manager to establish immediately a tent for the free distribution of soup, sandwiches, and coffee, and the instructions were carried out. A. Shuman sent over one thousand dollars’ worth of wearing apparel.

A relief station was established at the Keany Square Building in Boston and was under the charge of Miss Katherine Loring, who was assisted by Miss Eleanor Sears, Miss Higginson, Miss Hunnewell, Miss Olive Ames, Mrs. Arthur D. Cook, Miss Dorothy Forbes, and other young society leaders of Boston. A detachment of ten signal corps men were placed here under command of Lieutenant R. E. Blecher to guard the place and help sort goods sent in.

Mr. Herbert Norton, chairman of the Chelsea License Commission, immediately canceled all licenses which had been issued in Chelsea and Police Commissioner O’Meara of Boston issued the following order the night of the fire:--

“City of Boston, Police Department.
“April 12, 1908.

“Under the authority conferred upon me by sec. 19, chap. 291,
acts of 1906, I hereby suspend and make inoperative until
further notice all licenses to sell intoxicating liquors in
police division 7 (East Boston) and in that part of police
division 15 (Charlestown) lying between Mystic and Charles
rivers and the harbor on the north and east and southwest and
a line on the west drawn through Everett Street, extended to
Mystic River, Concord Street, Monument Square, Pleasant and
Devens streets, Rutherford Avenue and Arrow Street, extended
to the water, including both sides of said streets, square, and
avenue.

“Sec. 19 provides further that:--

“Any licensee who personally or by his servants or agents
sells, furnishes, or delivers any intoxicating liquors during
such suspension shall be punished by a fine of $200 for said
offense, and his license shall become forfeited.

“This suspension will be revoked as soon as it becomes evident
that public safety and order in the parts of the city specified
no longer require it.

“(Signed) STEPHEN O’MEARA,

“Police Commissioner of the City of Boston.”

Nearly two hundred refugees were sent to the South Armory, and housed in the quarters of Battery A, Field Artillery. Armorer George Thorpe worked untiringly for their comfort. The Mellin’s Food Company sent to Chelsea twenty-five cases of malted milk, the National Biscuit Company two hundred boxes of Uneeda biscuits. The Horace Memorial Church on Webster Avenue took care of two hundred people. The Magee Furnace Company, the Revere Rubber Company, the Forbes Lithograph Company, and many other big manufacturing plants, established relief stations for their own employees.

The rector of Saint Rose Catholic Church issued the following notice:--

“Chelsea, April 15, 1908.

“The parish is fully covered by insurance and has no need of
assistance, and has a glorious future before it. We have no
need to think of that now. Provision will be made for masses
and everything of that kind.

“What we are wholly intent on now is the relief of the poor. We
have three bureaus of supplies open day and night, and all may
come for relief. All who are in the city, whether of our faith
or not, will be gladly welcomed. We will supply them with food
and clothing, and will engage and furnish tenements in Boston
and elsewhere. We beg Chelsea people who have left the city,
and are temporarily with friends, but who cannot stay long
where they are, to come and let us provide for them.

“Our depots are at the Spencer Avenue Catholic school, at the
old parochial residence, Broadway and Crescent Avenue, and at
the corner of Williams and Broadway.

“THOMAS J. CUSICK, Rector.”

The three banks which were destroyed secured temporary quarters in a building near the Court House, and inside of twenty-four hours had their securities out of the ruins, and were able to pay depositors who needed money.

The morning after the fire the Chelsea Post-office opened temporary quarters in a pool room on Park Street. All mail that was in the burned Post-office was saved by heroic work of the department, and three deliveries were made during the day following the fire, although the majority of people to whom mail was addressed could not be found.

Congressman Roberts at once introduced a bill in the House of Representatives appropriating $125,000 to provide for a new building.

Furniture companies and other business concerns took immediate measures to relieve their patrons. Instalment houses announced that their customers having unsettled accounts need not worry about payment, as all goods sold were insured.

Major Walter E. Lombard made an appeal to the military organizations throughout the State for funds to relieve the members of the Fifth Company, Coast Artillery Corps, whose Armory had been destroyed, and who had lost, not only their clothes, but in thirty-five cases their homes. Over $1500 was contributed to this fund.

The labor unions of Boston were prompt in coming to the aid of their members who suffered in the fire.

Hundreds of loaves of bread came over in the wagons of Ferguson, Fox, and other bakers, while Cobb, Bates & Yerxa and S. S. Pierce & Company had great four-horse wagons early on the scene, loaded with provisions of all sorts. Supplies piled in from all sides. The Keany Square Relief Station looked like a great warehouse. In one day the following gifts were acknowledged by this station:--

A carload of clothing from the Phillips Brooks House, a carload of suits from the Brookline relief committee, a box of clothing from Mrs. Kennison, gifts from the First Presbyterian Church on Columbus Avenue, clothing from boys of Phillips School, gifts from Shepard, Norwell & Company, gifts from C. F. Hovey & Company, an express load of packages from the city of Somerville, gifts from the King’s Daughters of Cambridge, twelve barrels of gifts from the Salem Thought and Work Club, gifts from W. S. Butler, fifteen mattresses from the New York Mattress Company, three boxes of goods from the Jordan Marsh Company, goods from James A. Houston & Company, goods from W. H. Brine & Company, goods from High School at Dorchester Heights, goods from the Friendly Society of the South Congregational Church, goods from the Concord Woman’s Club, one hundred and seven dozen pairs of stockings from the Star Theater Company, goods from the Women’s Guild of the Church of the Good Shepherd, and gifts from G. B. H. Macomber.

The spirit the citizens themselves showed, compelled admiration from every outsider. They were courageous, to say the least, and the general sentiment among them was not downheartedness, but determination to relieve the suffering at once, and then to reestablish the municipality on a better basis than formerly.

The people fully appreciated the generosity shown them throughout the State, and more than one, big, strong, able-bodied man felt a lump come into his throat when he read of and saw the many things that were being done by strangers outside of the city for its relief.

Two days after the fire the city had hundreds of unemployed at work clearing the streets. Judge Bossom announced that until conditions were relieved he would deal stringently with drunkards and other law breakers, and suiting his actions to his words, gave four men arrested the night after the fire the full penalty allowed by the law.

The prompt and systematic organization for relief gave assurance to the people of the State that their funds would be wisely directed in relieving the needs of the people and resulted in private purses being opened in a most generous and liberal way.

Lee, Higginson & Company received sums ranging from a few dollars up to several thousand, aggregating in the neighborhood of $350,000.

In spite of all that was done in the city there was not room for all, and the surrounding towns and cities made Chelsea’s needs their own. The Revere Town Hall was thrown open to the refugees, the Revere Women’s Club taking care of one hundred and fifty at night and feeding more during the day.

In Malden Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, the First Baptist Church, the Congregational, the Methodist, and the Catholic churches were thrown open to the needy.

Everett, Medford, and Winthrop also took care of many of the destitute. The Civil Service House in Boston was opened from the beginning of the trouble, and most of the lost children were sent there. The Boston English High School opened its doors and took care of about one hundred refugees as long as was necessary.

A monster dramatic entertainment was held at the Boston Theater, and all the actors playing in Boston at the time gave their services. The entire proceeds were given to the relief fund. The best seats sold at large premiums, and every seat and all standing room was taken.

Mrs. Pelbouth of the Dennison House, offered the service of women connected with that institution; the Wayfarers’ Lodge accommodated two hundred men; the Bay State House on Hanover Street took care of from thirty to forty; the Parker Memorial on Appleton Street offered the use of its rooms; H. F. Denny of the Lakeshore Home, Sharon, took care of fifty women and children; Sister Gabriel of the home for Destitute Children offered shelter for children left homeless; about five hundred people found shelter at the Salvation Army Palace; the Saint James Hotel, Bowdoin Square, Boston, offered to take care of a number; the Massachusetts General Hospital offered employment to five men and agreed to take twenty to thirty sick people and supply nurses.

The Animal Rescue League sent men to Chelsea to look out for the homeless dogs and cats in the burned district. Those suffering from injuries were at once chloroformed; the others were taken to the Carver Street Home and held for owners to claim.

Help of every description was offered to man and beast. It came quickly and in abundance without being called for; and those who wondered during the fire if there was a God, soon found him in the hearts of the people of the Commonwealth.