Mayor's Committee Chicago's Mayor William Thompson is in San Francisco, participating in the various exercises at the Panama-Pacific Exposition. Acting Mayor Moorhouse calls a conference of officials of the City of Chicago, Western Electric Company and the American Red Cross. Plans mature throughout the afternoon and evening for a meeting of Chicago's prominent business people to be held early Sunday morning. This group, known as the Mayor's Committee, includes several American Red Cross executives and directors.
Reports on the tragedy and the relief work are made by Acting Mayor Moorehouse, the Mayor's Secretary, the Chief of Police, the Superintendent of the Health Department, officials of Western Electric Company, and John J. O'Connor of the Central Division of the American Red Cross. The committee immediately decides to issue an appeal to the citizens of Chicago to contribute $200,000 to the Relief Fund for Eastland Disaster Victims. The contributions are requested to be received within the next forty-eight hours.
(NOTE: Contributions of nearly double the amount requested were received within a few weeks, and later turned over in a lump sum to the American Red Cross for disbursement.)
Members of the Mayor's Committee
Source: Final Report, Eastland Disaster Relief Committee, Chicago Chapter, American Red Cross, 1918.
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