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| The remains of the Doremus Laundry (National Engineer, April 1901) |
Chicagoans
woke up on this date, March 11, just as they did every morning, aware that they were
beginning a day in one of the most vibrant and fastest-growing cities in the
world. At 8:14 in the morning the danger
that occasionally accompanied such a life was vividly brought forth when a boiler explosion at the
Doremus Laundry at 458 West Madison Street rocked the west side, killing 9
people and injuring more than 50.
The
explosion completely destroyed the laundry, at which employees were just
getting ready to start the day. The
sidewalks were crowded with people hurrying to work, and the streetcars were
all overloaded. The explosion was so
powerful that it blew the west wall from the Waverly Theater, leaving the
auditorium exposed.
Preliminary
investigations revealed that the front end of the boiler had been blown 30 feet
away from its original position with the rear section blown nearly as far away
in the opposite direction. The boiler had originally been built for the Board
of Trade and used there for 11 years before being carted over to the laundry
five years earlier. [The National
Engineer, April 1901]
Small
fires broke out in several places, but quick work by the fire companies
extinguished them, at which point firemen and policemen directed their efforts
toward rescuing those trapped in the wreckage.
A number of women were pulled out quickly, but the task became more and
more grim as the workers dug deeper into the wreckage. All told, nine bodies were pulled from the
ruined building.
The
shock of the explosion was felt for a mile in every direction. The Tribune reported, that buildings on both
sides of Madison Street, in Throop Street, and Waverly Place were shaken to
their foundations, and scores of plate-glass
windows were left without a piece of glass in them throughout the area. [Chicago
Tribune, March 12, 1901]
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| The front end of the boiler 30 feet away from its original position (National Engineer, April 1901) |
The
coroner’s inquiry into the causes of the explosion was extensive and its
findings were given at 5:30 p.m. on March 27, 1901. The owner of the laundry, Abram Doremus, was
ordered arrested, and he was taken to the Criminal Courts building. That, at least, provided a person for the
public to blame. “I am a law-abiding
citizen and I must take the result of the investigation philosophically,” Mr.
Doremus said. “I am not guilty of any
carelessness or negligence in this matter.
All I want is justice. I will be
able to prove that I am not guilty.” [Chicago Tribune, March 28, 1901]
The
grand jury voted on May 1, 1901 against sending Doremus to trial, and he was
sent on his way.
More
troubling, though, was the city’s laxity in inspecting the hundreds of boilers
toiling away throughout the most populous parts of Chicago. George B. Ballard,
a stationary engineer, called to testify at the inquiry, told the jury that during his thirty years’ residence in the city he had never seen a boiler
properly tested by the city officials. The Doremus boiler had not been tested since March 13, 1899.
There
was one bright spot to emerge from the terror of that morning on Madison
Street. On April 29, 1901 Alfred B.
Chandler, a victim of the explosion, went to the county clerk’s office and,
using his left hand, because his right was still bandaged and his arm in a
sling, applied for a marriage license.
The bride, 17-year-old Sarah N. McArthur, eleven years Chandler’s
junior, had also been injured in the explosion and both the prospective bride and groom had
been patients at the county hospital since the explosion. [Chicago
Tribune, April 30, 1901]
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