Relief and Aid

Mayor Mason places the Chicago Relief and Aid Society in charge of the relief efforts, and the Society issues its general plan of work. It sets up committees on shelter, employment, transportation, reception and correspondence, health and sanitation, and on receiving, administering, and distributing supplies, as well as an overall executive committee chaired by corporate attorney Wirt Dexter.  The city’s merchants organize for recovery, selecting Charles B. Farwell as their chair.