◆ SpookStack

RE: Civil Dis. ers - Week of August 25 through. (gust 30 wee 1£7¢D In accordance with your instructions, the following is a ! brief resume concerning the activities of this department and | interuptions of service on the Chicago Division. | i | I [ I \ | | et ee oe eee In view of the pessibility ef trouble as a result of agitators being in the city for the Democratic convention, nec~ essary precautions were taken by cancelling ell days off for personnel of this department and assigning our personnel to 12-hour shifts beginning August 24. Additional help was ordered in frow other divisions consisting of 16 men who started 12-hour shifts on August 25. Routine patrels and prséection were maintained until August 28; at which time, in view of the rally held gfi the Band Shell in Grant Park and the subsequent demonstration, sost of our personnel were assigned between Randolph Street and 18th Street. As a result of the demonstrations on this date, it was neces— sary to occupy our radio Channel No. 1 frequency exclusively for use of this department due to the numerous incidents. This re- sulted in a slow down of switching operations as the crews who normally use this channel were required to handle by hand sig- nals and telephane. It was also necessary to block our suburban bridge at l2th Street which leads from the west side at Michigan Avenue of our right of way to the east side at Outer Drive oppo- site the band shell in Grant Park. This was necessary as the bridge was not built to withstand the traffic which would have used this facility, as the City authorities had blocked their bridge just north of ours and were directing all the public a , to cross our tracks at Balboa Drive to control the mob. Due | } to this necessary precautian, this resulted in an inconvenience i to our passengers as we were not able to determine the passengers ' from those just desiring access to the bridge. This precaution was necessary from 2 p.m. until 11 p.m. that night. ‘ were throwing stones and other debris in the Congress Street Yard .4..,5.- Furthermore, some of the demonstrators were climbing on .1.’ . equipment adjacent to the east wall of our Congress Street { necessitating extra precautian on the part of our crew in . Phe area to avoid personal injury, and I had to dispatch person- ~~ nel to evict these people. | At about 6 pom. we received « report that denonstrators ; |