James Elleck, 33-year-old janitor and member of the Socialist Labor Party, killed while at work in the elevator shaft of a downtown Pittsburgh office building.

‘A Comrade Killed’ from the Weekly People. Vol. 11 No. 36. December 7, 1901.

James Elleck of Pittsburg Crushed by Elevator.

Pittsburg, Nov. 30. Another member of the working class has lost his life while engaged in earning his daily bread. This time the loss fell both on the family and friends of the deceased, and on the Socialist Labor Party. The man who was killed was Comrade James Elleck, of Merriam Street, this city.

He was employed as a janitor at 243 Fifth avenue, and this morning at 10:45 was engaged in making repairs below the level of the street. The elevator boy, Thomas McDonough, of No. 1137 Wharton Street, was ordered to keep the elevator above the first floor. He succeeded in doing this for some time, but suddenly the elevator slipped, and he was powerless to prevent it.

The boy screamed in an agony of fright, and shrieked to the janitor to get out of the way. The latter tried to do so, but he was not in time. The elevator fell on him, crushing his life out.

All the time the boy tugged in a vain attempt to make the elevator ascend but it was not until it touched the bottom that he was able to do so.

The shouts of the boy drew other employees to the scene, and they carefully and tenderly removed the remains of the dead man from the pit. This was accomplished only with extreme difficulty owing to the position into which the elevator had crushed the body. It was at last accomplished, and the remains were removed to the morgue.

Comrade James Elleck, who was thirty-three years of age, was a member of the 26th Ward Branch, Socialist Labor Party, and was one of the pioneer workers in the movement in Allegheny County, and one of the most active and faithful members of the Party.

The Executive Committee of the section will call a special meeting and take action upon his death.

In Memory of Comrade Ellick.

At a meeting of Section Allegheny County. of the Socialist Labor Party, held in Pittsburg, Pa., December 1, 1901, the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:

Whereas, We have sustained a heavy loss by the sudden death of our friend and comrade, James Ellick, who, while dangerously employed, was killed through the falling of an unsafe elevator and

Whereas, The loss sustained is still heavier to those who were nearer and dearer to him, and

Whereas, Comrade James Ellick was one of the Pioneers of the Socialist Labor Party of Allegheny County, ever firm in his convictions, and faithful and true to the cause of the Emancipation of the Proletariat and whose life was a standard of emulation for his class, therefore be it

Resolved, That we, the members of Section Allegheny County, of the Socialist Labor Party, in regular session assembled, recognize that under Capitalism, the rights of property are considered paramount to the rights of man. In this struggle for profits the Capitalist Class sacrifices the lives of the Working Class with impunity; therefore, let us take up the work with renewed zeal, that the Socialist Republic may be established, when the rights to life, liberty and happiness will be the first consideration and the struggles of our departed comrade shall not have been in vain and the present murderous system will be hurled into oblivion, and be it further,

Resolved, That we extend our sincere sympathy to the family of our departed comrade, and be it further, Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be sent to the family and our Party Organs and spread upon the minutes of this Section.

Edward Messer, Selig Schulberg, James A. McConnell. Committee.

New York Labor News Company was the publishing house of the Socialist Labor Party and their paper The People. The People was the official paper of the Socialist Labor Party of America (SLP), established in New York City in 1891 as a weekly. The New York SLP, and The People, were dominated Daniel De Leon and his supporters, the dominant ideological leader of the SLP from the 1890s until the time of his death. The People became a daily in 1900. It’s first editor was the French socialist Lucien Sanial who was quickly replaced by De Leon who held the position until his death in 1914. Morris Hillquit and Henry Slobodin, future leaders of the Socialist Party of America were writers before their split from the SLP in 1899. For a while there were two SLPs and two Peoples, requiring a legal case to determine ownership. Eventual the anti-De Leonist produced what would become the New York Call and became the Social Democratic, later Socialist, Party. The De Leonist The People continued publishing until 2008.

PDF of full issue: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/the-people-slp/011207-weeklypeople-v11n36-hillquitberrydebate.pdf