Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 7 (1914): Tragedy

On August 19th, The New York Dramatic Mirror reported:

ROSE GARDENS READY SOON: The opening of the new Broadway Rose Gardens awaits only the arrangement of the kitchen and festooning the rose decorations which will give the garden its name. Manager George F. Kerr last week succeeded in having the customs authorities allow the entry of the two stuffed sharks which will be used in advertising the pictures of undersea life. The sharks are the ones whose killing is shown in the pictures and have been reposing on the pier for weeks while the customs men sought a precedent by which they might place the duty. They could not be classified as "stuffed animals," and all the specimens of stuffed sharks shown in American museums were taken in American waters. Finally they were brought in as "non-enumerated manufactured articles" at a 15% duty. The problem now is to determine their value.

Among other news, Note it was reported that Mae Tinee, a film reporter for The Chicago Tribune, had visited the Thanhouser studio recently. In the meantime, in The Moving Picture World reviewers of Thanhouser films found the plots to be increasingly unsatisfactory.

On Friday, August 21st, Charles J. Hite had a busy day in New York City. The Broadway Rose Gardens, seriously behind its scheduled opening date, occupied much of his attention in the afternoon, after which he had dinner with a broker. It was well into the evening when he climbed into his new touring car and headed northward to Westchester County, where he was to host a party involving another of his business investments, Clysmic Waters. Thanhouser actors and actresses were on hand, eagerly awaiting his arrival so that festivities could begin. As the hour grew late his employees began to worry. An article in The New York Dramatic Mirror Note later told what happened:

CHARLES HITE DEAD: Fatally injured when his auto became unmanageable and plunged 50 feet from the Central Bridge in Harlem to the street below, Charles J. Hite died in the Harlem Hospital last Saturday. Mr. Hite, who was only 38 years old, was the first vice-president and treasurer of the Mutual Company, president of the Thanhouser Corporation, and a director and stockholder of many of the largest picture concerns in the country. He was universally liked, and the funeral services in New Rochelle yesterday were attended by the prominent factors of the motion picture world. A delegation from the Screen Club, of which Mr. Hite was a life member, was also on hand. The Reverend Charles F. Canedy, of the New Rochelle Episcopal Church, officiated. Note

Accounts of the accident which cost the picture art the life of Charles J. Hite vary. The Thanhouser head was alone in his powerful roadster Note Friday evening and was on his way from the city to his New Rochelle home. Some witnesses state that the car became unmanageable as it reached the Central Bridge, while many eyewitnesses assert that Mr. Hite swerved around in the path of danger to avoid running down a woman who had stopped from a car directly in front of the automobile. The machine went up on the sidewalk and through the iron railing of the bridge, turning turtle as it fell and pinning Mr. Hite beneath it. That he was not instantly crushed was due to fact that the car had crashed into the fence surrounding the Manhattan Casino, and one end was tilted up.

When help reached the spot Mr. Hite was still conscious, not relapsing into unconsciousness until, after a long struggle, the car was lifted and he was placed in an ambulance. At the Harlem Hospital his injuries were found to include fracture of the jaw, fracture of the skull, broken ribs, and rupture of the femoral artery. Though surgeons worked ceaselessly, little hope was held out for his recovery. Death came Saturday afternoon. Mr. Hite is survived by his widow and two children, Marjorie, aged 4, and Muriel, one year old. Mabel Hite, a sister, prominent on the musical comedy stage and wife of Mike Donlin, died recently.... Note

Mr. Hite's connection with the motion picture industry was so diverse, numerous and remunerative that he was rated many times a millionaire. Practically every dollar of his fortune was made in the last seven years. Note

Reel Life Note told of the accident and its aftermath:

The tragic death of Charles J. Hite...leaves a gap in the ranks of the leaders of the industry, which time alone can fill. Among his business confreres and competitors perhaps none had done more than he to place the manufacture of motion pictures upon its present high plane. From the time he entered the motion picture business in 1906 until the present he had always stood for all that is best in the development of the industry; and his passing from the scene of his varied activities brings a pang of sincere regret not alone to all those associated with him, who will miss his keen business foresight and unerring judgment and most of all his kindly personality, but to many who knew him only through the great organization which bore the imprint of his enterprise and commercial genius.

Mr. Hite's death, coming as it does on the eve of an important reorganization of the Thanhouser Film Corporation, by which its capital stock is increased from $400,000 to $1,000,000, while it will doubtless necessitate some change of detail, it is stated will in no way interfere with the carefully matured and comprehensive plans which Mr. Hite had made for the development of the company in which he was so largely interested and which will make it one of the most important motion picture plants in New York State.

At the offices of the Mutual Film Corporation, pending a meeting of the board of directors, the following statement concerning the death of Charles J. Hite, vice-president of the company, was made: "The officers of this company are so appalled and grieved by the death of their associate, Charles J. Hite, that it is impossible to make a suitable statement of their grief at the present moment. As was to be expected of a man of Mr. Hite's ability and character, his business affairs have been left in perfect order. At the forthcoming meeting of the board of directors a full expression will be made."

At an informal meeting of the board of directors of the Thanhouser Film Corporation in New Rochelle on last Monday, it was decided to make no official statement until the latter part of this week, the members of the board feeling too deeply shocked to give utterance to anything but personal expressions of grief at the tragedy which had taken from their midst the guiding spirit of their councils. Miss Jessie B. Bishop, secretary of the Thanhouser Corporation, stated that a formal statement of the board's future plans would be forthcoming as soon as the members, in consistence with proper decorum, could meet to issue one.

On Tuesday, the day of the funeral, the entire Thanhouser plant was closed. Simple but affecting services were held at the Hite home in Meadow Lane, New Rochelle, which were attended by every employee of the Thanhouser company and by many friends of Mr. Hite and notables of the motion picture world. Later Mr. Hite's remains were placed in a vault, where they will rest until it is decided where the interment will finally be made.

The fatal accident which led to the death of Mr. Hite occurred at the upper end of the viaduct, which is an extension of Riverside Drive, New York City, on the evening of Friday, August 21. Mr. Hite had dined in the city with some friends associated with him in the reorganization of the Thanhouser Film Corporation and shortly before nine o'clock set out alone for his home in Meadow Lane, New Rochelle. Earlier in the evening it had rained, and it is supposed that Mr. Hite, fearing another shower, made all the haste possible. As he reached 155th Street his car, a new one with which he was not yet thoroughly familiar, skidded and crashed through the iron railing of the viaduct, dropping 50 feet to the ground below and pinning Mr. Hite beneath it. Although frightfully injured, he retained consciousness long enough to tell those who hurried to his aid, his name and address and ask them to notify Mrs. Hite. He was hurried to Harlem Hospital, but his injuries were such that from the first the surgeons held out no hope. The end came at four o'clock the following morning.

That something went wrong at a critical time with the brakes of Mr. Hite's machine, the testimony of eyewitnesses seems to infer, and that he made a desperate effort to save himself there is no doubt. The point at which the accident occurred was about 60 feet from the Macomb's Dam Road, over which Mr. Hite intended to cross the bridge to the Bronx and thence go to his home in New Rochelle. As he approached the Macomb's Dam Road it is believed he started to shift his steering gear to the left, but instead the car skidded and rammed the viaduct railing on the right, or south side, carrying away a section about eight feet in length. The machine overturned as it fell, crushing Mr. Hite beneath it. Mr. Hite leaves a widow and two small children, Marjorie, aged five and Muriel, aged two....

The statement that "his business affairs have been left in perfect order" to the contrary, Hite had made no plans for a successor, and the studio was plunged into turmoil and confusion. Indeed, he had left no will, and his personal affairs were in no better order. Lloyd F. Lonergan, who was in Chicago and on his way to Yellowstone Park, was contacted, and he returned to New Rochelle to take command in the interim. Note Morris Foster, Mignon Anderson, and the rest of the contingent continued onward, not to return to New Rochelle until early September. The Union Pacific Railroad provided a special car for the Thanhouserites, in view of the favorable impact the forthcoming films might have on tourism to the area. Note Carl Louis Gregory remained in Yellowstone until the middle of the month, to take pictures of scenery.