New-York tribune., 1867-02-16
THE BROADWAY FIRE.
,vvrer,c,r1oN OF TIE FIRE CoMMIssIoNERs-No
UArcHwAYs THE CAUSE OF THE DESTRUCTION

EATCHwAYS THE CAUSE OF TIE DiSI"OCi''N
SCARCITY OF WATER.
Yesterday the Board Of Fire Commissioners met III
order 10 inyescatc the origin of the late fire at 3 B
C,-,terdens store on Broadway and inquire into the
cause of the total destruction Of that building ooo"
ottcr . o'clock n m Mr. C. c. Pncmey took the cDair
and called the meeting TO order. ~,
Coumi,s ouer Able before any witnesses were caico
said that he apprehended the origin Of the IRE "cu c'S
remain mystery. He did not know WhGher MI Mr p ,h No.
CLittrndeu or any of his employees would attchu tne
meeting but nc presumed they would not. Wheh llle @
Marshal Baker made his Official investigation NV nu "a G
IIeseut but that threw no light upon the caus9 "
thc disaster Ii appears from the statement OF MI Ohl
tCuden that t was the duty Of one Of theJhoI picI
cycrvbnc was secure This done at o'clock on inc
evening previous 70 the fire When TINS was GoIr' "
the other That was all that was Know Ci ] IG 9 br uy
the occupants OF the store Ihc lesllmony Win %Mod ~ ,b
fore have 10 taken from those who were present al @
discovery Of the fire and after Any way; lHe hSiouc'
il s case, as in all others Togd og iTIi 10 sS
Peter Hooncy testified That ne was liIaso H"tSn ,h
man. hs beat was from Wakeisl' eaSt siuJ, 70 u' 81
ire: shortly after he heard the explosion as ol gun
coming from the basement Of Chchdens store "t once
thICuCht there eomctlhg WrohE WIN inc t S'sin m
ues and ran down CathaIinelanc to see II he coun see
anything; then he heard u cracking hoisc lu ~" ' H
basement he could not tel; told an officer 0i the SNlh
Prccnc, of IT, then ran 10 Engine 20 NO. No Sl anu stNe
tbc alarm. did Lot know how long before TIE apparatus
arrived at the fire. there were iron shutters lQnu nc
Ilt.ftI =.
dImIwaiter was ON the Catharinc-lane side; ana NOT
think there at each floor was not aWale II
worked by steam or lana power b9I ""s w w IiV fi
there was only one at the top and not on each Ioo
there wac C thCrc once before nul theIS "aS not ~
act.y tie same steam power uSeu' as 'H'I' III" ' "
0ccr Frcen Of the sixth Precinct said; At % o'clock
of c elevator; nj once gave the alarm; No, 81 Engine
came out IN less than minutes the elevator u on the
non slide by which they send goods into the sutccll
No. 81 Engine came M as soon us H' tit'u
but could get 10 work o account oi thc non sLlei
No ! No Engine was the noNt on inc sIouHu, "'1
not sure which; when Lc gave the alarm rap was on
LcOuard-st; did not take longer IMAM stSGhu 10 '
aamn about 20 or 400 feet from the E.f'Ir ii'
before he could get there tbc engine was OUT couu "J
@ ii ,r ,i ~, Iousc from Ccntrc-st.
& ~. w. 90 " man ran INTO the staiiou-IOusc, aud
80 Tho al,r1u. that man was officer FrecH; at 55
fIyn otbcrs did NOT Know what companies they
ali Of the engines had steam up; tie ic appeared TO be
IN the basement frc at all Oh the Inst loor soon az
the frcuon got the DOOR open they tlcd 10 e,el the
building hat was impossible On account oi ne smoke
he should say 10 had been burning four or iNe nouns
they had Enycr kept light m thcr .'ole uy hn, M
engines get 10 WORK quick M ItI.'' Assistant Ett
uccs yas there when Ac Cot there; .' lh tLc GA fc
Dculrtmcut five ur years; WIZ i,o iorrlnap Tor
thcc yors; De- considered the hItLf.' very prompt he
slncit nothing bat heat ana sAokr. Indication of OIL
koandfman Charles Macdonald sad Abont 5@ be go,
ia the st.tion-lIousc and Tic iacn Nt' ul ." bt Gacd
for the O'Clock watch be thea fa io uc nic, ahd s"W
Euruc No 81 with line oi nose attached hlso another
we're cdeayorg break u The iron shutters on broad
way; he called 20 the foreman Of No 81 and told MN ne
might break INTO the Leonard e. door NOE MH Ai,h'
Iu H. aud the foreman pui he EaId through 10 tdt"NI
to draw the holta bat could not on account :" me L'A'i
never saw the ircncu quI'ct at iiic al se''- To DO
working hard ~ they could ..,.
Capt Jouulau dcpo'ed ne got 70 the tre about ..,'
o'clock saw several streams 20 "'k "l'h t'c "e' CON
sdcrcd the engines cot 20 tc i.c itlI'-hdb} fuh Nc
vOu!d mention that LlS men h!d 10 ''.'I.l"l WIN
the ircmci. 81 De- caught any 81 NJ men ,"iiM"t 10
fireman. be- made complaints n-..it lhrli AiG u,'h s
ola froman !n ms opinion u "t, i.losI.n', =" ,
hUd.ur. when JniiraJs c"-At Ii,, h' uI""su, t&."t &
20 to, AID was only through the ,trii4oi, "i 20,
fireman 10 wac saved; bal, iaHtInc and box 81 goods
saved from ChitIeudc'. building they were taken
To tie statiOn-LoUfe.
ut,s o'clock should fay there were four 'ompanca at
work when he got there: tle men worried yGy N,i. ~. ,
Assistant Engineer Perl'y: Was Cmci Euuuecr ln com
Haud; that ulGht slept m c repair SHOPS On ih' itSt
alarm being st!uck tLcI, Wctc ten engines ana thto
trucks arrived 90 the frc. manned ly I' men. on iLr
secoLd alarm beng tiIu'h fiA more 'lIIs n,u 70 '. %
trucks came 10 their assstanCe, manned hl JOS i'
tiing. ai t99 The alarm came ~ g.. Itterr % D.,
about six blocks from where he cpt Ia a., ire hc saw
work; after working some time they succeeded o. getting
open the door there plenty OF water wait Tor TINS
hc considered his arrival that ~ impossible 10 rave
the building tie first alarm Of rc lac had three inst
class sccOudcass and one third class engines al fhc
second alarm hc had IN addition one hIstcl"s ana lNc
secCudcss engines; the trucks are a cascd the same
Every window III Jaffay'- on fire, and they were
tiugIish them. In all his experience ~ frcs he never
one make such RAPID headway dd not think that
any power earth could put IL ont; there enough
tIr S,rC anv irandoors NJ the dfercut floors ON ac-
count the density Of smoke had al the help aud en-
gncs that necessary in fact had some TO spare
No 81 gave ont but 10 Immediately replaced during
MS fireman had never seen Mercer fc; the
the scarcity Of water II doubt owing To waste
that might Dee remcdcd hy wateI-mciers being attached
eycIy house at the EOwCly Thcater IRE there was
also great scarcity Of water; nearly minutes elapsed
before could be obtained all the men worked cheer
fully and well at the Broadway fire
Encs said that he called on Mr. Jaffray
he day Commissioner Able
c promised 10 send note bur, as II had not come he
would ten wha; had taken place Mr Jaffray at first
Thought bis loss would he ahout $5OOO but upon exam
inatOn he found was but tniing ana THIS was owing
entirely 10 the exerti0us Of the nrcuen.
Engineer Paly continued: on all the HIGH ground on
the east side Of the town there Is always scarcity Of
assistant Engineer Sheridan: lie attempted to get
down the basement, for the reason that the stairway
the center Of the building could not De reached with
water !rom Engine No 81, he wanted To get 10 IL
through the basement bu he had 10 beat retreat he
never taw so hot fire, not when petroleum oil
burng this he thinks was caused by the conpactness
assistant Engineer orr: Was the first at the hre on
account OF the iron shutters he raised ladder and
smashed III the windows the second floor; this
useless as heft was corrugated iron shutter on the m
side dd not sce any tap doors Oh ihe different floors Of
Engineer u me volunteer firt Department. Nheh nc
got the fire the flames were running up the elevator ON
the Cathairianc side and In an hours time the whole
John Moore, Foreman Hook and Ladder II was 90
minutes Ia o'clock, when they passed the CITY Hail the
shutters were b0ted ana padlocke that made them so
hard 20 break OPEN there was no deficiency IA the tools
given them by the department; they mtched up Their
horses about 80 seconds; the flames above the
second story when the shutters were broken open.
William Brandon Atsistant-EnHnccr Knew nothing
Of the origin Of the fire. when he got there The sulccar
was in perfect blaze and flames ascending the ella
yat0r on the Catharnclanc sde had been fireman 10
Year,; there were plenty OF men and engines.
George QuaCkeubush, foreman Hook and Ladder co.
& Thinks the heat more intense at that fire
than AZ any other hc had ever been at
Walter Furlong foreman Engine Co Nc J. CoTroboratcs
the statement Of the last witness.
Tic Board then adjourned 10 take further action at
their next regular meeting
THE CDuYUEDN pDDp