Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-26
/ ysRRrRoUsR IN FLAMES,
Dsss,rsss rsse IN West Fssv. seesss svss''
New York TimsAi

2ou4tfoee Ftse 1n West FeSty-Sees"e
New York TimsAi
A cutting northwest wind wss sweep
ipe. down the North river yesterday
nornipg Is the passengers Of, the ely
a. n. trains Of the West SHORE ana
New York, Ontario and Western rail-
rosds were landed 1t the ferry-station
e the foot Of Forty-second street. A
moment later tie building was filed
Win smoke. An alarm Of FIRE was given
ana was quickly responded to by the
Gre department. Smoke alone was visi-
bic, and the engines pressed into the
fsrry.house and hailed the ferry-boat
Oswegc, which Was just leaving the slip,
to take thu engines on beard, but II
steamed out into the river.
Meanwhile the engines had got 70
work and the fire patrol was hasuiy
carrying the baggage outside the struc,
ture, when tho fire, which had started
in the boiler.room ut the northwest
corner, and had crept along under the
floor and between the iron-sheathed
walls. burst out in q circle OF coniiagra-
lion and almost cut of the men inside.
Bv = desperate effort Foreman Cosgrove
succeeded In getting Engine No. IS out,
and three firemen had to jump from the
windows. John MCGOWAN, Of Truck
No. 4, was lsft behind. He had climbed
onto the roof, and in an instant ne was
surrounded by fame famed to fur
mace blast by the fierce wind.
"Jump into the river" shouted his
friends. lie was seen TO hesitate as ne
answered, IL can't SWIM" and then,
As the heat grew more intense, ne
Jumped to the ground and broke his
leg lust above the ankle. A moment
more and he would have been enveloped
by the flames.
The situation became more serious.
The wind bad caught up the flames, and
drove Q sheet of flame up Forty-second
street. All the baggage which had been
piled outside of the ferry.house, with
the exception of few pieces, was
quickly consumed. A sand-car and q
new street.car Of the Forty-second-
Street road were caught by the flames
and partially destroyed. To make mat.
tiers worse large tank Of naphtha used
in the production of gas by the Metro
politan Gas Company in the adjoining
slip was opened for safety when the
cosl-trestle was attacked by the fire,
and the escaping fluid was seized by
the greedy flames, and clouds Of thick,
yellowish smoke obscured the scene OF
the fire from the iiremen.
II was impossible for q man to see
his band before his face. The heat was
intense, and the windows of the car
stables of the Forty-second-Street road
began to crack. Had the wind been
from the southwest nothing could have
prevented q terrible confagrstion ex-
tending to Eleventh avenue. AS it was,
the firemen could not get near enough
TO the fire to be effective. Just then
the fire.boat William F. Hsvemeyer
and the police-boat Patrol appeared on
the scene. The Patrol succeeded in
getting six powerful streams in action,
four OF which were especially effective.
The Havemeyer played two streams,
and succeeded in protecting the proper
~ OF the gas company.
With these reinforcements the hire
was quickly hemmed in, and at $40 1t
was reported under control. A curious
spectacle was then presented. The en-
gines were coated with ice and were
dazzingly brilliant in the sun the street
car tracks were overlaid with solid
floor of ice. Begrimed fremen bur
ried around with mustaches bristling
into long icicles, and seemed like fends
of darkness as they emerged from the
Tuning naphtha smoke that had settled
over the ruins like cloudy mist. The
wind, however, allowed them no rest,
and streams of water had to be contin-
ually poured on the ever.renewing fire
until four o'clock in the afternoon.
The ferries mean while landed their
passengers at the Forty-third-street
dock, and will continue to do so until
the structure is rebuilt. The burned
building was owned by the Ontario and
Western Terminal Company, and the
total loss is estimated at 100000. 1t
is said to be fully insured, but it was
impossible to learn yesterday among
what companies the insurance was dis
tributed.