New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-04-18
A FINE FERRYBOAT BURNED
NARROW ESCAPE OF HER PASSENGERS.
HrB rNeIxEER's PRESENCE OF MIND-Loss

s7o,o00-CAUsE UNKNOWN.
r.re Yesterday destroyed the fine ferrybost New
Brnsvick, belonging TO the Pennsylvania hAluoa1
Haa the names broken out one minute iater uoie
wouh undoubtedly have been calamity OF dstressus
proportions 10 chronicle, for there were aoous
peope on board when the boat started TO leave sne
a. Jersey City at II III p M on her regular uip =
1.hrossesst She had got scarcely feet from the
bridge when the engineer, George Ackley, rusnou ap
deck crying Firo frei We're all on nre De!ON.
In an instant all was excitement among inc pss'er
rsrs There were nine vehicles on poaru anu e.e
drivers scurriod about in lively fashion . ~.
teams. The engineer, who had Just started @o DSNs
whom sheet Of flames burst UP nom sio 80.
underneath him, had reversed his engines u'1o-o
ing On deok and giving the alarm. inO :. 80
boat from drifting away from the bridge SO 1ns' W~e
an ,.ttee for the station master George ". sahs
hurx and a gentleman TO leap aboard ana nooA u,e
,vhee,ropes Of the bridge to the burning ooSr ihS
was done promptly and the boat was ~s~n D"TA =. =, -
the slip The passengers all quicAv pourou oa0A
under the stationshed except one man. weo i9n ~
at caused by fright He was CATFISH "'N'i' "-N
to the Jersey City Hospi'a1
M.antIma the flames sad spread over the ferr5boa
s r.pidly that the pilot Unsh Day. had his eyebrows
spvned on while escaping over the roof from the LOT
ars house. Six Of the teams nearest the shore
and Of tha host were got safely ashore. Inc osner
three were TOO far up TO be turned about one was
a tvohorse empty truck Doion4ihs w NoAe"'0 ~ 49,
hs nan manufacturers Of this city; another was one
horse empty truck belonging to Fox q kely' dry
yoods msrchants of Broadway and Ninth-st, and the
th,r6 vas tye-borse laden truck, belonging 30 q
Naxnrk merchant The harness was cut on the fve
49, and they were loft free to their choice of death
BIZ drowning or burning
A swarm of tugs belonging to tho Pennsylvania
psrread rushed up. Some threw streams of water
IN tho burning boat while others attached hswsers to
tha craft and towed her out from the slip, that the
DANES might not endanger the ferryh house Fire
boats from the New-York side crossed the river and
helpod nut out the blaze The heaviest strcams were
pIaved on the dock where stood the dumb bruteS.
1vo OF the horses went overheard and were rescued
nv turs. The other three were wrapped In wet
BLANKETS that protected them from the heat They
ssssed through the fiery ordeal in safety the piece
Of deck which was saved from the flames When the
disnant,ed wreck most of 1t burned 10 the waters
edge, was sfterward towed to Harsimus Cove, the
animals were taken of unharmed.
The Now Brunswick was valued at $4,000 she
was built in Brooklyn In 1865 and rebuilt In 1852,
with now Joiner work, steam steering gear, ana hre
and electric light apparatus She was 2o6 feet long,
81 Ia fest beam and 10 feet depth Of hold She was
insured The origin OF the fire mystery, but was
yariously attributed 10 the electric light plant or
spontaneous combustion.
While the New Brunswick was stin blazing In
the river another alarm OF fire was sent out.
blaze having been discovered on the outer end OF
the Netherlands steamship pier adjoining the ferry
slips The Fire Department promptly responded,
but its services were not needed, as the NewJersey
Central tug Red Ash had exunguished tho flames.
Il Is supposed that spark from the ferryboat feD
among some rubbish the pier.