The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1892-10-28

~
of a terrible dawn. Then the crowd
packed close together. There vas a
rush for the corners. and every soul
got pushing and jostling for the best
points of vantage for the scene of
splendid destruction.
At first the police had a hard time
of it. The crowd pushed on with a
grim determination to see all that
might be seen. Ropes were about as
useful as pack threads, and the push
ing that controlled the great Column
bus throng in New York was utterly
Intellectual. 1t looked for a minute
or two as if a resort to the old
reliable locust would be the only
solution of the difficulty.
But the fire itself soon settled all
that. Hot Hot is no name for it.
1t was blistering. 1t drove back the
firemen on the run as the flames
roared and cracked across the streets,
and the pushing souls who had got to
the very fore front rank of the sight
seers suddenly discovered that they
had business somewhere else. There
was nc trouble now to push them
back. They wanted to get back with
all their might; but that was not SO
easy.
TENS OF THOUSANDS,
The crowd was pressing on behind.
Other crowds were coming up behind
them. The forward pressure was
pretty nearly irresistible. Then the
| policemen went along the open pas
sages in the carriageways and took
the crowd in the rear. 1t was a solid
mass of people, so far as the sidewalks
were concerned, as far as Washington
street on M side and Hudson on the
other, and as far north as York street.
The roadways were well filled, too,
SO that arriving engines and trucks
had trouble to get through and for
blocks in every direction the streets
were full of people who had just room
enough to about.
By degrees, the police got those in
the ear to listen to reason. New
squads of reserves arrived every
moment, and the heat, the smoke
and the showers of sparks added
their suggestive persuasions to the
appeals of the officers. 1t is credit
able that nc officer lost his head or
his temper. The crowd was good
humored and reasonable, too. Super
intendent Christopher P. Smith was
on hand and did good service. Chief
Benjamin Murphy was there too
and was a host in himself. Captains
McNulty. Kelly and Farrier took
command of various sections and all
deserve high credit for the way the
crowd was handled.
DRIVEN BACK BLOCKS.
1t was slow work, but bit by bit the
combined forces of the heat and the
police gained the day. 1t was half
an hour before the fire lines were
finally established. They were at
Grand street on the one hand. Hud-
son on the other, and Washington on
the third. The water cut off the
scene of the confiagration on the
south. Even at the distance de-
| scribed, the glow was almost unbear-
able. At times it seemed as if the
faces of the spectators would be
scorched by the tierceness Of the heat.
The smoke rolled across the streets,
too, in choking volumes and the
| sparks often fell among the crowd
and had to be brushed off hats and
coats and trampled out under foot.
1t was lucky there was little wind
stirring.
All this time, of course, the painting
of the engines. the roar of the fur
mace that enwrapped the doomed
buildings, the clang of the bells and
thefshrill orders of the Fire Battalion
commanders dominated the scene.
The screaming whistles of the tugs on
the gap pierced the din every now
and then, and once in a while as some
wall went crashing down, or as the
flames seized some new prey. a
smothered exclamation would burst
from the crowd. But there was no
more fun or flirting or gosslping.
Every tongue was silent and every
face was turned with eager fxedness
upon the battle that was being waged
between the forces of preservation
and destruction.
THE BEACON IN THE SKY.
But the profound excitement OF the
awful scene was not confined to the
blocks Immediately about it. All the
city was aroused, and thousands of
spectators watched the ebb and flow
of the flames as reflected in the sky
from every quarter of the city. Fully
five thousand people made their way
across the various canal bridges, and
pursuing their way down the railroad
tracks, gathered upon the opposite
side of the Gap and watched the fire
from that point. EvergAroof in Lafay-
cite was filled with awe-stricken gaz-
ers. The streets abutting IN Summit
and Baldwin u all along the
Hill as far as Newark avenue were
occupied with knots of people drawn
from their homes by the light in the
sky. Roofs and windows were occu-
pied everywhere that a glimpse of the
distan coniagration could be OBJ
tanned. Away down in Greenville,
the Bay shore and the boat houses
were lined with people, and as far
north as Hoboken tall buildings were
sought by the curious while the New
York piers were crowded and hun
dreds rode to and fro on the ferryboat
for the sake of the weird spectacle.
From the line of Grand street and
Pacific e the fire had a pecu :
liariy impressive aspect. 1t lay di-
rectly behind the Sugar House and
that towering structure was silhou-
cited against the flames with a sort of
ominous emphasis Of biackness while
the swirling masses of steam and
smoke from it's tall chimnevs looked
from the distance like some vague
spirits of fable brooding over the
crimson scene of ruin.
Hundreds Of people got on the
horsecars and rode down town, think
ing half the city was in flames, for the
| olarp lif nm tho Wbo1a CIV and oovo