Pleasantville weekly press. (Pleasantville, N.J.) 1890-1911, 1898-10-12
4 LETTER FROM THE
CITY By THE SEA.
The Destructive Fire on the
beach front.
HEROIC Work OF THE Fire DEPARTMENT
THE POLITICAL SITUATION, THE CoNvEN-
TIONs AND CANDIDATES.
HEROIC Work OF THE FIRE DEpARTAEN

A destructive fire has cut wide swath
along our beach front, burned up a
couple hundred thousand dollars, or
more, of valuable property in an hour
or two, and left a big blackened waste
of ashes and Debris. That muchis visi-
BILE to the naked eye; but what plans
have been changed, what new ones are
contemplated, and what cOnsciences are
burdened with fear Is at present un-
known. Upon one point all can agree
and that is the Fire Department of At
lantic City has again proved its eficien-
cheney, it's bravery and "nerve" in fight
ing fire. The flames had everything
needed to feed upon-a vast mass of
wooden material cOmpactly DIVIDED
together in the very thickest part of the
lower edge of the city, and ready at
moments notice to leap into acres OF
roaring fire. How quickly it spread we
all know who were present and watch
ing it. That it was confined between
two avenues is due to hard work and an
almost dead calm. Suppose the wind
had been blowing twenty or thirty
miles an hour from the northeast or
from the South ! Atlantic City would
have had pathway burned through it
half mile wide.
There are some lessons that this big
fire should teach us, before we have
another that may be ten times as de-
structive and costly. We need more
engines, more water mains, more connec-
tione, and more firemen-not better ones
but more of them. The city is built al
most wholly of wood and that makes
tho do, Tor. oil ho
work more arduous when fire breaks
out. What is the cost of buying another
engine or two compared to the loss in
CURED by fire that once gets beyond
control amid such inAammable material?
A million or two dollars would be de-
stroyed in an hour. 1t is a matter for
serious consideration, and Council should
see that fire protection keeps pace with
the growth of the material for fire to
feed upon.
But after all the great fire is not an
unmixed calamity. Better, handsomer,
stronger and more costly buildings will
replace those SO suddenly destroyed,
and in short time there will be no
visible reminder of Saturdays devasta-
ton. There will also be great amount
of labor needed to rebuild the structures
burned, and much building material re-
uuired for the erection of them. All this
means plenty of days work for several
hundred men, during the fall and winter,
SO that, after all, the calamity to some
will be blessing to others.
The political situation is growing
more interesting since the Conventions
have finished their work and placed the
candidates in the field. The Democrats
are not so hopeful as they were awhile ago
about carrying the state, and have
not vet heard OF any faithful brother in
the Democratic fold who wants to bet
that his candidate, Crane, will be elect
ed governor. 1t is generally conceded, |
believe that he is not q very brainy or
brilliant man, and not at all in the same
class with Foster Voorhees,. l must con-
fess that I never heard of him until a
week before election, and nearly every
one met on the street the night after
the Convention said "Who's Crane?"
Therefore, Judge, he has not that mark
ed ability, or personal popularity, that
has made any considerable impress upon
the people of the state. l hear that he
is pleasant and agreeable gentleman,
but hardly up to the standard of the
men who have filed the Governors
chair of New Jersey. / don't suppose,
however, that fact weighed very much
with the man who ordered Mr.. Cranes
nomination. A disgruntled delegate to
the State Convention told me, the next
day, that things were not altogether
lovely at Trenton, that the silver and
Bryan men were howled down by un-
fair methods, and the rulings of the
Chairman, and that scores of delegates
went home with determination to re-
buke such methods by remaining away
from the polls. / hear that several dele
gates from this city were in a similar
frame of mind, and their rufflsd feathers
were not smoothed down any when
they learned that our beloved fellow
citizen, "Sam." Perry, had been selected
as the one man from Atlantic County to
formally notify Mr.. Crane of his nomina-
ton. The belief among Democrats is
very general that Samuel, voted straight
for Mckinley, or for that little ''gold
bug side-show run by Palmer and
Buckner. In either case the effect was
the same, and many Of our enthusiastic
Bryan men don't take kindly to the
attempt to ressurrect the corpse end put
it on horseback at the head of the pro-
cession. The silver men Jared better at
the Democratic Congressional COnven-
vention, and were allowed to mention"
the Chicago platform favorably, and
nominate our old war-horse John F.
Hallfor Congress. Mr.. Hall deserves bet
ter fate tnan to be struck out on the
first inning, but he probably knows as
well as any one that he is "up against
it" and will make The best of it.
At the County Convention hear that
the ''gold bug" influence was in the
ascendant, and that the silver leaders
were remorselessly sturned down." The
ticket nominated contains the names
Of men who probably do not expect to
win with the possible exception OF
Somers Doughty. He has more than q
fighting chance on account of the fool
politics that dictated the renomina-
ton of Assemblyman Ashley at the Re
publican Convention, and good many
people expect to see him elected. There
are hundreds of republican voters, in
this city, who will not vote for Ashley
under any circumstances. Whether they
will vote for Doughty remains to be
seen. Some will, no doubt, but probably
the most of them will not vote at all.
have, within q day or two, talked
with several of our level-headed repub-
lican workers and their opinion was
unanimous that Ashley cannot be
elected. knozO he cannot if the diaffec-
ton in the County is anywhere near in
proportion to what it is here.