The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-03-21

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pennies. ne selus ieu u.ueA ~ ~
"nien was a.s w - 49,, -,
carry 1ueAiiy ne ulaue ~ ., aa+
si'eo l',s 'e,.u - ~ ass ,,se go
- ''a.s ~ safa,, h,,t ,oo,,n OF the
a a,rea,i,, ha,,,na hi,, he fss rcd for
80 fst,, :, he oor,,nan,on ond Il was
,,r,+;, r,,r ~, h,,.,, sta,wa ris that
na ,a.rnad how ha baa ascanea
~ tba s.fa IN tba +icrat off5 % were sew
oral tbonsands Of dollars representing
sundays race;nts In the Pullman Palace
car office safe was over 81 200 in cash 1t
If NOT vet known vrhether the safes with
stood the flames or not. They were both
locked. They went down with the floor
of the waiting room.
The fire alarm was, sent in at 2:S0
o'clock. and in less than three minutes
the engines arrived Assistant Chief
Denmead was on hand to take charge of
the work The first alarm brought En-
gines Nos /, and 8, No. Chemical En-
gine and No. truck.
Chief Conway was notified at his home
on Central avenue and was at the depot
at 2:37 O'Clock. He at once pitched in and
worked as hard as any of his men, des-
and he is forced to wear a mittten to
cover his injured hand Assistant Chief
Denmead waited for his arrival before
sending in third alarm That alarm
was sent in by Chief Conway and sum-
moned Engines Nos. 5, 6, 7. and 10 and
Trucks Nos. 2 and s. The engines had
great difficulty in reaching the hydrants,
owing to the fact that Montgomery street
has been made impossible by contractors
repairing the sewer and by the Hudson
Telephone Company, which is laying its
wires underground along that thorough
fare
The fire tugs arrived from all direc-
tions. and were on hand almost as soon
as the fire engines.
AS soon as the fire broke out all the
ferry boats were hurried out of the slips
and taken into midstream, where they re-
manned until it was seen that the ferry
shed was in danger of destruction. Then
they put into the New York slips. All the
slips were at once filed by the fire tugs,
which aided the local department by
throwing streams of water into the fire
and over the ferry house. 1t is probably
due to their good work that the ferry
There were seven trains of cars in the
depot when the fire broke out. They
were quickly drawn to a place of safety
by the four drill engines which are al
ways kept ready for any emergency in
the yards at the foot of Greene and
Hudson streets.
The Pennsylvania rugs which were on
hand without delay were:-Linden. juan
ita, Palmyra, Trenton, Mercer and Amer
icus. The Erie Railroad sent its big tugs,
the Buffalo and the Nyack. The Bay
onne came from the Central Railroad and
Chapman's wrecking tug Hustler was also
on hand and did good service.
What wind there was when the fire
broke out was from the west and drove
the flames towards the ferry slips.
The firemen were stationed by Chief
Conway in front of the Desbrosses street
ferry slip and played into the kitchen and
waiting room. where the fire was burn
ing ffercest. Some of the tugs put their
hose side by side with that of the local
department. while others stood off from
the shore a little way and played upon
the roof of the ferry house the dry tim
bers of which threatened to ignite at any
instant and not only destroy the ferry
but endanger the lives of the firemen
working below. Streams were also sent
over the roofs and so into the flames
above.
The flames spread from the kitchen and
were intensified as they shot out under
the waiting room, where there are large
open spaces and numerous small store
rooms. Heavy draughts of cold air
sweeping through these passageways
swept the fire upwards and soon flames
were shooting through the floor of the
waiting room in dozen places.
Battalion Chief Hogan and several
companies were stationed up among the
tracks at the train shed entrance at the
west side of the waiting room. Captain
Watts ably assisted him, and his men
did excellent work, risking their lives
dozens of times. Large holes in the floor
ing. and the fear that at any moment
the iron roof might fall, rendered their
work far more dangerous than that of
the men who worked on the ground floor.
The fireboats and the ferryboats were
in charge of Float Master C. B. john
ston, who was summoned as soon as the
fire was discovered, and Night Float Mas
ter George P. Mantle and Fire Chief
Brennan arrived early and directed op-
rations with them. Chief Conway and
his men on the east side of the fire suf-
fered greatly the first two hours from
the intense heat. They fought nobly,
however, as is evidenced by the fact that
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