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

BROOKLYN Annex No. was in its slip,
where it had remained after it's last trip,
at 1870 o'clock When the Philadelphia
owl train arrived at 1853 O'Clock some
eighteen of her passengers were placed
on the annex and landed at Cortlandt
street. Others went to Pavonia ferry, and
SO to New York After that trip the an
mex made regular trips to Cortlandt
street until six o'clock. when the regular
ferry boats resumed their trips and be-
gan to run on schedule time. The passen-
gers from the Philadelphia train were
taken through the Office building to the
street. The train shed was filed with a
dense smoke, and many of the passengers
were alarmed. They were reaSsured, how
ever, by the train hands, who told them
that there was no danger.
The fire did not cause any delay in the
regular traffic. Passengers and employees
were put to great inconvenience, that was
all.
The office building was not damaged,
but every precaution was taken in antlcl-
patton of its taking fire. Division Super
intendent Brooks was summoned from MS
home, No. 10 Kensington avenue, ana nur-
ried to the depot, where he gave lnstruc-
tions to the railroad employees. AT the
time he arrived, it looked as if the office
building and train shed were to be des-
troyed as well as the waiting room.
Paymaster Harry King, who lives at
No l6I Grand street; was n, on on ~ nana snrin cary
tendent Brooks office. He had all the
valuable papers and correspondence safely
packed up ready to be removed If the ne
cessity arose.
The morning paper train left the depot
at 4:45 o'clock, q minutes behind time.
The delay was caused by the newspaper
roundabout way. Great credit belongs to
Joseph Mcdonald, the night station mas
ter for the excellent manner in which
was on deck until late this morning, dis
patching trains and experimenting the
laying of temporary platforms
o'clock, when Chief Conway announced
that the fire was under control and that
there was no danger of its breaking out
again to any extent or Of the train shed
nearly fifty men was sent to work carry
ing heavy planks to the train shed. These
were laid across the tracks. MAKING AKIN
from where the waiting room was and
extending about twenty feet. The trains
were run to this platform and the pas
sengers were sent to the street through
the office building. All baggage had to
be carried to the depot from the street,
two men taking each trunk and carrying
sengers going to Jersey City. The pas
sage from the train shed to the upper
decks of the ferryboats was not destroyed
A gang of fifteen men under A. Hoover
was at once set to work to clear away the
debris from it.
Men were summoned from all along the
line to assist in the work. There was no
timber in stock, but that did not make
any difference. Nearby lumber yards
all the planks that were needed were at
the disposal of the workmen, and thou
sands of feet of heavy planking were
carted to the depot on trucks, borne on
! 1Ix@ J<7~ne- - 4r,,<7x~ 3x,fo f1<
train shed and laid in place. 1t took an
incredibly short time to build the tempo
rary platform, and by seven o'clock ev-
erything was running much the same as
if there had never been fire, with the
exception that the train shed was filled
with a dense smoke, which made 1t inn
possible for a person to see more than a
few feet ahead of where he was standing.
The trains were all in their places, but
they were invisible to the patrons and the
train men until they were almost upon
them.
Gatemen and other employees were kept
busy calling out the trains and plotting
passengers through the smoke to the
trains they wished to board. Calling off
the trains was difficult task with smoke
filling the lungs with every breath and
the gatemen nearly choked in their eff
forts to direct people. Alright. BY eight
trainshed and things were in fairly good
shape. Carpenters were kept at work
and started right in to repair all parts OF
aged and not destroyed. AS soon as the
firemen announced that it was safe to do
so galvanizers and painters mounted to
the roof of the train shed at the eastern
end and removed all the glass which had
been broken by the heat of the fire. Be-
fore eleven o'clock several hundred men
, were at work on various parts Of The the
ryboats We're cleared. Electricians re-
paired the damaged electric light and
m do hi ioh afor, cd ha
men. Very few of the firemen left be-
fore u O'Clock, but at this time there was
very little to do and al! but few of the
men left, thoroughly tired out by their
long struggle, some of them on the verge
of exhaustion.
The ruins are still smouldering and ev-
cry once in a while flames will burst out
in unexpected places, but they are quick
ly extinguished, and there is no danger
of the fire breaking out again to any
extent. Now that it is over, speculation
is rife as to how the fire started. 1t is
generally believed that it was caused by
Kettle of boiling fat on the stove in
the kitchen of the restaurant Restau-
rant keepers say that more hotel fires
are caused in thar manner than in any
other way. It is customary in nearly
all restaurants to leave a pot of fat SIM
mering on the stove over. night, SO that
it can be easily rendered out in the
morning for cooking purposes. The fire
is usually left very low so that it is
nearly burned out by morning. 1t is
InOQSnI lQdt q pot OIL TAT Was lett on the
stove last night and that the fire burned
up too brightly and caused it to boil
over and ignite, setting the woodwork
afire.
The stock of the Keystone Restaurant
was insured for $1,000. It is said that the
loss the management will sustain will be
much more than that. The loss to the
Pennsylvania Railroad Company is esti-
mated at nearly $100, 600. The depot was
insured, as is all the Pennsylvania Rail-
road property, by a private system of in
surance-that is, the company insures it
self.
The management of the Keystone res
taurant will at once begin the erection of
temporary quarters near the Twenty
third street ferry slip.
The Consolidated Traction Company
were much embarrassed during the early
morning hours. The cars were run down
York street, between Washington and
Greene, where they were reversed and
sent back through Washington street to
Montgomery, where the LAFAYETTE, New
ark and Bayonne cars passed through
Van Worst to Grand street.
AS soon as 1t was possible to use Ex-
change place. a new difhculty presented
itself. Strings Of hose were stretched
across the tracks This was soon obvi-
ated by an invention of Superintendent
Lahey Of the Construction Department.
This consisted Of an iron track In the
shape of a slightly inclined plane, which
was fastened to the permanent track. In
Ii is economy to proht BY the experience Of
ofherz Thousands have been cured by Hoods