The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-02-07
FLAMES IN The AIR
Sheds on the WeehaWken
Elevator Destroyed by
Fire This Morning.
THREATENED WIDE DESTRUCTION
Firemen Could Do Nothing to Check
the Destroying Element-A
White Elephant.
THREATENED WIDE DESTRUCTION

The framework on the top of the old El4
dorado elevator at, Weehawken was de-
stroyed by fire this morning, and for near
ly five hours the buildings beneath the
lofty pillars of the structure were threat
ened with destruction. The elevator is
one of the best known land marks on the
Jersey shore of the Hudson, and stands
at height of about 300 feet, almost di-
rectly over the Weehawken entrance to
the Forty-seeond street ferry.
At 4:40 o'clock this morning, a watch
man in the yards of the West Shore Rail-
road discovered flames shooting out of the
car sheds on the extreme entrance of the
structure. In few minutes the fire was
raging, and before the fire department
could be summoned the entire top of the
elevator was in flames. Live embers
dropped in every direction completely
blockadfng the tracks of the North Hud-
son County Railway leading to the ferry
The firemen worked hard but their efforts
to reach the flames were almost useless,
so great was the elevation. The, force
of the engines being insufficient to pump
the water to the top, the firemen were
obliged to drag lines of hose out on the
structure from the hilltop, but even then
the heat of the flames prevented them
from going near enough to render effect
i've service After the fire had been burn
| ing several hours the freboat. New York
came to the assistance of the ffremen
and with her powerful engines sent two
streams up from the. river.
Sparks were carried by the wind and
threatened to fire every building in the
vicinity The elevator structure is made
of iron with the exception of the sheds
on the top. These were entirely destroyed.
Some oil sheds in the vicinity were set
on fire by sparks. but No. 2 engine of
Eoboken, which had been called upon
for assistance, extinguished them before
much damage had occurred. The sheds
on the elevator burned until nine O'Clock.
| A pile of wreckage is all that remains
of the buildings and the ground beneath
the structure is strewn with debris.
The elevator was built by the North
! Hudson County Railway Company to COM
vey pleasure seekers to Eldorado and to
| the Gutenberg race track. At that time
! there was not trolley car running in
I, Hudson County. Visitors to le resorts
| were obliged to walk half mile from the
! Hoboken ferries to the hill top, where
| they were transferred in old horse cars
| and stages to their destination. The trip
was a tiresome one many a New York
| sport was winded when he reached the
| track.
But the poor travelling facilities did not
discourage the sportmen. The traffic be-
| came so great that over 5000 vehicles
! were put into use. The project of building
/ an elevator to carry passengers direct to
| the track was considered a profitable one
| and the scheme was planned by John H.
Bonn, then president of the North Hudson
| County Railway. About seven years ago
the company, in conjunction with Herman
| Walker, John N. Crusius and several
! other capitalists carried the scheme into
| effect The cost of constructing the ele-
| vator was $500, 600. When the structure
! was completed it was considered Sne OF
| the finest pieces of engineering work in
! the country and it was thought that
| Eldorado would Immediately spring into
| prominence as pleasure resort.
| Tho expense in running the immense re-
| sort, however, exceeded the receipts and
/ after about two years the stock holders
| were obliged to abandon it and tha
| elevator ceased operating. 1t has RENAME
| ed idleness ever since.