The Jamesburg record., 1899-09-09
ANOTHER BIG FIRE.
Mrs. Monahan's Laundry De.
stroyed Last Saturday After
noon, About 3 o. Clock.
FIRE COMPANY WANTED.
The Citizens worked with a will and
succeeded i'm Saving Surrounding
Properties.

Again Jamesburg has been visited
by another disastrous fire. About
3.I5 o'clock last Saturday afternoon
an alarm of fire was given, and the
people flocked to the scene of de-
struction, which proved to be Mrs.
Iohn Monahan's Laundry, one of the
main industries of the borough.
The building was two story frame,
65x16o feet, situated in the rear of
the shirt factory.
Last Saturday the operatives were
paid off at noon and given two
weeks vacation, in order to make a
cleaning up and some necessary re-
pairs.
The supposition is that the fire
started in the drying room on the
second floor, but nothing definite is
known. In short time the build
ingwas mass of flame, and as all
efforts to save it were of no avail,
attention was directed to saying other
property The houses occupied by
Mr.. William Gordon and Mr.. Isaac
Farr, were saved through the exertion
of our citizens, who kept the end of
the building, next to the laundry
wet. Men were on the roof and
water was passed up to them in pals
by others from the ground. The
water was procured from neighbor-
ing wells, and Mr.. Harvey Hoffman
was also kept busy in carting it in
barrels from the brook in front of
Simonson's Shops. The fire was
a fearfu1ly hot one, and the build
ing was about an hour in burning
down. John Monahan Jr., Patrick
Mclaughlin and Harry Hutchinson
endeavored to remove from the
burning building valuable damp
ening machine, in the second story,
but the heat became so intense that
they were obliged to abandon it to
its fate. Mr. Mclaughlin also de-
serves great deal of praise for crawl
ing through the smoke and shutting
off the valve which connects the
gasoline tank with the gas machine,
thus probably preventing explosion.
The laundry was an adjunct of the
shirt factory and was owned by
Koblenzer & Dazien.
Mrs. Monahan had recently put
in some new machinery at consid-
erable expense, all of which was
destroyed. Her loss amounts to
about S. 900 with an insurance of
$1,000.
Mrs Monahan desires to express
her thanks to the citizens, for their
endeavors and exertions at the fire.
The Laundry building belonged to
Koblenzer & Dazian, owners of the
shirt factory, but it was run and the
machinery in it was owned by Mrs.
John Monahan. The building at
various times, and in all, has had
spent on it probably $4,000 1t was
steam heated, and the drying rooms
had cost deal of money.
Koblenzer & Dazian will rebuild
the Laundry at once but it is likely to
be erected on the site prepared by
Downs & Finch some years ago for
an extension of their main building.
This site being low ground it was
piled and on these piles the new
building may be erected. The talk
is for one-story structure equal in
floor-space to the old Laundry.
For three years past the laundry
has employed from rs to 100 hands
and may soon employ more.
While the effort is to be made to
erect the new building in less than a
month it may be delayed from the
fact that carpenters are everywhere
busy.
The double house adjoining the
laundry was very little injured,
thanks to the gallant efforts of the
Bucket Brigade, but the property
being insured by the Phoenix ms.
Co., they authorized their agent, Mr..
Magee, to settle the loss at once
which he did to the satisfaction OF all
concerned.