The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-08-12


wrecked by water.
C. H. McAlpin & Co., dealers in tele-
graph instruments, who occupied two
rooms on the second floor. We're burned
out and lost instruments that cannot be
replaced.
Patrick McDonough had number of
patent desk files lost in the flames that
| consumed Garrick & Ewalds office.
Traphagen & Beekmans offices on the
second floor were SCARED by the flames
and flooded with water.
Lawyer Ezra K. Seguine's offices were
badly burned and wrecked by water. He
estimates his loss at $500. His valuable
library was burned. He had a life-sized
oil portrait of Washington, which he in
tended to present to the Free Public Ii
brary. He left it in one of the offices
when he left the building Saturday after
noon. He thought the picture had been
burned, but found that it had been re-
moved by a clerk to the Washington
street end of the building. He presented
it to President Gorden, of the Library
trustees, this morning.
All the occupants of the ground floor on
the western half of the building had their
stocks badly damaged by water The
Wisner piano store is flooded, as is Schel-
lenberger's big harness store. Callahan,
the halter, suffered somewhat, as did the
cafe at the eastern end of the building.
The Western Union Telegraph Company
was put out of business for a time. 1t
established an office in the Commercial
Trust Company's building.
All the electrical clocks in the city which
w ha
stopped by the burning of the wires. Many
telephone connections were destroyed and
more or less trouble was experienced in
making some connections today.
The Traction Company had its wrecking
machine at work as soon as the fire was
out. repairing its damaged wires, and
linemen were busy all over the city to-
day getting damaged wires in condition.
The fire was first discovered by Timothy
Kilroy, telegraph messenger boy. en-
ployed in the Western Union telegraph
office. He first discovered smoke issuing
from near the top of the roof. He ran
to Hughess undertaking establishment
and had Mr.. Hughes send in an alarm
by telephone.
Then he ran to the nearest fire box and
pulled it.
But Policeman Britton had sent in an
alarm just before from a box down the
street. Chief Conway appeared on the
scene in response to the second alarm ard
Immediately sent out third alarm
The firemen were greatly hampered by
the trolley wires. Aerial trucks Nos.
and could not at first raise their lad
ders. The trolley people refused to cut
their wires until President Hennessy and
Commissioner Nibiett sent word to cut
them. Some trolley workmen appeared
later on the scene and cut away the wires.
A hose was taken to an adjoining roof
up a fifty foot ladder with a thirty foot
extension. Hose was also carried through
Lannon's saloon and through Railways in
Plymouth street tenement houses.
Nearly a dozen streams were ployins
upon the fire and doing effective work. A
great crowd of people had gathered at
the first alarm, and they blocked Mont
gomery and Washington streets. The po-
lice under Acting Captain Haag and a
squad of police drew ropes and held the
crowds back.
The trolley cars were also stalled in
York street from Washington street up
to beyond Van Worst Park.
The height of the building enabled peo-
pie to see the fire from the Hill top and
far out on the river and bay. The ames
f1readily licked up the thin interior wood
work and leaped skyward at times from
thirty to fifty feet above the consumed
roof.
The walls formed a veritabie furnace
and the firemen fought with great diff
Guilty. Many of the occupants of the
I,,fIl hod OH tod Ep
and made frantic efforts to save some of
their property.
City Attorney Henry Puster rushed into
the office of Meyer & Klein and saved
some very valuable insurance maps that
could not be replaced.
The following is a list of tenants taken
from the directory of the office building.
The list is very near correct, though
few names are found on the main direct
ory on the ground floor who it is known
recently removed from the building. These
have been eliminated. Nearly every office
was occupied and even those in the burn
ed wing not totally destroyed were dam
aged by fire and water to the extent of
from one hundred to two hundred doEors.
The directories on the fourth and fifth
floors were burned away. The list Isl
Second fiood-W. B. AFFORD, H. NJ. T.
Beekmann, c. H. Benson, Daniel P.
Byrnes Cuille-Shemer Company, Frank
Davis, John A. DENIM, James Dodd,
Richard Doherty, B. Hornung, Lehigh
Valley Coal Co., E. c. Mackenzie, Meyer
and Klein, Michigan Mutual Life Insur-
ance Co., c. H. ONeill & Co., VIM. Par
sons, James E. Pyle, Norman L. Rowe,
Ezra K. Seguine, William B. Smith and
Co.. Standard Bearer Publishing Co.,
Standard Oil Co., Telephone Developer
Co., Traphagen and Beekmann. United
Investment Company, L. Wertheim and
Co.
Third Floor-Bankers' Life Insurance
Co.. Walter X. Birdsall Fagen & Muir
phy. Graphite Lublicating Co., Frank W.
Hastings, John C. Inwright, Jr, Eidred
johnson, Knights and Andres of st. Paul,
William A. Lewis, Louise S. Cosey, Nc
Sherry & Rees, John c. Inwright.
Fourth fioor-Peter II. James, john c..
Keller, Conrad H. Ward & Co., Maurice
Marks, I. C. McGill, A. c. Mead, Monthly
Review Publishing Co., Munsey- Coles
| Electric Railway Equipment Co., H. L..
| Stout. John ]. Sullivan, Joseph Anderson,
George H Aspinwall, G. H. Atkinson &
| CO., H. F. Atkinson, Walker Darlington,
| City Trust Safe Deposit and Surety Co.
| of Philadelphia, Eugene Dewitt, Charles
| H. Egan Myron C. Ernst, Henry Ewald