The Washington times., 1902-03-19
HOB0KEN Is AGAIN
VISITED BY FIERCE
RIVER FRONT FIRE

(Coutiuued from First Pase)
seed-oil cake On the south side was the
steamship British Queen. which was load
ing for Antwerp. All of her six matches
were open, and there were $50 stevedores
at work in the ship and 1G0 longshoremen
busy on the pier. The blaze seemed TO
have sprung from stack OF cotton bales
which was piled on the pier. The fire
flashed through the cotton so quickly that
the men working on the river end of the
pier had no time to get to the shore.
Ran for Safety.
Some of the men took refuge in the OF!
lighters on the north side of the pier;
Others made for the steamship, apparent
ly with the notion that the ship could
easily take them out to safety. Within a
few minutes, however. the British Queen
herself was ablaze from stem to stern.
In the meantime the fire had worked
again to the north side of the Phoenix
Line pier, where the oil barges were, and
they quickly caught fire Among those
barges was the New York Central barge
Towanda, on which, besides the captain
and crew. were the captains wife and
daughter.
Jumped Into River.
AS soon as he saw the way the oil
barges On each side of him were blazing
he threw his wife and child overheard and
jumped after them. They were all
picked up.
Captain Patterson, of the British
| Queen, was not on his ship. He was very
| i'll when his ship came in, and was taken
to hospital soon as possible after
| his arrival. Quartermaster Peters, who
was in charge of the British Queen to-
| night, said he was asleep in his room
when the fremen came aboard and woke
| him.
Thinks Two Men Perished
He ran forward to the forecastle where
there were two men asleep inside, but
| before he could arouse them. he said the
flames drove him back, and he was sure
these two men must have perished. There
were thirty-two other men in the crew,
| none of whom was reported missing.
All the property which was endangered
by the fire was owned by the Hobokcn
Land and H. 1royement Company, and by
that company leased to the occupants Of
the various piers The damage done by
the fire was roughly estimated at $1,000,
900.
Want an Investigation.
The officers OF the Hoboken fire depart
ment said that they were satisfied that
the fire had not started by spontaneous
l.l
said that the flames were first seen com
ing from wicker hampers piled near the
cotton bales, and that they intended to
find out what was in those hampers.
Flames at Governors Island.
The two burning lighters which made
such fuss along the North River front
raised almost as much trouble at Gov
erno,s Island. whittier they had drifted
az 1890 O'Clock in the morning. The
lighters bumped up together against the
new pier that has been constructed east
of Castle william, and set it aGre in a
jiffy. The entire soldier population OF the
island had been awakened by the pros
pective danger and the island fire dopart
ment was on hand.
The sparks from the burning boats
and the pier few in showers over the
! officers quarters. and part OF the fire de
partment was kept busy for time wet
ting down those houses
Had Blaze Under Control
A considerable part of the pier was
burned away at l O'Clock but at tfiat time
the lighters had burned almost to the
| water and the soldier fremen had the
blaze under control
| pumped water OIL the two barques which
| had lodged against the Governors Island
pier They reported at . o'clock that
! there was no further danger.