The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1902-08-18
HOUSE MAY FALL
Residents Of Morgan Street
Complain Of Dangerous
State Of No. l68.
REAR WALLS BULGiNG OUT
Neighbors Fear a Sudden
Collapse Condemned by
Fire Chief and Inspector.

! Residents in the vicinity of Morgan
and Henderson streets are alarmed over
the weak condition of house. 1t is at
| No. 16S Morgan street, house owned
| by the estate of the late DR.. O'Callahan.
| At any minute it is liable to collapse
and carry with it parts of the houses adj
| joining and possibly kill many people.
REAR WALL BULGES.
The house is brick structure, three
stories and basement. At the second
story the rear wall is bullying out four
or five feet and there are cracks large
enough to run your arm through The
iron supports. that hold the brick work
together are bent and broken and the
| dry motar between the bricks is crumb-
ling away.
According to Mrs. Fields, who re-
sides at No 10 Morgan street, con-
ditions at No. 16S have been the same
for sixteen months. Mrs. Fields report
ed the matter to the Building Inspector,
Police and Fire Departments two or
three times, but nothing has been done
to remedy matters.
WHAT A NEIGHBOR SAYS.
To reporter for "The News" who
called at Mrs Fields this morning, she
isaid:-
''Why its shameful condition of af-
fairs. Our lives are in danger all the
time. That house." pointing from a
side window of her house, said Mrs.
I Fields, has ben that way for about 1G
months. Why every night we go to bed
we think that there is small chance of
our waking up alive next morning. | re-
[ ported the matter to the Building In
Espector and police about 16 months ago,
Ibut no attention was given to it. On April
k2S saw the Building Inspector again.
|. He came here and when he saw how
Igthings looked he said, L wouldn't live in
Itllis house over night for $500 l asked
him then how he expected rs u live
here and why. didn't they do somSthing
for us. He said: My hands are tied in
the matter. haven't any money with
which to tear the building down and it
is impossible to find the owner
LAWYER CALLAHAN THE OWNER.
The owner, he told me, was Lawyer
Edward O'Callahan, son of the late
Doctor O'Callahan, and it was an inn
possibility to find him. 1t went then to
the police and they said they would see
what they could do. Why didn't they
send man or two around or why don't
they do so now, to keep people away
from the danger? If the building is not
taken down soon somebody is going to
lose his or her life. Every day that
rear wall is coming out further and fur
ther. Why. during the past two months
there has been such a strain on my house
that the walls are cracking terribly.
WALLS ARE CRACKED.
''Look at them, said Mrs. Fields, ta-
king the reporter into the parlor, where
it could be seen that the wall was crack
ed in three or four places and the paper
was washed from the walls, the result
of rain coming in through the cracks.
I'm poor woman with seven children
said Mrs Fields, and I run small store
down stairs. / do nothing but spend the
little money | make to keep this house
in repair, and its all on account of the
condition of the house next door,
Mrs. Fields said she reported the mat
ter to the Fire Department, too.
Chief Conway said this morning that
he received Mrs. Fields complaint and
notified the Building Inspector. He said
also:-
II know the house is in a dangerous
condition, and the Department will do
the best it can to tear the house down,
if ordered to do So What we would
be afraid of, though. is, that in pulling
it down We might carry away walls of
the two houses adjoining"
Mrs Fields said it was about sixteen
months since anybody lived in the house,
teh last family that lived there having
run out in terror when the house began
to give.
Henry I. Nugent who was once agent
for the house. said to-day that he gave
it up as bad proposition. He said he
couldn't get the owner to have it fixed.
The agent now is Nathaniel Smith, on
Newark avenue. He couldn't be seen to-
day, nor could young Mr. O'Callahan.
This house, ''The News reporter
learned this morning, was built about
thirty-ive years ago, but the rear wall
was rebuilt about ten years ago There
are other houses in the same row With
this one in weak condition