New-York tribune., 1902-02-10

and sides OF corrugated iron. The flames start
ed near the eastern end of the pier. They were
( discovered about 6;}O o'clock in the morning
by John Tappan. Of the company's en-
poyes. who gave the alarm. The company
had established what il regarded as en- excellent
system to check fire, every pier and shed be
ing provided with an automatic extinguisher.
consisting of a series Of three-inch pipes, the
seals of which the heat would melt. Close to
the shore end of the pier is the company's pump
| ing station. with pumps. having a capacity OF
600 gallons minute
The companys employees at once attacked
the flames. The yellow pine burned hercely
and the heat and smoke forced them TO retreat
Several minutes elapsed before the fire ap
paratus Of Jersey city arrived. The companies
from the lower section of the city had to make
a long detour westward 10 reach the pier By
the time they got to it the flames had enveloped
almost the entire structure. The smoke
dense that they could not go far into the shed
with their lines The railway company's tugs
Ithaca, Robert II. Sayre. Mercedes. SlatinGton
and Mamie Lambert, all furnished with power
full pumps for fire purposes, fought the flames
from the gap and were reinforced by the New
Yorker, of the Fire Department of this city.
Streams of water poured into every gap
in the structure. but the fire could not be
rested. The fire engines pumped into eight lines
Of hose, and five lines were connected with the
railway company's big pump. The wate- fell
on the -four, which shielded the flames. Al
short intervals the weight of the water soaked
-four caused the charred and blazing flooring to
collapse. and the flour and timbers sank into
the stream.
The fire not only destroyed the pier and shed,
but reached the bulkhead. and did considerable
damage there. The four steam barges were
moored to the pier. The flames reached them,
mt ~ he
fire tugs and the fire put out before much dam
age vas done. The steam canalboat Dale was
lying at the bulkhead. Captain Joseph Pinson,
the owner and his wife aboard. They had
TO abandon the boat without saving any Of their
effects When the Dale took fire she began 20
drift down the gap. The fremen. aided by tugs,
got a hawser about her hull, and warped her
close to the shore. where she was Scuttled and
sunk. The Dale badly burned that she
cannot he rebuilt She was insured FOR SZ,oOO
The intense heat and shower of sparks set fire
10 the drydOCk of George Rickard * Son. on the
bulkhead east of the blazing pier, and the
schooner Meteor. owned by Joseph Bauer, which
was lying the drydOck. The fire tugs put out
the flames before the dock or schooner was
seriously damaged The pumping station or the
railway company caught fire several times. but
the building was saved The long frame stable
of the United States Express Company. IN
which there were one hundred horses, was in
imminent danger when the fire began The
horses were taken out. and number Of the
press company's employees were formed into a
brigade of fire fighters and kept streams play
ing on the building. and averted it's destruction.
An official of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Com
pany fixed the loss at 100000 the pier and
shed and S1J0Oo0 on the dock. He did not
know to whom the -four was consigned.