Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1902-03-20

| u ~ EFItNi OhGt ASO III CCI an w iSFNCi
Baskets on Pier, Does Much Damage
Before II Is Subdued-Steamer Brit.
ish Queen Burned.
New York. March ia swift and
in many details a picturesque fire last
night destroyed the pier of the PheniX
steamship line on the Hoboken, N. j.,
river front, with many bales of cotton
and hay; burned that company's yes.
sell the British Queen, to a hulk; con,
sumed several lighters and their car
/ goes damaged a dock belonging to the
Barber steamship line and for a time
threatened the property of the Hol
Campbell stores.
The loss, according to estimates
will approximate $1,O0O,OOO
The estimated losses in detail are:
Piers, 100000
British Queen, 100000
Cotton and lighters, $25O.O00.
oCFGu IlSAlClS dl T more Vi less udI1.
aged.
The scene Of the fire was Seventh
and River streets, HObolen. Together
they are the docks and basins of the
| PheniX line and the Barber line.
The Phenix line pier was a wooden
structure 800 feet long with a frame
shed. On this were many bales of
hay and cotton. which burned rapidly
| How the fire started Is not known.
With the barest warning the flames
| burst out quickly, licking up the pier
and cotton upon it and driving the
steVedores and sailors to the street,
| for the vessel was being unlOaded
| having arrived here Friday from An
| tWerp. The fire flared up from the
| steamer with as great suddenness as
| upon the pier and since the vessel was
made fast to the pier and could not
| be backed out, lighters and other wa.
ter craft which lay alongside of her,
some of them holding such infamma-
BILE stuff as oil cake, quickly caught
fire, too
No estimate could be made today
| of the loss of life in the fire, and it
was thought the number Of dead
| would never be known. Patrick Hus.
sey, d longshoreman, who was burn
| ed while trying to escape from the
| Phoenix pier. died today from the eff
| fects of injuries. Chief Engineer
| Scott. of the steamer British Queen,
| is believed to have lost his life on
| that vessel. Third Engineer Vereck,
| of the same vessel, says that Scott,
who was suffering from rheumatism,
| went to his cabin to lie down a short
| time before the fire started. Vereck
was in the engine room when the
alarm was given. He tried to reach
the engineers quarters to awaken
| Scott, but was headed off by the
| flames and had to leave the chief en-
| gineer to his fate. Dr. Helfer, the
| health officer of HObOken, says that all
| the men of the British Queen with the
exception of Scott have been account
| ed for.
| Besides Hussey, four lOngshOremen
were taken to ST. Mary's hospital and
are ROW under treatment there. All
were more or less burned. Some of
| the longshoremen who saved them
| selves by swimming ashore say they
saw 90 or 80 men leap into the river
| Although. some of those who jump
| ed into the water were picked up by
| tugs, it is feared that a number sank
before they could be reached by the
rescuers. Many of the longshoremen
are single men and have no relatives
who could report them in the event
of their being missing or having per
| ished in the fire. The police say that
no one except Engineer Scott had been
reported to them as missing.
The British Queen has been beached
off Ccmmunipaw, in the upper bay and
| search will be made as soon as posi-
BILE for the body of the missing engi-
neer. Hussey, the longshoreman who
| died today, was AZ years old. He
leaves a large family. Superintend-
ent Mason, of the Phenix line, said it
would be impossible to definitely state
the loss by the fire in less than two
| weeks He was asked if he thought
| S1,ZOU,OOO NOuI1 COFCI II, anu IC lC-
piled that he did not think it would.
The British Queen was worth $500, 900
and there was a great quantity of val
uaOle merchandise on that vessel on
the pier and on lighters which were
destroyed.
This included cotton, hides, oils,
grains and a quantity of harvest ma
lSchinery. There was a rumor today
that the fire was of incendiary origin,
but Mr.. Mason said he was positive
there was no truth in it. He said he
thought the blaze started in quantity
of Belgian wicker baskets on the Phe-
nix pier and this was confirmed by
Charles Christensen, who was at work
on the lighter Castleton, which was
lying forward off the dock. Christian
sen said the flames seemed to burst
from a pile of wicker baskets that had
been unloaded from the British Queen
on Monday. He said the fire spread
in an incredibly short time over the
outer end of the pier. The British
Queen was soon ablaZe and the men
on board had to leap into the river
to save their lives.
Those seriously hurt in the fire are
John Jensen, who jumped from the
burning pier and struck his head
against a beam, and Peter Carroll