New-York tribune., 1903-07-11
ANOTHER PIER BURNED.
H4TF MILLION IN FLAMES
The Scandinavian Line Again Suf-
ferS Loss IN HOb0ken.

The new pier of the Scandinavian American
Line, at Seventeenth-st., Hoboken. was de-
stroyed by fire yesterday afternoon and for the
second time in three years the line is without
pier. Some arrangement will be made for the
lire to of the German piers in Ho-
boken until the Hoboken Land and Improve
ment Company can rebuild the one destroyed
yesterday. 1t is believed the loss by yester-
days fire will amount to almost $5OOOOo The
dock alone cost 100000.
The fire started in the storeroom on the outer
end of the pier. and when the flames were first
discovered they had a firm hold. There was no
ship of the line in port. the steamship ISL
and which should have docked yesterday morn
ing did not arrive. Had the Island been at the
pier the fire might have got the start it did.
Had she been loading or unloading men would
have been plentiful and the fire would proba-
bly, have been discovered before it had any head
way.
When the fire discovered the storage room
all ablaze, and by the time the first of the
Hoboken IRE engines reached the land end fully
three hundred feet OF the pier blazing Tugs
of all sorts and sizes ran alongside the pier
and began throwing water into the fire, but this
seemed to have little effect The city firemen
were hampered in reaching the pier. The only
approach to the pier was along a bulkhead
leading from Fourteenth to Seventeenth st
From this bulkhead the pier jutted out seven
hundred feet into the river.
The spread of the flames rapid as
when the North German Lloyd and Scandi-
navian piers burned three years ago. There were
three explosions on the pier. apparently caused
by barrels of in1ammable material, and after
each the flames spread rapidly The explo-
sions occurred about halfway from the end Of
the pier.
The heat was intense, and the firemen had
to relieve one another at the nozzles, and
then retire to recover. Many of them
dropped into the river. clothing and ALL for
When the fire started there was hardly any
wind, but what there made the fire look
dangerous, it carried the flames toward the
Tietjen Lang drydocks and the free bath.
In the drydocks were about a score of vessels
Those which could be taken out were pulled
away to save them. The bathhouse was crowd
ed with women, girls and children. They fled
without waiting to dress, and two children were
slightly hurt in the crush When the fire
under control the bathers went back for their
clothing.
West of the bulkhead moored the United
States training ship Portsmouth and the Ward
liner Manhattan. These We're in peril for a
time but the wind shifted. carrying the flames
out over the river.
The naval reserves who were on the Ports
in keeping the fire from the bulkheadingA
So rapidly did the fire burn that within three
quarters of an hour after it started the pier
was ruined.
Considerable help was given by Captain
Quiroga, of the Presidente Sarmiento which
was anchored a short distance above the scene
of the fire. AS soon as he noticed the blaze he
had two steam launches sent to Hoboken with
several lengths of hose, and instructed the lieu
tenant who commanded to give every possible
assistance TO the fleet of fire fighting boats.
Ny Epoa Of
agents of the Scandinavian ~ American Line. said
that there was little freight the pier at the
time the fire broke out. This was freight re-
naming from the cargo of the steamer Helg
Olav which sailed for Denmark last Wedr esday.
The loss from this source, therefore, he said
would be small. What the loss on the pier was
he could tell, as the pier, which was new
one, was owned by the steamship company,
whose main Offices in Copenhagen. The
cause Of the fire was unknown. Only watch
man was on the pier at the time. The Island
was reported approaching this port at 1:15 p. m
yesterday afternoon. She will be dOcked at one
of the piers of the North German Lloyd Line in
ken