New-York tribune., 1903-03-30
A FERRYBOAT BURNS.
THE POLICEMAN H HERO.
Crozcds Watch Empty Bound BrooS
4fre an Midstream.

1oroir,e to the Central Railroad Of New-Jersey'
was burned to the waters edge yesterday aI'ei
noon by fire which broke out while She "a
Iald up in her slip in Jersey City. and continue"
to blaze fprcely all the way down the river u'i'il
the fire was controlled by the freboat New
Worker and the tugs which came to her assist
anre Several times on her way down the rlN''
she broke away from the railroad tugs Wh'h
were irving to hold her. and for haI an noun
she was great menace t" the shipping on DOM
sides of the river
Policeman John Downes. of the Gregory 81
station. Jersey City. the hero OF tne nfs,
and his heroic action and coniness in the face OF
danger were warmly praised by Jne ram -
officials. To Downes probably belongs the creoil
Of having by his cool judgment prevented grea'
fire He stuck to his dangerous post on lhe
burning vessel until she was safely to"ed Jul
into the stream, where she could no LollsI
. endanger the interests Of the railroad terminal
II was at first supposed that she "ould PIo
. total loss but after the fire had been extlh-
guished it was found that the hull ana naCIlll'
erv were intact. The fire. which orlSlnaCeo ii
the upuer ca bin resulted from some cause tnat
rouId not be learned The Bound Brook does
not run on Sundays and was laid up IN oHp
No l. with only a little steam in her ooAeFS
and only one of her crew on board the NJ
watchman
T The fire was discovered at 5 p. m by Police
B
coming from the shed near the end Of the boat
0o,,ras At once gave an alarm and notified
. cantain John Cox of the Central Railroad IRE
tug Red Ash. which was just getting ready
to go out. She was at once run to the
slip and Downes Who had boarded the
! Bound Brook caught a hawser thrown -
him from the Red Ash, and the burning
boat was towed into the stream The Ierry-
boat Fanwood lying in an adjoining slip, was
y11rT yEas
her In the slip on the other side lay the ferry
boat Red Bank She had on board two train
loads of passengers. who had just arrived Sne
steamed away just as the fire was discovered
and escaped injury, though there was mucn
excitement among the passengers The plllnS
Of the slip in which the Bound Brook lay took
fire. but the flames were extingutshed before any
material damage had been done
When the Red Ash had fastened to the Bound
Brook she was towed out Of the slip so quickly
that Downes had no chance to escape, but was
held a prisoner on board the burning boat The
first hawser parted when the Red Ash was OUT
in the stream, and second was thrown TO
Downes which he made fast By this time the
flames were spreading fast, and. seeing no other
way Of escape. Downes slid down the hawser
in acrobatic fashion, and after hard struggle
succeeded in reaching the deck Of the Red
Ash
Hardly had the Red Ash with its burning load
in tow reached midstream before the line which
was made fast by Downes was burned through
and the burning boat started to drift down
stream with the tide Streams Of water We're
being played on her. not only by the Red ASH
but also by the BayonEe, Of the same COMPANY
the Lehigh Valley tug Mamie Lambert. he
wrestlet and the Mercedes
The Red Ash paid particular attentlon 10 ny
ing to get a line aboard the Bound 8rok- 1'ld
with that end in view directed her stream ONO
the end where she had first made fast Three
different times Downes boarded the burning
boat only to be driven back each time by the
flames.
Following as closely as the fierce heat would
allow the tugs continued down the stream
alongside the Bound Brook until opposite the
Battery, where the fireboat New-Yorker joined
them and directed her powerful streams on the
burning boat.
It was not until opposite Ellis Island that the
fire was sufficiently subdued so that Captain
Braisted Of the New-Yorker could go aboard OF
her and make fast a towing line Pouring on
water as fast as they could. the entire heet fol-
lowed the New-Yorker as she towed the ferry
boat back TO the foot Of Johnson-ave-, Jersey
City. AT one time in her passage down stream
a loud explosion was heard, and it was thought
that her boilers had exploded, but later invesu-
;zation showed that this was not So As soon as
possible man was sent down to draw the fires
from under her boilers TO prevent such an acci-
dent.
After an hours hard fighting the flames were
extinguished 1t had been intended to run the
Bound Brook ashore the fats, but when II
was found that her hull and machinery were
comparatively uninjured she was towed to the
cement dock at the foot Of Johnson-ave-
The burning ferry boat attracted the attention
of fully two thousand persons, who were In
Battery Park or its vicinity yesterday afternoon.
The crowd lined the sea wall and watched tha
scene Soon after the fire was noted by those on
the Battery she appeared TO be mass of flames
She was ablaze from stem to stern when tina
Areboat got alongside. After the hrenen got to
work the boat was shut out OF view by the
smoke
The Bound Brook is a boat, double
decker and was put in commission last fall
She was commanded on alternate days by
10 the Whitehall ferry, but was atterWard put
on the Liberty-st- route She has been IN one
collision but was not seriously damaged. She
was built In Wilmington, Del in lSOl, and ~
said to have cost between S130OEo and S-OoOoo-
She has a gross tonnage OF LOIS and a net ton
mage of sol She is 200 feet IN length mas a
breadth of ri feet depth Of IL feet 5 inches'
and carried crew Of eight men.
Central Railroad officials said they could not
tell how much the loss would be: but said they
did nor think IL would exceed S0O,UOO.
When Policeman Dovnes returned TO the
C;regory-st station at $50 D. m. he reported 10
CantaIn Cody that ne had been OF post without
lea Iya for over an hour Captain Cody, who had
have no 'aar that charges would be preferred
against him. The cause of the fire could not b.
learned
.xa~n1or- ~ ~