The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-21
BIG FIRg ON BARREN ISLAND.
mn 4 tRHt VE ~ w 6gIN HiTH
tIOag ~ sl0gW BW



ina va asft,twe reduction nlaet on
Htfr,n lsiand whic, hns given tipai ia
uuts rIaos sume N W. NEST dittIRc,ivr
,.eI|. ta. destroyed ~ Ore yesterday
,rrmpu the piHnt helpner,s ~ The New
i.rs eahltaFv t'ttiyatiur Company, and
tho .,ttl lo-s vas placed hy Inc psalce ~
usono Tho plan, has lshcn ail ~ the
n.I.,se crllec'ei from nrcairr New York
w.. asveul years. The destruction NJ Tho
rIsr' vili mran that until atothet one
,an 10 buili the aartaee will have 10 he
,npcn oui and dumped ~ sca II vas the
lpiartlnn NJ the aumfner resorts 20 this
method ~ dispensing ~ the gartaes that
greatly increased the fame and The smell Of
parrrn Island
The fire was a~jcctacul1r NJ viewed from
,nr r-prts along the shore from Rockaway
t. ,oncy Island II ssnl M n great odor
md a cloud 81 ~yellowish smoke. which
.rropd over Coney Island. The flames
omild be aeen for many miles. Last night
hey wrre stiIl kaping high and their re-
aoction In the smoke cloud, making Il saffron
colorpd. furnished n sight for the crowds at
he ahorr resorts and must have keen q
~rrettiet one for tho@e out at sea The
thou lands Of tons OF garbage and fertilizer.
one Of the products, arc likely 10 burn fer
iHyf.
Barren Island IL owned entirely by the
city. but the east end of the island was
leased to the company, whose plant ooveled
1--WE acres. Il consisted OF fourteen build
lngs altogether and employed 500 men.
The plant took all the garbage from The
city and made from il many things. among
these being oils and fertilizers,
IL was about 2 O'Clock in the afternoon
when the fire began with a great burst OF
fame. II started in the oil plant and the
vino carried the flames right over the
other buildings. As seen from Canarsie,
seven miles across the bay, It seemed at
first as though Barren Island was burning
up. Many property owners, sore because
Of its smells, said they hoped that il was,
or that, at least, the bad end of it was.
There is a curious little colony on the other
end Of the island, made up mostly Of those
who work in the plant. The colony has a
church, a lschoolhouse and other things
NuICu hCtp " lici W CIV iiicdtiVh odu III
were felt for its safety. The islanders, a
thrifty lot, were a bit excited, but all right.
When Police Capt. Reimels Of the arsie
station, whose T recinct Includes the island,
saw the fire he telephored to the city for
a frehoat, Fire Chief Lally OF Brooklyn
boarded the Seth Low and she set out. the
first fireboat that ever made u sea voyage
on duty bent. 1t proved to be a long voy-
age. To reach Barren Island she hadto 90
through the Narrows, skirt Cotey Island SO
around by Rockawa Point and navigate
the dangerous channels Of Ja'raica Bay.
She started at 2 O'Clock and was sighted
by the islanders along about 4 o'clock.
They were hard pressed then, for the fire
was burning fiercely ard was threatening
the big plant OF T. r. White n Coz, where
they bell the city's dead horses for soap and
other things.
The islanders gave a great shout when
they saw the freboat, but this was changed
into despair when she began giving awful
bIas's on her siren, denoting that she was
in distress herself. Her hardy crew had
gos mixed on the channels and she had got
stuck on the shoals. The resouers had TO be
rescued then. Several intrepid Jamaica
Bay pilots tore themselves away from
watching the flames and made for the
nremen The Seth Low was finally backed
of and guided by the pilots she finally
reached the Island.
She had taken three hours to make the
voyage Chief Lally leaped ashore amid
the shouts Of the natives, boss lines we're
nun out and soon the ISLANDERS saw real
0remen at work, but the plant then was
nothing bu: a big heap Of burning ,glrbage.
The plant had n fire department Of it's
own, hut the pumping station was the sec
ond building to get on FIRE, and after that
they had no water and had to watch the
plant burn. The Barren Island vamps
had a hose car, but all they could do was
10 aid in the work Of rescue, All Of the
men employed about the place had got
out at the start, but eighteen hogs were
inside helpless. The hogs reduce what the
machinery doesn't anda ire very fat. They
we're in a big pen. One OF the Barren Island
vamps let them out, The pigs started right
for the flames and there were visions OF
roast pork. just then, however. a tug
started pulling out a big garbage soow.
This saved the lives Of the pigs, for they
turned and ran for the strongest smell and
followed the garbage scow. They were
caught, oorralled and saved. .
There we're many other thrilling rescues.
The Canarsie life s4Eing corps, commanded
by Capt. Blossom, put out from -Canarsie
and were In time to assist In the rescue Of
five garbage scows, loaded. The life
savers did not shrink to approach the smell
and did not rest until all the garbage aloat
was saved. The steamer Frank and Helen
McAvoy hauled the garbage away from
where 1t might have been consumed. 1t
will now have to be hauled out to sea.
The Barren Island vamps, Of course, do
not mind such things as smells, and were
enabled TO keep pretty near to the fire all
the time. Several times the flames spread
TO the dead horse plant, but by hard work
the dead horses and the plant were saved,
70 that the islanders have not lost all their
means OF livelihood nor the island all its
smells.
Fortunately for the inhabitants, q plain
Of ashes and refuse separated their homes
from the fire and was the means OF saving
the rest Of the island from destruction.
Without water they would have been help-
less had the fire been able to cross this
plain. Over 400 tons OF fertilizer and 5000
n A.