New-York tribune., 1907-08-04
BEACH FRONT FIRES.
Losses at Coney Island, Rocla5eay
and Long Beach from Flames.

like q good many others that have gone DtloIt "I
1.,. seashore resorts about New York in that thes
,rol,a o1.r in the early hours OF the morning
Strangely enough. most Of the fires at the beaches
about New York which have resulted in great loss
OF property have been singaaTly lacking IN loss q
life Instances innumerable might be CITED OF hreS
breaking out about the same time OF the day IN
the city in which tie total OF killed and injured
has been iurncss.lral3ly greater though lAe sweep
Of the flames has been confined TO lar less area
and has laid waste only fraction OF tie property
.,.e destroyed il many seaside uIaZe near
w York within the last fifteen years
Most OF The big fires that Coney Island IN par
ricular has had TO fight have been OF early morn
inC origin. and Concy Island has been Wen blach-
ened by more than FIRE during the thirty years
thar II has been steadily strengthening its grip
on the affections and dollars Of New Workers anu
visitors TO :his who want to be shown what
can't be seen elsewhere The fire OF week aS"
viii go down in the annals OF the toney Island
Historical Society as Of The ones worth men
1ioninc but there have been previous ones juSt as
destructive. Between $i.@Ar9 and $6A".o" worth
of property il is estimated, has been destroyed 10y
t.e and smoke and water in the ten major con-
liararions that the island has experienced IN the
last fifteen years in the case almost every one
Of these there were moments when II seemed 10
the oniookers as II every ything the island that
was .nhanmaDIe might be burned black 10 tAe
water edge and the way paved Tor new anu
better Corey Isanu before the flames were SUD
dued. Then there have been nunlheIless sIIaii
fires. wiping hotel or restaurant OF concert
hall three OF them al once -
9Sf ge
Il occurred in July. Most ot the blazts uial nave
caused large losses The history Of the resort
were spilnE occurrences In fact, IN The He,iS M
OlediateIy preceding the consolidation ot greater
New York extra precautions were always taken
against frc by the amusement palace ana u4ioe
hall proprietoIs III the spring months. aAd>d 6ooi'
brisk blaze that wiped ou1 several or more concert
halls al clip much IL the usual tHtt 1Ae
annual spring blaze one OF the set events
the island. though no one cou+d l"'ete'-' %
course the exact date.
The island got probably its most effective rurg-
ing in big blaze Of November l, 1905 Like tAat
OF q week ago. II occurred on = SUNDAY, b-' ~ I-S
afternoon. In WY il less destructive 10 bust
mess ror The season had closed II was not uiscoV-
cred until shortly before OClcch. in tie same part
Of the island as the fire cf last Sunday, at TlIyou
Walk at the Steeplechase and the BoWeTE- Inc
flames were first discovered shooting from the
laundry gf the AIbarross Hotel from which they
spread rapidly all directions II was WEI! INTO
the night before they under control and IN the
interval they had practically wiped out every
liking on the old BoTFeTE o. uIlsito's Iet-t ,
The burned extended over fourteen square
blocks from the west end Of the BoWerE TO Jones
Walk and from Surf Avenue stralei!'1'"aS 10 ti1e
beach Two hundred and fifty buildings We're &c
sFr0Nel and the loss estimated at Sl,Vuv'oV3-
Two OF the chief sufferers in last Sundays ire also
lost heavily in the blaze OF four years ago The
burning of Louis Stauch's dancing pavilion. at the
s.1-,+I}yyesr corner OF FEendeTson's Walk and the
Fovyery represented loss OF S25Vie. on Which
there was only about $4,000 q insurance r T.
Henderson d Co. who had known At least one
previous annual spring blaze at Coney Island %
their SORROW, lost their concert mn anu ao -
r,a,-iliorl. on which they value OF $2oe-uoU
Most Of the other buildings DESTROYED We're cAeap
dance halls and Rainas law hotels. and ABOUT d
dozen persons were injured by fire or by hHinG
glass and debris
Al irs- il was thought that the fire had caught
from an ove1heatei stove in the laundry, but later
-ra pnce arrested two men who were suspected
of rrin- fncendjaries After almost every fire OF
considerable size the beach resorts ABOUT Ne"
York there Is talk Of incendarsTn but in TINS case
as in most OF the others there was no PROOF
brought forward substantiate the charges.
Luna Park at that time had not come into posses
son OF Thompson & Dundy, and that firm had not
tien made big stir in the business oi saptylLls
arnusements. In fact, they were 50 lar without
7T, gates leSS tilan years that an account
Of the IRE in q newspaper the next morning max
brief reference ia the fact that Thompson q DUG
ley were running q show on the Bowery called
Darkness and Dawn and sustained loss OF
about s1o005
After the Ere and the cleaning out Of the BCwery
there was a chorus OF protests against allowing Il
10 be ynrod1ced in its old form. The city officials
took the matter in hand, and the Bowery when re
HuTlt became q street instead OF alley There
,-ss a1so ra Of extending the fire limits to pre-
vent the Of any more Of the hinSy
sLaclls which built ca sand, and not on rocks,
and were nun up just as fast as possible TO make
money for their owners ana lessees.
The island rad another OF its annual spring
hlazes /. 1899 That broke in The early
1so-riuG 700. shortly after o'clock It was con
-1,d. however, 10 the bulidlIg N "llcA II oi!el-
lat-d--tLe ice plant Of the Gravesond and Hygela
see Company. al the west end Of the tsand-DUt 1t
licked up $4,000 worth OF property
Another vernal visitation OF Vulcan, though that
s the way the real islander would put it, was
on June 2. l:99 That blaze got under he2dway in
ii lasted, destroying four blocks between Thomp-
sons Walk and Joness Walk, on the north side Of
the old Bowery. and causing q property damage Of
sS5o0 during the four hours II lasted In this ilre
which was discovered at 1:33 in the morning, one
man was burned 10 death. Fortunately. in most Of
the bazes the island there has been little or no
loss Of life. and only fe wpersons were Seriously
injured. This may be 5ecaUse OF the fact that the
fires have been discovered IN the early morning
fourse when Coney Islands population is lease
dense
a month. to the day, before. twenty acres were
swept clean Of the buildings upon them The value
cf these was vaTiously estimated from $4,000 TO
100000 Included in the assortment were theatres.
concert halls pavions. stores and restaurants
Again ike the fire OF week ago, the blaze had an
early start-3 o'clock in the morning, and II came
out of Tflyou's welk and the Bowery. There was
located cefels Pain Garden From that point the
flames SWEPT over the district between the bo"ery
and the ocean, and were driven east from the
starting point TO the old iron pier.
one of Interesting sights In the IRE way
AZ Couey Island the destruction Of what had
been oue OF the biggest shows OF the place. This
was noastrous wooden elephant. bigger tlan
the famed Jumbo which proved TO be some
tling Of an elephant OF the white variety 70 the
FtiIadephia syndicate which built It in 1880 The
syndicate had reaped SO much money from q SINH
lar venture the Centennial Exposition that 1t de-
clded to try !t Ceney Island. which was hen
In its swa6dliag days and had yet TO KNOW us
nIcKare. The elephant had G frame or white pine
hut its hide built Of sheet TIN. 10 WltstaIld
-na cols blasts Of the vtntry It stood right
iacys OF tho Old Sea Beach Palace. and nobody ever
went 10 the island IL those days without seeing
-,a e1epl,art" Nevertheless, the animal which
had cost the syndicate s5or0 to build was beast
Of burden fts hackers and IL " as salu tfal I'ey
lost SEQ D0J in trying feed il to the public II
caught fire the night Of September za 1880 anu
fell on its front legs victim to the fire. The cause
of rbe hsze which was first esIed bursting forth
from the big, hollow eyes and the palanquin sur
mounting the back, was never discovered though
spontaneous combustion suggested No effort
Il. replace the elephant WIS mAee by its owners
tlaa