The sun., 1908-07-09
$s,OOO,OOO FIRE in BOSTON
TIE GRAND JUNCTION DOCKS
BURNED TO WATERS EDGE.

The Boston and Albany Grain Elevator and
Large Quantity Of G0ods Destroyed
Docks Owned by Boston and Albany
Division Of tho New York Central.
BOSTON, July Sire swept tho Grand
Junction docks, on the waterfront OF East
Boston, late this afternoon and In about
an hour destroyed four piers and caused
O loee estimated by Col. E. G. Benton, an
insurance expert, at more than 5000, 900.
Ono OF the Cunard Line piers. a Boston
and Albany pier. tho Boston and Albany
grain elevator and the Leyland Line pier
were burned TO the waters edge. The
flames started In ono Of the cargo sheds on
No. Q Cunard pier at p. III. from cause
yet unknown and driven by high north
west wind leaped along the waterfront a
distance Of one-fourth Of mile to the coal
pocket OF the Massachusetts Wharf and
Coal Company, where the fire department
made q determined fight and stopped its
further progress.
One life is known to have been lost, the
victim being Daniel Sullivan, 70 years Of
age, a watohman employed by the Cunard
company. He was in the shed where the
fire started, but being lame was unable
to escape from the building. Several
other persons were reported TO have been
missing, but later they were found un-
harmed. The Leyland Line steamship
Devonian was saved through the efforts
Of her crew and large force Of longshore-
men, who warped her to the end Of the
pier, where tugs hooked on and towed
her to safety.
L. nj
the west side of the Cunard pier by several
steel cables and abe was considerably dam
aged before the tugs got her out into the
stream. Her after cabin. all sails and
rigging and most Of the spars were burned
The Ave masted schooner Paul Palmer had
her head rigging burned before the tugs
pulled her from one Of the piers. The four
masted schooner o. Fl. Brown lost her FORE
mast and some running rigging and large
lighter lying at the grain elevator was
burned.
Many of the longshoremen and other
employees about the DOCKS had narrow
escapes from death. several having to leap
overheard when they found themselves
trapped by the fast moving flames an d
were rescued by tugs.
Boston's only available freboat steamed
in between the Leyland Line pier and the
coal pocket and by directing powerful
streams upon the smoking timbers stayed
the advance Of the fire. The revenue cutter
Gresham also came to the rescue and kept
two streams Of water pouring upon the
Cunard sheds for several hours, as well as
helping extinguish fires on the vessels towed
from the docks
The Grand junction docks were all owned
by the Boston and Albany division Of the
New York Central railroad, the steamship
companies leasing certain Of the piers.
The wharves were all constructed on wooden
piling and the cargo sheds were Of wood,
several being sheathed with corrugated
iron. The big grain elevator contained
rs 600 bushels OF grain and the towering
structure made a spectacular FIRE.
On the Leyland Line pier were three large
buildings, and in them was a quantity Of
goods. including $500 bales Of Egyptian
rels Of rum. several hundred bags Of wool
and a quantity Of naphtha and oil. All
this was burned There was but little
freight on the Cunard and Boston and
Albany piers. In the sheds OF the former
were 5000 bags Of onions, six carloads of
other freight, thirty barrels of oil. $50 tons
Of coal and sixty bags Of wool.
1t was just o'clock when the captain Of
one Of the Revere Beach ferryboats saw
smoke coming from the end Of one Of the
sheds on pier 2 Of the Cunard Line, He
pulled the whistle COrd ana started q din
which In few minutes was taken up by
every steam craft in the harbor. Then
some one ran to the fire alarm box in the
yard and pulled the hook. Before the
apparatus could reach the docks the entire
building was wrapped in flames and four
more alarms were sounded, bringing a
drove Of engines and ladder trucks from
the city proper.
Meantime the flames spread with ast onish-
ing rapidity and quickly devoured the sec
ond and largest OF the sheds Of the Cunard
pier. It was more than 600 feet long and
200 feet wide and the intense heat from
this big structure ignited the Boston and
Albany sheds on the next pier to the east
ward. The flames from this pier reached
across the narrow stretch Of water in the
dock and seized upon the tall grain elevator.
In q very few minutes this building was
afre from top to bottom, the flames reach
ing high in the air and quickly embraced
the three sheds on the Leyland Line pier.
These melted away one by one before the
blaze and In two hours they were burned
down to the piling which supported them.
Eagerly the flames licked the cool pocket
on the next wharf, but the good work Of
the hremen saved this structure and at
dark the fire was safely under control.
huge cloud Of smoke arose and
the sky was alight with the glow Of red
hot embers.