Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-03-21
HISTORIC HOME
RAZED BYBLAZE
0Idl Stevens Mansion in So.
Amboy is Completely De-
stroyed by Fire.

SOUTH AMBOY, March al
South Amboy suffered its first big
fire loss in years on Saturday, when
the old Stevens mansion formerly u
part OF Stevens Institute, was COM
pletely destroyed by fire. due to
the delay in getting the fremen on
the scene on account of a defect in
he alarm system. Struck full
in the face by the pressure Of
the hose. Chris L. Mulrain mar
rowly missed losing an eye. Several
other firemen narrowly escaped
death by falling timbers and several
received minor scratches and bruis-
es.
The origin of The fire is unknown.
When discovered the fire was raging
in the back part of the building. An
alarm was turned in from the near
est fire alarm box but owing to some
defect in the sys EN- the alarm fall
ed to ring. AS a consequence the
firemen were several minutes in get
ting to the fire with their apparatus.
When they did finally arrive they
did excellent work. Practically all
the furniture in the lower part of
the old building was saved and
quite a little of the furniture up
stairs was also carried to safety.
Three women who were i'll in the
building at the time were carried to
safety by Stanley, Thomas and Jo-
seph Shuts. In the building adJoin-
ing John Manion was critically i'll
and DIR. Z. a. Meachem was in at
tendance all during the fire.
The building was occupied by two
families. Mrs. Mark Burk and
daughter resided in the upper sto-
ries and the lower section was occu-
pned by Jay Sexton.
The firemen did excellent work in
combining the fire to the one build
ing and saving The adjoining house
which was less than six feet away.
The building was of the old type,
brick lined walls and tin roof. thus
making the work of the firemen
more difficult. There were six lines
of hose on the fire at all times.
During the afternoon twelve lengths
of hose were burst. due to the high
pressure of the water .
Historical Building.
The building was originally stand
ing on what is now known as Stew
ensdale. 1t was built as a mansion
for the late John /. Stevens and
built just prior to the construction
of the Camden and Amboy railroad.
1t will be recalled that Mr.. Stevens
was the builder of this road and it
was him hat put up the money to
bring the famous old John Bual"
from England and started it on its
now famous trip from South Amboy
to Camden. 1t was to this building
that Mr.. Stevens brought the first
cup to be won by America in the
International Yacht races and it was
in this building that he celebrated
the victory over English seamen
The building was later a part of
the original Stevens Institute. which
in later years outgrew South Am
boy and moved to Hoboken. After
the removal of the Institute to Ho-
boken the building became a part
of u very exclusive boarding school
for girls. When the p. r. r. system
took over the Camden &c Amboy rail-
road they also took over the Stevens
dale property and it slowly went in
to decline for lack of repairs. When
first constructed the building was
constructed of only the most select
building material. An artist from
France was brought to this country
to do the interior decorating.
Just prior to the explosion a hos
pital was opened by Miss Burke IN
this building. 1t was to this hospital
that the first injured men from the
Morgan explosion were brought. Fol-
lowing the explosion the hospital
was taken over by the Red Cross
and then turned over to the South
Amboy Hospital Association. The
South Amboy City Hospital was in
this building until the present build
ing was purchased. 1t has been
used as a private residence for about
two years now.