Imperial Porcelain destroyed by fire

TRENTON POTTERY DESTROYED BY FIRE.

FIRE which started from an overheated kiln on Sunday night and did $50,000 worth of damage to the Imperial Porcelain Co. wiped out the famous old Stillhouse pottery, which housed the concern, across the canal from the former American Lamp and Brass Co.'s plant. Five firemen were badly hurt by falling walls, and the fire was one of the most spectacular Trenton has experienced in many years. At one time a brick wall almost white from the heat fell into the adjacent canal, and a cloud of steam arose, enveloping and blistering the firemen.

Of late years the plant has been used for the making of electrical specialties, and it was overrun with orders. The rooms where the models and dies were kept went up in smoke with the rest of the plant.

Frederic Duggan, the principal owner, seems to be in particularly hard luch as regards fires. His firm was just beginning to win back the trade it lost as a result of the burning of its works two years ago, the blackened ruins of which still stand across the roadway from the buildings destroyed on Sunday night.

The plant was one of the oldest potteries in the United States, and the buildings were all three-story, of brown stone. The place was built for a stillhouse, and liquor was manufactured for some years until it was finally purchased and turned into a pottery by Messrs. Cook and Marshall, both of whom are now dead. It was then known as the East Trenton pottery. Later the late George W. Page operated a portion of the plant as a pottery. When Mr. Duggan's plant at Mulberry street and Klagg avenue was destroyed nearly two years ago he purchased the old Stillhouse pottery and had it repaired and adapted for his use. He employed 225 men.