Imperial Porcelain Works, Trenton, New Jersey

Big Fire at Trenton.

Damages amounting to nearly $70,000 was caused last Saturday by a fire that completely gutted the plant of the Imperial Porcelain Works, Mulberry street and Klagg avenue, Trenton. The entire building, together with the stock and machinery, was almost completely destroyed. Had it not been for the efficient work of the firemen many other buildings in the neighborhood would probably have been destroyed as at one time it looked as if every structure in the vicinity would be wiped out by the flames.

The first alarm was turned in from the box directly opposite the plant, and when the company arrived the walls on Klagg avenue and Mulberry street had fallen and part of the roof had already collapsed, and it was at once seen that the works were doomed.

The wind was blowing a gale at the time and a solid sheet of flame about 100 feet high was swirling from the middle of the plant. With the thermometer registering but a few degrees above zero the fight of the firemen was one of the hardest in many years.

Uncertainty surrounds the origin of the blaze. The story of the night watchman is that about 4:30 o'clock he went to the boiler room to replenish the fires and when he returned to the vicinity of the kilns he noticed the flames and immediately turned in the alarm. The night watchman claimed that after he turned in the alarm he pulled the whistle and ran to the stables, where he assisted in rescuing the horses.

The plant was valued at about $20,000 and the stock and fixtures at about $50,000. The building was a two-story brick structure and extremely old. Frederick A. Duggan and Benjamin B. Dinsmore were the owners of the company, which was reputed to be one of the largest and one of the first of its kind in the country. While the loss on the building, stock, and machinery is placed at $70,000, it is said to be fully insured. The damage to the business of the firm, however, cannot be estimated, as the plant was rushed to capacity and the employees were working overtime.

Mr. Dinsmore, of the company, is authority for the statement that the rebuilding of the plant will begin at once, and it is probable that the new building will be much larger than the burned structure, as the firm was cramped for room. A. L. Worthington's Sons, with whom the insurance is placed, stated that settlement will be effected in four days.

The building was originally erected to house the old Down stilt works about 30 years ago. In 1890 Mr. Duggan purchased the place and started to manufacture electrical supplies, and Mr. Dinsmore was taken into the business later.