WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES SEPTEMBER 19, 2019 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
To resolve the matter, President William
Howard Taft asked the Diamond
Match Company to license the free use
of their patent. The company agreed to
do so, and Huner accordingly changed
his matches to red phosphorus.
Factory up in fl ames
But the next year, on July 26, 1912,
a fi re broke out at the Our Darling
Match Factory. A pile of paper matches
fell over, and enough friction was
produced to ignite them.
Robert Woods, 17, of 23 Cypress St.
was working at a machine nearby with
his back to the fi re. He felt an increase
in warmth, and when he put his hand
on his back, discovered that his shirt
was on fi re.
He tried to put the fire out, but
quickly saw that he could not. He ran
through the plant, sounding the alarm,
and then ran out the door. He trotted
all the way to German Hospital (today
known as Wyckoff Heights Medical
Center) on St. Nicholas Avenue and
Stockholm Street. He was treated for
burns on his face and hands.
The big factory whistle sounded
at 1 p.m. As the fl ames spread, there
was a mad scramble by the 300
workers at Our Darling to get out of
the building.
Mary Reiss of 210 South 19th St.
in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was in
charge of a department of 16 girls in
the west end of the building. They
were literally blown off the fl oor and
windows by the draft created by the
fl ames. In the east end of the building,
41 girls in another department
rushed out in a panic. Some of the
workers on the ground fl oor jumped
out of the windows; fortunately, all of
them escaped.
Companies 9 and 10 of the Newtown
Township Volunteer Fire Department
responded to the alarm, and when
they arrived and saw how serious the
Glendale Company 9 was among the many local volunteer fi re departments that responded to the Our Darling
Match Factory fi re in 1912. Ridgewood Times archives
fi re was, they put in a second alarm.
This brought out Newtown Volunteer
Companies 4, 7, 12 and 13. They also
telephoned the New York City Fire Department,
which agreed to send three
companies from the closest fi rehouses
in Brooklyn. These, like the volunteer
companies, were horse drawn.
Company 9 was Glendale Hook and
Ladder Company, located on the south
side of Myrtle and Cooper avenues on
what is today a McDonald’s Restaurant.
The company had 40 men with a steam
engine pumper pulled by three horses,
and a hose cart pulled by two horses.
Company 10 was the Ivanhoe Hook
and Ladder Company located on Fresh
Pond Road south of Myrtle Avenue.
Company 12 was the Metropolitan
Engine Company located on the south
side of Metropolitan Avenue near
Forest Avenue, and Company 13 was
the Glendale Park Hook and Ladder
Company located on the south side
of Myrtle Avenue between Martin
Avenue (presently 88th Place) and
Oceanview Avenue (present-day
88th Lane).
Although the fire departments
exerted their best eff orts, the main
building was totally destroyed with
damage estimated at $200,000. Huner
had insurance on the building, but
not on the expensive machinery and
inventory of supplies and matches.
The fi re was one of the largest the
neighborhood had ever seen.
Business burns out
The morning after the fire, Huner
announced that he would commence
construction immediately on a new
one-story concrete building that
would be bigger than the original
Our Darling factory. He also had a
crew of workers trying to salvage
some of the machinery and also
sorting out the matches that were
stored in the outbuildings. Some of
them had burned from the intense
heat, and others had not.
Huner died suddenly on Dec. 24,
1912, at his home in Brooklyn. He
was 56 years old at the time, and
his two sons, who were active in
the business with him, continued
to operate the company.
Our Darling Match Company continued
in business until 1923, when it
became the Liberty Match Company.
In May 1928, the Brunner-Winkle
Aircraft opened their factory in
the former Our Darling factory at
72-34 Charlotte Pl. (present-day
60th Lane) to manufacture the Bird
bi-plane.
Reprinted from the July 28, 1983,
Ridgewood Times.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or
old photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would
like to share with our readers, please
write to the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY
11361, or send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com. Any print photographs
mailed to us will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
Company 9 with its steam engine outside its headquarters in the area of Myrtle and Cooper Avenues in
Glendale. Ridgewood Times archives
/WWW.QNS.COM
/ridgewoodtimes.com
