At four o’clock in the morning, Camden’s police telephones turned deadly.
Inside City Hall, Policeman Barr lifted the receiver to take the usual calls from officers on their beats. Instead, the room erupted in a thunderous roar, blue flames, and jagged flashes of electricity so bright they seemed like summer lightning.
Barr was hurled from his chair. Policeman Schregler was thrown to the floor. Around them, fire leapt across the tables and woodwork as the electric current continued to tear through the room.
Outside, other Camden policemen were being struck down in the streets as they tried to use the call boxes.
A broken police wire had fallen across a trolley wire, sending a dangerous current surging through the city’s police system. By the time it was over, City Hall had nearly burned, officers had been knocked senseless across Camden, and everyone was left wondering how no one had been killed.
Crossed Wires Play Havoc
CAMDEN, New Jersey. — There was a general knockout of policemen in all parts of Camden at 4 a.m. yesterday, and the City Hall came near being destroyed by fire. It was all caused by a crossed electric wire. The wonder is that no one was killed outright.
Policemen Barr and Schregler were on duty at the City Hall, ready to receive the 4 a.m. calls over the telephones from the men on beat. Barr was at the instruments. The usual signal came in and Barr raised the receiver. At that instant came a roar as of a clap of thunder, followed by a mass of blue blazes and zigzag streaks more brilliant than summer lightning.
Barr was thrown from his seat against the partition and several panes of glass were broken. Schregler was thrown violently to the floor. Both men, though blinded by the flashes, managed to grope their way outside the room. The blinding flashes, which continued to shoot across the room, set fire to the tables and woodwork.
Armed with brooms, the policemen returned and battled with the fire. For twenty minutes they fought the blaze, unable to send in an alarm to the fire department. Both men were almost suffocated, but they succeeded in extinguishing the flames.
At the time they were fighting the flames, policemen on the street were having equally rough experiences. Garrison, who had pulled box 22, was thrown into the street by the shock. Other policemen had similar experiences. City Electrician Janke and a force of man were sent for at an early hour, but they decided that it would take until tomorrow to get the police electric system in order.
The trouble arose at Third Street and Kaighn Avenue, where one of the police wires had broken and fallen across a trolley wire.
Source: The Evening Times. Washington, D.C. February 23, 1900.
