Lammer: RIVER SQUATTER BURNED TO DEATH ON HIS BOAT; " Ned" Hawkins Long a Familiar Figure on the Waterfront. ONCE A DEEP-SEA SAILOR But Had Not Sailed the Main for Thirty Years -- His Tenants' Narrow Escape.

RIVER SQUATTER BURNED TO DEATH ON HIS BOAT; " Ned" Hawkins Long a Familiar Figure on the Waterfront. ONCE A DEEP-SEA SAILOR But Had Not Sailed the Main for Thirty Years -- His Tenants' Narrow Escape.

From the January 6th, 1907 New York Times (it’s a PDF).

Came across this while researching houseboat berths on the Gowanus Canal.