The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-06-10
woman,s House Fired.

Up to about year ago Seima' oo''oi' mill operatives were among the mos. orderly. quiet. industrious, wen-oehaNeu citizens in the city. They were content cd and happy. obeyed the lave, and earned their wages and were model citizens in every respect A large majority or the cotton mill operatives of this city are stiil of the Iaw-abiding class. but It seems that a lawless element has been dumped in here and there has been much trouble with them ever since they came to tnis city. Many of these lawless cotton mill oneratives have been brought to setna from Columbus. Ga, and Montgomery. . About a month or six weeks ago croWu of forty-eisht came in on the midnight tr,in from Montgomery and they made things exceedingly lively on the tram corning here, fiourishing pistols and nring volleys of oaths at each other.
 Readers of the Advertiser remember how Bill Cookery was assaulted ana thrown over the soapstone' blum into Val, lev Creek and killed not long ago. ana three of the men accused of his murder now ianguish in jail. Last night other crimes were committed by some or lne cotton mill operatives and most ois- graceful state of affairs exists. A good deal of feeling seems to have been eh- eendered between the newly imported operativss and the old ones and they have been at daggers' points for some time.
 Yesterday two men went 10 the house of a. woman, Lula Jarredd, and told her she had to leave town by certain dafe. She came here from Columbus about two weeks ago and was occupying a room with her little ten-year-old son. Walter. She told them she had done nothing and she did not propose to go. Last night her house was set on fire between nine and ten o'clock and everything the woman had. except the clother she and her little son wore. was consumed by the fire.
 Policeman Will Philen was on duty in that part of the city and was near the scene of the fire when the flames bur st out He ran to the house and find ing that he could not subdue the flames started on a run to the nearest fire box to turn in the alarm. When near some box cars he was fired on three times by per sons concealed under the cars, and the bullets whistled uncomfortably near his head MT. Philen stopped as soon as he found that he was being fired on, and dropping on his knees, returned the fire, shooting in the direction from whence tho sound came. It was very dark and as the men were concealed beneath the cars he did not succeed in hitting any of them.
 will Meddlin and Chappell Parks. two of the cotton mill hands, were arrested. Meddlin was tried before Major Mcleod this morning and was convicted in two cases. disorderly conduct and one other charge. He was one of the men who went to the Jarredd womans house and ordered her to leave town and proceeded to enforce his order by smashing her furniture and dashing her crockery and cooking utensils out of the window. He was fined $90 or lS0 days in the two cases Chappelrs case was put of till tomorrow There Is no evidence as to who broke in the window of the Jarredd woman and threw the frebrand in the bed in the back room. thus starting the flames.
 Since the old negro was thrown over the bluff and murdered the trade of Sei- ma has suffered. Negroes are afraid to come to the city over that road to trade and porters do not dare go to deliver goods to people in Fairland after dark. Drunken factory hands have even been known to halt doctors vehicles and other citizens in the outskirts of the city. The better element of factory people and the citizens generally are incensed at the conduct of the Woodburn element and are determined to put a stop to their deeds of lawlessness.
 Henry Franiich sent the Jarredd wo- man to the St. James Hotel and paid her lodging for the night and gave the clerk an order to give her and her little boy food.