The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-09
RESIDENCE BURNED
G. W. WALDEN AND FAMILY HAVE
 ESCAPE.
Building on Houston Street With It's Contents is Destroyed by InceRdi- ary Fire, Causing a Loss of
 a2.S0O.

Fire. which is thought to have been of incendiary origin, completely de- stroyed the residence of c. W. Wall den, near the corner of Washington and Gilmore streets. in the eastern section of the city, at ? o'clock this morning. and seriously endangered sev- en human lives.
 Aroused barely in time to escape from the burning house, Mir. Walden and his family rushed into the yard just as the blazing roof fell, burying all his personal property in furnace from which practically nothing was saved. Mrs. Walden and four of the children escaped in their night clothes. and were taken care of by the neighbors. MT. Walden and his oldest son, suc- oeeded in carrying from the home two pairs of trousers. two coats, two un- dershirts. and one pair of socks. These garments. with the exception of sim gle mattress. included everything saw ed from the house. wbich. with its con- tents. was valued at $2.SOO. The house burned to the foundations. not a. whole stick of timber of which it was con- structed being left.
 The blaze is supposed to have start ed in the rafters of the kitchen roof. , From there it spread rapidly to other sections of the roof. until the entire covering of the building was ablaze. | The falling of the roof prevented the recuse of any of the household goods.
 The presence of the fire was ,ilscov- cred by Mrs. Walden, Being awak- ened by the smell of smoke. she reused her husband. who immediately rose to investigate. Rushing from the house. he found the roof already envelOped in flames. Returning to the house. he sent in a fire alarm by telephone. and then hurried his family, all of whom
 had been aroused in the meantime, | from the buring dwelling. Picking up | the mattress of the bed on which he
 had been sleeping, he threw it from
 the bedroom window, jumping after 1t. Scarcely had he reached the graund be- fore the timbers of the roof gave way.
 The fire department had a long run,
 and it was fully twenty minutes after
 the alarm was turned in before the
 dwelling could be reached When the
 department finally appeared on the
 scere, the building was completey de- 1 vcured.
 | Mir. Walden is a live stock dealer. In | the rear of his home, scarcely seventy | five feet distant, was located his sta-
 ble in which were a number of valu-
 able stock. Although the wind was | blowing from the house toward the
 barn, the latter was untouched by the
 flames.
 The dwelling was a one-story. six
 room cottage.
 Built at cost of S1.SOO, the house
 contained furniture upon which Mir l Walden placed an estimate of 1 $1.000. He carried $500 insurance | on the furniture, and an insurance of l S1,20O on the building. Except that 1 MT. Walden suffered considerably from
 inhaling smoke, none of the family | suffered injury.
 | The origin of the fire could not be | determined. There had been no fire | in the building since early afternoon | yesterday, when the midday meal had | been prepared. The theory was ad- vanced that, from the fact that the fire
 was first discovered on the roof of that l portion of the building forthest re- | r owed from the sleeping apartments,
 that it had been set on fire by some | enemy of the Walden family. The | flames, however, entirely obliterated any traces which might have been left Dy the perpetrator of such a crime.