The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-25
TWO MEN KILLED IN
 TUESDAY FIRE ARE
 FINALLY IDENTIFIED
One Is Linton POss and the Other Walter c. Smith. Work of Bremen Con-
 plimented by Ward

Positive Identification of the charred re- mains of the two men that were burned to death early Tuesday morning at the fire which destroyed the Buyck & Thomas building on Twentieth street, between First and Morris avenues. was made late yesterday afternoon at the morgue of Shaw & Sons by friends and relatives of the dead men. The men as identified were:
 Linton Poss, aged 26 years, no occupa- tion, and has lived at the Windsor hotel for several years; has mother living on Shades mountain and was positively iden- tified by his sister, Mrs. w. A. Martin. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.
 Walter G. Smith, aged 27 years, automo- bile mechanic and employed by the Dren- nen Motor Car company. Identified by DIT. and Mrs. Frank Swatzell. 2lO South Nineteenth street, with whom Smith had boarded for several months. Smith has sister, Mrs. Nettie Tablsh, who resides at 1s4i Jackson street, Charleston, w. Va. Mrs. Tablish has been notified of her brothers death and funeral arrangements will be announced later.
 Poss Identified by Sister From the time the bores were recov- ei ed from the destroyed building it was almost certain that one of them was that of Poss, who it was first stated was named Leonard. Yesterday afternoon Mrs Martin, sister of the deceased, came to Shaw's and identified the body of her brothe. and stated that his name was Linton Poss
 The identification of Smith, came through the fact that he wore a signet ring of peculiar design and also of the fact that he had some very irregular teeth which were god-hlled. Smith is said to have called up Mrs. Swatzel late Monday night and stated that he would come home in few minutes for his over coat. From then on nothing was heard of him, as he never came for his over coat.
 Yesterday morning after reading The Age Herald description of the fire. Mir. Swatzell came upon the item which stated that one of the dead men had peculiar ring and also some very irregular gold teeth and calling his wife's attention he remarked that as yet Smith had not showed up MT. Swatzell then called at ShaWs morgue and saw the ring which he described to Mrs. Swatzen. who then identified the body as that of Smith
 With the Identification of Smith came a possible solution of how the fire started in the Buyck X Thomas building it was stated yesterday. Smith, it Is claimed was an inveterate smoker and often re- tired with lighted cigarette in his mouth One night several weeks ago he fell asleep smoking and set the Swatzell home on fire, causing considerable damage. It is believed possible that Smith fell asleep smoking In the Windsor hotel and set fire to the bed. Smith is said to have been sleeping on the second floor over the rear of the Robertson Hardware com pany. and 1t is now generally agreed that the fire started in that location. All of the people injured at the disas- trous fire were resting well yesterday and it is stated that all of them will re- cover The only man seriously injured Is J. w. Burney, who fell three stories
 Bremen Are COmplimented
 In regard to the courageous and able manner with which the fire was com batted Tuesday morning, President of the City Commission George B. Ward yester- day addressed the following letter to Fire Chief Sidney Middleton:
 February 24, 1915. Chief Middleton. Fire Department:
 Please see that every attention is given to the firemen injured Tuesday morning.
 The services of City Physician Whelan are at your disposal.
 Also, please express the appreciation of the commission to your apartment for their gallant and effective work Yours very truly G. WARD, President"