The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1915-03-26
Mrs. Celestia Belt Burned to Death

Unable to aid herself or rouse any
one else in the house to come TO ner
assistance, Mrs Celestia Belt, 81 years
old. was burned to death shortly after
d o'clock Monday morning at her sister s
home, 22O3 Bare ay street, Baltimore
Md.
The sister, Mrs. Emily Edelen, her.
self an aged woman, and her grand
daughters, Miss Carmelite Edelen and
Miss Mary Edelen, escaped from the
house in their nightclothing just before
their only passage was cut OH oy
flames.
The probable explanation of the ori-
DIN of the fire that occurs to the Misses
Edelen is that, having occasion to leave
her bed at this early hour, Mrs. Belt
liohted a candle which she kept nearby
and. in reaching for her crutches,
knocked the candle into the bed. set
ring fire to the coverings.
The first knowledge that the three
other women had of the fire was when
Miss Carmelite Edelen aWoke and saw
flames in the hallway outside her bed
room door.
She aroused her grandmother and
sister Immediately, and then, going tc
the door. saw that her grand-aunt' S
room, the middle room on the secono
floor. at the head of the stairway, was
enveloped in raging fire that was eat
ing at the woodwork of the staircase.
she realized that it was impossible
to help Mrs. Belt and that it would be
the work of only few seconds for the
fire to cut off the passage of the others
endangered The three women, there
fore. without pausing to put on other
clothes, ran down stairs.
Miss Carmelite Edelen stayed in the
house long enough to telephone to the
Fire Department. while the others went
next door to the home of Harry NJ.
Tracy, 2z01 Barclay street. A few
minutes later, in some borrowed clothes,
Miss Mary Edelen ran nearly two
blocks to the fire alarm box on Green
mounty avenue near Twenty-second
street and sounded an alarm.
By the time the fire was extin-
guished Mrs. Belts bedroom was &
charred ruin. All the furniture was
destroyed and the walls and floor eater
through in several places. Consider
able damage was done to other parts
of the house outside this room, partly
by fire and partly by water. The house
was insured, but there was no insurance
on the contents.
Mrs. Edelen and the Misses Edeler
were COMPELLED to stay in the neighbor
ING house until after 9 o'clock before
Coroner Algire arrived to inquire int
the accident. After the coroner haC
made his investig cation and decided upol
verdict of accidental death the Mise!
Edelen went in and gathered togethe
few clothes and other necessaries
Later in the morning they and thei
grandmother went to the home of TIT
latter's niece, Mrs. Frank Z. Scrivener
governor for Maryland of the Inter
national Fedora ton of Catholic Alumni
los East Lafayette avenue.
Mrs. Belt was Miss Gwynn befor
her marriage, a member of prominen
old family # Prince Georges county
She went to Baltimore Is years ago.
About year after she went Their
she met with an accident in which he
hip was broken. and from that tim
forth she was nearly always confined t
her home, being able to move abou
only slowly and on clutches.
Besides Mrs. Edelen, Mrs. Belt ha
another sister living, Mrs. Benjemi
H. C. Bowie, of this neighborhooG.
The remains were brought here o
Tuesday morning and interment mad
in Mt. Carmel cemetery.