Obituary of Albert Manning, January 24, 1952 Alder, Madison, MT USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. "List transcribed and organized by Linda Manning , Jupep@aol.com All rights reserved." Copyright, 1998 by Linda Manning. This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved. Obituary of Albert Manning, January 24, 1952 Alder, Madison, MT ------------------------------------------ 2 Alder Men Die in Blaze Fire believed caused by a faulty oil stove, claimed the lives of two aged Alder men Thursday morning and destroyed the inside of the trailer house in which they were sleeping. Volunteer firemen quenched the flames before they had burned through to the outside of the structure. Albert Manning, 68, a resident of Alder and Sheridan for 43 years, and Otto Roeber,69, a farm hand and general laborer, were believed to have suffocated in the trailer house before the flames had gotten well under way. Rescuers, after the flames had been beaten back, found the body of Roeber at the door of the shack and surmised that he had been overcome while trying to open the door. The body of Manning was on a bed and showed no signs that he had tried to arise. Relatives said that Manning had a severe heart condition and might have been dead before the fire started. The blaze was discovered by James Miller, a school bus driver, as he delivered a bus load of children to the Alder school a short distance from the trailer house. He saw smoke coming from the structure and turned in a fire alarm. First to arrive at the scene was ManningŐs son, Donald, and Paul Blaseg. They said that within a few minutes half the population of Alder was on hand to help fight the blaze. The truck of the volunteer fire department failed to start and the fire was controlled by a bucket brigade which brought water from a stream near the house. The blaze was out within a few minutes. Alder residents said the trailer house had caught fire Wednesday from a leak in the oil stove but the fire was put out immediately. County Coroner, Charley Raper, who investigated, said the appearance of the inside of the house indicated the blaze had started at the stove. The inside of the house was badly charred. Roeber, who has no family here, had been living alone in the trailer house, which had been taken from itŐs undercarriage and set on the ground for the winter. Mr. Manning, who lives near the center of Alder, had gone to RoeberŐs shack Wednesday night to visit. The two were friends of long standing. It was believed they were still in bed when the fire broke out. Mr. Manning was born in Wellsville, Mo., May 7 1883. He came to the Ruby Valley in 1908 and for years worked as a section foreman on the Northern Pacific branch line in this area. He retired a few years ago because of his health. He is survived by his widow in Alder; a daughter, Ruth Barker of Los Angeles; four sons, Raymond of Twin Bridges, Donald of Alder, Edward of Billings and Henry of Three Forks; thirteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren. Another son, Harry, died in 1914 at the age of 2. The body is at the Marsh funeral home in Sheridan and funeral arrangements are pending word from the daughter in California. Mr. Roeber had been employed at various ranches and jobs in this vicinity for about 20 years. Little is known locally of his life previous to his coming here. He was formerly of South Dakota and it is known that he has three brothers and a sister in that state. The body is at the Raper funeral home in Virginia City and Coroner Raper is attempting to contact relatives. Note: Albert MANNING was my grandfather Linda Manning Jupep@aol.com