Our Town 100 Years Ago: August

The following is written as printed in the late August 1895 editions of the Whitehall Zephyr. The accompanying photo is an advertisement from the August edition.

PERSONAL CHAT – Rev. Warman left for Helena last Monday midnight to attend the Montana Methodist Episcopal conference, and will probably not return before next week. William Owsley's ponderous form was visible in town Tuesday morning. He went up the valley on the stage the same day. Ed Kenedy was down from Perry canyon recently, and when he drove back he looked prouder than a siwash with a new red blanket, for he had in tow two handsome new mountain wagons, bought from Fergus. W. M. Fergus, L. E. Morrow and F. Tidball were visitors to Butte Sunday last. Wonder if the Butte young ladies make the same mistake in the latter's name that those of Whitehall sometimes do, and frequently allude to him as Tidbit instead of Tidball.

A Nook in the Hills. A few days ago the mining reporter chanced to go out into the hills to view a prospective bonanza, and on the return trip had the good fortune to stop at the ranch of E. R. Stewart, a few miles south of Pipestone Springs. Here Mr. Stewart and his estimable wife have a hill-environed home, and blow whichever the wind may please and as hard as it may, they can set back and laugh at it, for it cannot reach them. A delightful little stream, hidden by trees, runs by their very door, while a little "patch" of land irrigated by it produces sufficient to keep the good people in peach and plenty. By the way, a considerable less than two acres of this nook in the hills produced nine tons of alfalfa this season.

ZEPHYRETTES: While earlier this season it was feared that it would be very light, the hay crop of the South Boulder and Summit Valley districts is turning out finely and will prove nearly if not quite so average crop.

Tom Fox had a narrow escape from hitting the trail for the happy hunting grounds a few nights since. A misunderstanding of some kind occurred between Tom and a troublesome character, following which the latter went out and secured an empty beer bottle; returning while Tom was stooping over in front of the refrigerator with his back turned the fellow hurled the bottle with all his might at Tom's head; he did not miss his mark by more than half an inch, and the great, deep dent it made in the refrigerator is conclusive proof that had the bottle hit the target at which it was aimed, Tom's toes would now have been pointing upward toward the prickly pears.

The Perry Canyon Sawmill company have three fours hauling lumber out for construction of preliminary buildings in the vicinity of the Parrot Smelter site. The boys have cut something like 100,000 feet, but from now on will be turning out from 250,000 to 300,000 feet of lumber per month. The product has been pronounced by first-class authorities to equal anything in that line that is made in Montana, if not, indeed, being greatly superior.

Jefferson Canyon Coal. The coal prospects in Jefferson canyon, which the Zephyr has alluded to upon several occasions, are likely to prove a prominent factor in the future prosperity of Whitehall. Mr. Dan Morrison, one of the owners, and under whose supervision development work is being pushed, informed the Zephyr a few days since that the shaft was then 125 feet in depth, and if there was any change it was for the better. This is quite encouraging, for, as announced in previous issues, the quality is unsurpassed in Montana.

The following 1921 news items are rewritten from notes taken by Roy Milligan Sr. from the Jefferson Valley News August editions.

The hot summer had better come to an end soon. The Whitehall Bakery has run out of ice and must close the ice cream section of their store.

The drive to Three Forks just went back to being a long journey. The new road through Cottonwood Canyon was washed out by that last cloudburst. Repairs will be completed as soon as possible.

The young men who are working their way through school have been very busy this summer getting more than 1000 boxes made for the fall apple harvest. You can buy them from the Manual Training Department at the High School either knocked down or already assembled. The assembled boxes are 28 cents each and if you want to save a couple of pennies, the ones you assemble cost 25 cents. They also made 125 for the Waterloo Cheese Factory. In other school news, 33 students have been attending summer school to help prepare them for the requirements of high school. Many of these students had to miss classes to help out on the family farm or ranch.

Mrs. J. R. Baird is chairing the collection effort for the upcoming September 1st Montana Bundle Day. Please bring in your good quality clothing on September 1st so bundles can be made up and sent to needy people in the near east.

Thanks to the quick action by an unidentified young man, Mrs. Sherman was saved from an early death when she realized her ability to swim did not match conditions at Pipestone Springs. Mrs. Sherman would like to find out who the young man was so she can properly thank him for his courageous act of kindness.

There are several deaths to report this month. Nye Manchester, about 60 years of age, died after being at Warm Springs for about 6 years. There are plans to re-locate his body to the Whitehall cemetery. Mr. Manchester came to the Whitehall area about 1895 and worked as a painter and paper hanger. James Tebay, a brother of William, has passed away in Hampton, Iowa. He lived in the Whitehall area about 1885. Also passing away recently is John R. Sullender. His wife, son John and daughter Eulah survive him. He was born in Cumberland County, Illinois on February 27, 1859. He and his wife Susan came to Whitehall in 1893. They farmed in the South Boulder and Waterloo areas and also resided near Parrott for a short time before once again making their home in Whitehall. He worked as a section foreman on the railroad for nearly 20 years. Hubert Cummings, our local young man who served his country as a Marine, will finally be laid to rest in the Whitehall Cemetery. He died in the Argonne Forest in France on November 6, 1918. He is the son of former Whitehall resident, Mrs. F. M. Dodge.