Our Town 125 and 100 Years Ago: February Part II

The second half of February 1897 had plenty of news events. National headlines in Whitehall's Jefferson Valley Zephyr included turmoil in the senate and a bill in the house to appropriate money for the armor plating of war vessels; a lavish inauguration was being planned for McKinley; a bank failure in Idaho hit close to home; and proclamations made by President Cleveland set aside seven areas of land referred to as forest reservations including areas in the Flathead, Lewis and Clark forest, and the Bitter Root. Here in our valley, the focus was closer to home. The following articles are taken from the February 19 and 27, 1897 editions of the Zephyr.

Home News. The poor Dakotas were hit by another snow storm and there was no through train on Sunday or Monday and the local ran light both days. The commonwealth of North Dakota seems to have a corner on the blizzard business this winter. Long may she have it-we don't want it here. I will have first-class seed peas for sale in any lots desired, on March –1. Edwin Cooley, South Boulder. Edwin Cooley, the well-known South Boulder citizen, is building a residence on First street and will make Whitehall his home. He has two or three acres of land in his town plat and will put in a poultry yard. He has contracted all the eggs he can raise for the next year. A dance is announced at Silver Star under the auspices of the Silver Star dancing club for this evening (Feb. 19.) The Goodell band is to be in attendance.

Alexander J. McKay is holding an "international conference" with the businessmen of Pony, Norris, et al. this week. The Northern Pacific has a pile driving crew on the Gaylord bridge, putting in a new span and fixing up the bridge generally. The consolidation of Mystic Tie Lodge No. 47 with Silver Star Lodge No. 17 has been arranged and the formal ceremonies will occur on March 9th. This will give the Masons a large lodge here. It is certain that some of the grand lodge officers will be in attendance at the consolidation, but it has not been arranged yet who will come.

Valuation for Taxation on Farm Lands and Whitehall Property. That first-class grain lands be appraised at $10 per acre. That grazing lands unfenced be appraised at $1.50 to $3.00 per acre. That timberland suitable for saw logs is appraised at $10 per acre. That all other lands be appraised at $3.50 to $5 per acre. That Northern Pacific Railway lands be appraised at $1 per acre.

Several gentlemen of apparent leisure, for whom Butte has become too warm, have arrived in Whitehall during the past week. The temperature may increase here if they remain.

By the second half of February 1923, politics, fires, discovery, and technological advancements filled the news. Charles Forbes, Director of the U. S. Veterans' Bureau resigned at the request of President Harding after being suspected of selling surplus supplies at very low prices to contractors in exchange for kickbacks. A fire on the fourth floor of the Manhattan State Hospital for the Insane, the largest psychiatric hospital in the world at the time, killed three attendants and 24 patients and in Kansas City, Missouri, 13 people died in a fast-moving fire in an 18-unit apartment building. From the time of sounding the alarm to the destruction of the building, only 15 minutes elapsed. The inner chamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun was opened after being sealed for 32 centuries and the first landing on what would become known as an aircraft carrier was made on the Imperial Japanese Navy carrier Hōshō. Perhaps the weather here in the Jefferson Valley was keeping things a little more subdued. The following items are rewritten from notes made by Roy Millegan, Sr. from February 15, 22, and March 1 editions of the Jefferson Valley News. The photo is of the Liberty Café in 1923, operated by Adele Flaherty.

With the temperature dropping to 36 degrees below zero, at least 100 masked dancers, and probably that many who did not dance, warmed up by attending the Firemen's Ball. Postmaster Johnson has resigned which means the end of the Renova Post Office. The 50 or so people who have been collecting their mail at Renova will now be served by the new rural delivery route.

Basketball fans will not have too far to travel this weekend for the tournament since it is being held in Twin Bridges. Mr. Toothaker is back in town after spending time in Kansas City selling Ford motor cars for Tony Bertoglio.

There are unfortunately three deaths to report this week. Mrs. James Mullen from North Boulder has passed away. She and her husband James have lived in the area for 18 years. She is survived by her husband and their three children, ages 2, 4, and 7. Franklin Willard Harbison, the son of Mr. and Mrs. George Harbison, has died at the Naval Hospital in San Diego, California. He was born in Twin Bridges in December 1901. Franklin enlisted in the Navy on March 7, 1919. He married Helen Moran just two months ago on December 20, 1922. Internment will be at the Fish Creek Cemetery. Also passing away suddenly is Minnie May, wife of John May. She was born in Dubuque, Iowa, and married John in Butte on July 4, 1905. They spent four years in Butte before moving to their homestead on the Parrot Bench. While on the bench, they lost five children, two sets of twin boys and a boy, and have three surviving children: Bernard, 12; Mary, 11, and Leonard, 4.

Bud Harbour had a bumper crop of spuds over on the Pipestone bench but the money he did not receive makes one wonder why plant next spring. He just sold 414 sacks weighing 42,820 pounds for $448.14 but had to pay $350.70 for freight and $67.48 for other expenses. In the end, poor old farmer Harbour had to pull an extra $13.31 out of his own pocket instead of putting any in. The railroad is the new highwayman of the 20th century with their rates to ship averaging 80 percent of the value of that being shipped. Being railroaded is all too familiar to Mr. Harbour.