Serving Southern Jefferson County in the Great State of Montana

Our Town 100+ Years Ago - January, Part I

Our Town 100+ Years Ago - January, Part I: The final year to start with 18 began in January 1899. Headlines from outside of Montana mentioned postage for a letter to Canada was two cents per ounce; former Idaho U. S. Senator Dubois married Edna Maxfield Whited from South Dakota; Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated as governor of New York; and the sovereignty of Cuba was passed from Spain to the United States. Front page news in Montana included the sixth biennial session of the Montana legislature was in session; Butte recorded the first murder of the new year; a B.A. & P railroad switchman lost his life when run over by an ore train, and an engineer for the Northern Pacific was killed at the coal docks in Billings. There was positive news as well. 1898 had been a good year for Montana, with over $81,000,000 in principal products produced. This included 182,225 head of cattle shipped out of the state and 60,000 consumed in the state. Copper was a hot commodity with the demand growing as electricity consumption was expanding across the nation. Copper claims in the Tobacco Root mountains were looking promising. In the Jefferson Valley, local news had a milder tone. The following articles are taken as written from the January 6 and 13, 1899 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr. The photo is an advertisement from the same time.

THE HOME NEWS: Heavy snows east of Montana have seriously interfered with traffic on the Northern Pacific during the past week. Passenger trains on the main line have been running from two to eight hours late, with a bad rail and heavy wheeling to this state. The spell of all sorts of weather, which seemed to be spreading grip, pneumonia, and other dreaded things in its mildness, suddenly ceased last Friday morning, and the thermometer showed a temperature of 4 to 10 degrees below zero. Wednesday morning was almost a record-breaker for this winter because of the cold weather. The temperature settled down to 24 below zero-some thermometers showed even colder weather than that. The wind took a day off, and people stood the cold spell first rate.

Every year, cattle die in what is called the Bone Basin, just across the river near the Mayflower district, from a noxious weed, and so far, this paper has not been informed whether or not anyone knows to a certainty what the poison is. The theory is that the roots of the poisonous plant do the killing, as it only occurs when the ground is very wet, and stockmen say it is shown by the fact that horses are not affected by it.

M.E. Church South--The Rev. Clark will fill appointments as follows during each month of the present conference year: First Sabbath in each month: South Boulder 11 AM; Summit Valley, 4 PM. Second Sabbath: Willow Creek, at 11 AM and 7 PM. Third Sabbath: Waterloo, at 11 AM; Whitehall, 8 PM. Fourth Sabbath: Whitehall, 11 AM; Parrot, 7:30 PM. Cutler, Wilkinson & Co., leasers on the Sunlight, are loading a car of ore this week for shipment. They are becoming regular shippers. Dave Reinhart, superintendent of the operations of the Sunlight company

in the Mayflower district, went into Butte on Monday to order an engine and other machinery. The new hoist is being completed, and as soon as the engine and machinery are in place, the mining force will increase to twelve or fifteen men.

Herbert M. Lord, clerk of the committee on ways and means, who spent his congressional vacation serving as a paymaster in the Army, has returned from Manila and says the people out there think the song "There Will Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" is our national anthem.

SCHOOL NOTES. There was no school on Monday on account of a misunderstanding among the pupils. A large number of pupils have been absent from school due to the effects of bad colds and la grippe. The program for next Friday afternoon will be as follows: Songs by Ethel Hindman, Pearl Turney, and Pearl Root; readings by Martha Brooke, Tillie Needham, and Peter Fergus; recitations by Mary Dunlevey, Katie Welch, Arthur Deatley, Mary Hamilton, Laura Wisner, and Stella Deatley; oration, Luther Dobyns; essay, Sadie Welch.

Our Town 100 Years Ago - January, Part I: 1925 started as a good year for Whitehall, but there were history-making events around the world. Italy was in chaos after Benito Mussolini declared himself dictator and suppressed newspapers that were in opposition to him. The first-ever female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, was inaugurated in Wyoming. Al Capone survived an attempted assassination by the North Side Gang in Chicago. A British submarine with 43 men on board sunk in the English Channel after colliding with a Royal Navy battleship. Here in Whitehall, front-page news in the first two weeks of January 1925 focused on the great success of our WHS boys basketball team. The following news items are taken as written from the January 1 and 8, 1925 editions of the Jefferson Valley News.

POPULAR WHITEHALL MAN TAKES BOZEMAN BRIDE – Merrill K. Luther, agricultural instructor in the Whitehall High School and one of our city's most popular young men, and Miss Irma Bigelow were united in marriage at the First Presbyterian church in Bozeman at high noon on Friday, December 27. The happy couple arrived in Whitehall Sunday evening and are now comfortably domiciled in the Justus bungalow on Church street, which had previously been prepared by the groom for his bride.

WHITEHALL BASKETEERS WIN OVERTIME BATTLE – Defeat Butte State Champs in Terrific Encounter, 17 to 15. Whitehall Wins in Fourth Extra. Two years ago these two teams shattered a state record for low score in basketball, when Butte won by a count of 5 to 3. This time, however, Whitehall was on the other end of the count and won 17 to 15. The game was scheduled to take place on Friday evening, but because of the roads being almost impassable because of drifted snow on the Cedar hill, the Butte quintet was delayed until nearly 10 o'clock and accordingly the battle was postponed until the following night.

NEWS ABOUT TOWN – The recent high winds did considerable damage to the power line and Sherm Shrauger with the help of Frank Daem and Chas,. Morris is quite busy these days. Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Wyne came down from the Pipestone dam to spend Christmas day with their son Frank and family. They returned the following day, sleeping at Spire Rock the night previous, then making the six-mile trip through the mountains in below zero weather on foot. The Whitehall Meat Company shipped in a quarter of buffalo meat during the holiday season, which afforded their many customers a treat at 40-cents per pound, while the Butte markets were retailing same kind of meat at six bits. The barn on the T. K. Toothaker ranch, southwest of town, was destroyed by fire on Monday of last week. The loss was partly covered by insurance. The origin of the conflagration is unknown.

SCHOOL NOTES: Second Grade - Kathryn Spetz, Reporter: We made Eskimo booklets during our language period yesterday. Marguerite told us a very interesting story yesterday entitled “How my Grandmother Crossed the Plains to Montana.” Fourth Grade - Isabel Houghton, Reporter: Arthur Salvagni spent last week in Belgrade. Roy Kitson, Peter Capp, and Isabel Houghton were absent the first of the week on account of illness. Fifth and Sixth Grades - Elliot Barkell, Reporter: Gereldine Wolf has moved to the coast. Yesterday our room took down all the Christmas decorations. Some of the boys in our room helped the grade school boys chivari Mr. and Mrs. Luther last Tuesday, and we want to thank them for the big treat they gave us. Three cheers for the Luthers!

THOUGHTS BY THE EDITOR – Razzing by Radio: A lot of bunk is being broadcasted from radio stations these days, such as the proceeding of criminal trials, political claptrap, canned and spoiled music, and alleged wisdom from obscure specialists. Farmers are great radio fans in many sections of the country. "Razzing" them by radio is now almost as interesting a game as buncoing them with old-time stump speed full of political promises. It is pleasant to reflect that there is a number of radio stations Not Guilty of these practices.

The Way of the World: The editor goes on week after week boosting the town and community and advocating the doctrine of trading at home. The local businessman pats the editor on the back and says that's the right idea; tell it to 'em. He then refuses to help support the paper with his advertising and calmly sends an order to an out-of-town print shop for a supply of stationery. Funny world, isn't it?

 

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