Our Town 100+ Years Ago: January, Part II

Our Town 100+ Years Ago - January, Part II: Where to start with the headlines from the second half of January 1899? There was a lot going on. Daily voting was taking place to determine our next U. S. Senator and each day, Mr. Clark would gain a few more votes until he finally had enough to claim the seat. Gold and copper were the talk of Highland mining news. Shelby, Montana, made headlines for the murders of multiple sheepmen. From the 1889 flu epidemic in London came a report that effective treatment was hot lemonade. Thousands of Spanish

troops were still being shipped home from Cuba, and General Blanco "turned loose a detestable gang of thieves as his last hostile act." Called Nanigoes, they are described as "partly Spanish thieves and murderers, who were transported from Spain for Spain's good ... it would be difficult to find a worse or more dangerous combination of criminals." The main news stories for our valley are a little easier to summarize. All the articles are from the January 20 and 27, 1899 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr.

ERNEST POWELL, OF THE MONTANA REGIMENT, WRITES INTERESTINGLY OF MANILA. Manila, Philippine Islands, Dec. 6, 1898-On the first of the month, the transport Indiana dropped her anchor in the muddy bay with a lot more soldiers who would soon be with us and wishing they had never come. With all the new troops coming, I think we will stay in the Philippine Islands and sweat a while longer. The different regiments are going to make the sick soldiers in the hospitals happy on Christmas day. The fund amounts to $2,664 in hard cash, so the sick will be remembered and also all soldiers in the regiment. Nearly all the boys are broke and there are five long weeks before we get any more Denaro. I ran across our friend Walt Alkire. He is with the Idaho regiment and looks as though the country agrees with him. Jerome Mayland of Parrot is getting fat. There are four native theatres here running full blast and patronized by the boys. There is some fine music but the acting is rank. Our band is getting to play fine, and when we get home, the Montana boys will not be ashamed of it, but the buglers or wind jammers are a fright and make life miserable.

THE HOME NEWS: A. J. McKay was in Twin Bridges Saturday and brought word that the well-known Scotch Presbyterian Deacon Murdock McIntyre has raised a full beard and is preparing to get married. The harvesting of the ice crop has commenced, and the product is said to be the finest in years. The way the temperature hung around the ice crop figure for a week or ten days indicated that the weather man had been bribed by those who needed ice.

Mrs. Harrison Jordan and Mrs. D. W. Tuttle, of Tuttleville, have both been ill with the prevailing grip but are recovering. A chinook is cleaning the snow off the Tobacco Root range. A falling rock struck Joe Lewis on the shoulder Saturday at the Mayflower mine, and he has been in Whitehall this week getting repaired. On Saturday last a deal was closed whereby L. D. Tinsley becomes the owner of the Mayflower-Whitehall stage line, the transfer taking place on the first of February. The schedule of the line will be the same as at present.

Tuesday, there was a good deal of promiscuous gun shooting around town, and as a result, John C. Black was arrested on a charge of disturbing the peace and, on Wednesday, was fined before Justice Less. He went to jail in Boulder to serve his fine rather than pay it. The amount was $15. Saturday night's high wind blew down Whitehall's liberty pole, from which the stars and stripes floated to the vigorous breeze during the late war with Spain. It was quite rotten at the base. Major Brooke, who takes a very deep interest in the senatorial contest, started for Helena Saturday evening on horseback. The Major would hardly think of any other mode of travel, and although eighty years of age, says he feels more at home upon the hurricane deck of a good Montana horse than he would in any sort of a vehicle.

Our Town 100 Years Ago - January, Part II: The second half of January 1925 was a cold one if you were living in New Hampshire or Maine when temperatures hit new lows at -46 and -48 degrees F. 90 people, which included a Seattle Police Department lieutenant, were indicted in Washington state for smuggling alcoholic beverages into the U. S. from Canada. Local headlines focused on the great basketball season our WHS boys were having, what Whitehall was like 28 years ago, and a large farmer's short course held in town. The following articles are taken as written from the January 15, 22, and 29, 1925 editions of the Jefferson Valley News. The ads appeared in the January 22, 1925 edition.

FARMERS' SHORT COURSE OPENS NEXT WEDNESDAY – A feature of unusual interest will be held on the first night of the Farmers' Short Course under the direction of J. Floyd Ghormley of Butte, community song leader, storyteller, and comic entertainer who puts on a varied program guaranteed to please young and old. The last night of the Farmers' Short Course will be given over to the Old Timers' Dance as has been the custom at all previous short courses held here before. Coffee will be served free. No cups or spoons can be had at the dance hall coffee booth, so come prepared. People attending the dance should bring their lunch! None will be served at the high school. Boys and girls not attending high

school or of high school age will not be allowed in the building.

BETTER BABY CONTEST – Mothers of Whitehall and other portions of Jefferson County had a thrill last week when the Better Baby contest was staged here in connection with the agricultural short course. In one class the judges were unable to make an award, so they gave two first prizes, as shown in the schedule of awards: Boys to 12 months – 1. Jack McGlynn, 8 months; 2. James Mountjoy, 11 months; 3. Donald Johnson, 9 months. Girls up to 12 months-1. Betty Wayne; 2. Dorthy White, 6 months; 3. Betty Richardson, 7 months. Boys 12 to 14 months-Wm. Clawson. Girls 12 to 24 months-1. Lois Gregson, 20 months; 2. Marvel Houx, 13 months; 3. Rita Quinn, 13 months. Boys 24 to 72 months-1. Philip

Kountz, 27 months; 2. James Woodard, 41 months; 3. Geo. Hemmund, 36 months. Girls 24 to 72 Months-1. Margaret Kountz, 43 months, and Joan Kountz, 48 months; 2. Jewel Ruth Kyle, 36 months.

WHITEHALL WINS THREE OF FOUR GAMES ON TOUR – On Wednesday last week the Whitehall High School basketball team departed for a four-game tour. The players making the trip under the supervision of Coach Bierum were Rafferty, Bryan, and Manlove, forwards; Woolverton center; and Murphy, Painter, and White, guards. Whitehall 12, Bozeman 22; Whitehall 18, Three Forks 15; Whitehall 43, Townsend 18; Whitehall 19, Boulder 14. Our girls' team also played at Boulder the same evening and carried off the honors on the long end of an 11 to 7 score. After the games the Boulder players served a nice lunch to our teams and showed our students a good time. Then followed a dance, and after, the tired but happy crowd started the long trip through the snow via the valley route homeward bound.

Editor Comments: Probably the easiest way to avoid "explanations" during the next campaign will be for some members of the legislature to lend a more attentive ear to the program outlined by the women of Montana. The ladies seem to be in dead earnest.

Those Montanans who escaped to California for the winter will be interested in knowing that, with the exception of a brief "spell," they might have found a more attractive climate at home.