Our Town 125 and 100 Years Ago...

July, Part I: 125 YEARS AGO

Headlines in the July 2 and 9, 1897 Jefferson Valley Zephyr were gruesome. A Shapeless Mass-Richard Vine Crushed by the Wheels of a Car After a Night at Columbia Gardens; A Domestic in the Home of a Well-Known Minister Mysteriously Disappears; Had Yellow Fever-A Veiled Lady Spreads Death Among the Crew and Passengers of a Pacific Liner; Without Warning-A. H. Porter of Phillipsburg Killed by the Contents of the Revolver of Harry Cohn; and Disgusting Scene-Citizens of Minot Treated to a Carnival of Blood by Half a Hundred Hoboes. Fortunately, the news from Whitehall and the Jefferson Valley was considerably more mundane. The following articles are taken as written from the July 2 and 9, 1897 editions of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr.

GAYLORD NEWS: While returning from Whitehall last Friday the team which Miss Owsley was driving became frightened at the engine which was switching just across the bridge and jumped into the ditch tipping the occupants out. When the young ladies emerged from the mud they did not look as clean and trim as they usually do. It may not be generally known that the stack at the Gaylord smelter plant is the largest in the world at its base, as well as in diameter at the top. It is 200 feet six and one-half inches high. The foundation base is 47 feet square and required 130 cars of stone. There are 1,500,000 bricks in the stack and it is 22 feet in diameter at the top.

HOME NEWS: Tuttleville is booming. Two fine brick houses are soon to be erected by H. Jordan and H. Tuttle. It is one of the prettiest tracts of land in this vicinity and a pleasant place in which to establish a home. George Clark took a header from his wheel on Monday evening and sustained a fracture of the collar bone. The injury was identical to that received by Ray Andrews in a similar accident several weeks ago. A. J. McKay started for Norris on Wednesday morning on his wheel. After his departure there were all sorts of bets among his friends, the favorite plan being to wager that he would not make the round trip on the bike. J.O. Wallgreen of Cold Springs was among the Monday visitors to Whitehall. He says the ranges were never in better condition and the stockmen in the North Boulder country are naturally feeling encouraged by the outlook. Engine 442 burst a flue just as the train from the east entered Whitehall on Saturday morning and Engineer Haskins and the hog hauled the passenger into Butte. D.A. Morrison was in town on his usual Sunday visit, and reports work at the Spur as moving along as well as at any time in the history of the company. There is a constant and growing demand for the lime and flux output of the Lime Spur quarry and kiln. The social and supper at the M.E. church on Wednesday evening was thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance. In fact, the young ladies and gentlemen present were having such a good time that they came near forgetting to go home at a timely hour. The refreshments served were of the best, and $22 was realized by the Ladies Aid Society. A fellow named Kelly, who lived on money given him by the inmate of a house of ill fame, became obstreperous on Monday evening and gave his girl a terrible beating. He went to Dottie's place, where the girl stopped, armed with a large piece of beef bone, and going to her room beat her almost to insensibility. The fellow Kelly was ordered to leave town and skipped out. Services at the band hall last Sunday evening were unavoidably omitted owing to the spontaneous and entirely unexpected departure to parts unknown of the fiery untamed steed of the Rev. Mr. Parish.

July, Part I: 100 YEARS AGO

Headlines in July 1923 were no less dramatic than back in the 1890s. The town of Shelby, Montana was bankrupted from staging a heavyweight boxing match between Jack Dempsey and Tommy Gibbons; Canada passed the Chinese Immigration Act to keep Chinese immigrants from moving to the country; a train accident in Romania killed 63 people; President Harding became the first president to visit the future U. S. state of Alaska; the 13-month-long civil war in Paraguay ended on July 10th; Harry Frazee sold the Boston Red Sox for a tidy sum of $1.25 million; and French socialite, Marguerite Alibert, shot and killed her Egyptian husband in their London's Savoy Hotel suite. She had an affair during World War One with the Prince of Wales and would be acquitted of murder later that year.

Whitehall and headlines across the state were focused on the Renova murder from late June. President Harding made a stop in Helena with plenty of Whitehall residents making the trip to participate in this historic event and of course, there was a grand celebration on the 4th of July. The following articles are created from notes made by Roy Millegan, Sr. from the July 5, 1923 edition of the Jefferson Valley News.

The tragic murder of Al Johnson at his business in Renova just days ago had residents on edge until the announcement came that Arthur Hughes and Roy Walsh were captured. Both have been charged with first-degree murder. When the killers were moved from the Boulder County jail to Butte for confinement, it was reported that Walsh had a pipe tied to his trousers that had been torn from the sink in his cell. Mr. Hughes made a terrible mistake in taking up a life of crime with the born criminal Walsh. It is likely that the only way to put an end to Walsh's career of crime is the noose. The upcoming trial will determine if justice is served. Mr. Johnson's daughter, Mrs. Ethel Green, is in town from Elko, Nevada to handle her deceased father's affairs.

Louis Lepp has won the contract to build a concrete bridge in the town of Basin. His reputation as a concrete man has spread since the successful concrete paving of Legion and Division streets. Mrs. Louis Lepp and her son Russel joined Mrs. Nellie McFadden and her son Lauchlin for an enjoyable Sunday at the ranch of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Collings.

Mrs. Ike Pace was among the welcoming committee for President Harding in Helena. Her impression of the president will be forthcoming in a future article. Mrs. Pace was one of the first two women to register to vote in our county and she has been very active politically in the years since.

Arthur Needham II did an outstanding job of directing our Fourth of July celebration. Hundreds turned out for the community picnic on the corner of First and Main and enjoyed their free lunch under the bower of shady pine boughs. Just after 1 PM, our community band gave one of their finest concerts, and M. K. Luther, accompanied by Mrs. Pace on piano, led the residents in a rousing round of patriotic singing. The baseball game was handily won 17 to 7 over Piedmont and the dance after the fireworks continued until the wee hours of the next day's morning.

In other local social news, the Fuller Brush Man is making the rounds in towns if you need what he sells; the town has approved Thomas Greene to paint the Tourist Park buildings, the cost to be $21.65 for paint. In total, it will cost $525.00 for labor, plumbing, etc. to finish the buildings. Note that we have a new police judge. Mr. W. J. Alexander is known to many and should serve as a fine and fair judge during his term. Lieutenant E. C. Speck is to be commended on the fine job he is doing taking care of the fish fountain at the center of town. He has cleaned out the fountain and will catch more trout to be displayed therein.