Our Town 100+ Years Ago... March 1900

Change a few names, a date, and headlines from 1900, and they could be reused today. War, political discord, well-known people dying, and someone wrongfully charged with a crime. All of these were topics on the front pages of the Jefferson Valley Zephyr back in March 1900. All of the following articles are taken as written from those March issues, with some editing for length.

A summary of some front-page headlines: Colorado Politicians Now See "Where They are At," and Party Lines are Again Drawn. Friends of Indiana Boy Believe Him to Be the Victim of Montana Persecution. New Mexico Filled With a Desire to be Admitted to the Union of States. It Rests Upon Dr. E.S. Kellogg, but He is Known to be a Slippery Customer. Gen. Wheeler's Resignation Held Up in a Way that Makes Honest Politicians Tired. And then there were several that needed a little of the story behind the headline.

HE MUST BE SAVED: Joseph C. Hurst, a young man, is under sentence to be hanged at Glendive, Mont., for the murder of Sheriff Dominick Cavanaugh. Many people who are familiar with all the facts of the case, and they include prominent citizens in different parts of the state and several officials, declare that young Hurst is innocent of the crime of which he was convicted; that the evidence presented at the trial against him not only failed to prove his guilt but should have established his innocence beyond question. On the jury that convicted him was a brother-in-law of the murdered man, and another was a brother of the prosecution's two most ardent and active witnesses and enemies of the defendant.

NOISY OLD GIRLS: Daughters of the Revolution, the Height of Swelldom, Act Like a Lot of Rowdies. Almost every woman on the floor, and there were several hundred, engaged in the debate on the admission of a certain lady, while the spectators in the galleries got so excited and took so much interest in the question that they participated on equal terms and shouted encouragement and disapproval with a vigor that would have done credit to a peanut gallery full of newsboys.

SHARP COMPARISON OF WAR LOSSES: Since the commencement of the war between Great Britain and the Transvaal, the latter government has seized in the neighborhood of $5,000,000 in gold shipped from the South African mines to Cape Town, enroute to Europe. Protests at the seizure of gold have been submitted to the English government, and an effort is being made to hold it responsible for the loss.

Zephyr Editor Thoughts: Enough republican congressmen have dodged the whip to defeat the scheme to tax the trade between the United States and Porto Rico. There are only twenty republicans in the House who have sand enough to denounce the scheme.

The position that some congressmen find themselves in with relation to the tariff jugglery is encouraging. The republican Chicago Record says that many congressmen have rushed home to "explain their votes to their irate constituents, and all of them are liable to lose their votes on account of the inexcusable blunder."

The state convention of the Prohibition Party will be held in Bozeman on Friday, March 30. It is probable that President McKinley will be severely scored by the delegates and speakers at the convention. The party throughout the nation is going to renew the strife against the allowance of liquor in barracks or forts or governmental offices of any kind, but especially in army circles.

HOME NEWS: James Williamson has assumed that spring is here to stay by having his house painted and improved. The No. 507, which went into the ditch at the time Fireman Robert Hickman was killed near Parrot, came over the line this week, shining like a fairy. Agent Rowland of Twin Bridges was a visitor in Virginia City last week, where he rode the goat in some of the mystic orders in which the Madison capital revels. Of course, he had a good time.

Plans for the commencement of work on the new McKay & Carmichael building are maturing. Part of the lumber is on the ground, the basement and foundation are nearly completed by Jake Heinzesman, and most of the bricks have been delivered to the site by Dick Common. The building is planned to be completed by June 1. (Note: this is the building where Tona's Treasurers is today.) John Deeny, of Merrill, this week purchased some 250 head of cattle from James DeFrance, and on Tuesday afternoon, the stock was shipped to Columbus, Montana. The price paid is reported to average $28 per head, and is an indication of the price cattle have reached. Beef cattle seem to be scarce at this time, too.

The baseball boys announce that they will give a grand ball at the Band Hall on Friday, the 16th of March.

The giddy whirl is supposed to have stopped on Wednesday of this week, when Lent was ushered in.

Easter Sunday will arrive on April 15th.

The father of his country, though gone for many a year, was not forgotten by the youth of Whitehall in 1900. Exercises were held by the school children in his honor on Friday afternoon. J.W. Sacry was in Whitehall on Monday from the Sacry ranch. He said that just across the river from his house, on the Jefferson County side, was a district that, with development, would become one of the best copper mining camps in the state. He says that a property which has been opened up by Jap Bricker is looking very well and that there will certainly be some copper mines developed in that vicinity.

John Flaherty of Cold Springs transacted business in Whitehall on Wednesday. He reports only six inches of snow in his part of the county, with stockmen praying for more. Teamsters report an immense amount of snow on the Boulder range. Persons coming from Boulder to Whitehall this week were obliged to stop and shovel their teams out several times during the first part of the journey.

Ensign Starger of the Salvation Army gave a stereopticon entertainment at the M.E. Church on Monday evening. The pictures were not the best in the world in point of clearness but the admission price was low, the proceeds went to a worthy cause, and none of the numerous auditors registered any serious kick.

Horses for Sale: Sixty to 100 head of good range horses at $10 per head. E. G. Brooke, Whitehall.

The large force of gentlemen who conduct the affairs of the Northern Pacific station is just at present taking lessons on a brand new typewriter which came in Sunday from Butte. The Montana Electric company are agents for the machine, which is a Densmore. It will not be surprising if the reports from Whitehall station are not the prettiest on the line. The Densmores ' record is 189 words a minute at this time.

Summit Valley: A blizzard struck this section of Montana last Saturday, causing the boys to dig up the old fur overcoats and your correspondent to stay close to the stove with a consequent scarcity of items this week. George Franks is the happy possessor of a beautiful thoroughbred Hereford calf, having parted with a hundred-dollar note in the purchase of the same.

Of Local Interest. After twenty years of married life, John Wisner took it into his head to desert and abandon his wife, Rosa Wisner. Exactly 20 years after the marriage, namely, on Feb. 16, 1899, while they were living at Whitehall, the husband, it is claimed, deserted and abandoned her and refused to contribute any longer to the support of his wife and children.