Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news. [volume], March 06, 1935, Image 1

About Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1931-1936

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OFFICIAL PAPER OP THE CITY OF RED LODGE
RED LODGE DAILY NEWS
VOL. 2. NO. 139
CARiBON COUNTY NEWS
VOL. XIL NQ. 1
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RED LODGE, CARBON COUNTY, MONTANA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 1935
NORTHERN PACIFIC SHUNS LAW
FREIGHT AND PASSENGER UNIT
Arrest of Driver Causes
Rail Heads to Obtain
Restraining Order
The Northern Pacific Railway
company and its subsidiary, the
Northern Pacific Transport com
pany, encountered unforeseen dif
ficulties in inaugurating motorized
freight and passenger service be
tween this city and Billings during
the week and, in making the
change from rail to highway,
caused discomfort and uncertainty
among patrons of the Red Lodge
branch as regards transportation
facilities.
A long-fought issue between the
railroad interests and the city of
Red Lodge, which is aligned 100
per cent against any change in its
transportation service, the fight
reached arK open stage Friday
when the railroad, in a clumsy and
crude attempt and in defiance of
the state law which provides that
bus and freight lines operating on
highways be first licensed by the
Montana Railroad commission, in
augurated the motorized service.
Informed that the state railroad
and public service commissioners
late Thursday had reversed a deci
sion made by the former railroad
and public service board on Decem
ber 31 granting the Northern Pa
cific application for a certificate
to operate on the Red Lodge run
and that no M. R. C. permit had
been issued to the railroad, the city
opposition Friday issued "John
Doe" complaints and warrants of
arrest for both the drivers of the
transport truck and the passenger
bus.
The complaints charged opera
tion of vehicles for purposes of
hauling freight and passengers
DRIVER OF TRUCK
HERE
Arrested Here for Driving
Vehicle Without Proper
License Plates
Guy Gowdy, driver of a freight
truck belonging to a Billings con
cern, was placed under arrest here
early Friday on a complaint issued
by County Attorney E. P. Conwell
charging Gowdy with a misde
meanor in that his 'truck was not
equipped with the proper license
plates as provided by state law.
Late Friday afternoon, Gowdy
was arraigned before Justice of
the Peace John Sanderson, qpter
ing a plea of not guilty to the
charges. His bond was fixed at
$25 and a* hearing of his case set
here for Saturday, March 9.
The driver toid authorities that
' he was in the employ of Bruce
Cook, operator of the Montana
Transport company at Billings.
The Red Lodge trip' was his initial
one for the firm, he said. Gowdy's
bond was furnished through
Grover Cisel, attorney for the Bil
lings concern, by T. F. Pollard
I here.
Gowdy's truck transported a
load of paint from a Billings
warehouse to the Plunkett Hard
ware company in Red Lodge, it
was brought out.
It was understood, also, that the
truck was operating without a
■> Montana Railroad commission cer
tificate to operate on the Red
Lodge highway. Whether Gowdy
will also face this additional charge
at his hearing« Saturday was a
matter yet to be -determined by lo
cal authorities.
In causing the arrest of the Bil
lings trucker, County Attorney
Conwell made it clear that motor
transports not properly equipped
with state license plates and M. R.
C. permits would not be tolerated
in Carbon and that violators can
expect heavy fines and, if necess
ary, jail sentences for such in
fractions of the , state law in this
H area. •
PAYS FINE
Guy Gowdy, Billings truck driv
er, who Saturday plead not guilty
to a charge of operating a truck
without proper license plates,
changed his plea to guilty before
I Justice of the Peace John Sander
son here Wednesday and paid a
i ■ fine of $10.
without authorization of the Mon
tana railroad and public service
commission and were issued by
County Attorney E. P. Conwell,
after being informed by telephone
early Friday by the commissioners
at Helena that the railroad was
without authorization of that body
to operate motorized service on the
Red Lodge branch. The papers
bore the signature of O. H. P.
Shelley, editor of The News and
leader in the fight to maintain
railroad service for this city, as
plaintiff.
Despite" the fact that a state
law was being violated, the trans
port company dispatched both a!
freight truck and a passenger bus
for Red Lodge. Several hundred
citizens of Red Lodge, aroused by
this action of the railroad, gather
ed on the streets of the city as the
time for arrival of the vehicles
here approached.
Shortly after noon, a new 10-ton
semi-trailer truck of the Northern
Pacific put in an appearance here
with a load of freight and express.
The vehicle, backed up to the plat
form of the local depot, was un
loaded and shortly after, F. R.
Meehan, the driver, was arrested
by Undersheriff W. H. Moore, Jr.,
on the complaint issued here.
Meehan was in the custody of
Sheriff J. R, McFate until 3 p, m.
Friday when he was arraigned be
fore Justice of the Peace John
Sanderson on the charges. Repre
sented by Claude A. Johnson, lo
cal attorney for the railroad, Mee
han entered a plea of not guilty.
On recommendation of County At
torney Conwell his bond was fixed
at $500 and a hearing of his case
set here for March 9 at 10 a. m..
A cash bond was furnished and his
release followed.
The bus failed to put in an ap
;
pearance here on scheduled time,
a condition that now^pre^ails here
daily since the highway service
has been in operation. On its ini
tial run, the passenger unit devel
oped mechanical trouble near
Mossmain, soon after leaving Bil
lings Friday.
The vehicle bore passengers and
mail for the Red Lodge branch.
Passengers were transferred from
the crippled bus to a combination
coach? attached to a mixed train
being run to Red Lodge. Mail,
however, that was destined for this
city and towns en route, was left
with the bus, in spite of the post
office department's policy that
mail should foe given first consid
eration at all costs by those in
charge of its delivery.
(Continued on Page 8)
N. P. "BUST^ SCHEDULE
"Service with a snarl" was
the policy of the Northern Pa
cific Transport company with
the inauguration of its motor
bus and truck schedule between
Red Lodge and Billings during
the week.
What with drivers disgruntled
over the frequent breakdowns
of equipment and falling way
behind on schedules, those pat
ronizing the motor transport
were given an extraordinary
brand of "service".
The schedule, as announced
by the Northern Pacific, calls
for busses to leave Billings at
8:30 a, m. daily, with arrival at
Red Lodge at 10:30 a. m. So
far, here's how the schedule has
worked out;
Friday, on its initial run, the
bus broke down at Mossmain
just after leaving Billings. It
finally arrived here at 2:40 p.
m., delaying local mail, which is
ordinarily distributed here fay
noon daily, until that time.
Saturday no bus put in an ap
pearance here (N. P. officials
were busy pondering a solution
as to how they could continue
to break the state law without
being disturbed by law enforce-^
ment authorities).
Sunday the bus renewed the
schedule, got less than a block
away from the Billings termin
al, encountered mechanical
trouble and passengers had to
be transferred to the train for
transportation to Red Lodge.
Monday the highway mon
strosity pulled Into Bed Lodge
at 11:40 a. m. «ad Tuesday
broke all previous records by
limping in under the wire only
a little over a half hoar late.
RISKS OF BUS TRAVEL
Illustrative of the dangers to
be encountered by bus travel
are two recent reports of pas
senger-carrying vehicles oper
ated by the Northern Pacific
Transport company being burn
ed on highways of the state.
A few miles out of Glendive
Friday, a Northern Pacific bus,
making its initial trip, caught
fire and was completely de
stroyed by the flames. The
driver escaped injury, but con
siderable freight was lost in
the blaze.
Near Big Timber two weeks
ago a bus, borrowed for use on
a Northern Pacific run, broke
into flames while traveling the
highway, all inflammable parts
being^destroyed, after the ve
hicle slid into the ditch. Passen
gers and driver narrowly escap
ed serious'«injuries.
The above instances show that
busses not , only add to the al
ready manifold dangers of the
modern highway, but also place
considerable risks on the necks
of those forced to travel in the
contraptions.
COMMISSIONERS
HEAR PLANS FOR
IMPROVING ROAD
Delegation's Proposal for
Red Lodge-Bridger Link
Gets Approval
A large delegation from Clark's
Fork valley communities, present
ing proposals for road construc
tion and improvements including a
plan for making the Red Lodge
Bridger'county highway à part of
the state highway seven per cent
system, provided the highlight of
the monthly meeting of the board
of county commissioners this week
at the courthouse.
The delegationT'composed of rep
resentatives from elubs and busi
ness interests of Bridger, Belfry
and Fromberg, numbered close to
50 members, presenting its propos
als before Commissioners C. C.
Bowlen, John Normile and J. M.
Anderson Tuesday afternoon.
The Carbon commissioners
pledged their fullest cooperation in
efforts to foe made to present to
the state highway commission at
Helena, a proposal to have the
Bridger-Red Lodge feeder unit,
connecting highways 310 and 32,
placed as part of the Montana sev
en per cent system. ' v
The plan, if successful, would
provide a modem highway built to
conform with the Montana high
way system and would be of vast
benefit to the communities of Red
Lodge, Bearcreek , Washoe, Ed
gar, Fromberg, Bridger and others
along the route, the proponents
pointéd out. Petitions, signed by
residents of these county commun
ities favoring the plan, were pre
sented by the delegation here
Tuesday.
In pledging their cooperation,
thè commissioners agreed to ar
range for a committee to present
the proposal to the Helena commis
sion. Represented on this com
mittee will be Chairman Bowlen of
the county board and an appointee
from* each community which would
be affected by an improved route.
Improvement of the Bridger can
yon road to Sage creek and other
road projects in the Clark's Fork
valley section were discussed be
tween members of the delegation
and the commissioners Tuesday.
Another proposât! for the secur
ing of a test stock water well on
Bowler flat was brought up at the
meeting. Geologists who have
studied the section claim that ar
tesian water can be tapped at a
depth of about 600 feet, the com
missioners were told.
Heading the Bridger delegation
was A. H. Wilson, recently elected
president of the Bridger Service
club. It included also H. H. Harri
son, editor of the Bridger Times;
Bill Baker, Harold Woods, L. R.
Mondt, Jack Hughes, N. Johnson
and M. Levander. The other com
munities were equally well repre
sented.
I think that I shall never see
A billboard lovely as a tree.
Perhaps until the billboards fall,
I'll never see a tree at all.—Anon.
- The fact that the earth was cre
ated in six days proves definitely
that it wasn't a government relief
job.
Phone your news items to No. 9.
That Backward Step
The Northern Pacific Railway company has taken a
backward step in its attempt to take off the Red Lodge
Billings train and establish a truck and bus service in its
stead. Is it spite work, or plain stupidity and mismanage
ment! It certainly was not because the train was not a
revenue producer, for it was paying its way and more.
That fact was clearly shown at the hearing before the rail
road and public service commission last October.
There is some other reason for this unfair treatment of
the people, of Carbon county. It is a known fact that the
Northern Pacific Railway company for the last twelve or
thirteen years has done everything it possibly could to in
jure the progress of Red Lodge and Carbon county. For
what reason no one seems to know.
During The dime that the company operated its coal
mines here, they intimidated, bulldozed and bullyragged
the citizens of Red Lodge and Carbon county, and then
finally closed the mines, not because they were not paying,
for the records show a net profit each year they operated.
After closing thejnines they continued to rob the people
of Red Lodge foP light and power until they were forced to
sell their light plant. The Northern Pacific Railway com
has taken millions, millions and more millions of
pany
dollars out of Carbon county, and still they want to wreck
the county.
But, in spite of their efforts, Red Lodge and Carbon
county have forged ahead. An attempt to take off the
train service that affects between ten and twelve thousand
people directly or indirectly is the last straw. Again, Mr.
Taxpayer, did it ever occur to you that the Northern Paci
fic .Railway company will go before the state board of
equalization and ask for a reduction of their taxes if they
are successful in their restrainir% order against the rail
road and public service commission? Their argument will
he that they do not run any passengers on this line, and
only a freight occasionally» and at the same time, they will
he destroying the highway built from gasoline taxes paid
by car owners, aöd not one penny by the railroad company.
Whether it has occurred to you or not, that is just What
will happen, and if they are successtul in this application,
what will become of the schools of Carbon county ? Think
it over, vou fathers and mothers who have children to ed
„cate, Who will furnish the school fundi« You won't get
hack any of the money that the Northern Pacific Railway
company took out of Carbon county. f*
Just one more point, did it ever occur to you that these
so-called modern busses are not sanitary ? lliey. are not
equipped with any toilets or washrooms, and no sanitary
equipment whatsoever. Just imagine you and your family
of these inconvenient busses. " You or a member of
vour family becoming suddenly ill with ptomaine poison
« • ,
bâd, WEltcr* or for tho/t lïlâttGr fioni ony C£U1S6 ? 311st
on one
mg or
what would you do? Think it over. Residents and tax
payers of Carbon county, this is your fight,, and it is your
duty to render any assistance you can to the railroad and
public service commission and the local people who are
carrying the burden of this controversy.
We do not believe that any court will grant such an out
rage on the public after they have heard the facts.
4L
RODEO BODY ASKS
SUPPORT OF CITY
IN
Need, Cooperation of Local
Business Men to Hold
1935 Show
Members of the Red Lodge Rodeo
association this year again will
seek out the sentiment of local bus
iness and professional men in re
gards to staging this year's rodeo
exhibition and must secure the ne
cessary pledges for financial sup
port and cooperation from these
interests before going ahead with
plans for the 1935 performance, it
was decided at the annual meeting
of the group at the courthouse
here Tuesday night.
Business men and others are to
be contacted by a committee ap
pointed at last night's meeting of
the rodeo association to canvass
the city and secure such pledges
of financial aid and moral support
upon which rests the final decision
of the association's board of di
rectors to stage a show this year.
~ This committee, as announced
following Tuesday night's meeting,
consists of H. C. Olcott, chairman;
C. M. Downs, K. W. Skeen, Harry
Moqre, Dominic Castellano, John
Albert, Nino Comelio, C. Natali
and A. J. Morin
The committee will serve as the
financial committee of this year's
rodeo organization and is to make
a report of its findings at a gener
al association meeting called here
for Monday night, March 18, at
the courthouse at 8 p. m. If senti
)
ment is found favorable towards
staging the show this year and if
pledges of financial assistance
warrant the action, plans will go
ahead immediately for the exhibi
tion.
J. J. Gerondale was reelected to
head the association's board of di
rectors as president and chairman
at Tuesday night's meeting, while
Edward Bloom was renamed as
vice president of the board. Di
rectors named included R. A. Nut
ting, C. P. Chamberlain, John Al
bert and A. F. Richardson.
Selection of other officers and
directors to complete the organiz
ation of the association for this
year was held over until the meet
ing set for March 18, due to the
small attendance at Tuesday
night's session.
1NSE LAW
IS CITED BY NAGLE
AUTO
In an opinion rendered for Sher
iff J. R. McFate here this week,
Attorney General Raymond T.
Nagle cites that the state law pro
vides that every automobile owner
using the public highways of Mon
tana must apply for license plates
and make registration of his ve
hicle in the office of the county
treasurer of the county in which
the vehicle is owned or taxable.
This law applies to each motor
vehicle owned and makes no pro
vision authorizing any automobile
owner to file, or any county treas
to receive, any application
for registration,^ except for auto
mobiles owned or taxable in the
county.
County treasurers are restricted
hy the statute, the attorney gen
eral "stating that no county treas
accept application or re
urer
urer may
RETURN OF WINTER
March, although making a
springlike debut in the Bear
tooth region, brought a gener
ous blanket of snow and zero
temperatures during the fore
part of the week.
A drizzle of rain, starting at
6 p. m. Sunday, ser%d as the
opening for this week's storm,
soon changing to snow which
at 9 p. m. was falling heavily.
The snow continued throughout
most of a 24-hour period, leav
ing over a five-inch blanket in
the Red Lodge vicinity.
A drastic fall of the mercury
accompanied the storm, temper
atures ranging around the zero
mark, touching as low as 8 be
low zero during Tuesday night
and early Wednesday morning.
The snowfall proved a wel
come sight to farmers and
randhers of the Beartooth area
and added materially to the not
too abundant supply of summer
water conserves in the moun
tains south of here.
A trio °f Red Lodge youths, who
Lodge, wÏÏT they^e now^ervtog
state prison terms for car theft
aad burglary to answer new
gîanïries nearPoxTaTSUmber
20 , entered pleas of not guilty to
er j stong Thursday afternoon,
judge stong ordered the trio to
stand trial before a Carbon dist
SaTtheftThargi y ° n
WHEAT BURGLARIES
Local Youths, Now Serving
Prison Terms, Stand
Trial in May
Meanwhile, the youths, Larry
Blasingame, 19, Ardel Riley, 18,
t™"«
Deer Lodge on sentences previous
!y pronounced by Judge stong at a
Blasingame and Riley at that time
pleading guilty to charges of car
* heft > and Lundi t0 participating
in one of two granary burglaries
a £ p ox which the youths are ac
cused.
The youths were returned to
Deer Lodge early Saturday morn
ing in custody of Deputy Sheriff
Robert Pryde. Blasingame and
Riley will resume terms of two
years each on the car theft count
and Lundi a one-year term on the
wheat burglary charges.
The new charges against the
trio, informations of which were
filed by County Attorney E. P.
Conwell in district court last
Tuesday, seek to implicate Blasin
game and Riley in the burglary of
40 bushels of wheat from the Matt
Marttila granary, three miles east
of Fox, on December 20. Lundi,
who has already plead guilty and
serving sentence for his part in
the Marttila burglary, is now
charged with participating in the
burglary of the Arnie Luoma
granary, five miles northeast, of
40 bushels of wheat, which also oc
curred December 20.
Confessions of the -"wheat thefts,
along with others admitting major
offenses including house burg
laries, are stated to be in the hands
of county authorities, who explain
ed that the return of the youths
from Deer Lodge to answer the
wheat counts this • week was a
matter of legal formality required
by law and that it was doubtful
whether or not the youths would
be tried on the new counts on May
20 as set at their arraignment
Thursday.
ceive license fee for any automo
bile from an owner or from an
automobile taxpayer residing in
■ another county.
MARRIAGE LICENSES
Feb. 27.—George Michael, Jr.,
28, and Molly Kramer, 29, both of
Laurel.
March 1.—Douglas Pease, 37,
and Roberta Jones, 39, both of
Sheridan, Wyo.
March 2.—Charles D. Winslow,
32, and Frances Stone, 29, both of
Cody, Wyo.
March 5.—James Marvin Kirk
hart, 23, and Ruth lone Ohnstad,
18, both of Boyd.
■ a
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CARBONITES TO
START CLASS B
PLAY, BILLINGS
Locals Face Terry In First
Clash for Divisional
Hoop Honors
Coach A. M. Hartwig's hasket
ballers at Carbon county high
school, who last week at Laurel
overcame all opposition to win the
championship among class
teams in district 6, will continue
in the race for the state hoop
crown when they open the class B
competition of the southern di
vision high school basketball tour
nament against Terry at Billings
Thursday morning.
The locals, who enter the south
ern divisional race for the third
successive year, will compete a
B
gainst seven teams for the right to
continue in the state competition
for the high school basketball
championship of Montana.
Besides Red Lodge, other class
B contenders in the Billings tour
ney are Lodge Grass, Terry, Phil
ipsburg, Twin Bridges, Roundup,
Ronan and Boulder. All are win
ners of court tilts in their respect
ive districts.
Terry, which this year defeated
Plevna, the team which last year
eliminated Red Lodge in the play
off tilt for southern divisional
class B honors, and the locals are
scheduled to face each other on the
Billings court at 10 o'clock Thurs
day morning in the opener of the
class B competition. A tilt be
tween Roundup and Philipsburg
will follow.
At 2i30 p. m. Thursday games
between Lodge Grass and Three
Forks and Twin Bridges and Ro
nan will take place in succession.
At 7 p. m. the winner of the Red
Lodge-Terry tilt will tackle the
winner of the Roundup-Philipsburg
joust to wind-up the first day of
class B competition.
Friday's class iB eliminations
will begin at 2:30 p. m. with losers
of the Lodge Grass-Three Forks
and Twin Bridges-Ronan tilts bat
tling it out, the loser of this con
test to be eliminated from further
tournament play. This game will
be followed by a clash between the
losers of Red Lodge-Terry and
Roundup-Philipsburg contests, the
(Continued on Page 4)
PLAN TO OPEN NEW
Combined Store, Tea Room
And Delicatessen Is
Business Venture
Latest of new business enter
prises to be launched in Red Lodge
is a combined grocery, delicatessen
arid tea room, now being made
ready for an early opening, accord
ing to announcement this week of
Mrs. E. B. Provinse and Mrs, L. H.
Tooley, managers of the new ven
ture.
The enterprise is to operate un
der the name of "The Food Shop
I
and is to be located in the Improve
ment block on S. Broadway in the
space formerly occupied by the
Coleman Gash grocery. Renovat
ing and redecorating of the site is
now underway, it being planned
to open the door^ of the new es
tablishment within the next week
or so.
The three departments of the
shop are to be maintained on the
highest possible standards, the
sponsors of the enterprise state.
A complete line of groceries will
be carried at all times, while home
cooked foodstuffs, prepared in a
modern, up-to-date kitchen, will be
a specialty of the delicatessen and
tea room.
Both Mrs. Provinse and Mrs.
Tooley are residents of Red Lodge,
enjoying * wide acquaintance
throughout this city and taking
prominent parts in church, club
and social activities of the com
munity.
JUSTICE HOLMES DIES
Oliver Wendell Hoi
years an associate justice of the
United States supreme court, died
at Washington, D. C., early today
of bronchial pneumonia. Justice
Holmes would have been 94 years
of age Friday.
for 29
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