Early-Oay State Coal Camps, Now Only Memories,
Had Trouble With Miners O ver Weights, Measures
By ELNO
ALDRIDGE, Hor r, Cinnabar.
They are little more today than
names belonging to a past gen
eration. Bat 40 years ago they
stood for thriving communities,
pulsing with pioneer life. On one oc
casion they were scenes of marching,
angered miners, more or less organized
and determined to carry the day for
their cause. But after a long march
and a glimpse of a few soldiers and a
posse of armed citizens, their ardor
cooled.
Aldridge, across the mountain ridges
west and a little south of Corwin
Springs in the upper Yellowstone
valley, was a coal mining camp in the
’9o’s; it was an important community
in the industrial life of its day. Today
the name is associated only with a
lake nearby. The coal qamp is gone,
and no one resides there.
Horr was the coke oven town on the
Yellowstone just south of Corwin. The
coal was brought from the mountains
by tram and flume to feed, at its hey
day, a hundred coke ovens. Horr today
is known as Electric. The coke ovens
lie in ruins, crumbling monuments to
a one-time boom town.
Cinnabar was the town at the or
iginal end of the Yellowstone park,
branch of the Northern Pacific, three
miles below Gardiner at the park
boundary. It has completely disap
peared.
Trouble in 189 G
A stretch of country between the
Yellowstone river and the mountain
ridge, now a game refuge for the park,
plus a few small ranches, was the line
of march through Horr and Cinnabar
when the Aldridge miners went on the
warpath in March. 1896. It was one of
those affairs which, while it lasted,
provided plenty of thrills for those in
volved; an affair where anything might
have happened, and nothing much did.
J. E. Str >ng. new mine superintend
ent at Aldridge was visited at his cabin
on a Sunday afternoon by a mob of
75 to 100 Austrian and Hungarian
miners and told to leave the camp
within four hours. There had been no
grievances voiced by the men, he de
clared later. He told the men if they
had a grievance he would be glad to
discuss it with them. They repeated
their order that he leave. He suggested
a compromise—that the men go about
INSTALL MERIT SYSTEM
Rolland D. Severy of Chicago, repre
sentative of the American Public Wel
fare association, has been retained by
the state public welfare department to
be temporary superintendent of exam
inations for the committee appointed
to examine applicants for positions with
the state public welfare department. He
will be in Montana several months set
ing up the machinery for the depart
ment's merit system. Members of the
committee are Payne Templeton and
Dr. H. H. Swain of Helena and Fred
Martin of Great Falls.
SCHOOLS ARE RATED
The state board of education recently
gave superior rating to 10 rural schools
in Lewis and Clark county. Schools
which are given a superior rating are
exempt from state seventh and eighth
grade examinations.
A 9-year-old boy. C. E. J. Bishop,
is the champion piano accordian player
of Great Britain. He won the title in
a London tournament, competing with
more than 1.000 players.
The southernmost point of the
United States is at Cape Sable. Fla.
Another Case of
Kidney and Bladder
Trouble Relieved
Mrs. Ida Lay of Reed Point, Mon
tana, tells the following of her exper
ience with the wonders of Wong Sun’s
Chinese Herbs:
"For many years I suffered with kid
ney and bladder trouble. I took all
kinds of medicines and pills, but with
no relief. I became so weak and tired
I could not do my housework. A friend
of mine suggested Wong Sun Company,
■ o I decided to give them a chance.
Today I am surely thankful I did, as
I took the herbs but a few weeks, and
am feeling wonderful again, and gain
ing weight I would recommend the
Wong Sun Company’s Chinese Herb
medicines very highly to anyone suf
fering from these troubles."
MRS. IDA LAY.
Reed Point, Montana.
Wong Sun Company
Hillings. Mont. Missoula, Mont.
Sheridan. Wyo. Great Falls, Mont.
GRAZING TRACT
25.000 Acres at S 3 Per Acre
AGRICULTURAL LANDS
In the Clark', Fork valley, term, of
10 percent down, balance 10 yearly
payments, bearing 6 percent inter
est. For farther Information, write
Anaconda Copper Mining Co.
Lands Department
Drawer 1243 Mlmoala, Mont.
Cupyose YOU TRY
/ Old-Time Brand tor
( Kentucky M
> Straight
I Bourbon fagl
UJhiskeyLX/
their affairs and return to see him
in four hours.
Phoned for Help
When the crowd was gone he phoned
Dr. Allen at Horr and asked that he
send help to Aldridge. He could not
tell the whole story, as others had ac
cess to the party line. Dr. Allen inter
preted the message correctly, however,
for apparently there had been rumors
of trouble in the air. Dr. Allen first
called the officers in charge of troops
at Yellowstone park, who refused to
become involved. He then wired Sheriff
George T. Young of Livingston for aid.
As soon as possible Sheriff Young
and a posse consisting of B. D. Shef
field. William Mitchell, James Foster,
W. B. Altimus, Ed Shaw, E. B. Whit
tich. Ed Bennett. Deputy Sheriff Bell
and Undershcriff Dwight N. Ely went
by special train to Mulherin station,
just below Horr. At Mulherin they
were met by George Welcome, father
of the present George Welcome of
Gardiner, who informed them that i
there had been no trouble to that time,)
but their arrival at Aldridge might 1
prevent bloodshed.
Rifles in the posse were left on the
train in charge of Undersheriff Ely.
and the posse went on foot, armed
with revolvers, the four miles into the
mountains to Aldridge, reaching there
at 3 o'clock Monday morning. They
found Strong, his assistant superin
tendent. J. L. Barry, John Walker and
Dr. Allen barricaded in the cabin.
Much relieved by the presence of the
posse, Strong told his story.
After calling the officers Dr. Allen
and Walker had gone to Horr to render
what assistance they could. When the
miners returned late in the evening
they were met by four men with guns.
They were told to select a committee
of three to talk with Strong in the
cabin. The committee told Strong the
miners had extended the time for leav
ing the camp to 6 a. m.. Monday, and
that Barry must go with him. For the
first time, said Strong, he learned what
the grievance was. The miners were
paid by the ton for digging coal, and
they were charging short weights at
the company scales. The miners fired
a volley of shots when they left, to
emphasize their determination to rid
the camp of the superintendent and
Barry.
Superintendent Blamed
Two months previously Strong had
come from Birmingham. Ala., as super
intendent. succeeding J. H. Conrad,
who resented his summary dismissal.
Conrad remained in the camp and
made every opportunity to incite dis
content. He even gave orders to the
men contrary to Strong's. Strong had
ordered Conrad to leave, and he be
lieved Conrad had retaliated by sto
ring up a riot.
Outside reports were that the man
agement of the mines had changed
superintendents in an effort to get a
profit from the current price of coke,
and that the new superintendent and
his weighmaster were consistently re
cording short weights. The miners, it
was said, had objected, and were told
they could quit when they liked, that
negroes from the south would take
their places.
Events recorded a year later indicated
that the miners may have had a real
grievance.
Anyway, with the sheriff and his I
posse in camp there was no further :
trouble. Strong went to Gardiner and
secured from Justice Culver warrants
for Antone Webber. Charles Walters, j
William Jones and the four Skubitz
brothers. Joe. Martin, John and An
tone, the apparent leaders of the dis- ;
turbance.
When Sheriff Young took the seven
men to Gardiner it was cause for a
new outbreak. A hurry up call was
sent to Livingston for more arms and
ammunition. County Attorney W. H.
Poorman. later prominent in Helena,
instructed deputies not to do anything
without authority from Sheriff Young,
who was in Gardiner. Young, when
reached, ordered a limited supply of
arms sent to Cinnabar.
Tuesday morning the striking miners
chased from the camp a dozen men
who tried to enter the mines for the
day shift. Then they organized a march
on Gardiner to liberate their seven
comrades, a hike of 10 miles.
Sheriff Young at Gardiner was no
tified of the march, and was kept in
formed of its progress through Horr
and Cinnabar. It was apparent the
sheriff would soon have to deal with
a mob. He held a consultation with
Gardiner citizens, most of them old
pioneers and Indian fighters, all cool,
nervy men.
Soldiers Lacked Authority to Act
Officers at Fort Yellowstone were
communicated with. They said they
had no authority outside the park but
would certainly preserve order within
it.
Gardiner’s main business street, then
as now, laced the park boundary. The
prisoners were placed in the McCart
ney building just inside the park with
a squad of soldiers on guard, with
bayonets mounted. On the opposite
side of the street Sheriff Young and
the local citizens, all heavily armed,
took their stations. The wait was short.
About 90 men in a compact body,
T.ith stragglers scattered far behind,
soon appeared from the northwest.
Sheriff Young had given orders for
everyone to be ready, but not to fire
, until he gave the word. He took An
tone Webber, an intclllgest young [
Austrian and a prisoner, to the street.
Webber’s chief offense seemed to have
been the fact that, due to his intelli
gence, he had been called upon at 1
Aldridge to act as spokesman for thei
miners.
The two went out to face the mob.
Young had Webber address the mob
in their own tongue, telling them the
uselessness of their mission. Soon the
leaders promised there would be no
violence. The mob was marched up
Front street and searched. About a i
dozen guns were found in the whole
crowd. Clubs were thrown aside.
Sheriff Young, who had closed the
saloons earlier, allowed them to open
and the miners were permitted to
enter. After an hour the saloons were
closed again at Young's order. Many
of the miners were persuaded to re
turn home. Serious trouble had been
averted by Sheriff Young’s cool, ef
ficient management of the affair.
The prisoners were taken to Living
ston for trial In district court* All but
the Skubitz brothers were discharged
from custody, and the Skubitz boys re
ceived only light punishment.
Conrad soon left Aldridge, and the
camp settled down to work, to continue
for a year, when trouble again arose
over weights and low wages, resulting
In the mines beings cloeed for a time.
The estimated income from the five
centa-a-gallon tax on gasoline for thki
year is **oo,ooo, according to a state
mwfisrvs si. "SSnuLisrs
GLACIER COUNTY CHIEF
BUSINESS COLLEGE
NEARS BIRTHDAY
BUTTE SCHOOL IS OLDEST INSTI
TUTION OF ITS KIND IN
MONTANA
Institution Founded in Beaverhead
County in 1890 by A. F. Rice When
He Formed Small Class to Teach
Fenmanship to Gold Camp Miners.
Fast approaching its 50th anni
versary, and its growth developed
during all these years under the
continuous guidance of its founder,
Alonzo F. Rice, the Butte Business
college is one of the oldest insti
tutions of its kind in Montana,
and ranks not only the largest in
the state, but one of the largest in
the entire country.
In Glendale, Beaverhead county, that
is today a ghost city but in the ’Bo’s,
as headquarters for the Hecla Mining
Co., was one of the busiest mining
camps in the state, the small beginning
of the school was made. To that min
ing camp in 1889 came A. F. Rice, from I
Sedalia, Mo., equipped with his busi-
A. F. RICE
Founder and present-day partner of
the Butte Business college.
ness school diploma, and ready to take
his first position, in the office of the
smelter there. His older brother, Henry
Rice, following the urge of many of
the young men of that day to explore
the west, had preceded him there by a
year or two, and was driving stage out
of Glendale.
Hardly had the newcomer got his
sleeves rolled up for his new job before
a group of young miners began urging
; him to teach them penmanship. Soon
i a class was formed, and that class
proved to be the inspiration for the
Butte Business college, founded the
next year.
Another young Missourian, E. L.
Kern, who had been teaching school
in his native state, came out to the
mining country and joined forces with
Mr. Rice. Before school started in the
fall of 1890, Mr. Rice obtained from
Henry Nippenberg, one of his sponsors
at Glendale, a letter to Mrs. J. C. C.
Thorton of Butte, and through the in
fluence of this prominent Butte
matron, a room was provided in the
old Butte Central high school, then
the only building in the block where
the Butte public library now stands,
where these two young men could hold,
their commercial classes. More than a
score of young people enrolled for the
regular classes, and it soon became ap
parent that to take care of all appli
cants, many of whom were working
at the mines, classes would have to be
arranged to accommodate the three
shifts. Morning, afternoon, and even
ing classes followed, with attendance
increasing by such bounds that larger
quarters had to be found. The two
generation of the House of Seagram haa and be aurc. y ’ *** S<M,Bram B
- 4 **r Sale a* State Llqaor Stores
■traiqnt Bourbon W m inc In c'^dT^yeiuE 6 V* ar » »0 Proof. Bkaoram'i Pedigree
VCaoww Blended Wmiskrv-.40% Etraiaht whl.klei 60% A ° ov f rn " l « ,t - »00 Proof (Rye or Bourbon). Beaqram'b
young pedagogs, Rice and Kern, ac
cordingly found space on Quartz street.
There too, they shortly found them
selves again cramped for room, and
so in January of 1891, before the build-
J. L. SCOTT
Who has served as secretary-treasurer
of the Butte Business college nearly a
decade.
ing was entirely completed, they es
tablished themselves in a wing on the
top floor of the Owsley block, the lo
cation that has been the school’s home
ever since, except that gradually the
school spread from one wing to occupy
the entire floor.
Typewriters a Novelty
These were the beginnings of the
school. While typewriters were in use
, at the time, though still something of
a novelty, classes in typing were a part
of the regular curriculum, with pen
manship. bookkeeping and stenography
the other subjects taught.
A contrast as sharp as the two-story
shack Butte of the early ’9o’s, with
that "greatest mining camp on earth”
, today, is the contrast of the Butte
Business college’s working equipment
of that day and this.
Adding machines and
now fill table after table in one entire
room, representing an investment of
tens of thousands of dollars in ultra
modern office machinery. In the spa
cious typing room, typewriters are
placed row on row to supply the needs
of the almost constant daily attendance
of 500 pupils. As in the earliest days
of the school, classes are maintained
day and night, for the convenience of
the working and non-working students.
As steadily as the intricate processes
of accountancy have developed from
simple bookkeeping, and mechanical
computations and entries have sup
planted the bulk of penwork, has the
Butte Business college kept abreast of
the times, in the expansion of its
courses to embrace and cultivate every
new trend.
In addition to its commercial and
secretarial courses, it has maintained
a four-year lully accredited high school
department for the past 30 years.
The newest department to be insti
tuted Is the course in higher account
ing, which equips the student with an
expert’s knowledge and prepares him
for taking his examinations for a
C. P. A. degree. Civil service prepara
tion and public speaking are other de
partments.
Mr. Rice Still With School
Since Mr. Rice, with Mr. Kern,
launched the project in 1890, half of
the partnership has occasionally,
changed, but Mr. Rice’s connection with
the school has remained constant. C. V.
Fulton. E. W. Gold, L. A. May, and
later J. Lee Rice, a brother, were suc
cessive partners, over a period of many
| years. In 1929 J. Lee Rice sold his in
terest in the school to J. L. Scott, who
had been principal of the commercial
department for seven years, prior. Mr.
Scott has now served as secretary and
treasurer of the school for close to a
decade.
Mr. Scott, too, is a Missourian, born
at Newtown, Mo., and a graduate of
the Kirksville State Normal and of the
Chlllicothe Business college, and is a 1
WINNING ‘WAGER’
STARTED CHURCH
BUTTE PASTOR ACCEPTED DARE
OP SPORTSMAN FIFTY
YEARS AGO
Was Offered SSOO In Gold Dust if He
Would Read Passage From Bible aa
Designated by Donor; Was Start of
Fund Toward Building New Edifice.
Dr. E. J. Groeneveld of Butte
recently completed his 50th year
or continuous service in the pulpit
of the Presbyterian church of that
city. On May 2, 1888, Dr. Groene
veld, then a young minister just
ordained in Chicago, preached his
Df 8 * . *errm>n in a ramshackle
church. Not more than a half
dozen persons now members of the
church were in the congregation.
Experiences of Dr. Groeneveld in
Butte, which 50 years ago was a lusty
young mining town, have been varied.
One of the young minister’s first
enterprises was that of building a
church. He set about to obtain funds.
A sportsman offered a poke containing
SSOO worth of gold dust if young
Groeneveld would read any passage
from the Bible he designated.
The minister accepted the dare. The
spectacle of a minister of the gospel
accepting a “wager” was widely ad
vertised. A tremendous crowd assembled
to hear the reading of the scriptures.
An old newspaper account says of the
event that “painted ladies, gamblers,
bar-keepers, livery stable owners, elite
member of the National Association of
Cost Accountants of New York. He
spent 14 months in serviee during the
World war.
Since its founding the oldest of
Montana business colleges has gradu
ated more than 15,000 students, and
has enrolled more than 38,000. It is
fundamentally an institution for Mon
tana. It encourages its students and
graduates to remain in Montana, where
opportunities are greater and rewards
are higher. In this endeavor it has the
co-operation of business men all over
the state, many of whom themselves,
now in important positions and posts,
are alumni of the school.
Butte’s Business College Keeps
Montana High School Graduates
Profitably in Their Own State 1
A fully accredited school recognized as one of the leading
Northwest business training schools and fortunately lo- l
cated in a business center which offers unmatched cm- (Kb2en») i
ployment opportunities. Highest wage town in the wBJBw '
Northwest. Write or call for complete information. |
Oar Average
Est. 1890 Owsley Block
Phone 2-2391 RICE Sc SCOTT, Props. Butte, Montana
RANCH FOR SALE
Liquidation of Farm Property owned by the late Governor
Frank Cooney in the Bitter Root Valley offers
EXCEPTIONAL BUY
The farm property owned by the Into Governor Cooney in the Bitter Root Valley is
being liquidated nnd comprises 320 acres of highly Improved land with ample water
rights. Improvements include modern bungalow with wiring nnd plumbing, a large
modern barn, chicken house, granary, cook house, bunk house. Inrge cellar, and
machine shed. New fences Equipped with modern machinery including a new tractor
and is stocked nt present with cattle and pigs. This property is surrounded by un
limited grazing Innd which can be leased very reasonably This deal will Involve ap
proximately 130.000 and can be handled on any kind of reasonable terms.
For Further Particulars Write
JOHN P. COONEY
BOX 30
BUTTE — — Montana
of the city and common drunks were
present in large numbers.”
Dr. Groeneveld read the designated
verses, collected the SSOO in gold dust,
and passed the collection plate among
the throng. From that nest egg sprang
the present imposing edifice which is
the First Presbyterian church in Butte
Explaining that he did not believe
in mixing commercialism and religion
Dr. Groeneveld recently revealed he has
never accepted a cent since he was
ordained as a minister for preaching
funeral sermons.
“I figure I have passed up $30,000,
figuring funerals at the rate of sio
each,” said Dr. Groeneveld.
Working by the side of her husband,
Mrs. Groeneveld has been with the
minister throughout their 50 years in
Butte. They celebrated their fiftieth
wedding anniversary about a year ago.
Both are in their eighties.
Dr. Groeneveld was bom in Germany
and emigrated to the United States as
a boy. Receiving his education as a
minister in Chicago, he first was as
signed to a pastorate at Deer Lodge,
Mont., from there he came to Butte.
Affable and kindly. Dr. Groeneveld
is widely known in Montana. He re
cently was named moderator of the
Butte Presbytery after having served
as secretary for many years.
Dr. and Mrs. Groeneveld reared a
family of two, a son and a daughter.
The son died three years ago.
STATE HEALTH BOARD
Dr. E. M. Porter of Great Falls was
elected president of the state board of
health at the annual meeting of that
body. Dr. W. F. Cogswell was re-elected
secretary and executive officer. He has
held that post for more than 25 years.
Dr. B. K. Kilbournc, epidemiologist for
the bohrd, reported that an increase in
smallpox, tuberculosis, measles and
whooping cough had been noted In the
state for the six months period ending
April 1.
When Whittier wrote, “ 'Tis spring
time on the hills.” he was probably in
Montana, not in Los Angeles.
MODERN WOMEN
Need NotSeHer monthly pain ami delay dua to
ootda, nervuuaatTiiiu, exposure or oimiiar causae
Cln-iLee-tera Diamond hi and Ihllaara effect! ve*
reliable and give Quick belief. Bold by
•II 'lruqgistaforovcrsUyeAra. Aik for
“THR DIAMOND IRAN D“