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About The Dillon Examiner (Dillon, Mont.) 1891-1962 | View This Issue
The Dillon Examiner (Dillon, Mont.), 01 May 1918, located at <http://montananewspapers.org/lccn/sn85053034/1918-05-01/ed-1/seq-12/>, image provided by MONTANA NEWSPAPERS, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.
THE DH&ON EXAMINER. ROBERTS NEW STAR [N BANKING SKY MNOOLN COUNTY SENATOR NOW HEADS EIGHT MONTANA FI NANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. Bare-Foot Lad Who Decided To Be a Banker When He Had to Hoe Com (hie Fourth of July Keeps Promise to Himself; Buys Control of Old est Bank In Great Falls. It was a blistering hot day in In diana Borne three decades ago. The eun was baking the earth as it can only in the great American corn belt. Along a road that cut its way clean ]y through acres upon acres of corn fields, with here and there a neat farm house and a big red barn to re lieve the monotony, teams were to be seen, driving at varying speeds towards the small town that served C. B. Roberts as the trading center for the com munity. Above the hum of summer insect life and the occasional harsh note of the blackbird was heard at in tervals reports as of pistols, rifles and even small cannons. Some times these came singly; again in rattling volleys. Close to the roadside a youth of 10 years was industriously weeding the corn in a large field. Frequently when a buggy drove by he would raise his head from his task and look somewhat wistfully at the vehicle as it travelled steadily toward the town. He longed to leave the corn to the weeds and join the procession, and well he might, for it was the glor ious Fourth of July, and the people in the vehicles were headed for the village to celebrate. Presently down the road came a smart team driven by a dapper look ing man in a linen duster. His face under his gray hat looked alert— wide awake. Both the man and the handsome team buggy reflected pros perity. The boy gazed at the out fit enviously. “ Doggone it,” he said, \that’s what I want to be— a banker. Anybody thinks I’m goin’ to work in a corn field all my life — an’ Fourth of Julys, too— is fooled.” Sure Enough Banker. The youngster who toiled that Fourth of July in a corn field is a banker today. He is the president of eight banks in Montana, controls a ninth, of which he is a director; and is a large stockholder in a tenth. His name is C. B. Roberts, and while he is now a resident of Great Falls, he is best known to men all over the state as the state senator from Lin coln county in the last legislature. In fact he represented that county in the senate in the recent special ses sion. He did so at the request of many of the best business men of the county. Senator Roberts, from the time he made a resolution to become a bank er while weeding corn under that blazing July sun in Indiana, never forgot his objective, but he did not go about it as a good many other youngsters have done. Had he done so, he would have \accepted a posi tion” in some country bank In In diana and would have been there to day. That wasn't the kind of a bank er the Hoosier youth intended to be. Instead he determined to get a gen eral business education, make some money and start his banking at the top instead of at the bottom. He Seized Opportunities. The success attained by this strik ing newr figure in Montana’s banking wprld Is due, investigation would st^ow, very largely to Senator Rob erts’ ability to know an opportunity when he sees one and to grab it with both hands. After getting a valuable education in an abstractor’s office, he decided to come west. First he went to Dakota. Then he had a hunch that the state of Washington had good prospects, and he started for Waterville in that commonwealth. He stopped at Kalispell en route. He stayed there 15 years and made the money he needed to start his banking business the w'ay he wanted to Btart it. Senator Roberts first opened an ab stract office in Kalispell. Then he organized the Bank of Commerce there, being a stockholder and direc tor. The lumber business next claimed his attention and he organ ized the Lincoln Logging & Lumber Company at Fortine. In six busy years he cut 60,000,000 feet of lum ber and made big money at it. In cidentally he got into the land busi ness on a big scale, and that also was profitable. He iSwns a lot of farm land in Teton Toole, Lincoln and Sheridan counties. In considering banking opportuni ties, Senator Roberts came to the conclusion that there were golden chances to be taken advantage of in establishing banks in country towns that would grow into prosperous cen ters as the country around them de veloped agriculturally, and acting on this conviction, he established and became the head of the following banks: Security State Bank of Wolf Point, Bowdoin State Bank of Bow- doin, Lothair State Bank of Lothair, Dunkirk State Bank of Dunkirk, Se curity State Bank of Devon and the Farmers' State Bank of Conrad. To head his chain of banks he needed a larger bank in some bigger city, centrally located, and he decid ed on Great Falls. It happened that a controlling Interest in the old est bank in Cascade county, the Cas cade Bank of Great, Falls could be purchased at the time, by reason of the ill health of the president and cashier, who between them, owned a majority of the stock. These were S. E. Atkinsoon and Frank P. Atkin son, who founded the bank 28 years ago. Others had tried to buy con trol of the Cascade bank before, but had failed. Just at the right moment Senator Roberts came along« and suc ceeded. Colonel S. E. Atkinson, president of the bank, died shortly after the deal was consummated. Senator Roberts remodeled the bank, refitted it throughout with new fixtures and now has an attractive and well arranged banking house. On entering the door the eyes of old cus tomers are greeted with handsome portraits of the founders of the bank, the Atkinson brothers, with whom so many of them transacted their busi ness for so many years. But Senator Roberts is not through with acquiring new banks— and not even he can tell how many financial institutions this new con stellation in the Montana banking firmament will be president of be fore he thinkB he has enough. Af ter acquiring the Cascade Bank, he took over control of the State Bank of Geraldine and has just organized the Miners’ State Bank of Sand Cou lee. Senator Roberts believes in Mon tana’s great destiny with all his heart and soul, and having gone in to the banking business he is doing with characteristic thoroughness and energy. He knows the farming business from A to Z, and he knows the farmers’ problems. He says the way to develop the state is to work with the farmer— not against him That is why he has been so much in terested in country banks, and why he intends to give special attention to country banking business. BILLIE BURKE IN CANADIAN SERVICE WYOMING COWBOY WITH FAM OUS NAME, HAS JOINED CAN ADIAN HORSE When He Learned that American Ca valry Would Do Its Fighting on Foot Went Over to Forces of Uncle Sam’s Ally ; Takes Daily TSmm in Icy Waters. Billie Burke, not the talented movie star, but Billie Burke, the al most perfect man, has entered the ranks of Canada’s army and will soon be fighting “over there.” Judging \Billie” Burke MONTANA COUNTY IN LEAD IN RED CROSS OUR BOYS \O VER THERE” EN JOY TOASTED CIGARETTES. Through the patriotism o f the citi zens of this country thousands of smoke kits are being distributed to American soldiers in France. Author ities agree that men in the trenches need cigarettes almost as much as food and munitions. • Doctors, nurses, and commanding officers all join in the demand which has awakened in this country a great movement to keep our boys supplied with smokes. Millions of the famous LUCKY STRIKE Cigarettes are \going over” all the time. There’s something about the idea o f the toasted ciga rette that appeals to the men who spend their time in cold, wet trenches and billets. Then, boo, the real Kentucky Burley tobacco o fihe LUCKY STRIKE ciga rette gives than the «d id satisfaction r * t , - > n < * with a lot less trouble. Montana again comes to the fore in Red Cross work, Montana women have won honors that few can equal. Announcement has been made that the Flathead Chapter of the Red Cross is the leader in a district com prising four states and that only one other town in all these states has attained the point of efficiency ia production that the Flathead county women can boast of. The efficiency of their organiza tion is made manifest by a congratu latory letter from the northwestern division headquarters at Minneapolis apprising them of the fact that the honor of being the banner chapter of the division, which includes Min nesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, is shared between the Flathead, Montana, and the Jackson. Minnesota, chapters; giving the two named chapters a per capita rating of 53 per cent against ah average rat ing in the four states of the division as follows: Minnesota, 174; North Dakota, 194; South Dakota, 199; and Montana, 227. Some people admire the courage of a man who wears red whiskers, while others merely pity him. Typewriter Bargains Factory rebuilt machines o f ^aU makes— from $125 to $65. Terms if desired. W rite for price list. Machines on three days’ approval at our expense. Montana TypewriterCo. BUTTE, MONTANA from his pictures you might think Burke was an Indian, but such is not the case, he being just what his name implies— Irish. Burke has been punching cattle in Wyoming for some time but after reading week in and week out of the big show on the other side he began to feel that life aboard the deck of a bucking broncho was too tame when stacked alongside the excitement attendant of “going over the top” and that bulldogging a steer just couldn’t get him all arou3 ed any more when his hands were positively itching to twist the neck of some Hun. So Burke turned his pony loose and hanging his saddle and bridle on the peg, swung aboard a rattler at Sheridan to hit the trail for Great Falls, where he joined the cavalry. His Varied Experiences Billie's honest to goodness name is J. W. Burke. He came to this coun try with his parents many years ago and settled In this country. He didn’t stay hitched long, however, and soon started to drift around the country in search of excitement. He found some of it In an Oriental rgg factory in New York and just to go to ex tremes scaled logs for a while, after which he turned his attention to cow- punching, which has been his means of livelihood for some time past. He has bumped around almost every part of the globe and has followed a v: r- iety of occupations in his young life. He is but 24 years old and he feels that the best job he ever had was be ing a soldier who is going to help lick the kaiser. Lieut. J. M. Donaldson, in charge of the state British mission, who ex amined Burke when he made applica tion for enlistment, states that Billie is the nearest thing to a perfect man in physique that he has yet met up with. He is well muscled and his body is well-proportioned. Burke is an outdoor man in every sense of the word. His favorite sport is swim ming and rowing. He must swim, no matter what the weather is and has many pictures of himself disporting among the frosty waves that splash playfully among huge ice floes. He apparently likes this brand of swim ming and if one can judge by appear ances it hasn’t undermined his health to any noticeable extent. Grows Hair For Cash Billie likes to let his hair grow long, too, and it is only once every two years that he allows his wealth of dark brown silky growth to be shorn from his head. There is sys tem in Billie’s oddity, however, as every time he cuts those flowing locks he cashes in on them, receiving $65 therefor. Burke has taken out his first papers in this country and he had a great desire to enlist in the army of Uncle Sam, but when he learned that the cavalry was to be dismounted the stuff waB off with Billie he knew he couldn’t fight near so well on the ground as he could with the feel of leather between his legs, so he backed down. Then came the likelihood that he might be caught in the draft and should this happen he knew his chances of . get ting a few Huns via the horseback route were even more remote, so he went to the British mission and en listed in the Canadian cavalry, where he knew he could ride a horse. Bil lie is already In a training camp and perhaps Is breaking in a few wdld ones for pastime when he is not dril ling. 70,000 BRANDS RECORDED IN MONTANA IN LAST SEVEN YEARS “ Despite the fact that the day of the cattle business has practically ended and nearly all of the big cat tlemen are out of the game, Montana has been shipping more cattle to market than in what was called the good old cattle days,” said D. w . Raymond, secretary o f ; the state hoard of livestock commissioners and secretary of the Montana Stockgrow ers’ association. “An Interesting thing of the pres ent day is that of the large number of brands on record showing practic ally the number of stockmen in the state. At the present time there are on record about 70,000 brands, all of which have been recorded since 1911. By that I mean that the legislature of 1911 passed an act requiring that all brands be re-recorded and the natural supposition is that all so re-registered were in use. The time limit for this re-recording was placed at November 1, 1912, upon which date 25,000 were shown to have been recorded, since which time we have averaged, in round numbers, about 7,500 brands per year. It is a fine illustration of the changing conditions in the stock industry. ‘As I said, the big man is dropping out and the little man is coming in. You can count on your fingers the big outfits still in the business. There is the TN outfit, the Powder River Cattle company operating in Custer county, the Rock Creek company, which is the Jack Burke outfit. Mc Namara & Marlow in Chouteau coun ty, and Child & Anceney in Gallatin county. A very large proportion of the present holders of brands are people of small holdings. “ There are really no strictly range outfits now operating in the state, most of them being semi-range out fits, concerns which run their cattle under fence or on the forest reserve in the summer time and feed them in the winter. “While we say there are JO,000 brands in existence in the state, this does not mean that there are 70,000 different designs or characters. In fact we can grant the use of one char acter to four different cattlemen or horsemen. For instance a brand, say a circle, may be used by one cattle man upon the left ribs of his steers, by another upon the right ribs, by an other upon the left hips, while in the case of horses the brand may be used on the right and left thighs and the right and left shoulders. “The first brands were recorded in Montana in 1872, the custom in those days being to record them with the clerk and recorder of the county in which the owner resided. Along about 1878 or 1879 the recording of brands became a state or territorial matter and they were then recorded Daniel W. Raymond, State Brand Recorder in the office of the clerk of the terri torial court until the board of stock commissioners was organized when the secretary was designated as state recorder of marks and brands, which system has continued up to the pres ent except that through the reorgani zation of the board of livestock com missioners by combining it with the board of sheep commissioners the present livestock hoard ‘represents all classes of livestock. “ The Montana cattle laws, uhder which provision was made for the formation of the board of stock com missioners, were brought about by what is known as the ‘cowboy legis lature’ and principally through the influence of the Montana Stockgrow- ers’ Association. This was in the early 90's and at this session about two-thirds of the legislation enacted pertained to the stock industry.” The first secretary of the livestock commission and recorder of marks and brands was R. B. Harrison, a kinsman of former President Benja min Harrison. He was succeeded by W. G. Preuitt, who was in turn sue ceeded by the present secretary, Ray mond in 1910. BUSEY’S METHODS HELPED BOND SALE CONRAD NEWSPAPER MAN SYS TEMATIZES WORK OF LIBER TY LOAN ORATORS Commandeered Automobiles, Speak ers and Motion Picture Houses and Had Every Phase of Loan Put Be fore People of Teton County in the Shortest Time Possible. The work of Thomas A. Busey, publisher of the Conrad Independent, who had charge of the four minute men who spoke for the Liberty loan in Teton county, has attracted the at tention of national executives in charge of loan oratory and it is not improbable that his system will be put into effect all over the United RYAN HEAD OF AIRCRAFT WORK LIVED IN HELENA IN GOLDEN DAYS CIVIL AVAR VETERAN TELLS OF STIRRING DAYS AFTER DIS- COVERY OF LAST CHANCE George Hazzard Came West After War of the Rebellion; Traveled From Omaha to Fort Benton on Steamboat with General Meredith, First Surveyor General of Montana George Hazzard, veteran of the Civil war and a resident of Montana when it was for the most part ,a wil derness, is frequenting his old haunts again. Mr. Hazzard has been visiting in Helena, coming from Tacoma, Washington, where he now resides and his advent in the capitol city was the occasion for the reviewing of some of the incidents that occurred soon after the discovery of gold in Last Chance Gulch. Hazzard came to Helena in the spring of 1867. He is a member of the G. A. R. and passed through sev eral very strenuous campaigns dur ing the Civil war. He was engaged in a number of hard-fought battleB in which Majors Martin Maginnis and Robert C. Wallace of Helena took leading and active parts. Hazzard still carries around with him a relic of those stirring days in the form of a lead pellet buried in his body— a sample of Confederate ammunition — necessitating the use of crutches. However, in spite of thiB handicap sustained in the war, he has led a very active life and is still very much alive and up-and-doing. “ When I came to Helena in the spring of 1867,” said Hazzard, “ the city of Helena was a rough frontier mining camp, rolling in yellow opu lence, as that was just three yearB after the discovery of the world- famed Last Chance gulch placer dig gings. I made the trip to Helena from Cambridge City, Ind., which is located about 60 miles east of In dianapolis, in the same party with General Solomon Meredith, who was the first surveyor general of Mon tana territory. We traveled by rail as far as Omaha and from that point made the long, tedious journey up the Missouri river to Fort Benton by boat. I remembbr that the steamer was called the Octavia.’ The trip from Fort Benton to Helena was made by stage, and the country over which we traveled was as primitive and wild as the day nature mane it. “ General Meredith, who was at the head of our party, took office as surveyor general on April 20, 1867. He served in this capacity for two years and was succeeded by another famous Indiana soldier, General Henry D. Washburn, who made the first survey of Yellowstone National park.” General Meredith played a very important and active part in the Civil war and was signally honored for bravery and gallantry on the field of battle. He was colonel of the famous 19th Indians, Volunteers, and as a reward for gallantry in ac tion at the battle of Antlotam in September, 1862, he was made a bri gadier general of volunteers. Ho took part In the battle of Gettysburg, commanding the noted Iron Brigade at that historic, epoch-making e 'ent and was severely wounded, being in capacitated for further active service in the field, although he still retained a command, being placed in charge at Paducah, Ky., which was a strat egic point much coveted by the Con federate forces. Before being mus tered out in 1865, General Meredith was made a brevet major general of volunteers. He had a personal ac quaintance with Abraham Lincoln and Indiana’s well known war gov ernor, Oliver P. Morton. Genuine comfort if you ask for an d ó e/ r John D. Ryan Four Drowned In Kootenai. Sam Lundy, Mrs. Frank Good and her two children were drowned while crossing the Kootenai river near ¡Warland In a rowboat. The craft was caught In a whirlpool and cap sized. on Thomas A. Busey, .Who Put Whirlwind Oratory Campaign For the Liberty Bond Issue in Teton County. States when the next loan issue is of fered. Mr. Busey organized his territory in the most systematic manner. First he commandeered the services of every good speaker in Teton county and brought in some outside talent. Then he levied on the motion pic ture men for the use of their theaters between films, arranging with them so that they had especially good at tractions on nights that his men would speak. Commandeered Automobiles Then he requisitioned a battery of high power automobiles, and arrang ed the routing of his speakers. It was not unusual for a speaker to ad dress an audience early in the even ing at Conrad, and be whisked in a fast machine to Valier, 20 miles away, or some other equally distant point, to make two speeches In one evening. „ He even took up the subjects of the addresses with various speakers and arranged so that no two speak ers would cover the same points on the same evening in the same place. Direction of the United States’ groat aircraft program lias been placed by President Wilson in the hands of John D. Ityan, president of the Montana Power Company and of the Anaconda Copper Mining Com pany. The authority given to Mr. Ryan corresponds to that given to Charles M. Schwab as director gen eral of the Emergency Fleet Corpora tion, which has entire charge of the government’s ship building program. He has the task of speeding up pro duction in all of the many plants working on aircraft for the army and navy, and is given full power in that respect. AVith thc appointment of Mr. Ryan a Montanan is given one of the great est tasks of the war. There has been severe criticism of the\ aircraft pro duction board, and it is for the pur pose of bringing order out of chaos that the executive head of the Ana conda Company has been put in charge of the most important depart ment, excepting possibly that of ship production, in the work of winning the war. To Train Blind Officers. An international school for the teaching of vocations to blind offic ers is to be established in Italy. Like schools for the instruction of blind privates have already been started. You may have noticed that work done while you wait usually looks and wears like that kind of work. He put on a whirlwind campaign and bad his county covered, and the peo ple of Teton county thoroughly con versant with every phase of the loan issue in the shortest possible time. ■Hie result of. this work was that the Teton quota was subscribed in a rush and much of the credit for the quick and sure work is due to the organ izing ability of Mr. Busey. M a r t h a W a s h i n g t o n C o m f o r t S h o e s Beware o f Imitations-* name 'an d trade-mark stamped on the sole. F . M ayer 1 Boot & Shoe Company h ONQRBILT Vf. \ Milwaukee, W u . Stallion Owners Get your money; keep a rec ord of service. Our complete Bervice record and iron-clad Service Note makes your money certain and provides data f r registration of colts; also con tains valuable information on care of stallions, mares and colts. Book of 60 pages', $2; 100 pages, $2.50; check or money order. The Tribune, Roundup, Montana. S . O . H U S E T H Optometrist sa,2 dptkiaii GREAT FALLS MONTANA