The Ekalaka Eagle (Ekalaka, Mont.) 1909-1920, December 12, 1919, Image 1

•4 4 • 03LUME Xl. EKALAKA, CARTER COUt4TY, MONTANA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1919. NUMBER 541 WOULD LIKE HIGH SCHOOL `liough comparatively a stranger as yet in Carter County, the writer is familiar with educational condi- tions in general in Montana, and in suggesting the discussion of a' coun- ty high schooi at this time, I am actuated only by the desire to see the educational needs of the county met by an adequate use of available resources. The experience of most of the counties of the state has dem- onstrated the utility. of the county high school as one of the wisest and most practical results of state legis- lation, constituting such a school an efficient agency in the development of educational sentiment throughout the county, and in establishing a lo- cal center to meet the needs of the youth of the county in every depart- ment of educational activity. It has been proved by practical working that a county high school exerts a wide influence' in raising the standard of teaching and attain- ment in rural achools of the county, so that in time every local- district becomes a beneficiary of the central high school. For illustration, it is known that right now there is a lack of trained teachers in Carter county beyond the power of _the sup- erintendent to supply. A county high school may maintain a teach- ers normal training department, thus producing at home a supply of teachers ready to serve the district schools, trained especially to meet present educational standards in rur- al localities, and exerting an in- fluence to advance the standing of schools in remote communities. This one facility of a county high school should appeal to free -holders in ..:very local district where education- al progress is desirable. Again, the dorrnitory facilities of a county high ischool, in a county like ours, should appeal to the residents of districts where eighth grade pu- pils are ready for high school. A county school may maintain suitable dormitory quarters for providing the board and lodging with supervision, thus furnishing living accomodations at mere cost for pupils from remote districts. These very reasonable previsions of the county high school proposition render such a school ac- cessible for most of the county youth of high school attainments. Further, the dormitory arrangements afford adequate space and facilities for the courses in cooking, sewing, etc., now considered desirable and even essen- tial in standard community schools. Without detailed mention at this time of the other faciliities afforded by an established county high school, it is in, order to suggest here that most of these facilities are quite be- yond the means of the local high school as it now exists, neither is is it fair to the local high school to expect it to provide the fullest edu- cational advantages for all high school pupils of the county. The county high school law of Montana anticipates the very conditions that prevail in Ekalaka district and in Carter county at the present time, and offers an approved solution of means whereby a central high school can be established, and as a recog- nized county high schbol, affording courses for the training of county teachers, for training in domestic ,science and in various manual arts, in agriculture and in vocational sub- jects that go far to solve the pro- blem of idle and inattentive children •and subsequent citizenship. These desiderat dm not merely for the Ekalaka district nor can this district provide them with its limited resourc- es. They are the right of any and every pupil in Carter county of suit- able eke and attainments, and hence the county high school offers itself as a tried' and successful agency for serving the entire county on a com- prehensive scale of activities, provid- ing something of valne for all the childern of all the county. need not necessarily forecast the ul- timate needs of the county commun- ity. For illustration, Ekalaka is on- ly in an embryonic stage so far as public buildings are considered. The writer does not know of a brick or stone building in the region. In time however, it is expected that Main street will be lined with many dur- able etructures of modern building materials, and then our public edifi- ces will present another appearance both in architecture and composition. Meanwhile, since our ideals are likely to grow 43nd our resources to develop, it would be unwise to inwst largely in county buildings of wood that are probably to be superseded by brick pr stone structures in subsequent changes. A suitable county high school at present should contain at least an ample assembly room, with library, class rooms, lecture room, physics and chemistry laboratories and offices. One attached wing might afford the space for agriculture and manual training shop, and another wing might accomodate the dormitory and domestic science facilities. Such a building, suitably equipped and with desirable site, should not far miss a forty thousand dollar bond issue, for a guess. If such a plant were used say for ten years before another style of building should be, desired, in that time half of the bonds running 20 years would be paid, leaving say fiventy thousand dollars that might be taken up by a larger bond issue then considered. I am really suggesting, not outlin- ing any formal procedure or policy. This article is intended only to advise an early consideration of the county high school proposition, for in edu- Cation there is no gain in delay, and every day of inaction is a positive loss of opportunities always available for the mere use of them.— P. M. Silloway, Principal. Of course this article is intended to be merely suggestive, but a few words on the financial side of the proposition may not be amiss. In the view of our county as in an early stage of development, an early es- tablishment of a county high schen is particularly desirable, in order that such a school might develop harmoniously with other county in- terests, directing educational pro- gress and keeping pace with current county activities, With this view it is evident that the first investment CHA LK BUTTES. • R. M. Griffin was in Ekalaka for a few days. Miss Iima Griffin was in Ekalaka taking the teachers examination last week. Mrs. WM. Powell transacted busi- ness in Ekalaka last week. F. G. Scott, the postmaster of our postoffice has gone to Denver, colo. for a visit and Mrs. R. M. Griffin ,is now in charge of the office. Carson Griffin is home from South Dakota where he• has been working. J. R. Butler has gone to Baker af- Ler grain. We were all sorry to learn that Wm. Powell had to be taken to the Nfayo Clinic in Rochester, .111inn. on account of his health. The weather continues cold and with feed so scarce horses are re- ported as dying on the range. E. D. Laird went to town last week after supplies. RED CROSS CHRISTMAS SEALS. A beautiful way to observe good form and still add a mite to help in a great battle against a needless iciller is to make use as liberally as possible of the Red Cross Christmas seals. The entire proceeds from the 3ale of these stamps goes into the _Treat work of stopping out tubercu- losis and 90 per Ant of the receipts from the sale of stamps in Montana is spent in the state and the other '10 per cent goes to the National Red Cross. No Christmas or holiday let- ter or package should be sent with- out one of these seals attached. It shows that you are helping every time you use one. An ample supply of these seals have arrived in Ekalaka and are on 3ale by local merchants, the ,post - office and individuals. Get yours to - flay. Stick them on every package and letter and thus help the fellow, woman or child with a cough. NIM SWITH DIES. ISE LOCAL NEWS OF THE PAST WEEK. Ole Markuson was in Miles CiCty last week attending the sales of a few isolated truct sales at the land office. A surprise party was held at the home of Ira Sherwin last Thursday evening. Music and games were en- joyed. Miss Virginia Baird left Monday for Hill City, S. D. where she ex- pects to remain for the balance of the winter visiting relatives. Mrs. Claud Wilsoh who has been in Miles City for the past several months has returned to Ekalaka to remain. We have candy and ben -bons and perfumes very fine. Remember \her\ for Christmas. Choose something from our line.—Reliable Drug Store, S. A. Holt. 60-2c J. C. Cory and W.. C. Smith re- turned . Monday from Baker. Out- side of freezing their car up about a dozen times, they made the trip poco pronto. The Ladies Episcopal Guild have decided to discontinue their meet- ings until , after the holidays. No meeting will be held therefore with Mrs. Geo. Huss as planned for this week. Further notice will appear in this paper. Mrs. Nim Smith and children and Carl Smith left Saturday for Seattle, having received word that the hus- band of Mrs. Smith had passed to the great, beyond on Friday. Nim was taken to Seattle a. short time by his father, John T. Smith who hOped to secure relief for his eon in that city. Mr. Smith was suffering from bright's disease. We have been unable to obtain further particulars at this time. In- terment will probably be made in Seattle, owing to the conditions of the roads and the inclement weather The saxophone quart4t is busy prticticing and getting riCady for the first dance. Right now the bunch 3ounds like a poultry yard during a pole cat raid, but before their ap- pearance in public harmony will no loubt prevail. With the east wind howling like she never howled before, this has. cerning it in the papers, folks tell gad and sit around the hot stoves And drill oil wens, etc. We could even have prepared a ripe oil story only our \dome\ wasn't properly lubricated. It is said that isolated tracts of land out in the Ekalaka oil fields Are commanding a high figure when offered by the government. Old- time land prices are said to look like a nickel in a grocery store compared to the prices bid in. And they say is the only thing that can make it pay out. Baker Sentinal.—\Banjo Jake\— we never knew his other name— brought in a band of sheep from the Pine Hills country last week and the other night they rose from the bed ground near the stockyards and wandered across the railroad just as a freight was coming down the ja grade. Twelve \passed in their checks\ and two had feet cut off. fhe train was all but ditched. While we have not Bean much corrt cerning it in the papers, folks tell us around here to prepare for big th,ings on the 17th. One guy tells the moon, sun and earth will go ter -bump on. that day and another slips it to us that it is either going to 60 below or 93 in the shade, all because the sun is going to shed its skin like a suake or they are going to skin't the cheese off of the moon. Another guy says they are going to 311 all the craters on Mars and he wants us to establish an employment bureau for those who wish free transportation and ft thence to get away from strikes, bolsheviks, etc. For the benifit of those who might want to go we might state that we understand Mars has passed no pro- hibition laws lately. Johnnie McCumsey left Wednes- day for Portland, Oregon, where his father is now located and where he tftaikts to hind a job on' one oi the weitern papers. \Little Johnnie\— he's a big fellow now—has been con- nected with , . the Eagle mechanical force for a' number of years, about the only time he has been away from the smell of ink in tl'is office since he ,decided to become a printer being while he was In the army. Here's hoping him luck, for we know he will make gootl, in Oregon or any other state. Since Johnnie has left us it has become necessary for the old man -to get to work, hence if you don't like the sheet this 'week just remember that while our head mny be a little active our extended vaca- tion of the past year may have put us off a little in this working game. EKALAKA-BAKER HIGHWAY At a special hearing held in sBaker last week on the Baker-Ekalaka road case, Judge Geo. P. Jones de- cided that all matters connected with the legal end of the proposition were legal and at that time appointed F. E. MacFarland of 011ie, C. E. Lieur- ance of Westmore and E. P. O'Brien of Plevtia as a commission to ascer- tain the damages, if any, that will occur. The Billings Gazette in re- porting the case has the following te say: \Judge George P. Yones of For- syth, sitting in the absence of Judge Dousman of the Sixteenth Judicial district, after a hearing upon a ci- tation - to show cause, issued an or- der in the case of Fallon County vs. Thompson, et al. by the terms of which order the proposed Baker- Ekalaka highway as it is now sur- veyed is held to conform to the sta- tute and a board of appraisers ap- pointed to ascertain the damages sustained by land owners along the right of way. It is thought that this order will remove the last legal obstacle to the tompletion of the highway. The pro- posed road is to be contructed from Baker, the county seat of Fallon county, to Ekalaka, the county seat of Carter county, about 40 miles. State aid has been invoked and the projected road has been laid out up- on the survey of the state highway commission and will be a part of the general system of. 'state high- ways. This road connects Baker on the Milwaukee railroad and the Yellow- stone trail, with the southeastern part of the state and forms an es- sential link in the route to the Black Hills and Wyoming territory. The ilaker-Ekalaka road has been in ex- istence since 1905, but nothwith- standing considerable sums of mon- expended by Custer, Fallon and Carter counties and many frequent changes made in the route, it , has never been satisfactory. There is now in storage in Baker over 40,000 pounds of freight and express for delivery to Ekalaka firms. These merchants are now offering $2 per hundred to anyone who will haul this freight, but it is with great diffi- culty that they maintain adeefuate Aocks of the necessities of life. They entertain no hope of receiving the bulkier freight before spring. The mail service has likewise suf- Tared. One susupension of six days in October of the present year and 3everal others of leas duration since that time. The state highway com- mission's representative has opened headquarters in Baker and all pre- liminary work possible will be com- pleted this winter, active work to 3tart as soon as the weather permits the spring.\ TAFT ON PEACE RATIFICATION market only in Europe. The rates of -exchange already demonstrates the collapse of any national. credits. These credits, resting upon com- merce and international securities, are the foundation of our prosperity and are vital to the means of order and life in Europe: , t \Men and women of America,this is your problem. Your intereste, your welfare, the honor and future of your country is involved. Your will is the supreme command for the men in Washington, entrusted by your voterowith guiding the' nation along the paths of peace and vic- tory. The allied nationa established during the war a pritctical which is being succeeded by the league of nations To iefuse to join this le,ague is to lose numberless benefits, and to invite the deveop- ments of a league that will be hos- tile to us in feeling and policy. 'The league of nation's gives the promise of a world cooperating for the pur- poaes of peace and protecting itself by concerted action against war and the threat of war. The ideal is A- merican. \The men and women who gladly dedicated their sons and their sub- stance to the cause of obtaining peace through the defeat of the Ger- man menace refuse to believe that they 'save made an empty sacrifice. They demand that the senators har- monize their differences. Refusal to do so will defy and betruy the peo- ple of this country isy whom they were elected and to whom they must answer. \The treaty should be ratified at the earliest possible moment after the senate re-conveces on December 1. In the name of thousands of Americans who have died to bring peace and end war, and of millions of Americans who have toiled and sacrificed to the end, we call upon the senate to forget prejudice and patreilv npd agree on a retifl- catta\ &Ache& Lb. ;testis that vill1 permit the other signatories of the treaty to acquiesce in the conditions of our reification.\ William Howard Taft, ex-presi. eent of the United States and the president of the League to Enforcv Peace, has issued the following aa- dress concerning the failure of a few wilful and disgrunted senators to en- dorse the League of Nations and ratify the peace treaty: The defeat of ratification has been received by the country with surprise and indignaion. The people want peace. They want peace and guard the peace. Whose name it bears, which party brand it wears, they care not at all. They longed for and expected ratification before a ljournment of the senate. \The making of peace is no more n party question than was the mak- ing of war. The American people, without regard to party,stood behind the war until the day of victory With like unanimity they now stand behind the treaty. AShall the small majority who op- t - - poie a Teague 01 nations in any form defeat ratification? Shall fifteen sen- ators stand in this world crisis? Eighty senators have shown by their votes that they favor the great prin- ciple of the league of nations. The fate of the treaty rests in their own hands. They have the votes. They have the power. Theirs is the res Tonsibility. They must get . togeth- er. '!,Tlie failure to ratify the peace ,treaty has encouraged social unrest both at home and abroad. Europe must have supplies or it will face ' starvation and anarchy this winter. Our farmers, cotton planters, live I htock raisers and miners have large 'surplus productibns which they can WINTER --SHE'S HERE. While we have been enjoying ( ?) some honest to goodness winter cli- mate ever since about the . 10th of October, it has taken the past week to convince the most of U8 that she sure was one heck of a one. The little blue juice in the thermometers has been working over time during the past week and sticking around la little too long around the 22 below mark. While we have also \scads\ and \scads\ of millions Of tons of \lug day and night\ right under our feet and within gun -shot of town, 'nevertheless it has been a tough job to land this lignite within the the various coal sheds. The price of hay and grain is high and promising to reach the moon by Christmas and this has caused the local coal haulers to raise the \ante\ on the cost per ton, which we understand now looks like $8 per. Sure it's awful to be coMpelled to pay eight bones per, but somebody has got to foot this $60 per ton hay bill. Elsewhere we give you the official \dope\ on the weather. Look it over and thank youreelf that you are still alive. ' HOLIDAY VACATION. The school children are to have a twelVe day holiday vacation this year. The public schools of District No. 15 will close on Tuesday evening, Dec. 23rd and remain closed until on Monday morning, January 5th, wl.en the children will resume studies. No vacation was had last year on ac- count of the t:ine lost by reason of the \flu\ epidemic, but this year the vacation is promised. Those pu- pils whose parents reside outside of town will no doubt go home for tne holiday vacation and ;f weathe7 con- ditions permit liogilliINT - goirie - Vie . teachers will spent Christmas and New . Years in other parts. LOCALS. Frederick L. Curts, Anette Curts, Herbert Coffield and Margaret Hardy made _final proof on their homesteads ‘ h v ee e f o ke r . Clerk of Cou rt O'Grady last Baker Sentinel.— Ben Gro:-s a‘q Geo. Grainger were in from lIell Tower last week after winter sup- plies. They came most of the way by sled but had to get wagons here to convey the provisions to the sleds left some miles south.. Jai/enr.......•••••••••••••••••• CLAIM SIGNED - WRONG VERDICT Ekalaka has always been noted for its ability to produce something different or keep abreast with new things as they appear. Even in the court proceedings we are not behind and occ,asionally we set the pace for something out of the ordinary. A few verdicts are easily grasped, others bear a little perusing and once in a while you run across one that is rather complicated. For- in- stance, take the case of Emick vs CCnnolly that was aired out in J. P. court a short time ago. Mr. Emick brought action against Connolly to recover a sum. of money due and owing owing him so it was claimed, for pasturage of certain horses. Mr.' Connolly filed a counter claim for a- uout double the amount claimed by Mx. Emick. A jury was selected to pass on the case and we are given to understand by members of that jury that prior to the filing of the verdict they had decided five to one in favor of Mr. Emick but that the foreman of the jury in \signing up\ had unintentionally signed the wrong verdict throwing the MO in favor of Connolly. Then it is said that the justice before whom it was Wed fafied to ascertain from the jurymen veq .s. whether or not the flied was according to their before they were dismisaf. feet. 'we understand that the *rpm were rather \peeved\ when they horned of the error on the part of the fore- man, knowing that five of them had no intention of deciding the case in that manner. Had the justice as- certained the wishes of the jurymen as seems not to be the ease, proba- bly the case would hal diff- orently. *at it RP in giciaiika r -us .. t. they are roaming in the smug pas- tures. THEN AND NOW - Right at this time when it seems like everybody, even Old Sol is ors a strike and \grub\ prices are way up, with darn little whiskey to get. we wonder how un'der seven stars is it possible for some people in this sec- tion to exist, especially the fellow who has got to dig up the coin to pay freight on goods between here Lind the railroad. If a guy told you ten years ago hay would be 460 a 'ton in Ekalaka and merchants would have to pay $1.60 per hundred on the overland freight at this time you wouldn't say he was a pessimist, no, you would swear he was crazy. Yet here we are, shelling out one dollar and fifty cents for every one hun- dred pounds of freight hauled dovm from Baker and some folks who are in a hurry are kicking in with $2.00 per. Even now with these boosted overland hauling charges, the man with a freight outfit tells us he laid away more money when prices were 50cts a hundred and that freighting with horses is and always was a poor business. It seems to us that it is about time the merchants in -these inland'towns got together and discussed the catapillar tractor idea. Thirty dollars a ton for the freight on corn alone from the railroad—no wonder moonshine is $15 a quart. from Wm. Date Max. Dec. 1 Dec. 2 Dec. 3 Dec. 4 28 9 Dec. 6 20 1 Dec. 7 20 -2 'Dec. 8 -2 -22 Dec. 9 -10 -25 Dec. 10 -5 -24 Dec. 11 -7 -12 Those thermometers that were ex - I posed to the winds about tovrn all i' , ;howed ten . aperatures ranging trots; four to five degrees colder that this. At any rate, these figures shows it .older in December of this year than .( was since 1886. 1VEATHER REPORT. The following report is taken the local U. S. weather bureau, Freese, observer: Min. 3 -8, 7 -23 32 -6 , Legal blanks, carbon papers, man- uscript covers, typewriter papers anti iypew'riter ribbons can be purchased thi3 office. • ' tt , ;• • •; 4 \ '