The Livingston enterprise. [volume] (Livingston, Mont.) 1883-1914, 1888-09-15
MONTANA NEWS.

Prairie fires are raging in the Teton
country, one strip 60 miles in length hav
ing been denudcd of grass by the f1ames.'
The Pioneer Building and Loan associ-
ton of Bozeman has filed articles of in
corporation with the territorial secretary.
Capital $5OO,OOo.
Miners returning from the Sweet Grass
hills report the district IN fine condition,
and the recent dis overy of several new
leads There is about 80 men in the hills
and they prophesy camp second to none
| IN the territory in the near future.
At the recent meeting Of the board Of
directors of the Northern Pacific railway
August Belmont refused to be elected one
of the directors and John G. Bullet of
Philadelphia, former director, was
elected in his place. The president of
| the road, Robert Harris, resigns and be-
comes president of the board, Thomas F.
Oakes becoming president of the road
with headquarters at St. Paul. These
changes are said to indicate the increas-
ing influence of Henry Willard in the af
fairs of the Northern Pacific and are de
cidedly to the advantage of Montana, as
Oakes has always been strongly in favor
of building branch roads in this territory.
Argus: The Moccasin roundup and
the sheep men in that vicinity have united
in constructing an apparatus to check
prairie fires. They propose to build tanks
and locatess them at various ranches on the
range, the tanks to be placed on the run
ming gear of wagons so they can be moved
about as the OCCASION may require. In adj
dition to the tanks they will construct
and attach drag made of several thick
ness of old carpet or wool sacks sewed to-
gather, about 12x 16, which will be kept
wet and dragged over the fire by wire
attached to tie horn of saddle. 1t is
believed that fires in their inclpiency can
be easily checked by this means. Some
precautionary measures should he taken
on all our ranges.
New North West: June 30th closed
the most successful fiscal year the North
ern Pacific company has ever known.
The gross earnings of the road showed an
increase of exceeding So, 100000 over the
previous year, of which $l,308,000 was
the passenger department. When General
Passenger Agent Chas s. Fee couple of
years ago announced reduction on local
rates from eight cts. to five cts. a mile,
many said 1t was good thing for the
public, but 1t would be ruin to the
company. Time has demonstrated its
correctness as a railroad position, 40 per
cent. of the increase on &c per cent. of
the earnings coming from the passenger
department. The road was built far IN
advance of business that would ordinarily
justify railroad construction, but it has
already built up business to put it on a
paying basis, while branches like the
Drummond & Philipsburg and Missoula
& Bitter Root have paid profit from the
first month they were opened.
A st Paul dispatch says that Gen.
Rugcr was notified Saturday afternoon
that the Crows, Sioux, Piegans and Gros
Ventres were preparing for war again and
that war party had just left the Poplar
River agency on raid to the Crow
agency The General Immediately
ordered Troop D First Cavalry under
command of first Lieutenant Oscar J.
Brown from Fort Custer to Bull Mountain
station, Montana, for the purpose of
watching the crossings on the Yellow
stone between Custer and Huntly and
covering the point specially where party
of Sioux on the Yellowstone were recently
killed by Indian scouts. Lieutenant
Brown will take one hundred rounds of
carbine and twentyfour rounds Of pistol
ammunition per man. The troops will
take ten days rations and move in the
lightest possible marching order. Second
Lieutenant Geo. Byram, First Cavalry,
with four none commissioned officers and
twenty -one men from troop X First Cavalry
have been sent to Custer station from
which point they will proceed down the
Yellowstone to point near to and opposite
the Big Porcupine River watching the
crossings that the rading party of dis
mounted Sioux would be likely to cross.
The commanding officer of Fort Keogh,
have also been requested to send dctach-
ment to watch the crossings east of that