The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1891-08-01
GREAT FALLS GUESTS.

The body is composed of about fifty
ministers and quite as many lay dele
gates and visitors. A large number of
~ladies-the wives of ministers and dele
gates are also in attendance. They are
the guests of the people of Great Falls
and should and will receive that atten-
ton due their exalted stations and dis
tinguished services. They are a body of
educated, brainy and thinking men and
} women. They come from every portion
OF the state and possess a thorough
knowledge of the several districts in
which they have labored, and being
close observers they will unconsciously
institute a comparison between Great
Falls and it's citizens and the places and
people they have SO recently left. The
impressions thus formed will doubtless
find expression in thousands of house
holds, not only throughout this state,
but in near and distant lands. What
these impressions will be will depend, i n
a measure, upon the people of this city,
for men, however fair-minded, are apt to
associate a place with their experiences
in it. If that experience be pleasant and
wholesome and fruitful of happy rem
%iniscences much is gained for the good
of the place. But the people of Great
Falls hardly require this hint.
Many, very many of the guests of the
city see it for the first time; all have
heard of it, for its praises have been sung
in every civilized land and in almost
every tongue. Its magnificent water
power and almost boundlcss surround
ing resources have made the name of
Great Falls a household word among the
people of the land. And yet the city it.
self is only in it's infancy. Seven years
ago where the town now stands locks
and herds grazed undisturbed, and now
and then bands of antelope quietly
quenched their thirst in the pure waters
of the broad river which flows by its
gates. Seven years ago the Hon. Paris
Gibson saw the great natural
with which a kind providence had en-
lowed the place and its surroundings,
and with that faith which sis the sub
stance of things hoped for, the evidenre
of things not SEEM" he pitched his tent,
drove his stakes and the city of Great
Falls had its birth. In 1887 the county
Of Cascade was organized with Great
Falls as its county seat. Since then the
growth OF the city has been phenomenal,
and today its guests see a place Of G,OOO
souls, and still it is in it's swaddling
clothes. They may picture what it may
be when it's mills and smelters and re-
duction and refining works, and factories,
contemplated or in course of construction,
shall be running in full blast-when it
shall reach the full stature of manhood.
The city has an excellent system of
water works, electric lighting, and cleo
trio street car railway. The Methodists,
Episcopalians, Catholics, Presbyterians,
and Baptists own church buildings here,
while other denominations hold services
in public buildings. 1t has a large pub
lie school building and another of gen.
erous proportions is being built upon the
South side. Still these are only begin
nings. The people are public-spirited
and enterprising and stand ready to as
sist in every undertaking looking to the
education and moral teaching of the
masses. Every building, every improve
ment, and every public enterprise is
planned and constructed with an eye to
it's durability as well as to its pleasing
effects. A coloring of the heroic is in
jected into all plans for public improve
ment, the inevitable corollary Of the i'm
mediate presence of the heroic IN nature.
The Great falls, the broad, sweeping
river, the cloud piercing, silver-ribbed
mountains in the distance, the grand
plateaus and almost boundless surround
ing plains tend to broaden the mind and
to render it susceptible to all that is
good and noble, grand and imposing,
and destroying the taste for the dwar-
fish from the hands of man.
Tn" city's guests will see evidences Of
these facts in the excellent class of build
ings erected and being erected; in the
fine two hundred acre park, in the plant
ing of trees; in the great dam at Black
Eagle falls, in the mammoth smelter in
course of construction there, in the great
saw mill just completed; in the smelter
in operation and in the city's plans for
the future. 1t is in no Boosting spirit
that the TRIBUNE mentions these mat
tiers. The attention of the city's guests
is simply directed to them as evidences
of the existence OF that enlightened,
broad public spirit which conceives vast
enterprises and carries them to success
full conclusions.
The guests will also learn that Great
Falls is the center Of a railroad system
second to M in Importance in the
state. The Great Northern, the Montana
Central. the Great Falls az Canada. the