The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-05-26
THE YEAR IN GREAT FALLS.

! tIdiiy ConceuHr that no town IN the
West has suffered less from the panic
of '93-or is to-day in a more prosper
Gus condition than Great Falls. This
fact is certainly remarkable when II Is
known that the town really dates its
existence from 1887. A young city like
this is especially liable to great suffer
ing i'm times Of financial distress, and
In former panics history shows that the
new towns Of the Mississippi valley
were literally paralyzed. There were
not half a dozen business men in the
cities of Minneapolis and st. Anthony
who did not succumb in the great cri-
sis of 1859, and the same could be said
of nearly all the prosperous towns from
st. Cloud to ST. Louis What then has
enabled the city of Great Falls-less
than eight years old, when the panic
overlook ito withstand the great
financial shock so well and to show a
monthly gain in population and wealth
since July /, 1898? This remarkable
fact is clearly due to the improvement
of its great water power, by the side
| OF which the Boston ~ Montana cop
per company have steadily employed,
| during the past two years. nearly
| thousand men in the smelling and re-
| lining OF copper ores; also TO the Dulld-
| ing and successful operation or the
| Royal Flour mill and the mammoth
plant Of the Montana Brewing COM
pany, as well as the rapid development
| of the coal and coke business OF SAND
| Coulee and Belt. These and other i'm
portant industries have increased the
| railway business Of Great Falls enor-
mously during this period. and, alto
| gether, have created monthly pay
| roll four or five times greater than the
pay roll two and one-half years ago.
| While sales of real estate here have
| been comparatively small since the be-
| ginning of 1898, a great many hand
| some and substantial buildings have
| been erected i'm all parts of the city,
/ and there is to-day steady and IN
| creasing demand for good business To-
cations, as well as for better class OF
/ dwelling houses.
However, the croaker is here. just as
he was in Chicago, Minneapolis. Du-
! luth and West Superior-but Great
Falls moves on. gaining new strength
and power from each succeeding
| year.
The foundation stone upon which this
| city is being built is it's magnificent
water power. which, for all time, I'M
der wise and iudicious management,
/ must contribute to its growth ana pros
| perity. Ii is true the coal and mineral
| resources tributary to the city mean
much for it's future. but the value OF
| this vast water power for economic
] purposes cannot be computed. The be
| lief that a great industrial center VIII
| he created here Is already suggesting
| importaut improvements in this and
| adjacent counties. The settlement OF
| colonies of the best class OF farmers
on the lands of Cascade and Teton
| counties Is largely due to the certainty
| of the excellent markets here Tor all
| farm products. This is also hasteh-
| ing the execution of great irrigation
| enterprises in all the valleys OF north
| ern Montana. The location OF steel
| rolling mills here at an early date Is
| now an assured fact This Industry
/ will contribute more than any other
I
to the prosperity oil Great aus aIe
| vicinity, because all of the materials
| which enter into the manufacture or
| steel and iron are found adjacent 10
| the city. The mining and transporta-
| ton of iron ores and limestone; the
mining of coal and the manufacture
| of coke crowded these lost items are
| not superceded by electricity, will all
go to swell the already healthy pay
| roll Of Great Falls. Few places on this
| continent besides this city, have all
| the requirements for the successIul
| manufacture of steel To supply the
| great steel plants of the East. much of
| the iron ore must be shipped from
| points more than a thousand miles dis
| tant birmingham, Ala, possesses the
great advantage of having iron ore,
coking coal and limestone near It's
| smelters and mills. Not only has Great
| Falls the same advantages of raw ma
terials as Birmingham, but its iron
| ores are Of much higher grade, ana, 10
| crown all II has the water power or
| the Missouri falls, which. as sure as
| the hand of time moves forward, is
destined by electricity to convert the
/ crude ores of adjacent mountains into
| bars of steel 1t is therefore safe 10
| assert that Great Falls Is entering
| upon a period that Is likely TO carry
! its population To the 1900 mark before
| the close Of the present decade, and
! the year 1895 will be an important FAC
tor in attaining that desirable end.
| There has never been a time i'm the
! past six years when the supply of bus
| mess houses or dwellings in Great
! Falls was equal To the demand. and
! this spring reveals activity i'm building
| unequalled by any city in the great
| Northwest. The steady yet almost
| marvellous growth of the city and the
| vast country tributary has caused mer-
| chants To prosper wonderfully and as
! a result they demand larger and more
| elaborate quarters. The pay rolls of
| Great Falls are large and have been
| constantly increasing for several years.
! The city is suffering no boom. but
| every citizen perforce believes that
| vast additions To the commercial and
| Industrial enterprises of the city will
! be made within "A few months, and
| every investment and Improvement of
| realty will then prove doubly profitable.
on Central avenue, between Third
| and Fourth streets north. the brick
| block being erected by J. ii. Mcknight
| is nearly completed II is 30x150 feet,
| two stories in height and will cost
! about $50. 900. IL will be occupied by
| prominent local business firm.
| At Second avenue south and Second
! street the Great Falls carriage works
| has begun the construction of a ware
| house or repository to be two stories
! in height. 25xf feet, of corrugated iron.
| The block on the northwest corner
| OF Central avenue and Fourth street,
| owned by Ira Myers, is nearly ready
| for the plasterers. IL will he one story
| in height. l00Xl50 feet, and will cost
| $4,000 II is divided into three COM
| partments. and underneath win be a
! well-lighted basement. l00xl0O feet. The
| corner room will have a handsome
| Mate glass front and viii be occupied
| as a beer hail. The 9TH
| or rooms will be occupied
| bv a grocery and a dry goods store
| Althnngh the building az nresent-is