The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-25
TOPICS OF THE STREET
A Big Increase in Wholesale
Business.
SOME LARGE DEALS MADE
Missoula Is Putting Its Best Foot For
ward This Year-Petty Thievlng
Is Getting to Be Nuisance.
Bicycle Scorcher5.

Mssoula, June 24.-Mssoula is gain
ing ground all the time as a wholesale
city and dealers in all branches of trade
in the city are this year doing more of
this class of business than ever before.
Within the past two weeks there have
been large deals made by Nfissoula mer-
chants in competition with dealers from
other towns. One of the largest sales
made in mercantile lines in this section
was closed this week and d local house
beat out the jobbers of Spokane and
other cities on the larger part of the
deal. This sale consisted of the sup
plies that are to be sent to the big army
of men engaged in the construction of
the new Northern Pacific cutoff 10
Lewiston. The exact figures of the
shipments are not available. but some
idea can be gained of the extent of the
deal from the fact that the amount of
tea alone in the bill of goods reaches
1000 pounds. During the past SO days
there have been other large sales made
from Missoua. This is the largest but
it is by no means all. Other camps and
towns have been supplied from Mis-
soula until the total reaches many car
loads. Missoula is fitted by location to
be the center of supply of an extensive
country. There is much of Western
Montana that is made exclusively Mon
tana's by the topography of the coun-
try. The rest comes from the agrees
sive and energetic work of the mer-
chants themselves.
There is nobody who visits Missoula
these days who is not pleased with the
city. its business appearance and its
surroundings. The city looks excep-
tionally well this year and the improve
ment in the business of the town has
added to the activity that prevails. All
of these facts tend to improve the i'm
preston that is received by the casual
visitor here. 1t is too bad that there
cannot be some arrangement made by
which travellers over the Montana
Union branch who have to spend four
or five hours at Garrison in waiting
for the Westbound train. can come
down to MiSsoula and spend that time
here. They would enjoy the wait much
more and the city would make many
new acquaintance. To illustrate this
the instance may be cited of a man
who was passenger on the Montana
Union train Friday He waited four
hours at Garrison and then came down
to Missoula on the Copper City Limited.
| He had still three hours to wait, as his
train was very late, and he spent his
| time in looking over the city. He is a
| man who has lived in Montana for 16
! years, and he was frank in his admis-
sion that he had no idea what a pleas
ant place Missoula is.
Garrison is making numerous ac-
| quaintances by the late trains that are
| keeping people waiting up there these
days. There are worse places than
| Garrison to wait in. The river there
i and the grove and the lunch counter
are all indelibly impressed upon the
minds of the hundreds who have spent
! hours there, wondering when that train
will come. The people there are hos
| pitable enough too, but the attractions
| are not as numerous as the averaga
delayed traveller would like to make
him forget his troubles. Still, it is
pleasanter waiting there than it is al
Silver Bow or at Logan and the travel
er may find some consolation in tbs
fact that he is not detained at either
of those places.
The petty thieving that has been an
noying the good people of this city fol
| so long has reached the railway station
and during the past few days there
have been several articles stolen from
the freight shipping platform and no,
| body seems to know where they have
gone or who took them. The city OF
the county will be compelled to EN-.
ploy special detective to ferret out
the thieves who are doing this whole
sale work this sumner. The experiment
of detective work in regard to the gans
of boys arrested this week was success
full All of the boys but one have
been captured and punished. The same
experiment might work well in otheI
lines.
While the police are al work on thi:
proposition, they might take a fall GU
of some of the bicycle "scorchers" VIII,
are doing so much to make wheelin,
unpopular. These fellows are bains
severely criticised and are making i
hard for wheelmen, as well as for thos
who are kept busy lodging them OIL
the streets. There is no ordinanc,
against fast riding. but it is admitted
that the speed limit is fixed too low /,
this ordinance. Four miles an hour il
too low limit to place on the speed
but if it were made eight miles ant
then strictly enforced, there would b.
less kicking against the wheelmen. No
all Wheelmen are scorchers. but al
suffer from the careless riding of thos
who do hump up their backs and rid
without looking to see where they ar
going.
Another nuisance is the wheelmal
who either is too ignorant or too mea1
to turn to his right when he meets an
other wheelman, pedestrian or
team. He receives much roastin.
from all whom he meets. 1t he wer
a Chinaman or an imbecile there nigh
be some excuse for his stupidity, Blu
there is none now.
The new light infantry company i
getting down to business in good shape
The boys are steadily drilling and thei