The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-01-15
An Unftl1filled DUTY.

there occurred the most tragic event
in Montana's history, the great pow
der explosion in Butte. Ffty-eight
people lost their lives as the direct con-
sequence of the explosion and scores
more were manned for life. Contrary to
law a vast amount of giant powder had
been stored in warehouses Of hardware
companies within the city limits. Fire
broke out in one of these warehouses;
the fire department and hundreds of
spectators hurried to the scene. There
was an explosion, followed by two
others and in a twinkling more than
half hundred souls We're in eternity,
including the Butte firemen
On this anniversary of a most dire
event the Standard only refers to the
matter to remind the people of Butte
and of Montana that it is still neglect
full of those who are deserving of it's
care. While opinions may differ as to
how far the public may be obligated to
care for the spectators who We're in
iured at the explosion and to care for
the families of spectators who were
killed in the explosion, yet there should
be no disagreement respecting the
proposition that the families of the fire.
men who were victims of the explosion
should be kept from want. Yet in
Butte to-day lives one woman who lost
a father and two sons in the explosion
and who now earns a precarious living
by taking in washing. Another woman
whose husband was a fireman makes
her living by scrubbing out offices and
stores. 1t would surely seem that the
families of the men who lost their lives
in the citys service should not be so
quickly forgotten.
None of the families of the victims of
the explosion have ever recovered a
dollar in damages from those who own
ed the powder which exploded or from
those who were responsible for its be-
ing stored in so dangerous place
Suits were brought and one jury re-
turned a judgment, but few moments
before the verdict was rendered the
hardware store was attached by the
bank of w. A. Clark G. Bro, which firm
is now conducting its business
Out in Mount Moriah cemetery is a
great grave in which We're placed the
mangled shreds and fragments of the
bodies of firemen who were blown I'D
in the explosion. There is no monu-
ment over their grave or over the
graves of other victims of the explosion
near, by. There is no stone of any
character by which the place can be
known and the names of the heroic fire.
men remembered.
Several of the newspapers of the
state have been discussing in a some
what jocular manner what should be
done with the $4,000 of bride money
which has been turned over to the state
legislature and is subject to the dis
posal OF that body. Various SUCCESS
tions have been made Why would it
not be good idea to use this money to
place in easier circumstances the fami-
lies of the heroic firemen who were vic
Tins of the explosion and to erect a
suitable monument above the lonely
graves of the explosions victims? This
large sum of money was turned over to
the legislature by Senators Whiteside
Clark and Myers and Representative
Carr as money paid them to vote for
w. A. Clark. These gentlemen scorned
to accept the money and have placed it
at the disposal of the legislature. The
legislature might return it to W. A.
Clark, but Mr.. Clark declares that the
money is not his. Nobody claims it.
Why not then use a few thousand dol
lars of it to erect a creditable monu-
ment over the graves of the firemen in
Butte and use the balance for the relief
of the families who, by the explosion,
We're deprived of those who had earned
for them a living?
At any rate. whether the bride money
is disposed of in accordance with this
suggestion or not, it still remains
Butte's duty to erect such monument
and to care for the families CT the dead
firemen. 1t is the Standards purpose
to remind the people of Butte of this