The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-10-03
COL. GORDON ON BILLINGS.
The Miles City Journal Writes About
"AIkali Flats"

Yellowstone Journal: A visit to
Billings by one who has not been there
for a year or so. fully impresses on
the visitor the conviction that the town
is Oh the bulge. New buildings are in
sight whichever way one looks and
many are Of a solid and pretentious
character. Merchandising, too, appears
to be at flood tide and while stores and
stocks do not as a class compare favor
ably with Miles City, such establish
ments al Yegen Bros. and Babcock's
would be a credit to a much larger
town and are splendid examples Of bus
mess push and sagacity. Still, though
the town has grown and ia growing at
a very satisfactory pace, the fact is not
SO apparent to the transient az it would
be il the founders Of Billings had not
chosen to spread it all over the fiat.
The impression constantly is present
to the observer that the widely scat.
tered individual property holders, each
building a house or two on his own
"quarter section" in the hope 1--WE will
not say expeotation) of increasing the
value Of the land and beguiling others
to become n%eighbors, yet as a matter Of
fact, some of the earliest of these 10.
caters-prominent citizens, too-are
as barren Of neighbors as they were
ten years ago when the town had less
than n Thousand people in it. This
condition does not, however. apply to
the locality known as "the south
side" Here the people are practical.
~ neighborly and sociable and a good
share of the growth of the town in the
past five years has been on this side of
the track. Here Yegen Bros. have an
immense department store that would
draw trade from the other side if the
grade crossing Of the tracks were ten
times as dangerous as it is. At pres
ent the mortality from this source is
held down to about one in twenty-four
hours and as a fair proportion Of these
are hoboes, the draft on the population
is not excessive. One acquisition that
no Il will grudge to Billings is the
large and conspicuous contingent Of no.
boes, tin.horlIs and rinkies that pros
perity has lured to the town. They
SouUL AOASOiy W OHo ClOWuS Ou uJC
streets and are painfully in evidence in
places. 1t will be many years,
even at the present pace of growth, be-
fore Billings can enjoy the pleasu res
and advantages Of a business street
stores on both sides Of the street.
At present it does business on both
sides Of the N. p. right of way and it
will be some time before this method
will be altered, but the time Will come
s%torehouses, lodging houses and
,heap dives generally will occupy the
frontage and the merchants
ind business men who crave a modi.
'um of cleanliness, quiet and comfort,
will be found on some adjacent street
to the enjoyment Of these in
Ilienable rights. The town that has a 8
abroad or two putting and pushing
through the middle of it ia always un.
Tempt and frzzly. One cannot conceive
What an advantage it is to be to
ave the railroad come into the sub.
RIBS, as it does in Miles City, until
Or some other place Of the kind
) visited. Still there are features Of i
ife In Billings that wholly obscure |
hese petty disadvantages. The people
re a whole.souled, generous lot, very +.
to visitors. ever putting the
est foot forward, and nearly AZ often I
to the front some thing equal. {
m~eritorious IN the way Of beverages ]
nd cigars. And when you think that
was originally peopled from
files City, how could IL be otherwisef