The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-17
The Point of Ne1y.

It'll due apologies to many
| wv newspaper men and maya
zine writer's, l must avail my
self OF this opportunity to combat the
oft-repeated assertion that Butte is the
/! Wickedest city on earth. It seems that
| many years ago a certain Chicago
| newspaper man, travelling through the
| West, stopped in Butte for a few days.
While in Butte he found that for which
| he sought. He was not looking for
| Sunday schools or libraries or cultured
| homes. He was away from his home,
! he wanted a good time, and when such
man wants a good time the worst
| places he can find the better becomes
| the time. He found nothing in Butte
| that he could not find in Chicago, but
| he was not in the habit of Seeing the
| town" when home. So he wrote several
| columns about what he saw in Butte
and summarized his observation with
| the expression of the opinion that
Butte is the worst city on earth.
| Successive newspaper men and maya
| zine writers visiting Butte to a large
extent have followed the Chicago mans
| route and consequently have written
in his strain. They came to Butte to
see what was bad. They did not ask
the hotel clerks to direct them up; theya
asked the way down. They got what
they looked for. They could follow the
same plan in visiting any other live
city East or West ana would reach the
conclusion that the city they visited
is terribly tough.
Having made Butte my home some
thing more than ten years, during
which period my eyes have not been
closed at all times, l may perhaps be
as able to give an expert opinion re-
specting the town as may those who
come to Butte for a few days only for
the purpose of winding up a jag"
Apologizing for an excessive use of the
personal pronoun, 1 may truthfully say
that I have seen Butte. I have also
seen other cities. I have not limited
my vision of Butte to that part of it
which lies below Park street. I have
not followed the example OF so many
| who have come to Butte to write it up,
and limited my observation to the
| gambling houses, the beer halls and
the bad lands" l have lived in Butte
long enough to know that there are
| schools in Butte, that there are
| churches, libraries, homes of refine
ment, taste, purity and happiness. I
have found that there are people here
of virtue as we'll as of vice; of educa-
ton as well as ignorance; of nobility
and purity as well as of debasement
| and debauchery.
The point of view taken by so many
newspaper men and other casual visit
ors to Butte is taken also by many res
idents of other towns of Montana I
have, with a degree Of amusement, OBJ
served in years past many scores of
men, young and old, who occasionally
come to Butte from various parts of
Montana. AS soon as they alight from
the arriving train they begin partaking
of the cup which "jags," and they do
not cease partaking of that cup until
they board the train for home. Their
time in Butte is mainly spent in sa-
looms, gambling houses and variety
theaters. Then they go home and tell
their friends what a terribly tough
town Butte Is and how extremely fast
all the people there travel. They paint
the temptations which they found on
every hand. 1t may well be Judged
that at least a large percentage of
these gentlemen wanted to be tempted
when they boarded the train for Butte,
and they would have been exceedingly
disappointed had those temptations not
been numerous enough to suit their
tastes. Had these individuals asked the
hackman to drive them to the library
building or the Y. NJ. c. A. rooms or
the Salvation Army headquarters or
the Mountain View church or the par
ochial residence, they might not have
been so beset with temptations and
their idea of Butte might have been
different It is easy to find evil if you
are looking for it. Some of my &C.
quaintances who live in little towns in
various parts of the state have confided
to me that they would live years at
home without dissipating or carousng,
but that when they come to Butte it is
"all off," It does not seem to me that
such people deserve much credit for be-
ing good. 1t is well to be suspicious of
the morality of a man who is unable to
find anything to tempt him. Tempta-
ton is the test OF virtue. Character is
not established until there has been
temptation. The man who leaves his
pastoral retreat and falls the moment