The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-09-27
KANSAS CITY Ian DISCOURSES
ON SALONS HE HAS SEEN.
WHAT He FOUND IN WYOMING
Former Montana Cattle Man Con-
Quoted a Joint and Talked Poll
tics to His Rough and
Ready Patrons.

western country in these days." laughed
Scion Prior of Kansas City this morn
ing, as he walked up to the bar of the
Finlen with a friend to get a small one
| to start the day on. 1.-The time was, I
suppose" he continued, when there was
! general characterization that would
| apply pretty we'll to all the barrooms in
| the west, but certainly one cannot say
| that any longer.
Here in Butte there are sample rooms
| that are just as good as any of those in
| the east. but there are parts of this
state and localities in other states out
| here where the kind of bars that are
| kept and tn system of keeping them is
! little different from what most peO-
| Pile who come out from the east are ac-
customed to. Last summer I was down
! in the country-went out on one OF the
Sunday excursions-and when We landed
| there I expected to find nothing but fish
| bait, and possibly a few fish, the first
| thing that saw was huge saloon sign.
| The barroOm was kept in shaHty and
the color of the implanted boards showed
! that the building, if it might be called
such, had been erected for the purpose
of accommodating those who might come
out there without liquid refreshments.
When I started out I took along little
bitters for fear that there might not be
any on sale near the river. / found the
| kind of whiskey that they sold in the
shanty would do for fisherman all
right and so did not have to depend on
the limited supply that one could take
| on the train without danger of having
to pay for excess baggage.
zone Of the most interesting barrooms
l have seen out in this country recent
ly discovered down in northern Wyom-
ing. I happened to be in a little town
| in that state not long ago and as there
was no railroad in the place fellow
could not loaf around the depot and
had to seek shelter in the barroom. The
| saloon was not so far different so far as
! the building was concerned from other
| establishments of its kind in small
places, but the fellow who ran the joint
| and his patrons We're good subjects for
| a study of human nature. AS l walked
| up to the bar a long, 1anky individual
| who had his coat swung over his right
arm, leaned down on the bar with his
| left elbow and explained as he looked at
me that he would take little 'Hker. ]
was not up on the style of the town and
| simply called for a drink myself and
handed dollar to the barkep. When
the change came back found that had
| paid for two drinks instead of one and
| then it began to dawn on me that my
friend who was leaning on the bar. was
enjoying my hospitality. I concluded
| that it was a poor time to question his
method Of ingratiating himself with me
| and passed the matter off as though /
! were we'll satisfied.
II asked the barkeep to bend his ell
bow with me and when he hal raked
in my second offering for his till he be-
gan to loosen up little in regard to
1,ot,,r 1,ric
| lust at the time. / found out that the
fellow who ran the saloon and who was
doing duty behind his own bar, as it
! happened had been in the cattle bust
! ness I'D here in Montana and that at one
! time he had held quite an important
| political office here. He had met with
reverscs after going into politics or
| rather after getting out of 1t, and not
seing any way clear to make some easy
| money up here he had gone down into
| Wyoming and opened a saloon. When
he found out that l knew few people
| up in Butte nothing was to good for
| me, and l sat at the end OF the bar all
| the evening while he handed out bev-
| erages that still mad the conversation
| left in them. AS the rough fellows who
| partonized the place began to get livened
up on the liquid electricity the former
/ Montana cattle man became voluble
himself and gave them a long account
between drinks of how he used to buy
herds of steers up In this country. AS
the night advanced he was running for
Office and throwing hundred dollar bills
down on various bars to treat the boys
who were to support him at the polls.
! He was elected, of course, and served his
constituents well. All this talk of his
took with his customers and the night
which had begun SO poorly for him in
business way proved to be very profit
able one.
1.-THE next morning when I left the
town the barkep was with me. He ex-
planned that he was coming up here to
get another man who had been prom
inent politically, to help him out in his
business He had been holding down the
saloon, he said, for month, giving
nightly recitations on what he used to
do up here in Montana and he was get
| ting tired of the job. He could hire
| plenty of bartenders to relieve him, but
what he wanted was another former
Montana politician, one who could take
up a line of political talk right where he
might leave it when he took Off his
apron and carry it on with the crowd at
| the bar
I'VE rode about twenty miles on
| freight wagon, the barkeep and myself.
| and then took passage on construction
| train that was running over new road
| that was being built into the little place
| where my new friend was conducting his
| business. Finally we boarded train
that took US up here to Butte and the
barkeep left me to look for clerk who
| could hand out out stock in his wet
| goods business house. I don't know
whether he found the man he was look
| ing for, but the chances are that he did
| and I dare say that the two former poll
ticians ar right now dishing up good
cheer to the men in the neighborhood
| of the Wyoming town who uses their
| line of goods. Gentlemen, let US have
| fresh one to the health of the Wyoming
| barkeep."