The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-06-26
HOW the Committeeman of Butte Crack
Jokes on the Annual
Celebration,

Speaking of Fourth of July celebra-
lions said one of the committeeman at
the meeting held this forenoon "Iu new.
er forget the first one I was ever mixed
up in. 1t was in early frontier days and
we We're all trying to boom the camp
where lived. No. it wasn't in Montana
put 1t wasn't thousand miles awayz
we had great row that time. :
you know that the only place to have
Fourth of July celebration is in a small
western camp preferably town off the
rallroad, where you must make your own
excitement. Well, I was quite a cub of
boy when we planned one year to have
the biggest celebration inn the history
of the territory. We were going to have
barbecue of ten steers, twenty fat hogs,
and don't know how many sheep. There
was to be a balloon ascension, the first
In that part of the west; trotting race
between the two fastest horses of that
section of the country; creased pig race
for $25 besides the pig, and other attrac-
tions.
All was going swimmingly, when our
imported orator sent word that he could
not appear, and in an evil hour the COM
mlttee decided to call mass meeting and
nave the people vote for local speaker.
The idea took we'll, and the ambitious
Daniel Websters took the field in sup
port of their claims. They canvassed the
town like book agents; they ran riot
night and day in the two days before the
election, and political campaign wasn't
a marker to the interest they displayed.
1.-THE time of election came, and the
hall was packed with bowling mob of
partisans, each faction yelling for its IA
vorite candidate for the empty honor of
orator. It was ridiculous in the ex-
treme, but the crowd was in deadly earn
est. When the first ballot came, there
was tie between three Of the leaders,
with a lot of scattering votes, where lit
tie known speakers had voted for them
selves. When the result was made
known, there was a howl Of disapproval
from each one of the three leading fac
tons. Another ballot was failure, for
some one had slipped lot of spurious
ballots Then some unpleasant names be-
gan to float out on the air. and before the
third ballot was taken, fists and every
thing movable began to darken the air.
There was hardly a person but what got
some kind of a bruise, some of them SER
ious, and the whole celebration was drop
ped, when it was on the eve of being a
success. In some way the steers and
hogs for the barbecue disappeared the
money for the prizes passed around from
hand to hand until it was lost, and the
people didn't see even ghost on Inde-
pendence day. I wasn't one of the pros
pective orators, but I got something a
good deal more tangible out Of my pa
triotism, for I was custodian of the bar
becue stock and as there was to be no
celebration, I thought it was shame to
turn the stock over to some dishonest
man, who wasn't interested in the good
cause. So I quietly sold the whole lot
over in the next camp, and after walt
ing for sufficient time for the public to
claim the money, I took it myself. Have
a cigar? Yes, am pretty well-to-do, and
I always help out on Fourth of July
funds that some other deserving youag
fellow may get a start as I did. But
isn't it funny, really, how some men will
go wild over a little chance to air their
voice, especially on the Fourth?"
81 hope nothing of the kind will happen
in Butte this year." said the COMMITTEES.
man and the rest of the men on the
committee agreed with him.