The Kalispell bee. [volume] (Kalispell, Mont.) 1900-192?, 1902-12-02


The shoe is beginning to pincn Mr..
Willis, proprietor of the Muscular,
and all those outside state papers
which make Missoula a dumping
ground for mediocre talent and a
training school for journalists are
giving him the worst of it in the di
vision of patronage. Where there is q
daily paper as good as the Muscular
is striving to build up the city and
county and in every way devoting it's
income to the upbuilding of the home
community, it is little short Of piracy
for the other state papers to butt in
and it is shameful that the home peo-
pie should support these aliens-but
they do. The Record, the Standard,
the Miner and the Inter Mountain,
dispute the newspaper field in that
devoted burg, having local Offices es-
tablished there and making street
delivery. The claim for recognition
they have is a belated column of To-
cal news, clipped bodily in most in
stances from the Missoulian of the
previous day. These pirates also
encroach upon the local advertising
patronage and in some case the job
printing, which legitimately belongs
to the local paper. Mr.. Willis has kept
remarkably cool during the six
months or more that he has been at
the head of the Muscular, but has
at last made an outbreak, probably
caused by the detection of the towns
big firm, the M. M. Co., which is not
patronizing the home paper, as eXten-
sively as formerly, or perhaps has
sent the yearly order for Office sta
tionery to Anaconda, because it could
be done cheaper.
The Missouhan concluded a heart
to heart talk with the following
which sounds like gospel
when Great Falls was very young
the Helena Independent, then in it's
palmiest days, said little about the
infant city, but was always ready to
take subscriptions there. Dave Marks
of that paper, and Emmett Fiske OF
the Helena Herald were frequent and
attentive visitors there. But to its
credit the city stood by it's own mod
est weekly and enabled the editor to
make it daily when the population
was less Nan three hundred. AS the
result of this public spirit Great Falls
has now morning and evening papers
of metropolitan rank. The outside
papers have withdrawn their agencies
and they no longer devote much edi
torial space to the great city that is
attaining population and prosperity
on the banks of the Missouri.
The fact is that papers treat al
other towns but their own as step
children. No true newspaper car
serve two masters, especially il
young states where rivalry is kee1
and competition is active. In Butte
NJ. Keith of the Miner looks afte
his own household. He has no wore
of cheer for Missoula. Mr.. Durstol
of Anaconda is too much occupied
with the Washoe smelter to dwell OF
the resources of the Bitter Root val
ley. In Helena, Mr.. Dobell has al
he can do in preparing for the legiS
lature and has no time to devote t
the young giant on the Rattlesnak
and Missoula.
The lesson that the recent pas
teaches is that towns must look t
their own papers for that which
the mission of the local press to a
ford. There is no nobler sight o
this planet than that of a young news
paper battling in the interest of il
people and devoting it's entire ell
ergy in promoting their. welfare.
In Missoula like evolution is
progress. Our columns contain a
really important domestic and 70
eign news of the day, as we'll as flu
local tidings of the city and count
All this news is served up while
is fresh. This advancement is dl
to the fact that while some peop
take Great Falls, Helena Butte, Boz
man and Anaconda papers every OF
reads the Mlssoulian as well.