The Washington herald., 1906-10-26
HEARD AT HOTELS.

money IS disbursed every month as III
Butte" remarked Mr. z. ". Harwood,
prominent attorney Of that great Montana
mining camp. at the Raleigh.
'eThe monthly pay roll Of the big copper
companies amounts to SL5oo,Go0. Tho
miners who work above ground get .
per day, and the underground laborers
/ $3.50 This is the best scale Of wages
given anywhere in the country; It has
been in existence a long time, and unless
something remarkable happens il viii last
indefinitely because both the employers
and the men are agreed as 10 the figures
/ With this large sum OF money disOursed
at short intervals, Butte Is one OF tue
/ liveliest places on the map. and comes
pretty near answering 20 the description
/ wide OPEN The production of copper at
/ Butte steadily increases, and another fac
/ tor IN our prosperity is the advance III
/ silver. At It's present price Of 70 cents an
ounce 1t will pay to operate number OF
/ the best producing mines, and should the
I price 90 up to 50 or 90. there viii be a
boom in the production Of the white
metal.
/ Montana is pretty apt TO go Repuoli-
can this year for several reasons, inciud-
/ ing the popularity of the President, the
good times, and the strong sentiment for
I protection. Our people are heavily inter
ested in wool. and the fear that Demo
cratic success means "a lower duty cu
wool makes the average Montana voter
stick by the Republican party. A pretty
contest is going on for United States
Senator between Congressman Dixon AMI
ex-senator Lee Mantle. II is a clean. good
natured campaign they are waging for
Senator ClaTks seat Both are men OF
ability, and both so popular it is hard u
predict the winner"
Although Vermont is local option
State. so few Of cur towns have voted for
license that practically we are living
under a prohibition regime. said Hon
Charles H. Darling, former Assistant Sec
rotary Of the Navy, and one Of the fore
most men Of Vermont. in conversation
with a Herald reporter at the New VIII
lard.
During our recent political campaign
/ made the rounds Of the state. and no.
where did / see "a glass OF Intoxicating
liquor Sold or given away as an aet q
/ hospitality. After a hard day Of public
speaking il would be the natural thing,
and in former days The certain custom.
/ for the speakers and their friends TO cheer
/ themselves and relieve fatigue by a nip Of
something ardent. but never was bottle
passed around. so far as ! saw. and IL led
me TO the conclusion thai we have fallen
upon new and extraordinarily temper
ate era.
The local option plan has seemed to
work very satisfactorily up our way. ana
4 it has taken the liquor question out of our
I politics. Here and there one of our towns
votes for license. but the people need
never endure the saloon for q long period
+ II they md Il undesirable, since the law
( provides for annual elections TO determine
whether liquor shall be sold
/ Mr.. J. Martin Miller. erstwhile famous
! interviewer Of public men, but now
/ United States consul at Rheims, France,
sat in the Riggs House lobby last even
/ ing and told d Herald reporter something
+ Of the great wine industry Of the Won
/ derful champagne region Of which the
! cities Of Rheims. Epernay and Az are
/ the central points Of production.
THE champagne district" said Mr..
Miller. 'aI lies within the political d.
I vision Of Marnee, but the word cham
/ payne derives It's origin from the district
/ once so named but not now one OF the
/ divisions OF the republic IN all, the area
devoted 10 the making Of the sparkling
/ bat SEQ acres In no other part OF
/ France are the grapes which are used
I for making champagne grown. and the
l laws Of the country make IL illegal To
manufacture 10 outside this restricted
territory This is done for the pr0tec-
tiOn Of an industry which Is worth 49,
000.l00 annually 10 the country.
Besides. these 1900 acres are naturally
the only part of France Mt for growing
/ the champagne grape. the soil being % "a
chalky formation for a great distance
I beneath the surface. Now. the chalk In
/ The lands keeps the earth warm thing
/ very necessary for the growing Of grapes
and what is of equal Importance. ia
keeping the deep tunnels in which the
+ wine is stored al the same temperature
/ winter and summer
THE men. women, and children en-
poyed In the various departments Of the
industry get excellent wages. and tine
way they are treated bv their employers
+ is in the highest degree creditable. The
+ firm Of Meet * Chandon. which employs
2.G9 people and cUltivates 2.53 acres Of
. land At Eperuay. exercises "a paternaJ
care over its workmen. giving them free
medical attention. assistance I'm sickness
and lending them money 10 buy homes
without interest charges Tho under
ground storage chambers of this firm eN-
+ tend in a. straight direction for distance
F OF fourteen miles
While in Europe last summer 7 made
study of municipal ownership OF pub
+ lie utilities IN several cities on the CONT
nent and in England said Nj G., j.
Baxter Of New York Al tho Shoreham-
The conclusion I reached was that
some OF the towns over there had tried To
do a little too much in the way Of owner
shin by a radical extension Of that policy
For instance. some Of them had not made
"a success OF owning and operating street
car lines but in none had there been
failure in the matter OF possessing ana
managing gas and electric lighting plants
and water works. The average price Of
gas. by the way. in European towns is
scarcely half what it is In the United
States. where private ownership SO large
" exists.
1t seems to me that there is hardly
community OF any size ia this country
that could not proftably furnish it's citi-
zens with those prime ecessitieS-Iight
and wateT-at the cost of production. I
would not advise taking over the car
lines, but the other two should be op-
Grated by the local governments to obvi-
ate oppressive charges OF private COM
panies.
Hon. Perry Belmont and wife are guests
of the New Willard
Senator Beveridge as a CamDaigner.
From the Chicago Evening Post.
The sentiments of the great body Of
American people have been voiced more
faithfully nv Senator. Ravsridce than bv