Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-30
A CITY WITHOUT GOVERNMENT
Flat River. One of the Wealthiest
and Busiest Places in Missouri.

From the Kansas City Star.
The door of the city calaboose is wide
open and silent. Like a faithful sentinel
ii stands. keeping guard when all things
else have fed. Its hinges are rusting IN
idleness because no criminal has been
detained there for many moons. The city
hall has long since been vacated ana
locked up. The mayor and other munich
pal officials have retired to business and
private life and the former chief OF
police has become a deputy sheriff. Every
vestige of the once strong and assertive
city government is now only pleasant
memory Of bygone days.
The preceding paragraph. taken from
the St Louis Republic might we'll be an
epitaph for JuareZ or some Inflated city
that had been wiped from the map by
fire flood or pestilence. but such is not
the case. Those conditions are true, II Is
asserted, in every detail OF a growing,
thriving Missouri town. and 1t Is one or
the wealthiest, busiest places In the state
Flat River, Mo-, with a population or
from 5000 TO 10000 people, representing
almost every nationality, political conVtc-
ton and religious belief, yet without the
slightest pretense Of municipal govern
ment is the center Of the most unique
economic situation of the present decade
1t is another link in the chain OF evil
dence proving that truth Il stranger than
fiction. Flat River is typical mining
cause of the conspicuous congeniality or
disposition, its population is more cos
mopoltan than, perhaps. any city or IT'S
size in America.
Another remarkable feature says the
St Louis paper is that though a mining
camp is usually looked upon the en-
bodiment in a pre-eminent degree of law
lessness and a low order OF citizenship,
Flat River is the very heart of the great
est lead mining district in the world. and
10 per cent of its male population makes
it's living underground. Twenty years
ago the town was not even on the map
of st. Francois county. AS recently
ten years ago il was practically unknown
except to a few Wall street operators.
who were interested in the lead market
and hence familiar with the centers
where the metal was mined.
Though there are no saloons in Flat
River. which fact in itself is remarkable
considering the number of foreigners,
men casonally tank up in neighborinS
towns and stray into Flat River, where
they are arraigned on various charges
before the justice court and petty crimes
and family disputes are not less fire.
quent there than in many other towns.
The thing that has made possible the
development and disqualification of such a
powerful moral sentiment in this mining
community is the fact that from it's very
beginning the most prominent men of the
neighborhood were stalwart church MEM
bers and representative citizens, who used
every means in their power to build up
such a sentiment and even underwent per-
sonal sacrifice to discourage and prevent
any conduct or institutions which tended
to impair it.
In speaking of this large mining conf
munity as Flat River, IL is well 10 eN-
plain that Flat River is only the largest
of a group and though st. Francois.
River Mines Desloge and Esther are
geographically a continuation of the city
of Flat River they have separate post
offices and are generally spoken OF a.
distinct towns.