The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1919-06-10
The capital city is in safe-keeping

All of the firebugs took to the tall
timber early Monday afternoon when
the first of the delegations to the seth
annual convention of the North Da-
k0ta Firemen's association arrived 0v.
or the South 500. Should fire break
out in Bismarck today there are be-
tween 400 and 500 veteran flame-tight-
ers here prepared to cope with it.
In spite of the fact that this is
purely business session of the fire
mems association, with all of the old
time tournament and carnival ,fea-
lures eliminated, there is splendid
attendance, showing that, after all,
the firemen are primarily business
men. 1t is quite appropriate that on
opposite sides of the Missouri today
thsre should have opened two big
statewide meetings, one, in Mandan,
of the men who make business and
build cities, and !. the other, here in
Bismarck; of the men who protect
business and save cities. Each asso.
citation is to a large extent dependent
on the other.
/ Opening Session.
The auditorium parquet was filled
at, 10 this morning when the initial
session OF the 36th annual convention
Of the North Dakota Firemen's asso-
citation opened The convention was
called to order by the president; Sec.
retary HILL. Reade called the roll Of
departments which are members 3of
the association, and other preliminary!
work was attended to. ur
~ The most important business for the
. afternoon will be the selection of the
site for the next annual convention
Grand Forks appears to- be the most
popular contender, and it seems prob
able that he metropolis of the north.
ern Red River valley will be favored
This evening the visitors will be en-
tertained with pavement dance on
Thayer street, adjoining the county
building. sO'Connor's orchestra will
furnish music, and no charge will be
made for dancing. Bismarck's guests
are invited to turn out and enjoy
themselves to the limit. The pave
ment has been swept and secured and
powdered and placed in tip.top condi.
tion for the fete. s..
Firenen Are All Boosters. q.
The firemen, without exception, are
boosters for their home town. No
better advertising than that which
a score or more of progressive lit
tie municipalities are receiving
through their representatives here
could we'll be devised. These delega-
'tions have had printed elaborate
silk badges carrying their home.
towns slogan or some appropriate
catch-phrase, and everyone within
catching distance is Being decorated.
Michigan Has Record. go,
Among the foremost of these home.
town boosters is Chief Robert Mill.
gan of the Michigan fire department,
aveteran flame fighter and an all
around good fellow Michigan
Bone Dry" is the slogan which is
heralded on a hundred or more
badges which Chief Milligan distribut-
ed today. And he doesn't stop with
that. He is telling the story of Mich.
igan, live, bustling little city, and OF
its fire department which, out of So
members, had fifteen accepted for
military service in the worlds war
and which still has four men in
France. Chief Milligan does not be-
lieve there is another department in
America whose service flag will show
an almost so per cent military record.
Robert Milligan is life member Of
the Michigan department, organized
way back in 1884, when the present
chief and the village he represents
were considerably younger. Mr.. Milli-
gan has been chief for eight years,
and he is mighty proud of the boys he
has under him.
"otd Monte's Here"
And there's "Old Monte" Monteith,
beloved president emeritus of the
North Dakota Press association, pi-
oneer Dakota scribe and pioneer fire.
fighter, WHO is here representing the
Finley fire department and the whole
village of Finley. Monte, whose en-
tirely superfluous initials are G.. A.,
came to North Dakota just quar-
ter of 9. century ago. Soon after that
he established a Beacon for Finley
which has been that villages bright
and shining light for these many
years. Only recently the hand that
had so long trimmed the wick Of this
beacon laid down the stick, showed a
substantial wad of league money into
the Monteith jeans. and made Monte
a gentleman of leisure. In other
words, the Nonpartisan league, find
ing it couldn't chase Monte out,
bought hi mout, and the Beacon is to
be Brinton paper henceforth. Monte,
Continued on Page -Four.