The Powder River County examiner and the Broadus independent. [volume] (Broadus, Mont.) 1919-1935, 1922-07-28

Even in the course Of hurried
passage through, . traveller would
hardly dismiss Bonner on the Black.
foot with Z careless references to 'san-
other sawmill town." It would *
cite some degree Of interest. and -
tablish claim to . classification above
Industrial mediocrity, II It had moth
ing to distinguish It but it, sawmill,
which II reputed to be the finest IN
operation anywhere. and were It not
the manufacturing center Of the
numbering interests Of the Anaconda
Copper Mining company in Montana.
The fact that It represents an import
ant collateral activity Of one Of the
greatest Industrial organisations In
the world, and 10 delivering an out
put Of almost half q million feet .
day to meet the enormous lumber
requirements Of the Anaconda mines
and smelters in three states, alone
would challenge attention. But this
r. not Ill there II to it-not by q great
deal.
Il IL . model town, a community
that has developed an individuality
manifested in such things az . conn
munity garden, cooperative conn
pany store, library car-the only
one Of It's kind, perhaps, in the
world-which circulates a thousand
books monthly among mill operatives
and lumberjacks, and a hotel-like
dormitory for unmarried employees.
with ballroom, reading rooms and
baths.
And these are only few Of the
more obvious things. II the traveller
paused to talk with any Of the two
or three hundred men and women
to be found In the community gar
dens every evening at this time Of
year, still another attribute Of the
model town would be quickly reveal.
ed. . widespread feeling Of mutual
confidence and respect that has ma
terialixed In the form Of stabilized
labor conditions and virtual self-gov.
eminent for the men.
At Bonner the mill operatives can
and do say who shall or shall NOT
work with them. and at Bonner they
have q smaller labor turnover prob.
ably than any other Industrial com
munity in the country. Among ita
people are men who have been on
the mill or yard payrolls thirty five
or forty years, and because the roll.
ing stones are few the town ranks
high as q market for motor cars
Automobile dealers In the nearby city
of M1ssoula say more people there ar<
equipped with private transportation
facilities than In any town of similal
size in the northwest. One Of them
recently sold three cars in q day &
the men working In the mill.
Bonner did not set out to be {
model community. That character
has been q matter Of gradual devel
opment, so gradual, indeed, that few
Of its five or six hundred inhabitant.
seem to be aware Of it, distinction
Possibly that b what has differen
tiated It from the numerous expert
ments in the establishment Of idea
industrial communities which have
failed. There never was the slightes
suggestion Of mail order flavor abou
it. That is to say nobody handicap
ped It in advance by advertising ,
philanthropic intention and then try
ing to make It conform to precon
ceived notions Of what model tow
should be. AS part Of plans to es
tablish q plant which should produce
lumber expeditiously, efficiently an,
economically, it was provided as {
matter Of course with good, comfort
able. honey houses, school, churches
store and hotel, and apparently lef
to evolve its own future. Everything
beside seems just to have happened
but that Is an illusion due largely t.
the human understanding of Kennel
Ross, the man in charge of the Ana
conda company's mill property an
its timber lands. which comprise
million acres in Montana alone.
| Mr.. Ross. q big, modest man VIII
came up from the ranks, probabl
will regard this statement as an out
rageous violation Of q cherished de
sire to avoid the limelight. He viii
declare he had little or nothing to d
with It. Yet almost any man or VIC