The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1922-03-16
BUTTE OF THIRTY YEARS AGO is RECALLED;
HEAP BOASTS SUFFOCATED THE CAMP UNTIL
THEY WE'RE SCATTERED FOREVER BY MODS

Emil and Joe's" was a restaurant
of the wild and woody kind 80 year!
ago and lots OF the romance of the
early times conferred there, and
about the two worthy characters who
ran it.
Joe Klofki told me that when they
closed their books in the old place.
they had $4,000 of dead accounts
on them. This represented money
and meal tickets advanced to those
who were hard up, and wildly illus
trates the loose method of doing
business in those days.
The restaurant was a combination
of gambling house, restaurant and
saloon, and the usual customer got
first a drink, then perhaps laid a
IS gold piece on the high card TO
try and double it. If he lost probably
he would stand off" the meal ticket,
and if he won pay for it and get a
few extra shots.
Emil Weinberg, the senior part
ner in the business, never became
fluent in English, and of an excitable
nature, it is related of him that on
being told that some one had just
been in asking for him, he said,
Witch way did he vent and vot did
he said?"
Chinese did all of the cooking in
those days and the kitchen was open
to view from the counter. 1t is in
.teresting to remember how extreme
ly palatable everything was that came
from this kitchen, and what a hearty
appetite would develop from a few
hours gambling and a few drinks.
Money had no value. 1t was easily
won and as easily lost. 1 have seen
a dollar turn into hundreds in an
hour, and have seen a man dressed
in overalls lose $4,000, and go back
to work without a hint that any mis-
fortune had befallen him, taking the
one chip that it was customary to
give a loser, and buying a farewell
drink with it.
My friends pointed out to me the
Anaconda mine, where at that time
about 20 men were bulkheaded in,
and dead for nearly a year. The
caught fire and had to be flood
ed, with no chance for the men to
escape. They were taken out later
in a good state of preservation, it
was said. The fire continues yet in
some parts of the mine.
The newspapers of those days were
small and crude as compared to those
today, but they we're extremely
lively organs and news was plentiful.
Mining accidents were of daily oc-
,urrence, and the most notable thing
about Butte were the myriad funeral
posted IN every dead wall and
telegraph post; a Welsh custom,
believe.
Smoke was plentiful, dense and
with sulphur and arsenic, and
t settled down until often n could
lot see across the street at noon. This
anne from heap roasts," where ore
md cordwood was piled in alternate
ayers, and burned. The sulphur in
he ore took weeks to burn out, and
the pail of smoke vas in evil
lence. Nothing green could survive
t and potted plants turned black and
led overnight.
Then came a day when the citizens
cit they could stand it no longer.
mass meeting was held and a mob
18th shovels and picks scattered the
caps to the winds. That was the
nd of heap roasting in Butte.
No mention of newspapers in Butte !
ould be complete without bringing :
Jim" Brown, who was circulator '
1 the Intermountain in 1899. Jim
a kindly character, who spent f
ost of his time holding up citizens I
the street for their subscription Q
.ney, which was always overdue. z
When I first arrived here, Jim was :
out to take a vacation in Califor :
and proffered me the use of his q
use the while he was gone. This 2
use was like most of those built
the early days-just clap-boarded