Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1923-01-11

The coal mines of Belt will doubtless work during the winter
time for many years, and in spite of the inrosds of electricity and
natural gas into the heating field, coal will be mined in this vicin-
But if the working period could be extended for three months
or five, what a difference It would make to the miners income AND
what q financial boon to the whole community
Except on railroad work coal IS only used IN grsss auan t !
are 2 sufficiency of mines so that the demand can be supplied by
Great Fans is deeply interested in the gas wells north of that
city. hoping that a sufficient flow Of gas can be found so that it
may cost the same per month as Goa, has not the disadvantages of
coal in dirt and ashes.
Great Fails has derived a good part of its trade in past years
from the coal towns near it. Whenever we fail to drop in and pur-
chase something from the merchants of that city, some of them
have not failed to remind US of the fact just as though we had viii
fully deprived them of something which belongs to them by divine
right The Great Falls merchants understand that the best feed
es that city has had for many years are those same coal towns.
Now their dreams are of being a great oil metropolis where oil and
gas shall turn into mechanical power for their industries and INTO
carbon and smoke to paint their buildings a black as the streets
of Pittsburg. {.
the metropolis may be lighted to the exclusion of electricity. Gas
may drive coal and electricity from the kitchens of that city: Yet
Pennsylvania prove that supplies of gas are not inexhaustible and
that expensive installations for power, light and heat are worth
= Great Falls uses a great deal of Sand Coulee and Belt coal but
it also uses immense quantities Of Bear Greek. Roundup and Utah
more and therefore is more desirable. Many of the merchants
who most desire the trade of the miners and other residents OF the
coal towns use Bear Creek coal in their homes and even IN their
The talk we heard the other day seems to indicate a desire to
kick the props out from under the coal mining industry and get rid
of the dirt and labor troubles as well
Rotary and a Kiwanis club, all three imbued with the idea of build
ing up the communities about Billings. If Worden needs assist
ance they feel free to call upon Billings for help and they get it.
If Slesia would be better off with a new store, an elevator or a
sidetrack, the Billings Chamber of Commerce sees that they get it.
The organization figures that out of the trade of each of these
friendly communities Billings will get a mouthful and that a suf-
ficient number of mouthfuls make a full meal.
The Great Falls Commercial club evidently works on a differ
ent system. Their chief idea seems to be to ruin all the smaller
towns, make the people of the county rustic for all they get, dis
criminate in prices enough to drive the smaller retailer out of GER
tain lines of business, make the farmer pay a major portion of the
taxes and complacenty expect their city to grow.
Possibly this spirit is the cause of the unprecedentedly poor
holiday business they enjoyed.
Billings is steadily growing. Missoula built more fine resi-
dences this year than any other city has built in 10 years. Great
Falls will always be considered overdone while she continues the
s~hortsighted policy of ignoring the industries which have built up
that city, of shouting from the housetops their love for the farmer
while they are slipping through the legislature a bill to increase
his burdens.
We have no personal animus against Great Falls or its citi-
zens but we do believe that the ruling spirits of that city might
change their policy with pleasing results.