The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1924-11-07


| price.
| On April 10 the flour was distrib
uted among the populace ALLOWING
each man 10 pounds, and five pound
additional for each additional mem
Der of the family. The rate wa
27 cents per pound for Salt LAX
} flour and 80 cents for the st. Loui
flour.
If there was no open defiance O
the work of the committee, there
were not lacking attempts to outwi
the leaders in the work of securing
flour for distribution, and all sorts
of hiding places for the coveted treas
lure were brought into play Cellars
loutbuildings, haystacks, holes in the
gnound and other out-of-the-wa
places were utilized. In this man
ner scores of sacks of flour escaped
the scrutiny of the collectors.
It was a current rumor after the
affair had blown over, that J. b
Laurin, a we'll known merchant OF
the Ruby valley, had succeeded in
secerting 80 sacks of flour in var
ious hiding places on his ranch near
the village which still bears his
name, and selling the same at prices
exceeding 500 per sack, thus lay
ing the foundation for considerable
| fortune which he amassed.
At the time of the flour famine M
H. and John S. Lott, the latter then
territorial auditor, were running a
general mercantile business at Ne
vada. They had secured about 20
sacks of flour and M. H. Lott went
down to the Sinking Water valley
with a team to haul it to town
While he was away, the meetings
were held and the searching parties
visited all places in Nevada supposed
to contain flour John Lott manag-
ed to convey to his brother the news
Of what was going on and the latter
was perplexed as to how to act To
go direct home meant the confisca-
ton of his load, while to turn back
was equally hazardous. So he made
a detour through the foothills, trust
ing to luck to aid him in getting lis
load home in the darkness.
The hills were then covered with
scrub cedar, so Lott proceeded to
chop down a supply sufficient to
wood under which he concealed his
flour and then started home. AL
though stopped by two members of
the committee, he succeeded in get
ting past them and reached Nevada
shortly after dark. AS the place had
already been searched Lott felt safe
in unloading his precious cargo in
the dark and storing it about the
place of business and it was later
sold at figures which gave the firm
a profit of $500 in gold dust
Many lesser incidents of this sort
occurred during the exciting period
but perhaps the most humorous and
yet pathetic happening of it all was
when man bargained off his wife
for 500 in gold and two sacks of
flour The fellow was shiftless
sort of hombre VINO lived on the out
skirts of Nevada with his wife, who
was a patient, industrious sort of a
and who was the main sup
port of her husband and stepson by
her efforts at the washtub.
The woman bore with her mate
Until patience ceased to be a virtue,
he breaking point occurring when an
I'D sweetheart came along. A quar-
eel resulted between the latter and
he husband which terminated by
he husband being threatened with
/ whipping if he did not treat his
amily better.
The husband retorted, "Why don't
-ou take her away, yourself, if
'ou're so stuck on herr"
This remark led to a negotiation
With the result that deal was made
IN the basis of a wife for 800 and
wo sacks of flour The wife gave a
earful but hardly reluctant consent
nd the services of friendly pro-
ated judge were secured to grant g
ecree. The netx day the old lover .
ook his recovered sweetheart before /.
justice of the peace and they were :
narried, but before the former hus-
and was able to dispose of his flour
t the ruling prices it was bounced {
pom by the committee and he was !
equired to give up all but 20 pounds
or himself and his son at the rate )
f S27 per sack.
1t is an interesting fact that David r
,inan, the agent for Bishop Sharp's !
of flour which was the !
irst to break the famine following '
he flour riots, was one of the vic r
inns of the road agents in the Port
euf canyon massacre of July Is,
S65, scarcely two months after the
ate on which that consignment v
aised the blockade and was brought Q
} the relief of the famine-stricken +
liners of Alder gulch. Besides his a
fe, he lost $4,000 in gold dust, q
hich he was conveying to Salt Lake 4
ity as part of the proceeds of the f
ale of that cargo. F