Havre in 1893: Hotels, veterans and nasty politics

For this, the 44th installment of this series celebrating Havre's 120th anniversary of incorporation, we go back to 1893. The newspapers from that year are not complete, so we will visit 1893 for a while, then switch to 1898 again, then back to 1893 and the final installment will be from 1903, as that week is missing from both 1893 and 1898.

In the social column of the Havre Advertiser's Nov. 9, 1893 issue, we find:

City And State

Hot and cold baths at the Elite.

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Chas. E. Miller, the gentlemanly and obliging county clerk and recorder, tarried with us several days this week.

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Quite a large audience enjoyed the "snake act" and the dark recesses of a certain cellar in town, on Saturday night last.

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Why not organize a G. A. R. post in this city? Several old soldiers have expressed a willingness to become members of it. Let some one take the matter in hand.

G. A. R. stood for the Grand Army of the Republic. It was a fraternal organization of veterans of the Union Army, Navy, Marines and the Revenue Cutter Service who served during the Civil War. The Revenue Cutter Service served as a maritime law enforcement service starting in 1790 and was eventually merged with the U. S. Coast Guard in 1939. The G. A. R. was an advocacy group, fighting for voting rights of African-American veterans and establishing veterans' pensions. It was started in 1866 and dissolved in 1956 with the death of its last member.

George Morrow has rented the bar and fixtures in the Sam Wah restaurant building, and has opened up a first-class saloon. The "Populist" is the name of this new resort, but it is conceded that it will be well patronized by all three political parties, city "dad's" included, as politics and spirits travel together in the same wake. See his ad in another column.

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Rev. Allan Roger took his departure for Glasgow today to superintend the construction of the new M. E. church at that place. Mr. Roger expects to be absent two weeks, during which time there will be no services held in the M. E. church, this city.

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Peter Goodness, the gentleman who tried to convert to his own use a horse, the property of another man residing in the Bear Paw mountains, and whom it will be remembered was run down, and captured by the officers of Cascade county, had a hearing before Justice Crane, at Fort Benton, on Saturday last. After summing up the evidence of the case the justice deemed it advisable to let Judge DuBose read the riot act to Mr. Goodness at the next term of the district court.

Special attention is called to the advertisement of T. C. Power & Bro., of Fort Benton, which appears in another column of today's issue. This is the largest and one of the oldest mercantile establishments in Northern Montana, having been established since 1867. By square and upright dealing they have won the confidence of all their customers since the date of their first opening, and to those who have not been so fortunate to transact business with the above named firm, we would suggest they call upon them at once, or mail their orders for such articles as they are in need of before purchasing elsewhere.

And finally, it seems Havre's two papers were having a spat:

A man who will attempt to thwart the will of a majority of the people of a city by contesting an election when a candidate has received a majority of the votes and is conceded by his magnanimous opponent to have been the successful party, should be run out of town. A curb bit should be placed on those rule or ruin fellows, then they should be lashed soundly and jerked silly and taught sense thereby.

- Havre Herald.

From a man who was "straddle" of the fence during the late municipal election the above takes the cake. He says: "they should be lashed soundly and then jerked silly and taught sense thereby." It is a two to one bet that the writer of the above article could not be persuaded to become one of a party that would undertake a job of that calibre.

This, of course, being the response of the Advertiser.