Celebrating History: Layoffs, marriages and court cases

by Emily Mayer

Happy 2024! Exactly 100 years ago this week, news broke from faraway Egypt that Howard Carter had finally found King Tutankhamun’s mummy in amidst all those “wonderful things.” While the tomb had been found in 1922, it took quite some time to sort through all those artifacts before finding his sarcophagus. This was big news across the world, and news of Carter’s discoveries were printed in the Havre Daily Promoter.

More local news focused on the desire of Havre businessmen to have a county agent to stimulate the local ag economy. F. A Buttrey took out ads espousing the benefits of such a position, and the Promoter ran several articles of support for the position. The previous few years had seen a large migration of people leaving their farms due to bad weather, grasshoppers, and a lack of markets in the area to buy the goods they were growing was taking its toll on the local economy. Other counties had employed a county agent with great success. Neighboring Blaine County’s agent focused on hog and poultry raising and were enjoying tremendous results.

The Promoter also published a “Havre Markets” report of what firms were paying local producers for their products. Poultry, eggs, livestock, grains, butter, milk and cream were reported by such local businesses as the Pioneer Market, Havre Produce Company, H. Earl Clack Company and Hill County Creamery.

Employment on the railroad was also suffering losses. The Promoter’s Jan. 3, 1924 issue reported:

50 MEN LAID OFF AT RIP TRACK AND BACK SHOPS

Fifty men were notified yesterday that effective January 4, they will be laid off the Great Northern yard force.

The men include ten machinists, two machinist's helpers, three boiler makers, five boiler maker’s helpers, one blacksmith, two blacksmith’s helpers, one pipeman, three pipeman’s helpers, one painter, one painter’s helper, four laborers and 14 rip track men.

This layoff will make the third out in force since the shop strike was settled. No reason was posted for the cut in force but it is said that an effort is being made at the beginning of the year to cut down general expenses.

The entire force returned to work Wednesday after a ten day layoff due to general slackness of work at holiday time.

Railroad workers tend to take care of their own, and that camaraderie was demonstrated in an article that ran in the Promoter the following day:

SHOPMEN WILL STAND BY UNLUCKY COMRADES

By a unanimous vote the shopmen in the local Great Northern yards Thursday afternoon decided to appeal to Dan McGougan, shop superintendent, to cut their working day from eight hours to seven so that the 36 men who were to have been laid off yesterday morning might continue on their shifts.

The rip track force voted to approve the layoff of 14 men and those remaining work their accustomed shift.

A roundup of court activities was reported in the Jan. 1, 1924 Promoter.

MARRIAGES FAR IN LEAD OF DIVORCES IN HILL COUNTY

Romance flourished in Hill county last year, 227 marriage licenses having been issued against the 44 divorces granted, according to George W. Glass, clerk of the district court.

The months of June and December, with the latter in the lead, were the banner months. Twenty one licenses were issued in December and 19 in June. During the month of April only four licenses were issued while the number issued during the remaining months follow: January, 10; February, 9; March, 7; May, 14; July, 10; August, 8; September, 13, October, 13, November, 10.

Civil cases filed in the district court during the year numbered 676, criminal cases 63, and probate cases 28.

Police Magistrate W. B. Pyper reports a total of 80 violations of city ordinances. During 1923, 34 persons were arrested for drunkenness, 13 for disturbing the peace, 27 for violating traffic ordinances, five for vagrancy and three for maintaining houses of ill fame.

And it looks like the trend was continuing, as four marriages and one divorce were reported the first week of Jan. 1924.

But there always has to be “someone,” and two were reported in the Promoter this week 100 years ago. January first’s issue saw this on the front page:

DADDY MARSHALL DEPARTS FOR BOZEMAN

Ed (Daddy) Marshall left Havre Sunday night bound for Bozeman to enter a plea to the charge made against him in connection with the alleged sale of bonds alleged to have been stolen in one of the Montana bank robberies.

Marshall, after being away from the city for some time, came in of his own accord, met his attorney here and left of his own accord for Bozeman.

Former Juge W. B. Rhoades of Great Falls is understood to be his attorney.

Daddy Marshall was one of early Havre’s characters. He was good buddies with Christopher W. Young, a.k.a. Shorty Young, and the two had business dealings for years, some legal, others not. The two were so close, that they are buried next to each other at Calvary Cemetery.

Another sentencing for a crime was reported in the Jan. 3 issue:

MAY WALTON TO SERVE SENTENCE AND PAY FINE

The district court of Hill County has been sustained by the state supreme court in the conviction of May Walton last fall on a charge of selling narcotics in a decision rendered yesterday.

The woman was taken into custody yesterday by Sheriff Timmons and will serve out a term of sic months in the county jail and pay a fine of $200.

The equivalent today for that fine would be $3,431.17, according to amortization.org.

Havre was anything but boring 100 years ago. People attended club meetings, hosted get togethers, installed officers and went about making Havre their home. On a personal note, I am very happy to finally have the time to get back to writing this column for those that enjoy reading it. I missed writing it on a regular basis these past few years, so it will be lots of fun to see what my great-grandparent’s generation was doing to build this community!