MT Album: Meter-less parking; old stack comes down
50 Years Ago
From the Tribune week of May 31, 1965
Great Falls’ newest look in parking lots opens Monday according to Robert Myklebust, city traffic engineer. It is the Park-Ur-Self lot at First Avenue South and 10th Street. The lot has no meters. Instead, the driver parks his vehicle in one of the 51 available spaces and inserts a quarter in a parking ticket dispenser located at mid-lot. The machine issues a date-and-time stamped ticket good for 12 hours of parking. The driver places the ticket face up on the dashboard of his vehicle in easy view and locks the door. The purpose of the lot is to open downtown parking apace presently occupied by persons employed downtown and to make meter-feeding by the latter group unnecessary.
SPACE CENTER HOUSTON – Astronaut Edward H. White “walked” in space across the U.S. Thursday and played tag with his Gemini 4 capsule in a 20-minute feat of daring and hijinks that sent him laughing into history with his space twin, James McDivitt. Jubilant officials at the central center ordered White to take a four-hour nap and confidently made plans to continue with the full 62-orbit mission barring the unexpected int he next few days. The only disappointment on the greatest U.S. space feat to date was the failure of the spaceship to rendezvous with its booster rocket, “a very complicated three-dimensional problem,” according to McDivitt.
Airman 2C Conrad R. Iffert, 19, and Airman 3 C Charles A. Holznagle, 19, drowned about 4:20 p.m. Saturday in Sheffels Pond about three miles north east of Great Falls. Iffert’s body was located by Jim Johnsrud, member of the Cascade County Sheriff’s Posse, who was using Scuba diving gear. Darkness forced the divers to quit operations in the murky waters of the pond which is up to 50 feet deep and filled with sunken stumps and debris. The pond is a reservoir on the Henry Sheffels ranch, and the area is posted against trespassers. It has been used by Great Falls swimmers for years, and these are the first known fatalities there.
BUFFALO, N.Y. – The American and National Football Leagues were almost set to merge when their expansion battle erupted this week, the owner of the AFL’s Buffalo Bills was quoted Saturday as saying. “The talks had been going on for three months,” the Buffalo Evening News said. The News also said the AFL and NFL were ready to begin inter-league play this season, have a common draft of college players in the fall and play a championship game in 1966. But NBC, which will telecast AFL games this season, wouldn’t guarantee the extra money, and the teams would have had to dig down themselves for the indemnity.
LEWISTOWN – It’s almost un-American to pay debts because elimination or curtailment of debt is what causes the economy to crash, representatives of Montana and Idaho farm lending agencies were told Thursday. Personal debt is part of the economic life with such major corporations as General Motors and American Telephone and Telegraph, who owe billions with no intention to repay, and perpetual debt is, or will be, a part of farming and ranching. Dr. John Fischer, head of the department of agricultural economics at Montana State College, addressed the managers and directors of Production Credit Associates at their annual conference, chiding them for growing conservatism.
WASHINGTON – Since May 20, a small army of men have worked desperately behind the scenes to track down a potential killer walking the streets of Washington. Their work is almost done, but eight more days remain before it will be known whether the nation’s first confirmed smallpox case since 1949 has spread to other victims. As of Saturday night, the District of Columbia public health department has located and vaccinated 999 of the 1,628 persons knows to have been exposed. Dr. William C. Flanagan, a 27-year-old intern discovered 40 small lesions resembling chicken pox on a 30-year-old woman who had arrived in Washington two weeks before from Accra, Ghana, and became suspicious.
Arthur A. Walker, principal of Franklin School, was appointed director of Operation Head Start in Great Falls at a special meeting of school board trustees. The project to give education help to deprived pre-school children under the Economic Opportunity Act will start June 28 with about 100 children registered for classes in the Longfellow and Franklin Schools. The staff will include an assistant director, two social workers and six teachers.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. has discovered six to eight Soviet twin-jet bombers in North Vietnam, administration sources said Thursday. The 500-mile-hour aircraft with a range of 1,200 miles were spotted on the ground within the past three weeks. They apparently had arrived quite recently. This development indicates an increased commitment to the North Vietnamese government, according to Secretary of State Dean Rusk. Russia is engaged with Red China in a contest for influence over the Hanoi regime.
HELENA – Gov. Tim Babcock, speaking as titular head of Montana’s Republican party, made it plain Friday the party’s No. 1 goal next year is to capture Democrat Lee Metcalf’s seat in the U.S. Senate. Both Babcock and Rep. James F. Battin, each an admittedly possible candidate fort the state’s junior senatorship, told Republican leaders at a rules-making meeting that by unifying they can put a Republican in the Senate. No one mentioned that the late Zales N. Ecton was the only Republican ever to collect enough popular votes in Montana to win a Senate seat. Ecton did it in 1946 but was unable to repeat in 1952.
INDIANAPOLIS – Flying Scot Jimmy Clark, the new king of the speedway, guided his green Lotus V-8 Ford on Monday to an overwhelming, record-shattering victory in the Indianapolis 500-mile race. It was the first time a speedway winner had ever averaged better than 150 mph. Only 11 cars were running at the finish, the lowest number since 1951, as the blistering speeds and heat took a toll. It was also the first time a rear-engine machine had won the speedway laurels.
College of Great Falls will participate in the new federal work-study program of financial aid for educational expenses to students from low-income families, and job applications are being accepted, according to Richard Gretch, dean of students. Gretch explained CGF has entered the work-study program in cooperation with the government to implement a provision of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. To be eligible, a student must come from a family in which the combined adjusted gross income of both parents does not exceed $3,000 unless there is more than one dependent in the family. An additional $600 is allowed for each additional dependent.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Capitol wouldn’t meet the District of Columbia building code if it were being built today, and it’s in dangerous condition now, says the Capitol architect. The 150-year-old walls of the west front of the Capitol, now cracked and crumbling, are dangerously overloaded by modern building standards, Capitol architect J. George Stewart has told Congress. Stewart has been after Congress for years to shore up the west front and now he says an outside engineering study shows the condition to be more serious and the need for repair more urgent than he had thought. He said it would take about $24 million to put the west front back in shape.
100 Years Ago
From the Tribune week of May 31, 1915
Two charges of dynamite placed by employees of the B & M smelter yesterday brought to the ground one of the old landmarks of this section, the original stack through which in past years have passed the fumes from millions of dollars worth of copper being smelted in the plant at the river’s edge several hundred fee below. For the past five or six years, this old stack has stood upon the butte back of the smelter, unused and reduced to insignificance beside the massive stack which had been erected to replace it. Although the old stack stood 180 feet in height, it looked extremely small in comparison with the big stack with its 506 feet of elevation.
BOSTON – Alleged recruiting of American young men for the military forces of Great Britain is the subject of an investigation begun by federal officials here today. According to a cablegram from the U.S. consul general at London, at least 15 youths have been enlisted in violation of an agreement with the British board of trade regarding the U.S. shipping laws. Secret Service agents are cooperating with U.S. District Attorney Anderson and his staff on orders from Washington to learn what inducements, if any, have been offered American youths to ship on British vessels as caretakers for horses and cattle.
Visitors to the Giant spring every week find a substantial improvement has just been completed in the form of a wall protecting the spring from the flow of the river and a changed in the grade that permits the parking of several automobiles near the spring at one time. The improvement has been made by the Montana Power company.
RICHMOND, Va. – Thousands of Confederate veterans at the opening of their 25th reunion here today cheered the hope expressed by their leaders that peace in America may not be disturbed by war in Europe. They reiterated their loyalty to the Union, shouted pledges of support for the president in any crisis and bowed in prayers that those who guide the republic’s destiny might be blessed with wisdom to deal with pending international affairs.
HELENA – The $15 bounty paid by the state on wolves applies only to timber wolves and not “brush wolves,” Attorney General J.B. Poindexter today advised D.W. Raymond, secretary of the state board of stock commissioners. A number of claims were received from northern Montana counties for the killing of “brush wolves.” The attorney general holds these animals do not come within the specifications set forth in a previous opinion defining wolves and that therefore the state is not liable for the bounty unless the “brush wolves” be classified as coyotes.
INDIANAPOLIS – Ralph De Palma won the fifth 500-mile international sweepstakes on the Indianapolis motor speedway here today in the remarkable time of five hours, 33 minutes and 53.5 seconds. The victor traveled at an average speed of 89.84 mph and broke the record for the race set in 1914. De Palma’s machine ran perfectly until the beginning of the 498th mile when it showed signs of faltering. Spectators feared the car would fail him, and he would be robbed of victory as he was in 1912 when, with but two miles to go, his machine broke down, and he lost the price he had thought as good as won. “The jinx is broken,” he exclaimed when he was hailed as victor.
With the idea of adding to the pleasure and comfort of passengers upon those trains as well as increasing the bid for patronage, the Great Northern has caused to be added to their trains 43 and 44 between Kansas City and Seattle compartment observation cars. This service, which was suspended during the winter and spring, was again put into effect upon the train leaving the two terminals on June 1 and made their first appearance here upon the train passing through he city yesterday.
MILAN, Italy – Isabell Wade, aged 37, of Chicago, was arrested here today on the charge of being an accomplice of a Bavarian officer who is accused of espionage. A few days ago the police arrested a Bavarian officer named Martin Schehammer on suspicion of espionage. He had made several visits to the provinces of Bresca and Verona in the war zone. It was learned he had lived in several Italian towns, Milan and Rome included. His close acquaintance with Wade was discovered, and the police found the woman living in an apartment here under the name of Margharita Martello.
KALISPELL – Pioneer residents of this section have for decades repeated a story of the existence of a hidden cache of gold in the lower Flathead Valley, and at intervals, some discoveries have been made that have given some color to the yarn. During the past week, one of the most substantial evidences that the oft-repeated story has foundation was made by a hired man on the Ouellette farm. Alby Ouellette is sponsor for the statement that his hired man, while plowing, actually turned up an old can which yielded three $20 gold pieces. Later, further search revealed $240 more, making the haul worth $300.
TRENTON – , N.J. The United States district court for New Jersey today handed down a unanimous decision refusing the petition of the federal government to dissolve the United States Steel Corp. The court refused to dissolve the corporation and refused all the injunctions prayed for by the department of justice. The court held that the committee meetings participated in by 95 percent of the steel trade of the country, including the steel corporation, subsequent to the famous Gary dinners of eight or nine years ago, were unlawful combinations to control prices, but as these meetings had stopped before the government filed its complaint in October of 1914, the judges held that here was no occasion for an injunction.
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