P a g e 5 G h o s t T o w n s a n d H i s t o r y o f M o n t a n a N e w s l e t t e r The Granite Mountain-Speculator fire of June 8, 1917 took the lives of 168 men working in Butte, Montana that day making it hard rock mining’s greatest disaster. The mayor at the time gave local miners some stern advice in that week’s newspaper… A flood of telegrams and letters from anxious mothers and sisters have been pouring into the office of Mayor W. H. Maloney since the disaster on the hill, and the mayor made the suggestion this morning that every miner in Butte, whose mother is in the east, write a letter tonight. “Mothers in the east are anxious about their sons here in Butte,” said the mayor today, showing a stock of letters. “Most of these don’t realize there are dozens of mines in Butte and there are 20,000 or more miners here. They are afraid for their sons and those who have neglected writing home should be ashamed of themselves.” “I suggest that every miner in Butte who has a mother or sister in the east sit down tonight and write a long letter home. Most of us are careless about our mothers- the best friends we have in the world. If we stopped to think about it, there isn’t one of us who wouldn’t do anything in the world to save those old gray heads from worry.” “One mother writes me that she hasn’t heard from her Tommie for six months. I have sent for Tommie and I believe he has a good lecture coming. She is afraid he is dead. I saw him the other night laughing and talking with a bunch of friends. At the same time his old mother back in Milwaukee was awake all night worrying about her boy.” “I suggest we all get together on this thing; that every one of us do something for our mothers this very day. Those who have mothers in the east ought to write and send a money order for a trip to the theater or something that will please the old folks.”- Accessed via: https:// chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ , Feb. 28, 2021 Ads from The Bear Paw Mountaineer, Dec. 14, 1911, Accessed via www.montananewspapers.org
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