ROBBERS BREAK INTO HIGH SCHOOL
During some years, Manhattan and other small towns in the county, seem to have experienced more than their share of robberies, two of which occurred in late March 1949. On a Sunday night, the Manhattan High School office and the Monarch Lumber Company office in Three Forks were both burglarized.
The burglars entered the high school through a side door, knocked off the vault tumbler and made off with about one-hundred dollars. “Little disturbance was made in contrast to the recent robbery at the Belgrade high school where doors were smashed and papers strewn about.”
At Three Forks, the thieves found the safe unlocked but only obtained about twelve dollars for their trouble.
It was presumed that the thieves expected to find money taken in during a carnival at the high school on Saturday evening and at the Fireman’s Ball, the same night, at Three Forks. If so, the thieves were greatly disappointed.
Notes:
1The Belgrade Journal-March 24, 1949, page 1, col. 3
From Manhattan Omnibus by Frank L. Niven (1989) page 218
MANHATTAN HIGH SCHOOL ONCE HAD A DORMITORY
In August 1925, The Rocky Mountain American, announced that students from out of town would “be able to secure board and room at a very small figure,” and that a “dormitory would be opened in connection with the Manhattan High School,” for students from out of town. “The dormitory would be operated with no profit. The plan (was) to start with the low cost of eighteen dollars per month for each student and if the dormitory (could) be maintained for this amount, (that) would be the set figure for the entire term. It (was) figured that the students (could) furnish their own bedding, take care of their own rooms and laundry and take turns helping around the house, that the dormitory (could) be run at this figure. The care of the rooms, however, (would) be under supervision and certain rules would be enforced.” My mother, Mrs. Wm. W. Niven, was to be in charge.
Our family had moved into the old Monte House Hotel (later known as the Bums Place) March 1,1925. Mother had then “taken care of several boys and girls from outside the district and (had) proved herself most worthy of the charge, looking after the children in the same manner as if they were her own.”1
Following the very strong earthquake June 24, 1925, that severely damaged the Manhattan schools and placed the district in a very precarious financial position, someone (possibly Oliver H. Campbell, superintendent of the Manhattan Schools) conceived the idea of bringing in extra students from outlying communities such as West Yellowstone, Maudlow, West End, Ringling, etc. The larger enrollment would increase the amount of money received from the state and county, and thus help relieve the “strapped” condition that had been brought on by having to reconstruct and refurnish the school buildings after the quake.
Mother, Mrs Niven, managed the dormitory during the 1925-1926 school term and during the 1926-1927 term until the first of February, 1927, at which time the family moved to Bozeman. At eighteen dollars per month, she certainly didn’t get rich, but by my raising a large garden, keeping a milk cow that had been loaned by my Uncle George M. Lewis, and with my flock of Rhode Island Red chickens providing the eggs, she got by.
It was not an easy job for Mother, as the county superintendent of schools occasionally found an incorrigible individual that required special attention and counseling, and that was sometimes very difficult. There were others who had never lived under supervision with others and had never had specific rules to follow, so had a difficult time making the necessary adjustments. Others objected to taking their turns washing dishes, raking the yard, or doing other necessary chores around the place. However, it may have helped some to have Mr. Campbell as a roomer, even though he did not take his meals with us.
There would have been a dozen or more students, away from home for the first time, who profited from this experience and were thus aided in obtaining a high school education.
Notes:
1The Rocky Mountain American-August 27, 1925, page 1, col. 3
From Manhattan Omnibus by Frank L. Niven (1989) page 218