The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1876-07-07

shop on the site of the old Newman
store, on 9Th avenue. Settlers came
in and took up all the land along
the streams. They were active and
intelligent and awake to local in.
terests.
The first religious service ever
held on the town site, We think
was conducted by Rev. Henry
Moyes, q Methodist minister. II
was held in the Office Of the old no.
tel. A Mr.. Meader, of the Baptist
denomination, who lived on q farm
in the neighbOrhood, also held ser.
vices in the summer of that year
The frst quarterly meeting announ.
ced by Mr.. Meader was held on the
Sd and 4th of August.
In The NEWS of July 18th, 1857
we find an item complaining of the
excessively hot and dry weather,
stating that the late corn (sOd) was
entirely killed; early planted, az
well as that on ground broken the
year before was doing well; pota.
toes suffering badly from the rava.
ges Of bugs; rain badly needed.
This was rather . rough introduc.
ton, and little was raised, We
had not then learned the art of beg
ging, though, and nobody went east.
A trip of that kind then was some
thing OF an undertaking.
MAIL FACILITIES
were very meager in those days.
All the people of this region
had their mail sent to box 500, Law
renee. 1t was brought down at ir-
regular intervals, by private hands,
aud was deposited in loose box in
the Office OF the hotel, and the set
tiers helped themselves at their own
convenience. In the same Issue OF
the paper appears an article stating
Mr.. Buchanan's administration re-
fused the application Of our citizens
for post Office and mail route, not
withstanding they had offered to
carry the mail for the proceeds Of
the Office. The editor was justly
Indignant, and proposed, As was
his characteristic, to set up "She-
bang" OF his own. It is stated in
the article that "mOre than too
hEndred letters per week were car
ried from and brought into this vi.
cinIty." He went on to suggest
that ~ small subscription be raised,
sufficient to sustain q semi-weekly
mail between Emporia aud Law
renee, and that joint stock. Law
renee and Emporia mail route be
organized, and conducted by means
OF a pony express. This suggestion
was not carried out. There was an
Office then at Columbia, and John
Fowler was the post master.
Sometime in the fall he resigned
and Ii. w. Flick was appointed,
and the ONCE was moved to EN-
poria. Shortly after this two set
tiers named walkerr were induced
to start q weekly hack line between
Emporia and Lawrence. A Mr..
Dow, also opened a weekly hack
line from Topeka to Emporia. This
was big triumph, and was far
preferable to getting mail once in
two or three weeks.
RAILROADS.
Among the first things agitated in
the new town was the building of
railroads. AS early as the 2lst of
July, 1857, q railroad mass meeting
was held in Emporia. This meet
Ing created considerable excite
ment, and the sanguine and buoy
ant young men who were running
things here then believed we would
have railroads, at least two, within
Q year or so. The older and more
experienced predicted that num-
OF years would intervene before the
steam whistle would awake the
echoes in and about Emporia. They
were right, too. for it was eleven
years after this that the n. X. & T.
was built to Emporia. But there
is one point that is curious enough
to attract attention at this meeting.
The two roads advocated were the
Neosho valley and one from Topeka.
This shows that the early thought
here took the channel which after
wards was adopted for railroads.
OF course the lines were not the
same aS the roads we have, after
leaving the valley, east, and from
Topeka north, but these two routes
were originally adopted in our fret
crude idess about railroads, IS the
natural routes for roads crossing
here. In the adoption of the sys-
tenn for Kansas afterwards efforts
were made by various interests to
divert these roads from q junction
here, but Emporia had influence
enough to prevent such efforts, and
to secure them. Among the speak
ers at that meeting were Col. C. X.
Holiday, OF Topeka, always q
friend and firm adherent to the
road from Topeka In the direction
of Santa Fe via Emporia. EmBoria
"stuck to her text" aud in eleven
years afterwaFd got one OF these
roads, and the next year the other.
She was then and is still ahead of
all Southern Kansas towns in rail-
road facilities. If che uses her
old judgments shrewdness and
unity, she will keep in the lead.
And thus the town got its frat years
start. We have given some details.
to show how the foundations were
laid. We close the fret year by
recording very few local items.
The market report of the fall of
1857 furnishes the following figures