Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-11-17
WIZ WIGHT A WILL WIN
Claims of St Louis, Chicago and
Kansas City.
What City Shall Control the Vast Trade Of
the Agricultural Empire Known IS
the Wichita Country.
From the Kansas City Times.

From the Kansas City Times.
The St Louis Republican, with blunt
-auior that does it great credit, admits thai
the issue is whether st. Louis or kansa.
City and Chicago shall control the vast trade
OF the Wichita country
"rhe vast trade of the Wichita coun
try" Whether st. Louis or Kansas City
and Chicago shall control, No elabora-
ton of the great significance of that brief
paragraph is necessary 1t contains a vol
ume. 1t embraces all that the EAGLE ever
claimed of the inevitable 1t admits 1.-THE
issue" which involves largely the destinies
of the three greatest cities of the west, and
that issue is the control of the vast trade
Of the Wichita country" Wichita. her posi-
| bilities, her present overshadowing and
ever growing importance as the central, as
the controlling factor of a domain which
cOmposes the most magnificent agrlcul-
| iural empire known to this continent, is IL
nored, farther than the fact that such en-
pire has been unalterably linked with our
city's name and SO closely that in making
mention Of the name Wichita is en-
ployed as covering the entire field, which
field is deemed of such paramount impor-
lance to the present and future of the cities
named
The Wichita country" The great Ar
kansas Valley, Southwestern Kan
sas! twenty-five Or thirty great
and rapidly developing counties
with already teenling population,
hundred growing towns and cities with
hundreds Of miles Of railway already con
structed and thousands Of miles more I'M
der contract or provided fer, and the city
Of Wichita as the great central distributing
point. the natural central market, with her
seven lines of railway and three more
trunk lines under contract with all their
branches and feeders, and all leading to
the city OF Wichita Over and through
this vast agricultural domain, the like OF
which can be found in no other state or
country.-so wide, so rich and so prosper
ous.-will soon go hundreds of trans com
posed Of thousands Of cars, ladened with
products. vibrating daily, to and
from Wichita, to and from
the hundred growing towns and cities of
this valley, all linked by bars Of steel to
the one metropolis and entrep0t, Wichita.
And to this domain, larger than some OF
the states and of which there can be found
hardly foot Of waste or uncultivatcd land,
viii soon be added the new Indian terri
tory upon the south, Of equal Or greater
extent and Of almost equal richness, which
will be known also as 1.-THE Wichita conn
try, and which will be tributary to this
city as certainly as northern Illinois was
tributary to Chicago, rs certainly as the
Mississippi valley was tributary to St
Louis or the central Missouri valley to
Kansas City. or the Minnesota wheat fields
to Minneapolis.
The St. Louis. the Chicago and the
Kansas City papers can go on with the
harmless discussion as to which of these
three cities shall control the vast trade OF
the Wichita country" bat in the meantime
The farseeing iobbers of these very cities,
gra>ping the logic Of the situation, profit
ing by the experiences aad observations Of
the past histories OF Chicago, Kansas City
and Minneapolis, are taking long time
leases on business rooms and erecting bust
ness palaces in Wichita, and are transfer
ring their interests TO this base Of present
and future supplies These will settle the
question at issue, and not in favor of
either Of the cities named, but in favor of
Wichita, which will as surely as the sun
shall rise this morning control the vast
trade Of the Wichita country
St Louis reaches Wichita now by two
trunk lines, the Missouri Pacific
and the San Francisco, beth of which
stretch from st. Louis to Wichita direct
and independent of the Missouri river pool
Kansas City reaches Wichita by two com
petllive lines, the Santa Fe and branch
of the Missouri Pacific Chicago, by June
next, viii reach Wichita independent OF
the Missouri River pool by the Chicago.
Rock Island < Pacific. bat these indc-
pendent trunk line connections will add to
Wichita's importance as a center rather
than to in the smallest degree tend to give
either of The cities named any control of
Wichita and her trade. Moreover. these
cities seem in their discussion of this sub
ject to lose sight Of the fact that Wichita
within few months will have direct
connection with Gould's Texas Pacific
system, and by link which Mr. Gould
will construct. himself And that IS
not all The trade Of the south will be
competed to this point, farther, within a
year by the completion Of the Santa Fe's
Indian Territory connection with Texas.
as also by the construction of the Arkansas
valley route from Little Rock, the right of
WY for which road was granted bv the
present congress With the completion of
these lines and the Rock Island into north
err Texas, and in connection with our IN
/ dependent railways to 81 Louis and Chi
cago. the construction of Mr. Gould's
branches from Wichita to the west and
northwest. together with the Midland and
the Rock Island to the north. are going 10
enable the jobbers Of Wichita to reach and
control not only the products Of but the
supplies also for Il country heretofore en-
iireiy dominated by Kansas City. St.