Wichita eagle., 1886-08-27
A M1ssOuR1AN HOwLs.
The Kansas Bird Drives an Ozark
Mountaineer Mad

Mountaineer Mad.
Some little time since tie Springfield
NO. Republican went out of its way to
misrepresent Wichita, which was made the
occasion upon the part of the EAGLE for a
somewhat emphatic reply, in which unmis-
taxable language was employed in setting
out that the Missouri writer either didn't
know what he was talking about or that
otherwise his method was that of the mali
ciou: slanderer Most certainly the orig
inal article was as uncalled for as it was
untruthful. Nobody with any knowledge
of the facts would or could say but that
Wichita is today the most prosperous and
rapidly growing city in Kansas, il not in
the west Another issue of that paper now
reaches us with column and quarter
editorial devoted to the abuse of the EAGLE
and the belittling Of Wichita. As speci-
men of the dense ignorance of the editor Of
the Missouri contemporary or Of his willful
Misrepresentation we quote the following:
1T is doubtful if either of the four trunk
lines referred to, and to which half mil
lion of bonds was voted by the city and
county, is ever built to Wichita, and it is
certain that one Of them will never be
built. Ii is fact, attested by those who
have visited the town, that very large
number of the houses going up are shells,
with foundation Of stills, looking for all
the world as if the owners contemplated
the probability of putting them on wheels. :"
We are completely at a loss in conceiving
even a motive for such misrepresentation
as are crowded into the two sentences
quoted. Now, for the better information
of the Herald people, and of all other peo-
pie who are as densely ignorant;
that Wichita is not only doing a
greater and more solid bust
ness than any city in the
state Of Kansas; that the city OF Wichita is
not only increasing more rapidly in popula-
ton than any city west OF the Missouri
river; that Wichita is not only spreading
out wider and more surely, but that there
is more money going into finer, more solid,
permanent and intellectually handsomer
buildings this single season than the entire
city of Springfield can boast.
And that is not all. The four trunk
lines will not only all reach Wichita within
the next fourteen or fifteen months, but
Wichita for 1887 and 1888 will add more to
her population and more value to her tax
rolls, than can be found in Springfeld's en-
tire population and her total wealth. In
other words, there will be added to Wich-
ita's population and wealth in the next two
seasons vastly more than would make
Sprin gield, Missouri.
To show in what estimate the senseless
vaporings of the Springfield paper is held
by neighbor, we quote from the Pierce
City Daily Empire touching this matter:
The Springfield Herald has tumbled into
a good sized batch of hot water with the
Wichita EAGLE by a recent rather unwar-
rantablc statement of the Herald concern
ing Wichitas boom. The Herald assumes
that there is nothing but wind in it, and
proceeds to warn people accordingly
Be that as it may, the Heralds
sources of information are not ample
enough to warrant the wholesale charges
against Wichita that it makes. and its at
tempt to belittle other growing towns is q
clear confession Of the weakness of the
Springfield boom What we object to is
the fact that such tactics will result in more
injury to southwest Missouri than good 1t
does not appear that Wichita exhibited this
sort Of petty envy and we may rest assured
that they will make it tell against Spring
field What we want is friendly
rivalry, and a fair and unprejudic
ed comparison of our resources
with theirs, in which case we haye no fears
of the results. We have just as good coun
try as any other on the earth, but msrepre
senting other countries undeniably good,
will not improve our chances for share of
the prosperity that awaits the great west.
just such things were said of Kansas City
as the Herald says of Wichita but she con
tinued to boom all the same. Friendly
rivalry benefits all parties. but envy and
spite only return to torment those who
indulge in it,