Wichita eagle., 1886-10-31
MELODY FROM MEADE.
The Whistle Of the Locomotive Soon
to be Heard in the Valley OF
Crooked Creek.
THE ROCK ISLAND IS COMING.

To toe Editor OF he Eagle.
After having won the premium over all the
new counties of Kansas for the best agri-
cultural display at the Garden City fair,
Meade county might with safety have
rested upon her laureis But her people
are not built ths. way, ind without stop
ping to take breath they are pressing on to
other and greater victories.
! From the earliest settlement of Meade
county the eyes of railroad managers have
been turned toward her as the most available
importance have solicited aid here but
their overtures have been rejected because
they did not offer trunk line facilities.
What Meade Center and Meade county
wants is
| TRUNK LINES.
| While O. feeder for the Santa Fc road
might be beneficial in some degree it
might also be the means Of preventing
their securing through line much more
desirable. Time has proven the wisdom
of this policy, as the people OF this section
have now the opportunity of as good
through line facilities as any road in the
country can give.
Yesterday Colonel T. L. Walker, Of
Wichita. and Mr.. Vermillion, railroad at
torney, arrived here with propositions to
extend the Chicago and Rock Island road
through Meade county in the event OF the
people subscribing to the capital stock Of
the company 1920, 900; the length of the
proposed road through the county being
forty miles.
There are many reasons for believing
this TO be the most desirable road the poo
pie can secure. In the first place it brings
In third great line of road to compete with
the Missouri Pacific and Santa Fe. Anoth-
er st rong reason for favoring the Rock
Island road is the policy which has always
controlled the company in its dealings with
the people. More than any other power
full corporation perhaps, the Chicago &
Rock Island has sought to secure the good
will of its patrons. Where it enjoys q
monopoly Of the track it does not use the
power to extortion, but gives to localities
along its lines which have no other railroad
facilities, nearly the same rates as com
pcting points Still another strong argu-
ment in favor of this road is the great
lengths of its lines and the num-
Der of important points it reaches.
The passenger who boards the cars at Meade
Center, West Plains or Fowler can without
changing to any other system OF roads
reach Wichita, Topeka, Kansas City, St.
Joseph, Omaha, Keokuk, St. Louis, Chi
cago and many other intermediate points of
Importance. The producer and the ship
per can without transfer reach the best
trade center on the western continent, and
by having access to the dealers in all the
localities, will be at the mercy Of none Of
them.
The construction Of the Chicago & Rock
Island road to this point will not interfere
with the construction of Other projected
lines but rather hasten them.
The Southern Kansas via. Ashland, the
Wichita S Trinidad road and the proposed
line from Dodge City will re-
ceivo substantial encouragement,
but just now the people enthusias-
tically working for the Rock Island.
Petitions calling for an election to vote
on subscribing to the stock of the road
have not been in circulation for more than
twenty four hours and nearly the requisite
number Of signatures have been secured.
The petition will not be presented, how
ever, until signed by large majority of
the taxpayers of the county. The propo-
sition will carry with it little or 10 opposi
sition and before another year rolls
round there will be on the banks
of crooked creek, in the heart
of Meade county. which rivals Sedgwici in
fertility Of soil ard natural resources, a sec
end Wichita with prospects almost as
bright as those of the Wichita that sits so
proudly in the midst of her rich corn fields
on the banks of the Arkansas
The name OF tie new metropolis Of the
southwest is Meade Center. Nc.
MEADE CENTER, Kan, Oct. 2S, '86.