Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-12-22
WHOM THE GODS WOULD, ETC.

tic editor of the Wichita EAGLE that Win
field, the young giant of the west, ant
her bralny men are not to be trif1ed with
We speak by the card, does the ''Eagl'
Man. hear? Neighbor, is it peace? o
war? Name your terms; we are ready.
While Winfield feels perfect.
able to take care of herself, she has no dc
sire to promote other than friendly rela
tons with her windy neighbor on thu
north, the soaring EAGLE, or the bombas
tic, egotistic ass who edits it. "
The foregoing are the closing sentences
respectively, of two editorials appearing il
the columns of the Winfield Courier OF
Monday, together with a short article from
the EAGLE on the extension of the Arkan
cas- Valley road to Wichita. One of the
editorials is very long and deals with the
future of an outlet for Winfield down the
Arkansas Valley TO the Mississippi; the
other is in the nature Of a criticism of the
EAGLES short article, in which criticism
the Courier says that Gould has become
master of the Arkansas Valley route and
that it will come direct to Winfield, and
that the EAGLE is informed that Wichita
will never get any other outlet to the Mis-
sippi except by way of Winfield.
In the first place its No news to us that
Mr. Gould owns a portion of the line re
ferred to, for We have letters to that effect
both from Mr.. Henry Wood
and Mr. Gould. But We
don't know that Wichita's only future out
let to the Mississippi is by the route indi-
Gated by the Courier. Still we admit that
the Courier may be better posted on that
subject than are we. Winfield having sue
cessfully gobbled all the Santa Fe extern
sions may now have the Missouri Pacific in
her coils. and is therefore in a position to
dictate and threaten as above. But what
gets US, admitting all that the Courier de-
cares and claims, is how our old friend
Millington ever brought himself 20 apply
epithets to rs. or what could ke the coca
sion Of such an outburst Of unusual and
really undignified language. We have
read and rc-read that which appears to be
the Objectionable article from our pen, and
fer the life Of us we can see nothing in it
but an effort to set forth Wichita's interests
with reference to an extension Of that road,
without any reference to anybody else's in
tercsts or preferences Surely |
Mr.. Milington would not call
us names for expressing an opinion involv-
ing the best interests Of our town, thing
which We have been VIGOROUSLY doing
right along ever since he knew US. For
years past we have through various chan
nels other than that of our columns, en-
deavored to impress upon the Missouri Pa
cifc people the wisdom of running a road
from Wichita directly southeast, down the
Cana and Verdigris valleys to a connection
for Manager Wood, we never held out any
thing else to him but that his road must
come directly to Wichita, in the absence of
the intervention of any local line or company
via Winfield, Wellington or anywhere else.
These assertions can be verified by writing
to the parties named. Nor Winfield nor
Arkansas City nor the interests, pro or con,
of any city on the surface Of the globe has
weighed for a moment with us in the adj
vocacy of these convictions. With as
much sense might we vilify the editor of
the Courier because Winfield should find it
to her interest to work for the extern
sion Of the Arkansas Valley t
road to Newton without touching
Wichita. The course and language of the
Courier is perfectly astounding. With as
much propriety could we have called the !
editor of the Courier "bombastic ass" be-
cause the Santa Fe, after holding out the
strongest possible promises, personally to {
US, of the machine shops for Wichita, that l
they after wards reconsidered and proposed
to put them at Winfield. As for the !
threats Of the Courier, personally, we care t
nothing, not any more than for the misrep- {
reservations, and bogus letters purporting
to be signed by US, which have been circu- :
lated in Vernon township. They are all i
unworthy Of the authors, whoever they {
may be, and unmanly. All these misrep-
RESERVATIONS will come home to roost, as !
will the uncalled for breathings of slaughter |
and the hard names which a heretofore {
ordinarily level headed old gentleman has !
seen ft, without any just cause or provoca-
ton, to heap upon one whose only fault |
seems to be that of loyalty to the interests t
of a city which contains his earthly all.
As for our esteemed but beligerent
friends banter to fight. even if he and Win 1
field were in a fighting condition. which I
we are inclined to very much doubt, he :
will permit us TO assure him and all others i
that neither the editor of the EAGLE nor t
Wichita have any desire to put head upon I
any one. Both Wichita and the EAGLE '
desire to add to rather than to diminish the I
number of their friends We want the t
friendship OF every town in southwest
Kansas, and of every town which in any :,
way may ever in the future have any bust '
ness relations with her as the great railway '
city of Kansas or with lis great leading I
daily organ, which city and which organ :
will probably have nearly us much to say c
touching the operations Of Mr. Wood and !
Mr. Gould in this state, in the future, as {
that Of any other town and lis organ. not :
excepting Winfield. its Courier and the '
brainy men with whom il threatens lis. 1