Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-09-11
THE ROME WHERE THE EAGLE
SCREAMS.
A Rich and Beautiful Country and a
City of Modern Improvements
and Appliances---An Eli
and a Boomer.
From the Philadelphia Record.

Bureau, who spent few days in Wich-
ita last month, writes the following.
| In 1876 western friend of mine on
his way to the centennial exposition
stopped over for day in Wichita, Kan.
As he rode into town he noticed a sign
board on post reading, .'No shooting
allowed within the city limits" As he
rode down the one struggling street to
| the city" he met a crowd of men care
fully guarding a wounded cowboy to the
| Jail. What's the matter with
the cowboy" he asked the near
est citizen. why" he was told,
that fellow was one of a half
dozen who came tearing In here this
morning firing at everything from the
'no-shooting sign at one end OF the town
to the 'no-shooting' at the other, hitting
the store windows particularly hard. We
chased them out of town and winged
| that fellow just as they got clear on the
prairie after filling the 'no-shooting sign
with holes: ] guess we'll have to swing
that fellow up tonight as warming.
These cowboys are getting too free and
easy
often thought of this story when l
began to hear two or three years ago of
the wonderful growth and prosperity of
Wichita. 1t gave a romantic flavor to
the reports of extensive and profitable
real estate speculation which filled the
letters of our friends about that time. /
am afraid it impressed me more than
any of the real estate marvelS, startling
as some of these We're. One real estate
speculation is, after all, very much like
another. The Wichita BOOM" TO be
sure, was one OF the most vigorous and
intense. The real estate offices ran night
and day and Sundays. More property
was transferred in day than in week
here. and the recorder of deeds got rich.
One morning the EAGLE, a real ''Organ
of public opinion" quietly announced
that it was time to cool off, and as it
spoke for the majority of the people,
including all the wiser heads, the
cooling off process began that
day. This judicious course saved Wichita
from the common western fate of ex-
Diring with its BOOM" By stopping
just then it held its vigor and its money,
and turning them into the ordinary
channels of business, made its success
substantial and permanent.
wichita is an Eli, said one OF her
foremost citizen recently. ''She gets
there every time" THAT air true
word," as Craddock's men are always
saying. No town in the United States
has equaled Wichita in growth during
the past five years-the real period of
her active life, although she celebrated
her eighteenth birthday this month.
From the obscure position which she oc-
cupied long after the cowboys insulted
her ordinances and broke her plate glass
she has shot forward to the first place
among the cities of Kansas and, to
rivalry with Omaha and Kansas City
outside, and a firm grip on the present
and strong hope for the future. l had
been curious to see this remarkable town,
and SO, when | got an invitation out in
st. Louis to run down the 800 miles to
Wichita, l accepted with that easy reck
lessness as to distances which you soon
pick up in the wide, wide west. In their
special car on the train going down to
Wichita were dozen Maine and New
Hamshire capitalists, most of whom had
been attending the st. Louis convention
either as delegates or alternates. They
wete among those shrewd New England
investors who have put as much money
into Wichita as into other western towns,
yet none of them, L think, had been
there, and SO all We're as eager as | was
l.
Plains" They knew all about their own |
special Investments stock car manufac- |
turing plant, ready. they told me, to turn |
ity Of sixteen; they knew, thev SAID, that |
they had found just the right place for
it, and that when new railroad already
under way should be completed to Mem
phis they would get their woods from
+ hn ha
better off than ever. One of them was
farmer by brevet and knew all about the
splendid fields we shot through on our
way down. He told US, what the people
in Wichita emphasized, that this was the
great crop year, and he pointed out the
richness of each particular crop.
/ did not know that it was rich but it
was certainly beautiful country. 1t
was not entirely fiat, and it was not tree
less. Much Of it was rolling and some OF
It billy, and the trees were everywhere. /,
The green of the fields was living green, i
bright, lustrous and growing before your
eyes. All night, all morning and half
ibis afternoon we rode through this fine
always climbing up although /
We were going down" TO Wichita),
Until we got 400 or 1900 feet up and
oiled into one Of the neat railroad sta
ions of the young city. Like all the
others, / was astounded al once, ana
never recovered from the astonishment :
Until ] left. We saw a broad, well
ordered city, covering as much territory {
IS Washington, with wide streets and {
venues lined with fine public and pri- :
ate buildings and residences, with ,
treet cars, electric Lights, gas lamps.
p0stmen nawsboys and all
he other features of modern city life
kept saloons. There are saloons, or
Joints" as they call them there, bat ,
lid not see them. :
Lawns around the houses and double ,
ows of tall trees on the sidewalks bean ,
flied the residence streets. and avenues, =.
he latter named gracefully for the other
titles in Kansas. The wooden sidewalks.
ike those still seen in Chicago and Kan
as City. are being replaced with flag I
tone taken from the Bandera quarry at ,
It. Scott, pretty piece Of property :
lwned by two ex-naval officers and rep i.
esented in Wichita by another. We :
aw representatives Of al the classes Of l
he 10000 inhabitants as we drove !
through the city, and noted il them all I
he alertness, electicity and energy :
vhich have made Wichita what it Is. q,
hey seem as inf'exible as the Greeks ,
heir Greek climate has a great deal 20
10 with their success. The sky Was per-
ectly clear and gIoriouslv blue all one
az while ! was there, and ii Is often 80, q
am told, while the sky is seldom over
asst a whole day. The atmosphere /,
J always dry, and strong prairie .
rinds blow night and day. II Is