Wichita eagle., 1888-04-01
WHAT A BOOM.
THE WAY TO ROLL A TOWN INTO
A CITY.
The Inside Facts of a Great Scheme
About Which Everybody
is Talking.

trade for the past week has given rise to
no little conjecture not to say interest.
Almost daily the same buggies and hacks
have gone to upper Main street in the vi
cinity of the Missouri Pacifc's reserve and
new depot where the crowd would get out,
with plats in their hands, circulate around
awhile, put their heads together a few
times, point and look this way and that,
then load up again and drive swiftly TO the
open plat of ground north OF the Dold
plant, then back to the general Offices of
the Missouri Pacific where two or three
hours more would be spent closeted with
Supt, Harding, General Solicitor Richards
and General Asst Freight Agent Fisher
So all week up till yesterday this thing
was kept up. The fact that two or three
Hutchinson men were with the Wichita
crowd as often as every other
day but mixed the mystery
and rendered the whole affair but the more
inexplicable. But when some half dozen
of the plat manipulators took the three
O'Clock train for Hutchison On Friday
some OF the more secretive observers could
contain their curiosity no longer, one after
another coming to these headquarters
fairly Dustin TO know that which we dare
not tell. AS the scheme was practically
rounded up and concluded yesterday,
and leaving nothing but the details which
are now being adjusted by the six men who
went up to Hutchinson last evening in Su-
perintendent Harding's private car and rs
everybody almost in the city now knows
of these movements, and as the whole
thing would undoubtedly reach
rnr1hl ia hAf
mornings issue. we may as well
of the inside facts.
But to go back little into the common
field of observation TO find the incentive
There are class of men in this world who
never can bear the idea of being left" 4
few such in their anxiety to catch on" in
advance of everybody else, settled in
Hutchinson before taking time to sseluci-
date the environments. That town has
proved all that they ever expected, even
more, much more, in fact; but they had
never thought of a great commercial city
in Kansas, much less in the Arkansas
valley, nor of the profit and advantages Of
being identified and concerned in the de-
velopment and growlh of such a city Now
that the whole world not only comedies
but knows that there can be
hardly any limit to the expan-
sion and magnificence of Wichita
in all her relations and departments; com
merciaily, Internationally and as seat OF
extensive manufacturers, and also know
that another great center cannot reason
ably be expected to grow up within two or
three hundred miles of her: there are
many bright men of surrounding towns
who feel like initiating the Abernathys
and others of Leavenworth, the EEaxons,
Bullenes, Ridenours, Bakers and Moores
etc, of Lawrence, who did the bright
thing by transferring their interests down
to Kansas City, by moving before it is too
late down to Wichita. That the bright,
progressive little city of Hutchinson
should contain such men, and that our
own fellows should become cognizant of
that fact, is not to be wondered at. Hence
all the mysterious conversations, closet
ings and drivings OF the past
few days As Wichita as well
as the men who desire to transfer their
properties and business to this point, are
to be benefited, the proposition was
evolved and made that to every merchant
and manufacturer who should enter into
the deal business lot or plat as the case
might be and an additional residence lot
be given each making the move, The bus
mess lots are to be alternate lots on upper
Main street, lately secured by the syndi-
cate, the manufacturing plats, portions of
the Missouri Pacific's reserve and the
residence lots on the beautiful situation
north of Twentythird street and east of
Lawrence avenue, of which no more beau
tiful residence site can be found in the
whole city. As something like hundred
men, including merchants manufacturers,
etc, have accepted and as two or three
hundred more no doubt will
avail themselves of this opportu-
nifty of their lives, of course
upper Main street will become solid bust
ness, as solid as lower Main or Douglas
avenue, and the gap between the car
works and Dold'S and the plow factory
will fill up with people and with homes as
if by magic.
The great trouble for two days back has
been to get the Missouri Pacific, whose Off
GERS consented Immediately to the advan-
tages of such proposition, to agree to do
the transporting of the buildings or the
materials, free of cost. 4 compromise was
at last reached that the railroad should
furnish two locomotives and one hundred
fat cars for one hundred and twenty days
service, providing the other parties in in
terest shall pay for the loading and I'M
loading, which includes not only the ma
terials of the buildings. merchandise,
household effects, to be moved, but also
the machinery of the barbed nail factory
the Tobias Booth packery and the salt
water pumps, the owners of the latter hav-
ing satisfied themselves that the salt water
at Wichita Is just as fine and strong and
Just as accessible and inexhaustable as
that at Hutchinson. \ careful estimate
shows that the average cost of tearing
down. moving and putting up again of all
the houses on the south side of the river
will not be more than from 500 to 500
each The larger bricks, two or three of
them ON the same side, which have stood
empty ever since their erection, may not
be included and yet they may. The brick
are of poor quality. The finer residences
on the north side involved in the deal will
cost from $40 5000 70 take them down
and put them up in Wichita as goo6 :,
they stand today, according TO the
mates of experts and of the general freight
agent of the Missouri Pacific
The business houses will cost about
the same, except two three story
bricks and one two-story stone, which will
cost more. of course. One hundred and
twenty days from this time reaches the lst
day of August, which is deemed plenty of
time TO move quantity Of material such
distance sufficient to build thousand
houses, If so many should desire. OF
course the lots and lands being given in