Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1888-02-12
A REPRESENTATIVE OF A GREAT
RAILROAD VISITS WICHITA.
He Gives His Opinion of the Present
and Future Of Wichita, and
Intimates That His Road
is Surely Coming.

|
to the public now would interfere with our
plans in other sections. l do not think it
would make any difference to my company
if the people of Wichita knew all our
| plans, because this city is our objective
| point and your people will be as anxious
to have us build to Wichita as we will
be to come. There are some other
| points, however, that might not look at it
in the same way. AS matter of course,
the railroad committee of your board of
trade know we intend building to Wichita
next summer, but our interest would not
| be subserved by making our plans public
at this time / make the request of you
not to mention our road i'll your paper"
Under a promise not to name your
company, would you object to giving your
plans as regards this city?
mo: not in the least. We intend to build
| into this city next summer, and just as
soon as is possible we will build two roads
out from this city. These two branches
we think will be very important roads for
| Wichita. Your present railroad interests
| seem to be slow to recognize the fact that
| Wichita is to be the great commercial! cen
ter of this great southwest. They are be-
ginning to see that point now,
and in my opinion you viii
see some of these roads in a very short
time begin to build cut-offs from this city
to their other branch roads. Our road
will have an advantage in this respect in
not coming here before this matter of a
commercial center was settled We will
build from our eastern connection directly
to Wichita, and then we will build directly
..itH to tyr6 nft it,,tOn f.r,t
points"
In what respect do you think your road
will help Wichita?
II will tell you how we will help
Wichita We will from the very outset
recognize this as a distributing point
That is what your present roads are doing,
only indirectly. Now, take the item of
lumber, for instance. Do you know your
present roads allow a lumber pool to exist
here?"
The reporter said he did not
"Well, that is fact, nevertheless,
and that very thing is perfectly inconsist-
ent Don't you know that the very fact
that these roads put this lumber business
into few hands shows that these roads
are not willing to openly recognize
this as distributing point. 1t would be
all right to give lumbermen special rates
out of here, but it is perfectly ridiculous to
put this interest so important to great
city like this in few hands. One thing
is certain Wichita will never be a distrib-
uting point for lumber while that thing is
kept up"
In what other respect do you think your
road will benefit Wichita?
1--WE will help this city by furnishing
cheap fuel. Wichita is already quite a
manufacturing center, and ali she needs
now is cheap fuel This fuel business in
the past has been managed somewhat like
the lumber business. That system was
all right when Wichita was "A small
town, but she has outgrown those kind of
clothes. Very few people have any idea
how much coal is used in Wichita now,
and this consumption is rapidly increasing.
When a man comes to Wichita to start
some sort of a manufacturing enterprise,
the first thing he runs against is a coal
pool Now | do not thing that is to the in
terest of the roads. 1t is pretty generally
conceded that there is no coal in the inn
mediate vicinity of Wichita, and just for
that reason the roads should ship coal at
reasonable rates to everybody and encour-
age these interests in manufacturing to
build up"
DO you think your road will be able to
give us cheaper coal?
yes. am satisfied in one year from
the first of May at the outside,
we can furnish this city a good
quality of coal for two and
half dollars per ton and ] think for even
less money than that This can be done
and make our road one of the best paying
roads in the west
Why would it not be to your interest to
let piecs for coal remain as they now are
and make that much more on frieghts?
"WelI now, / will tell you about that
This fuel business is avery important item
in the earnings of all railroads and where
a great commercial and manufacturing
center can be built UP some distance from
coal fields, the immense transportation of
this fuel, even at low rates is al important |
item for the roads. Now, suppose there !!
was a good coal field hundred miles !
north of Wichita, and like supply the /
same distance east, west and south, it !
would be more TO the interest of these rail
road companies TO have great manufac- /
turing center here than at any one of those !
coal mines. You see this city is already
the center of great agricultural district" /
Could not a combination of railroads just /
as well build up manufacturing interests /
at any other point?
mo, not at any point. Railroads can
help build up these manufacturing centers 4
but they can not do it arbitrarily. The !
proper place for, and the place where great /
manufacturing centers Will grow up, are
at commercial centers. Commercial CEN f,
tiers are cepters of population. and rail /
roads do not make centers of population !
hardly understand what you mean.
well now suppose we are speaking of !
the state of Kansas, and suppose il ali TO
be improved and farmer on each quarter /
section and good county seat in every
county and numerous villages all over the .
state. Now, the natural COM
mercial and manufacturing cen
ter of the state would be at .
the geographical center, and any attempt
to move this away off at one side would be .
arbitrary The railroads could neither /
move the center of this population nor the /
agricultural center So you can see If a .
number of railroads were 60 attempt TO 80 .
off to one side of the state and build q
commercial and manufacturing city to +
supply this territory, other reads might .
come to the natural center and knock the /
life out of the arbitrarily located town"
You think then. from such a point of I
view, Wichita has natural advantages, do /
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