The Arkansaw traveler., 1888-03-31

with the advanced means and meth ods of modern hushandry. He lives in a pretty home surrounded with groves, gardens, orchards, hedgerows. well-cultivated fields and thrifty herds; sends his children to the best schools in the west, takes care of his credit and quite often keeps a credit balance at the bank. No country in America offers ampler security either to farm loans or real estate investments than Marion county, and, tor that matter, all central Kansas, and l shall be pardoned for quoting the opinions of some good friends of mine in sup port of this seemingly strong state ment. The gentlemen quoted live in the city of Marion. the capital of Ma rion county. and are among Its strong, reliable and reputable men, whose opinions on real estate investments in this country are authority.
 Messrs. Case < Billings, veteran real 1 estate and loan men, and respectively cashier and president of the Cotton wood Valley Bank, have settled hun dreds of men in this region, and in all their experience in farm loans, cover- ing a period of fifteen years, have never yet foreclosed a mortgage. To the testimony of these worthy and public-spirited gentlemen am pleased to add that of k. NJ. Donaldson, cashier of the First National Bank and the sagacious organizer and man. o~ar of tho ITnsnn Anrfwonn ~nx.1 pany, who believes that good real estate securities, whether of title deeds or loans, in this region, are among the safest securities on the market.
 w. k. Clark, for many years a successful stock farmer and now one of the foremost citizens and real estate men of Marion: Messrs. Coble X Moulton, strong and reliable real estate firm; Wood & Camman, ener- getic and thorough going land and loan men; Tomlinson & Rudd, Reiff x Brumbaugh, K. A. Hodge, Major Thos. w. Bown, Judge H. A. Billings, Judge B. F. Crockett & Son, Mir. c. $. Winslow, F. w. Fox, A. Jacobitz, Stephen Jex and William Kellison, all gentlemen of sterling worth and more or less experience in farm loans and real estate investments, and most of them old and honored workers for the city and county, give unqualified endorsement to the opinions expressed by the above- named bankers. With equal force l might quote the views of the entire list of county and ,,if AfH ard merchants; the leading attor- neys, physicians, manufacturers and builders of the city the local jour- nalists and ranking men in every department of local life, the major portion of whom have more than once said to me that Marion county was, in ? broad sense, the best country of their knowledge. In the garden spot of this fertile and pros porous county is
 MARION,
 named in honor of the Carolina hero of the revolution, and from scenic standpoint, the most beautiful town in Kansas. Like the ancient city of the Hebrew kings it is
 BEAUTIFUL FOR SITUATION
 and eminently worthy of the mag nificent country that surrounds 1t. It is located at the confluence of the Luta and Cottonwood rivers, in the midst of the finest cornfields of the valley and is appropriately called the "QUEEE OF THE COTTONWOOD"
 The finer residence quarter lies upon beautiful table land, fifty feet above the water line, and commands delightful views of the river valley, railways and business quarter below. The city is environed with
 CHARMING NATURAL PARKS
 embracing wealth of native forest, with many century elm; green glassy glades, rugged and picturesque bluffs, wooded glens and ravines, richly festooned with wild vines, the clear winding Luta and Cottonwood and many another feature which must be nameless here, and altogether, has a location which almost any town in the Sun6ower state might envy. It has too,
 THIRTY-FIvE HUNDRED PEOPLE
 as cultivated, kindly, hospitable, en- terprising and progressive as one may find between the two oceans. A dozen years ago, the writer found here about five hundred people a dozen miles from the nearest railway, comparatively pccr in purae, but rich in faith, working power and the possession of singularly fair and fortunate townsite, and
 THE TRANSFORMATION
 wrought in these brief years is quite worthy of rehearsal to the readers of THE TRAVELLER. From the hamlet of 1876, Marion has come to be not only the prettiest, but one of the most thriv- ing towns in Kansas. It has two large, finely equipped stone Touring mills,