Wichita eagle., 1889-04-10
SOUTHERN KANSAS.
ITS WONDERFUL AND STEADY
GROWTH OF LATE.
Wichita a Typical Town-How Enthu.
siasm Has Marked It's History-Wiu
Not Eastern Manufacturing Drift
this Way in a Few Years.
From the Boston Daily Advertiser.

In 1878 the writer, who had never beel
east of the Mississippi river. went from
Iowa to Wichita, Kan, which at tina
date was wooden town of 1900 inhabi
tants and 800 transient people, most o
whom were Texans Owners of herds
cowboys, Mexicans and cattle buyer
from Chicogo and st. Louis.
Though born and raised in the west
and familiar with prairie towns ant
prairie people, there was revelation il
the difference in manner, customs an(
ways of people, only separated by 40
miles. | came from an old Iowa town
old in time and harnpered by iron Gus
toms. The town l left was % years old
the one came to was two and one-halI
years old. An eastern man who ha:
lived in city ivy-grown and moscow
cred, can realize the superiority | held IL
my contact with the newer west, bu
soon | realized that all things old, if no
positively diSgraceful, were at least IL
diSrepute.
The new was all the rage, and the
newer the better. Everything smelled
of paint. The prairie grass even sympa-
thized with the enthusiasm. The new,
fresh broken sod was anxious to bring
new corn and wheat; the sod houses
scattered oyer the waving sea of grass
with new board roofs, spoke Of hope
vigor and self-confdence
| Everybody was new and most of them
green Boys in business everywhere, in
stores, banks, county offices and law
offices. The one idea that stood out
prominent was, get rich, secondary to
| th l,11In n
build city. Soon, however, the idea
dawned that the way to get rich was to
build a city, and every man was a self
the interests of the town, induce
dustrieS.
In olden time one-tenth was given to
further the cause of the Lord, but the
newer dispensation of the west demand
ed the 1.-THE for town building, and the
cause of religion simply got its ''pro
rata" but observed that the amount of
money freely given to erect churches
and maintain them was much larger
than where [ had come from where
town building" was unthought of and
society was on rock-ribbed and iron
bound basis.
The enthusiasm of Wichita typified
only the entire southern part of Kansas
for radius of so to 100 miles from Wich-
ita. On the west was desert for $50
miles, strip of land 50 miles wide and
$50 long, did not at that date contain
over $500 people, and there was an idea
that it was tempting PrOvi-
dence to endeavor to settle that region.
At that date this land was given over to
the Texas cattle herds driven from Tex
as to Kansas to Craze on the
prairie until recruited from the long
drive and then to be marketed.
In 1874 there were 10000 cattle shipped
from Wichita. To drive out of Wichita
on a pleasant day twenty-five or thirty
miles and see the vast herds of cattle was
sight. These cattle knew man on
horseback, ie., man on horse was an
animal that they understood, but a
buggy or man on foot was an unknown
enemy, and many a "greeny" who ven
tured on foot or in buggy. too near herd !,
had to ask protection from cowboys" J"
In the S0x250-miles strip above men
toned as not containing over $500 people
in 1874, there is now population of $780,
000 The towns of Anthony, Kingman,
Pratt, Kiowa, s.Greensburg Medicine
Lodge, Harper, now having population
of from 5000 to 5000, were unknown as
towns, except Medicine Lodge, which
had near 100, and was the cattle supply
point of the southwest.
There is now in Kansas, southwest and
west of Wichita, over 200 miles of rail-
road, all constructed since July, 1885. The
A., T. & S. f. r. R., having the largest
mileage, and notwithstanding the cry on
Atchison stock, and the condemnation
of its policy in building so many new
lines, any one who lived here in 1874 or
prior, knows that the extensions of those
years were fraught with greater danger
than the present. The Atchison railroad
has simply anticipated the ground Of
Kansas few years-and will prove
the wisdom of its policy before three
years.
Time was when civilization preceded
the railroad. Kansas has demonstrated
that the railroad is the advance guard,
not only of settlement, but of better and
riper civilization. The settlement which
follows is the output of the eastern
states. Ohio, Illinois and Iowa settled
Kansas, but Maine, New York and Mas
sachusetts have peopled it-capitalized
it. This is apparent to any one who will
study the growth Of Kansas.
Kansas is agricultural, but is budding
manufactures and other industries, to
compete with Massachusetts, and other
eastern states. The east is purely man
featuring. The west should feed the
east. The east should clothe, boot and
shoe, and in other things supply the
west. The physical conditions on the
two parts of the country demand this
reciprocity. Kansas and the west can
by labor work out both these problems,
the east only one. but the east has the
power to make Kansas willingly its
tributory as to manufacturing industries
in boots and shoes, clothing, iron, etc,
if it will do so: but if it delays, the west
will be finally free from ali tribute. be-
cause each year makes the west stronger
in capital and people-the two things
create wealth.
Take Kansas as an example. In 1880.
10000 people. In 1890 census will
show 100000. This only typifies Ne
braska. Colorado and Texas. South of
Kansas is in the Indian nation. soon tn
be a territory. soon to be a state. As
a state it will be admitted into the
union in three years from Its settlement.
As the last agricultural domain to be
opened to settlement it will surpass all
others in the rapidity of its growth, and
will in a great measure be filed from
eastern states. The Wichita board of
trade has received over 10000 letters of
inquiry since October, 1883, from people
all over the eastern states. The greater
number of inquiries are from young
men desiring to go west" This tells
its own story.
MasSachusetts---i. e., Boston. Lynn,
Salem, Marblehead, etc.--stand head in