Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-03-16
WICHITA TAKING A HAND.


A State Journal reporter had the pleas
tive delegation from our sister city, Wlch-
ita. The gentlemen here are: NJ M. MUIR
dock, editor of the Wichita EAGLE; Judge
H. c. Sluss, a prominent attorney of many
years standing. and NJ. W. Levy, one of
the leading bankers of the metropolis OF
the Kansas Nile.
Are you here for your health, or pleas
ures. gentlemen" said the reporter.
Neither" said Mr.. Murdoch, 1--WE are
here for business; Wichita, you know, is
business from the word 60 You are
probably aware that our city during the
past year has raised nearly half a million
dollars for packing houses. One of our
packing establishments has been in opera
tion sixty days and we have killed
$4,000 hogs. You can form some idea of
this record when | tell you that it is a
fact that Kansas City during its first year
as packing center killed only 5000 hogs.
The other day we killed six hundred in
two hours and thirty minutes which,
tell you, is sticking pigs pretty rapidly.
Wichita handles an immense amount of
freight. Last year we represented one
ninth of the entire state tonnage. We
shipped 52l carloads of fruit alone, which
came into Wichita from all parts of the
south and west"
Yes" said the reporter, who was not
working them for an advertisement, Il
am a regular reader of The EAGLE. and
know some of these things; but what has
all this to do with your visit heref"
WELL" continued Mr. Murdock-ably
prompted by Judge Sluss and Mr. Levy
who remembered what Mr. Murdoch did
not forget-''the fact of it is, we want a
first class, practical business man on the
the board of railroad commissioners and
our candidate is A. w. Oliver, who for ten
years was the president of our board of
trade, and you know our board of trade
has been good one. Mr.. Oliver is q
miller and lumber dealer and does an
enormous amount of shipping and knows
the shipping business from its foundation
UP. We think that Wichita is entitled to
representative on this board, and we
think we have the man who understands
freight rates practically and thoroughly in
Mr.. Oliver. MIR. Oliyer has been a resi-
dent of Wichita for nineteen years, from
its infancy. He for a long time was man
ager of the Shellabarger mills, which are
represented in Topeka by the large and
well known Shawnee county mill of She'll
abarger & Griswold. We claim that the
board of railroad commissioners should
have upon it thorough and acknowl-
edged business man. We think that the
board should not be political one, and we
are urging the appointment of a man
whom we know to be strictly business
Changing the subject, Mr.. Murdoch,
what is the railroad meeting announced at
Wichita tomorrow"
There will be an important meeting at
Wichita on Friday for the purpose of con-
sidering the freight tariff of the state
The board of railroad commissioners will
be present and we have had replies from
every western traffic manager except the
traffic manager of the Frisco, all saying
that they will attend. The meeting will
consider the inequalities and injustice of
the present rates, and we hope it will re-
suit much to our interest. We now pay
much larger rates than any other large
cities further from the same shipping
points. For instance, if we ship car load
of sugar from California we have to pay
the through rate from California to Kan
sas City, and the local rate back to Wich-
ita. We have one firm which handled $40
car loads of fruit in 1888. If we ship from
New York. Chicago or other eastern cities
we get through rate to Kansas City and
pay local rates from there. 1t is unjust
and must be remedied."