The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-07-02
WICHITA'S POPULATION.
A GAIN OF SIX HUNDRED PER
CENT.
The Biggest Town of It's Size and Age
in America.

/
among the people of this city over the mat
ter of the enumeration of its inhabitants
| by the general government. Wichita, how
ever, is not an exception in this matter of
enumeration. The truth seems to be that
too much was demanded by Supt Porter
of his deputies, or otherwise the time as
signed for the work was too short Humid
reds of names have been discovered in
| Wichita that were not secured by the
| enumerators and doubtless hundreds more
could be found whose names were not en-
rolled. A large number of names were re-
| ported to the directory of the board of
trade on Monday last, but it was not known
that anything could be done. One gentle
man had incidently picked up eleven names
in his neighborhood who had failed from
absence or other causes to be enrolled.
Some of the enumerators seemed only
anxious to close up the work assigned
them at the earliest possible moment,
showing unnecessary haste being, seem
ingly, stimulated with the desire for quick
rather than for thorough work. Num-
bers of prominent business men, we are
| reliably informed, were thus uncOunted
Since the government census was com
pleted an enumeration of the school chill
dren has been taken in this city which
shows 1921 people between the age of
| and q years, which last enumeration was,
undOubted, very carefully made Again,
the city directory for this year, compiled
but a month since, shows IA, 467 additional
names, which multiplied by two and
half, the lowest multiple ever employed in
such connection, would give 80, 167 inhabi-
tants
Business, after all, is the true measure
of any city's importance. If aggregations
of lifeless humanity counted for much
graveyards would be lively places. 1t is
said by some of the papers that Wichita
under the United States census shows
short thirty thousand population. We
don't know from whence such information
was derived, but admitting its reliability
then Wichita is the biggest town of her
size in America. No other city Of thirty
thousand school children, and fourteen
thousand names additional in its business
directory, making of school children over
five years of age, and of adult business
people, not to say anything of the babies
actually born and under five years Of age,
nor of their mothers nor other classes,
twenty-one thousand seven hundred and
forty-eight people, whose names are actu-
ally on record.
No other city of thirty thousand people
on this continent, or on any other continent,
can show a quarter of million dollars in
public school buildings and an additional
quarter of million dollars in higher edu-
cational institutions No other city in
these United States of thirty thousand
people can show returned taxable valu-
alton Of upwards of thirteen millions of
dollars, or of actual wealth of fifty mil
lions No other city of thirty thousand
people, on this or on any other continent,
can show weekly bank clearances of from
three-fourths to one million dollars, month
in and month out, with a steady weekly
increase of from ten to fifteen per cent.
No other city in the state of Kansas, or in
the United States, or in the world, of
thirty thousand people, whether that city
be eighteen years old, or eighteen
hundred years old, can show such
a spirit of public enterprise as is evidenced
by the possession of all the facilities and
appliances that go to make up modern
city in the way of such magnificent public
buildings, such finely improved streets,
and such perfected water, light and trans
portation systems. The last enumeration
taken by the officials of the United States,
the census of 1880, gave Wichita 49l1 peo-
pie Admitting that the present returns
show but thirty thousand, the gain for ten
years will have been six hundred per cent,
such a gain as can be shown by no other
city of thirty thousand people by any CEN
sus of this or any other country or age.
Wichita, by the most conservative and
reliable estimates, lost in the opening and
settlement of Oklahoma, year ago, from
five to seven thousand people. Which
number was very largely made up of
Iaborers and their families, but inclusive
of several hundred bright and energetic
business men. While these important
numbers were lost in a numerical sense,
they are still largely our friends and
patrons. 1t was hoped that the late census
would show that their places had been
filled by new Corners. But however great
the disappointment of our people
on the showing which it is said
the work of the late enumerators
will make, Wichita will not suffer further
than the disadvantage of a mere compari-
son in reference tables. The fact viii re
main that according TO population she IS
the richest city in the state of Kansas, and
that without reference to population, and
as demonstrated and shown by every
standard, and is measured by all business
guages, she is the greatest commercialand
manufacturing center between the Mis-
souri, river and the Rocky mountains.
THE UNITED STATES COURTS AT wICH-
TIA.
JF. Shearman. of Wichita, has been ap-
pointed deputy United States circuit and
district clerk. for the circuit and district
courts TO be held in Wichita under the