The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-05-01
WINNING WICHITA.
A Disinterested and Unbiased Opinion From
an Observing and Old Settler Of sedg-
wick County.
To the Editor of the Eagle.

! To the Editor Of the Eagle.
During my present residence of some
/ seven or eight months in the city and COM
ing into contact and conversation with her
| people, have on many occasions been
asked for my opinion in regard TO the fu-
ture of Wichita, in the shape of such
questions as the following: What do YOU
think of the future prospects of Wichita
as city anyhow? Do you think Wichita
will come to the front all right YETI Do
you think Wichita will be a great city
some day? Do you suppose that property
will increase in value much beyond what
it is at presentg How long do YOU sup
pose it will be before Wichita will
take another forward marchY etc,
etc. Why are these questions
have been put to Inc / am at some loss to
know, unless it be owing TO the fact that /
have been an outside observer of all the
ups and downs, the triumphs and vicissi-
tudes connected with her history since the
beginning. | believe | might safely say
that no man living has ever seen such a
city as Wichita before, and is not likely TO
live long enough to ever see such a city
again. l have watched with keen interest
her growth and granduer since the time
when yet along the stream the buffalo fed
The infant city raised her modest head"
And ever since the first year of her exist
ence she has been the biggest city of her
size on the American continent A mar
vel in an age of mericles. One of the in
evitable consequences oflaying the foundas
ton of new state, or the foundation of a
city in a new country, owing to the uncert-
ainty Of resources, production and trans
pdftation in the course of their develop
ment, is the unsteady growth in the first
stages of their eXistance. Periods of ex-
IRENE activity, hustle and excitement,
with rapid increase in values, followed by
seasons of comparative inactivity and
stationary valuations, just as if everybody
and everything had exhausted their ener-
gies, and had relapsed into a season of
rest. But at every stage in the onward
course of their advancement they find
themselves upon a more sure and solid
basis, and their growth more steady and
substantial.
Perhaps no young city of the present |
age has been so much subject to periods of !
rapid growth. and luIls of activity as
Wichita up to the present time. This |
arises no doubt from the fact that |
so favorable location, surrounded as it is /
for hundreds of miles by an agricultural |
country unsurpassed in beauty, and whose |
resources are ineXhaustable The great /
of people who have come here /
from every quarter of the globe, having /
never before beheld a country of such |
became Immediately con- /
WINGED that a great commercial city must !
be builded at this point, and imbued with |
a strong desire to accomplish that object |
they go to work and build. and keep on !
until they succeed in building away be |
yond the then requirements of trade and |
commerce. and have had to suspend opera
lions and await the further perfection |
of arrangements for greater developments /
in production, trade and transportation. !
To my certain Notwithstanding to /
the chronicles of the croakers-Wichita /
has been too dead to skin six times during |
the few short years of her life, and every /
time she died she arose from her death bed /
holiday attire like a new made |
bride, and doubled her population and is
on the eve of repeating the same thing |
again.
Having been successfully engaged in
agricultural pursuits during the many |
years of my residence in Sedgwick county, /
until lately. | have never owned any
property in Wichita. But ever since her
earliest days have looked with admira-
ton upon the indomitable energy, per
severence and enterprise of her citizens.
Local, personal and political interests
have always been forgotten. and they have
We'd with each other in putting forth their
Il,
city of Wichita required their attention.
At every new crisis in her history her
people have given fresh evidence of their
ability to devise ways and means not only
to overcome every obstacle in the way of
their advancement, but have, as if by mag
lc, called TO their aid through numerous
avenues of transportation, the wealth and
resources of a vast and growing territory,
until she stynds today prominently the
giantess of the new Southwest.
The foundation of Wichita has only yet
been laid. 1t is only village to what it
must unquestionably become in the near
future. If | were a capitalist and a spec
ulatOr, and had a million that wanted to
double in the next five years, l would in
vest il in Wichita property at present
prices as fast af the deeds could be made,
and ask no advice from anyone.
WM. Ross.
ADIITERATION.