The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1892-03-16
AS OTHERS SEE HER.
The Peerless Princess and all Her Resources as
They Appear TO an lnter-Ocean Cor
respondent.

itials j. w. s., for the Chicago Inter
| Ocean, one of the most widely circulated
western journals, writing from this city tC
| his paper under date Of March S has the
| following TO say concerning the lnstitu
! tions and enterprises of the Peerless Prin
cess which he terms in large head line
| "W ondrous Wichita" He says:
J THE world has watched with admira
| ton the progress and advancement OF
1 Kansas, filled with wonderment at the
rapid strides in the development of her rs
sources, and no interst has been granted a
| greater share of that admiration than hel
live stock industry.
with the highest ambitions of the Kan
sas farmer and stock grower fulfilled lit
| tie surprise was created when Chicago and
| and other packers established branches al
| the Missouri river, bat it was a surprise
| and a wholesome one, to discover eastern
capitalist investing millions of dollars in
the establishment OF packing houses at
Wichita. There was good reasons for this.
however. Wichita is in the very center OF
| the great corn belt, and is thin natural
gateway to the great cattle ranges of the
southwest. Wichita came into ex-
istence COW town, and developed into
| the great QUILTING point for the south
west before the advent of the railway.
This WAS the real incentive which in
fuenced the rapid development Of railway
interests In the southwest later. First,
the Santa Fe; that
GREAT WESTERN CIvILIZER,
always the first in the field, pushed a
branch southwark from Newton, through
wichita, and on to the north line of the
Indian Territory as early as 1872, and later
transformed this branch into main line
by extending it to the Gulf of Mexico and
UH6 Panhandle The Sf
and San Francisco railway followed, while
several new lines were projected and built
into the city, only to be absorbed by the
Santa Fe and Gould system. To complete
Wlchita's glory the great Rock Island
Route connected Wichita with Chicago
and the northwest and extended its line
through the Cherokee strip and Oklahoma.
Southern and southwest Kansas were
soon gridironed with railways-and all
lead TO Wichita! With railway line radiat-
ing from her in every direction, leading to
the cornfeldS and breeding grounds of
every portion of Kansas, Nebraska and
Oklahoma, and to the vast cattle ranges
of Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, her
location Is superior one as a packing
point, for these same railways distribute
the products of her packing houses to con-
sumers In the newer west and south
twenty hours quicker than can Kansas
City, while eastern packers do not enter
into competition.
Wichita early realized the necessity of
UNION STOCK YARDS
to displace the scattered receiving and
feeding yards of her many railways TO
conceive was to act, and true to the west
ern IDEA, the largest and best equipped
stock yards ever built west of the Mis-
souri, river were at once constructed. The
formal opening of the Wichita Union
stock yards occurred October 49, 1887, and
that night the yards and buildings, to-
gether with two car loads of cattle and a
quantity of hay and grain, were entirely
consumed by fire. On October "a. six
days later, the company had erected tenn
porary buildings and begun business
anew. The company have since erected
Il handsome brick hotel, a build
ing for the live stock exchange, where
several commission firms and the Daily
Drovers' Journal are officed, restaurant,
and an office building for the company,
and put ten acres OF yards under roof
The company maintain an independent
stand-pipe, from which heavy pressure
of water leads to every portion of the
premises, hose connections having been
made throughout, thus assuring perfect
control of possible contiagrations. These
yards have capacity for handling 5000
hogs and 5000 cattle, and
POSSESS EVERY MODERN CONVENIENCE.
THE company's business has been very
Ia 1890 80 800 cattle and 323,-
1873 hogs were received. Nearly all the hogs
were consumed by the local packing
houses, while the cattle, nearly all of
which were from Texas and New Mexico,
were corn fed in this county and later
shipped TO Chicago and elsewhere. Their
past years business shows an increase OF
nearly 200 per cent. in the receipts of cat
tie. nearly ~, 600 head of which, being range
cattle, were fed and shipped to eastern
markets later. Last years hog receipts
fell short of the year previous, owing
to an inferior corn crop. During January
OF this year 439 Car loads of live stock
were received at these yards. in which
were ,939 cattle and 80, 104 hogs. Feb
ruary's receipts were practically the same.
AS soon as the stock yards company had
become established a concerted effort was
made to induce some of
THE EASTERN PACKERS
to come to Wichita The advantages of
being on the ground floor induced jacob
bold & Sons, whose packing establish
menis ut Kansas City. Buffalo and Harris
burg have gained worldwide reputation
for the superiority of their products. to
put in plant. They began operation on
day, 1885 Their plant at
the expenditure of million dollars in
and equippihg it for hand
ling 500 hogs and $50 cattle daily. proves
their assertion that it Is in reality their
main hog packing establishment. 1t was
not long until Francis Whitaker & Sons,
the well known packers of ST. Louis, had
arrived at a similar conclusion, for they
arranged with the architects and builders
then working on the Dold plant to erect
packing house of equal capacity for them.
On the first OF the following August, 1882
they begun operations. Francis Whit
taker & Sons are
THE OLDEST PACKERS
in the west having established their ST.
Louis house in lS4S. They are known !
the world over as the instigatorS OF the /
pure lard bill which created such conster- |
nation among tue soap greese' lard |
houses aud precipiIated the pending pure |
food bill Francis Whitaker & Sons |
bujlt their reputation Oh the .act OF never |
having manufactured a pound of impure |
ard or offered for sale an inferior nam. |
The W hlttskers have an lmmese ice plant !
N connection with their house which /
furnishes ice for their own use and others. |
The Dold and Whitaker packing /
houses at Wichita can take care OF the /
lugs raised in the territory contiguous; 1
what is now needed is a beef-packtng !
plant 10 handle the range cattle fattened /
here each year and the thousands fed by /
he farmers of southern and central Kan /
las. If q tirst-class paCking-house We're TO |
ocate here Il large percentage of the Texas 4
md Territory cattle now passing on TO I
,ther corn states would stop off here /
This arrangement would work equal /
benefit 10
THE RANGE CATTLE
yrower. the Kansas farmer and the packer /
The cattle grower would be relieved Of .
much of his freight charges. have ad (
of cheap corn and hay. and get /
he same Drice for his cattle here as on |