Daily Kennebec journal., 1894-03-02
HOW CITY IS BUILT.
ENERGY AND ENTERPRISE ARE EVER
POTENT FACTORS.

They Are the Genii Under whose "ns''
Touch Industry Springs Into Lac sna
c.m.rce Upfolds Its wings-Naturai
Advantages Not Indispensable
Copyright, 1894 by american fres' As'0'
The town which is built on . great
waterway or has other extraordinary
transportation facilities. or those STU
ated contiguous to coalfields, iron re-
v;ons lead mines or in districts rich in
other natural resources. have great ad-
vantage over those which are not so for
inmate in this respect. But experience
teaches us that q possession OF natural
advantages is not indispensable and an
unfavorable location does not prevent
! city from attaining greatness and sue
cess if the citizens who inhabit it are
made of the right kind of stuff.
Chicago, the wonderful city which has
| made such strides in the past few years,
is located on a tract of land which was
at one time swamp. A more forbid
ding spot for the site of city could
hardly be imagined. But the indoml-
table spirit of its early settlers. which
still characterizes the citizens OF that
metropolis, overcame all obstacles and
built a city that is at once the pride
of the American people and the marvel
of the world. Kansas City, the name OF
which is synonym for western grit and
enterprise. outdoes Rome for rugged
location. Rome was built on seven hills,
but Kansas City boasts OF being located
on 20. The stranger who saw Kansas
City in its early days and WHO visits it
now can see an example of what energy
and determination will do when put in
practice. Bluffs have been blasted away,
| hills graded down, valleys filled up,
and the Gate City has not only become
| beautiful, but is now the commercial
center of the great west.
We have in our minds eye fine city
! in one of the western states which was
laid out about Is years ago on the raw
prairie. This village had not one natu-
raj advantage to recommend it. 1t was
many miles from navigation, and not
even a streamlet sufficient to furnish
water fors domestic purposes flowed
! within several miles of it. 1t was re-
mote from timber or coal, and if one had
prophesied in its early days that city
would be built ON that spot he would
have been ridiculed. But what the en-
bryo city lacked in natural resources
was more than balanced by the pluck
and persistence of the citizens who first
took up their residence within its bor-
ders. ''Hustle" has been their watch
word from the day they secured cross
railroad up to the present time.
Four mammoth canning factories send
their pack all over the United States and
foreign countries, and the product of
their overall and shirt factories are worn
from Maine to California, and their
foundries, machine shops and cigar fac
tories furnish employment for hundreds
of men and women, while fourishing
college is annually attended by large
number of young men and women, who
contribute in no small measure to the
volume of the city's trade. The farms
for miles around present the appear
ance of vast market gardens, and their
tillers reap a rich harvest, furnishing
vegetables for the canneries and produce
for consumption by the operatives in the
various industries.
The city continues to grow and bids
! fair to become one of the most impor-
tant manufacturing centers in the west.
All this has been attained solely by the
exercise of energy and enterprise of the
citizens, directed and encouraged by
| Al re
secretary keeps himself informed of the
movements in the commercial and in
dustrial world, and no sooner does a
manufacturing enterprise, state or char
liable institution intimate that it contem-
plates change of location, or there is an
inquiry for a suitable place for the estab-
| lishment of new industry, than COM
mittee of business men from this city at
once besieges the management with data
and evidence to convince them that TO
place on the footstool can offer such in
ducements as the city they represent.
| The promoters of the city we have re-
ferred to have no monopoly on enterprise,
and their methods are not copyrighted.
They have no exclusive privilege to make
desert bloom like rose or build cities
where but few years ago tall weeds
nodded in the wind and the gopher dug
his hole unscared. That which they have
accomplished under disadvantageouss sur
roundings we who have so many natural
advantages that they have not may ais
accomplish. 1t is only a matter of max
| ing the attempt and persevering in it,
Industries that will employ labor will
enhance the value of our property, make
business for our merchants and furnish
q home market for the products of our
farms. All classes of people will profit
by it. Energy and enterprise, backed by
| brains and common sense, will accom-.
/, plish all this, and more.
Good Word For the NeWspaper