The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-01-21
wICHITA's oPPoR TUNITlEs
In the Hzn6s OF the Nen Who Arc Here
Today.

those of Opportunities lost" No hour in
| a mans life is so bitter as that one il
which in advanced age he looks back upon
an opportunity that. through lack o: eour-
| age aud faith, he failed 70 seize upon at q
| time when 1t would have brought him
| riches and honor. There are men in this
city today wasting their time and en-
teebling their energies looking back with
sad regret to the opportunity they once
had to place themselves and :heir familie.
beyond all fear Of want. but which they
failed to embrace at the time presented.
They eau see il all now. They wish they
had sold their lots aud their lands when
the wave of speculation was rolling most
high and dollars were like sands upon the
seashore. Ths experience of the past
should teach men wisdom. Il does some;
others IL does not. Tue lives Of men go In
circles; or. ia other words, history re-
peats itself"
There is tide In the affairs of men
which taken at It's food leads on to
fortune"
The tides of the ocean are periodic; so
are tho tides Ia the affairs OF men,
The man who, having once been high
upon the rising tide and again gone back
with the ebb, should remember that there
Is sure to follow another flood that will
bear him on to. it may be. greater oppor-
tnnities; that his sharpened wits should
enable him to seizs with greater alacrity
There Is n tide in the affairs of cities aud
nations as we'll as of men. Wichita was
once borne upon the loftiest crest of one Of
the largest tides of speculative prosperity
that ever swept over any city. 1t was
purely speculative: but all were prosper
Gus while it lasted. The ebb followed; :;
but the fixed and uuvarying laws Of rota-
tion in human events will surely bring an
other tide which will lead on to prosperity.
The rising waters Rre even now at our
gates. The next tide will not bs caused by
the rantings of wild speculators-but by
the calm aud deliberate determinations Of
wise aud sensible business men. The last
"boom" had a sound foundation, but it
was run into speculative channels instead
OF into business enterprises The next
rising tide of prosperity will coma beca use
the progress Of civilization aud the de-
mands of commerce and trade have forced
foundations to be laid for financial struc-
lures and personal fortunes that no reced-
ing waves can wash away. The grandest
opportunities ever presented to this city
for extending her commercial greatness
and elevating herself among the cities OF
the great southwest are now at our very
door. Men today look back six years and
say What fool was that did not sell
every foot of land 1 had in Wichita" Six
years hence, aud even less than that,
What fool | was that did not invest
my money in Wichita property, or what Il
fool was that did not start some kind
of business or manufactures in Wichita
in 1894"
This is no boom" talk, it is the logic of
events. that are casting their shadows
before" The future of this city is in the
bands of the men who ara here today 1t
is not enough to say, Il have done" and
II have given" Those are words of the
past, and the past holds disagree cable mem
cries that some minds are disposed to
dwell upon. Let the dead past bury its
dead.' and let the living men of the pres
ent with full comprehension of what is
before them. blend their energies to the
work of building this city to the full
measure Of the grand destiny before it.
The disintegrating forces of gloom
and dependency, tue growing voice
OF the croaker, the carpings
Of the censorious critic, have no place in
young aud growing city like Wichita. Let
US no longer look after the setting sun,
that has gone down behind the dark and
gloomy cloud, but tnrn our eyes to che
rising sun, that with its glory aud beauty
heralds the dawn of new day of pros
perity and grand development.