The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1895-05-25
WEALTHY OLD LEXINGTON.
What Missouri Town of 1000 Inhab-
iramtS Can DO While Hard Times
Are On-What LcXingi0n's
Citizens Expect Fr0m the
Building Of the
Bridge.

Building Of the
Bridge.
City Editor Frank Mcdonald, of the
Kansas City Times. was here last week,
and wrote under the above headlines
The following of Lexington
The classic old town of Lexington has
made up It's mind tl,at 1t desires Il bridge
over the Missouri river. IT'S up-to-date
| business and professional men, its cap
iIalsis, the farmers, whose homes aIIl
lands are near Ia the county seat OF
Lafayette are filed with deep, earnest
soul stirring conviction that the town
needs a bridge and must have it.
BY WAY of showing their earneStneSS
in the matter. the citizens have sub
scribed Sl25 900 to help in the construc-
| tiOn OF the structure. Two hundred and
| fifty Thousand more is deemed necessary
to complete the citizens share in the
enterprise. Ask Lexington business
man whether the money will all be
| raised, and he answers:
''Of course we II raise it.
incidentally he may intimate to you
| that if it is absolutely necessary. he will
double his subscription, or if he cannot
go that far. he Will at least give goOdly
proportion of his present subscription
additional.
Think of il. A country town of I 200
people, having wealth enough for 40 of
its citizens To guarantee already the
payment Of Sl2j.OO0 for a bridge. This
| also. when the voice of the hard times
croaker is filling the air with his boller-
| factOry-.ike notes and declaring on the
street corners and through the calamity
/ nraoc fhaf tho pnuntry il hugfpI .pN-
ington is not busted. 1t is. on the con-
trary, particularly flush, and 1t has been
in that happy condition all through the
late financial unpleasantness.
| The project for building railroad
and wagon bridge across the Missouri.
which flows along in crescent-like
curve north of the town. began first to
be agitated about two years ago. 1t was
generally discussed in a vague and in
tangible fashion for some time. The
town draws its trade from the fertile
and pOpulous agricultural country lying
south of the river and from the beds of
bituminOus coal which underlie the ter
ritory round about. The Missouri Pacific
railways Lexington branch carried most
of the products of the under and upper
earth TO Kansas City and to Eastern
markets, and the town derived neither
revenue nor support from the equally
fertile farms across the river, so near
and yet, for practical business purposes.
so far away. Although ferry plies 10
and fro across the swiriing and twisting
tides of the muddy stream, and serves
! as a means of communication between
the people of the north and south banks,
still ferry is not n bridge, and at Lex
ington. as in many other Missouri
! towns, the yellow old stream. unbridged,
, acts as stone wall to direct and I'M
trammeled commerce between the farm
! ers and towns of the counties on Oppo-
side sides of its quilted bluffs. The
building of u bridge would throw open
North Missouri to Lexington. 1t would
give Lexington miners Il market for
their coal. 1t would afford to Lexing-
ton stOrekeepers new territory for the
disposal of their wares, and, above all
it might induce other railroads To lay
their rails to the town and throw open a
comparatively great territory to Lexing-
tons trade. The Santa Fe and Wabash
roads are only few miles away. In the
multiplicity of railroads lies the life or
death of q town. I.exingtons citizens
believe if one or two more railroads can
he induced to build TO it that its wealth
and population will be doubled in a
short time, and that veritable boom
will seize the place and eXalt it into the
rank, perhaps, of a full-fledged city.
And why not? Dig where you will.
within a few miles of the town, and you
will find cOal-goOd coal, at that. Drive
out into the country and you will see
some of the finest farming land in the
state, and that means in tie world.
Lafayette county farmers are not con-
tent with smiling-they laugh. A
greater market, and more OF them, must
put more money to the credit of flie
farmer and merchant. And so, consid-
ering these things, the merchants of
Lexington began to wax warm and EN-
ihuSiastlc over the PROJECT.
About twelve months ago the matter
took definite shape. A mass meeting
was held and AN organization was
effected. The entire business and farm.
ing interests were thoroughly aroused
to the situation. The men in charge OF
the practical management of the scheme
were hard workers and practical busines.
men. They first set about finding out
what the bridge would cost. From the
various estimates submitted to then
they accepted, Professionally, the plan:
offered them by Leavenworth, Kan.
firm. These provided for the cOnstrIc
| ton of bridge to cost $3.50, 600. Afte
numerous meetings and considerable
labor the committee determined TO pu
the matter on this basis: A SubScrip
ton of $50. 600 cash was to he raised b,
the citizens. The balance was to b,
raised by floating 500, 900 in bonds.
TO raise the subscription, the com
mittee worked hard, and its success is
credit to its enterprise. 1t is no iigh
task to get $l25 ,0G0 in town of 7,0M
when panic has just spent ITS force OI
the country.
Alta meeting held last week by tn,
committee it was decided to push tn,
work of obtaining subscriptions unit
the last dollar of the needed Sl5O,00
was secured.
!. The temper of the gentlemen i'm charg
of the enterprise is almost i'm itself
guarantee of their success. They ar
determined TO win. They remind one o
the brave men who built Kansas City.
The president of the bridge compan
= is Mr.. j. &. McGrew, coal mine operate
and miller. lie has been identified will
the work from its inception. Ills Goa
shafts and warehouses line The MlSSoui
Pacific tracks for miles to the Yves
along the river bank. and by the railwa
station big -four mill of his is running
night and day. Mr. McGrew said to
Times reporter: 'ltalse this balance q
tne cohluent % %eaiiieSI 'o,io ~ o, oo'i W. II
enc 70 haiieva flat the sneaker wa
talking ightly unon the subject
Secretary j. r.. MOorehead, an up t.