The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-04-16
FUTURE is BRIGHT
BUSINESS OUTLOOK Is VERY SAT-
IsFACTORY TO MERCHANTS,

Lubricating Oil is Finding Demand Here
tofore UnparaleIIed-This Means an
Anticipated Crop of Wheat, and Other
Cereals, Unequzied-Wichita is Now
the Largest District for Consuming
That Article of Merchandise in the
Entire west-kansas City Is No Com
petitor at Ali.
Wichita now leads the entire west
| for the sale of lubricating oil. There
is no other district in the Standard Oil
commercial territory west of the Miss
issippi river that equals it.
This statement may sound a little
exaggerated but it is not and can be
verified by Mr.. 4. NJ banks, manager
| Of the Standard Oil company Of this
city.
Wichita is the headquarters OF the
/ Standard Oil commercial territory en-
bracing the counties of central Kansas.
/ Kansas City is the headquarters for
I the territory embraced in the counties
| of eastern Kansas and the books of the
company show that it does not have
near as large a trade in lubricating oils
as Wichita. Neither does any head
/ quarters city in any territory from Illi-
nois to the Pacific coast.
The sale of lubricating oils is the very
| best indication of the condition OF the
grain crops. This may seem add to
one who does not understand the rela-
tionship between oil and cereals. Luz
bricating oil is for machinery and ma
chinery is for cutting, harvesting and
/ threshing grain. The more grain there
| is to be cut the more machinery will be
used and hence the more lubrica ting oil
When the crop prospects are poor the
sale of oil is slow; when the crop pros
poets are good the sale Of oil IS large
and when the prospects are exceptional
ly bright the sale of oil is immense.
The sale of oil is immense now.
Mr. banks went 10 Salina a few days
ago and in that comparatively small
city he sold thirty-five barrels of lu-
bricating oil. Heretofore ten barrels
would be considered a good sale. The
merchants told him that the crop pros
poets justified their purchases. He
has now placed an order with the COM
pany for twenty car loads or more than
an entire train Of this species Of oil.
This is a bigger order than has ever
before been placed at this time OF year.
ANOTHER NEW BUSINESS.
AS another evidence of the growing
prosperity Of Wichita the fact of the
branching out of the C. E. Potts Drug
company may be cited. Heretofore
this company occupied only three floors
of the north two rooms of the Whitlock
block. Now they occupy the four
rooms or 100 by 14O feet of ground floor
and three stories. This is now, by far,
the largest drug house in Kansas, it
has a wider territory, 1t sells more
goods and has a larger income per an
mum.
The addition made by the company
is a department for druggists and sta
TONERS sundries. To these the two
south rooms are devoted which rooms
also include an Office that is as pretty
as anything that can be seen in the
larger cities. In this Office Mr.. Potts
has placed two mirrors facing one an
other and man can look into either
and see himself in line for about forty
miles or more.
In the new department Mr.. Potts car
ries a complete stock of all the sun
dries to be found in first class drug
and stationery stores from a steel pen
to a wooden leg. While this, of course,