People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1896-01-30
Thomas Richardson interviewed.


We are in receipt Of a copy of the
Galveston Daily News Of January %,
containing a lengthy interview with
our fellow citizen, Mr.. Thomas Rich.
ardson. We extract as follows:
"Mr. Thomas Richardson, ST.. is
here with his wife upon a brie: visit
TO his son. Mr.. Richardson is in his
SD year and hale and hearty. One
would judge from his brisk walk that
he would be good for twenty years
more. He has been engaged In the
dry goods business for almost sixty
years in Missouri aud Kansas. Since
'79 he has resided at Wellington, Ks.
He claims that his county, Sumner is
the banner county Of the state, hav-
ing produced in one year 100000
bushels Of wheat, or as he puts it, "a
bushel of wheat for every dollar that
the government appropriated for the
Galveston jetties.'
In conversation with News repre-
sentative yesterday, Mr.. Richardson
said:
1.-THE people in Kansas 'are' exactly
in harmony on the corn rate with
what l see reprinted in the Galveston
papers from the papers Of Kansas. In
our state livestock and agriculture
are almost the sole revenue. In the
manufacturing line what We have
outside Of -four mills and packing
houses, with the sole exception Of the
production Of salt, is trifing. / am
not able to put in palmer language
than it has already been presented
the relative distance between Kansas
points and gulf points, as compared
with Kansas POINTS and Atlantic
points. The distance from Galveston
to Wellington by rail is 65S miles,
while to New York it is l450, or, l
believe, those are the figures.
LAS a dry goods man the thing that
has impressed me most since / came
to Galveston is that you neglect to
manufacture a class Of mecchandise
that is easy to produce and always
has a cash value, and is used in great
quantities all through the northwest
For instance, the town Of Wellington
contains 5000 people and We buy for
our trade canton or cotton Aannels in
full cases to retail at popular prices.
We use a great many southern plaids
and stripes, which are worn by the
farmers for working shirts, and also a
great many denimS and ducks used
for overalls. In cotton bats, used for
making bed comforts, we handle large
quantities. If am correctly inform
ed, the goods named are easy to pro-
duce, and | can assure you that they
would meet with not only large but
ready sale all over the west, for what
is true of my own town applies to
every town in Kansas. At times we
have attempted to buy some goods al
Galveston, and while the merchants
here are willing 10 make satisfactory
prices, the freights are against them,
Today the frst-ClasS freight rate from
Chicago to Wellington is s1.37i, but
there is in use what we call cotton
piece goods rate at s1.1s, which covers
s. per cent of the freight on a Kansas
dry goods stock. The frst-class rate
from St. Louis to Wellington on dry
goods is!s1,22i, but cotton piece goods
are shipped at 98 cents. From Mis-.
souri, river points, especially st. JO-
seph and Kansas City, the rate to
Wellington is 73 cents, while from
Galveston to Wellington the rate is
sl.3O, and there is no cotton piece
goods rate in existence. / believe a
large trade could be worked up be-
tween Galveston and the Kansas
points II the rates were satisfactory.
The merchants would find it to their
interests to buy here if they could dc
so to advantage, because it would
help to supply the want Of return
freights and encourage lower freight
rates on corn, wheat and other ex'
ports.
"For the benefit Of jCbbers at Gal
weston am glad to say that Kansas
merchants, to large extent, discount
their bills. The cash system is almost
universally in vogue in Kansas and
we are well satisfied il at the end Of
the year we can count our cash dis
counts as profit.
"As regards Galveston, l am simply
IN love with the city, and have twice
climbed 10 the top Of the fremont
hUtel to enjoy the beauty Of the
scene presented. Before leaving for
LONE intend to visit the jetties, as
| will be asked hundreds Of questions
10 regard to them.
81 am very much attached to Kap-
sas as l have seen most Of the towns
built up in my part Of the state.
We are by no means discouraged, al
though times have been hard during