The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-08-14
HALF STATES YIELD
Of Wheat Ruined in Fourteen
Southern Counties.
FlFTYMILES FROM WICHITA
Need of Elevators and Public
Enterprises.

For capital seeking profitable as vel
es permanent investment. there IS 10
more favorable opportunity than that now
offered BY Wichita as a grain center and
n uhe way Of al elevator. or several OF
them. Of both great handling as well as
Of great storage capacity. No enterprise
IN ms state, # il any city in the west.
Presents such sure evidence Of sat!Stac-
tory returns. The grain IS here, and has
been By the millions OF bushels every
year The location Is right, being just
exactly half way between Chicago on
the lakes and Galveston and New Orleans
On the gulf. One-half Of the entire wheat
crop Of Kansas is raised, harvested and
thresled within an hour or tHo's run Of
Wichita Thirty, OF the sixty millions OF
bushels OF wheat raised IN the hundred
counties Of Kansas this year was raised
In fifteen counties Of Southwest Kansas
In fact sixteen counties of this section
End all closely and directly connected by
rail- with Wichita, raised as much wheat
as che other eighty-four counties Of the
state. And so Il IS about every year
Five counties Of Southwest Kansas mar
vested One-fOurCh Of the entire wheat
product Of the state. The biggest eleva-
tor in the west could not handle, much
less store the wheat alone raised within
fifty miles Of Wichita to say nothing Of
the corn, oats. etc. The figures for these
assertions were given in an editorial of
this paper on Friday morning Sumner,
the largest wheat producing county in rhe
state, and whose north border reaches
within a dozen miles Of this city, has
railway into Wichita with q half dozen
branches, spreading around over said
county, practically connecting. by rail-
every township IN that county with Wich-
TIA AS for ths other surrounding big
wheat Counties Wichita reaches the
wheat fields Of Cowley with two roads,
those Of Harper with three. those Of
kingTnan with two, those of Reno with
three those OF Harvey with two, those
OF Mcpherson. Marion, Rice and Barton
with two each. together with additional
connections and branches.
The wheat product OF the state n its
entirety can be delivered at Wichita al
one-haIf the haul that the crop can be
delivered az Kansas City, with the ad-
vantage that the wheat, once at Wichita.
Is 200 miles nearer the export port Of
Galveston. One-haIf OF 50 600. 600 bushels
of wheat, raised IN the state Of Kansas.
Tan De delivered at Wichita at less than
One-fourth the railway haul or mileage
TO the Missouri river, or one-fourt+ OF the
crop with oue-tenth Of the haul
Here IS another phase Of the situation,
and probably still more striking. The
fourteen counties of Southwest Kansas,
including this Sedgwick. and no one OF
these counties more distant than fifty
miles from this, raised the present year
q $50 973 bushels Of wheat. or almost half
the entire yield Of the state.
These facts and figures are not va carries,
but susceptible Of the readiest vertical
ton The secretary OF the state board Of
agriculture viii verify the counties and
tae number Of bushels, and a map OF the
state Will disclose the truth as TO the
lines Of railway.
II there is money in inspecting eIevat-
Ing. clearing. weighing. grading and stor-
ing grain. then no point in the west offers
the opportunity afforded By Wichita
That there is money in II tiere is no
doubt. There is even money in talking
Is [ osetect a site. draw up plans for a
nIlion-bushel elevator and then strike
the combination known as the transmits
souri, Traffic Association, and the Kansas
City elevator trust and the money viii
be forthcoming.
At least every elevator enterprise taken
hold of here for several years has been
mysteriousIy wrecked. But some day
some ore viii discover that there IS more
money in building and operating one big
million, or two elevators Of that ca pacity,
in Wichita than the combine can afford to
pay. When that happens the trunk line
railways terminating at Kansas City may
lose considerable c0na e and the elevators
at THAI point may squeaL but Wichita
viii have wheat sufficient 70 force an
equitable freight rate. and the four trunk
lines AZ this point Will be proporLonateiy
benefited. as they VIII not lose half their
haul az the Missouri river.
No point in the famed Dakota or Mn
ueso-A wheat districts can concentrate a
greater number OF bushels Of wheat on
the same dis,ance-haul that can be con-
centrated at Wichita. And there are few
Il any places IN the country where. on
the same discance-hauI. - many bushels
q corn can he concentrated. This should
logically mean not only elevators. but
imIIs. With the same rate per ton Per
mile for o0al - Wichita. accorded by lie
railroads tn Missouri river points. Wic1-
"a would speedily become a milling cen
ter even il the absence Of elevators. as
each mil largely provides for is own
storage.
As Tor anything else The Eagle rodestIy
suggests that the Commercial club would
rln little risk and incur no great expense
II IaviGE these. facts before the sC3ln men