Arizona republican., 1899-05-16
RUINED BY AN EDITORIAL
Great Boom Town Which Received d
 Black Eye from Journalism.

Twelve years ago Wichita was the greatest boom town in the west The i collapse Of the boom in Wichita was i caused directly by an editorial written | by Marsh Murdock and published ii
 his newspaper, the Eagle. That edi-
 torial probably caused more commo-
 tion in this little western world than any other article that was ever pub- lished, because it knocked all the wind
 out of Wichita, and the rapid panic that followed became contagious and | spread to every Kansas town. It is z.
 qusstfcm whether Mir Murdock real ized the possible results of his admon- iltion. He was a pioneer in Kansas a state builder. He started the first
 paper west or south of Topeka in 1863.
 and he came to Wichita befora the
 railroad. He loved the town more
 than any other man in it. His ambi-
 tion, his pride, his hopes were all in- Volved in it's interests, and he did mere than any other man to create the fic-
 ton of metropolis which he himself exposed, and to inspire the delusions that he destroyed. Nobody doubted his sincerity. Nobody ever questioned the honesty of his motive, but It is doubtful if wider CT deeper or mere vigorous imprecations were ever heaped upon any other man. Thou sands of speculatoIs who thought they were millicnaires wsre bankrupt the next morning. Every line of that edi- torial cost S1,000,000 10 the town of Wichita, and without doubt it was the most costly article that ever appeared in type
 But the boom would have broken soonSr CT later. The balloon had be. come so distended that it must have burst within few months, and it was that knowledge which prompted Mr. Murdock to Gall 9, Halt" Under that title, in I few impressive words, he warned the people of Wichita that thsy had reached the limit of human folly. and in IGhe name of honest citizenship and ordinary business sense he de manded that insane speculation in town lots should cease, and that the energies of the people should be en- rloyed in the fulfl,ment of the prcn- jses and tha development of the re- sources upon which 'Jhe boom had been based. He called the attention of the public to what was already painfully to every Cne-that it would require half a c5ntury of patient toi1 to carry out the plans that had been made for the improvement of Wichita. and that there was net enough money in the state of Kansas to settle the cib igatiOns that had been assumed in that town He urged his fellow citi- zenS to abandon speculation and settle | down to business
 The Wichita Eagle had a big circu- | latiOn in those days, and it has always | bean one of the most in fluential papers | in the state. Murdcek was recognized | as a man of great power with the pen | and strength of purpose that never faltered. Hence when the real estate | speculators and the boomers read that | editorial they realized that it was the | honest exhortation of a man who could | net be bullied CT deceived. They knew hat Marsh MurdCck was actuated by | motives, and that the which threatened their in erests would be followed by others of he same sort So everybody hurried Town town luc sell his property for the Jest price he could get, and found that else was there ahead of him or the same purpose.
 What a day that was in Wichitai tampede of wild beasts in a menagerie vas nothing in comparison to the )anic of frenZieG men whose fortunes were vanishing before their eyes. Property that would have sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars welve hours previous could not be ,iven away. Men who had loaned millions upcn real estate mortgages ealized within the next few hours that hey were ruined, and consternation at at every fireside in the town. Hun 1 reds of thousands of dollars worth Of ,alf finished houses upon which the ; ycrkmen were busy that morning were eft untouched for years after, and one hird of the residences and business locks were tenantless for the next six l ears.-Wichita Correspondence Chi ago Record.
 @-.O:-
 MIR. CARNEGIE'S REASONS.