The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-05-05

stampede of wild beasts in a mend2erie
was nothing in comparison 70 the panic
| Of frenzied men whose fortunes were van
I ishing before their eyes. Property that
would have sold for hundreds Of thousands
of dollars twelve hours before could not
| be given away. Men who had loaned mill
| ions upon real estate mortgages realized
within the next few hours that they were
| ruined. and consternat don sat at every
| fireside in the town. hundreds Of thous-
ands Of dollars worth of half-fnished
houses upon which the workmen were
busy that morning were left untouched for
years afterward, and one-third of the res
licences and business blocks were tenant
less for the next six years.
Marsh Murdoch fully realized what he
had done. No man in Wichita felt deeper
or more genuine grief. His own hopes and
| future prosperity suffered from the blow
that ruined his fellow townsmen, but when
they packed what little they had left
and started for their former homes in the
east, he remained, as he had been from the
beginning, the foremost citizen Of Wich-
tia, and has ever since been laboring 10
build up the town.
Murdoch. like everybody else, believes
that Wichita will yet be a great city
the metropolis of the plains. That is the
confident expectation of the entire popula-
ton. and, as I have always said, the local
pride surpasses anything that can be found
elsewhere. That is what keeps UP the
place. That is what the people are here
for, and every man, woman and child is
working for Wichita with a zeal and con-
f5ence that is amusing. They are, how
ever extremely sensitive on this subject,
and there is an impression that all the
rest of mankind are watching Wichita
with Jealous eyes and throwing obstacles
in the way of her progress, when they
ought to be helping her along.
Wichita is jealous of Topeka and Kansas
City and Minneapolis and Chicago, Lon
don and New York. and her people believe
that the capital and the energy that are
now being expended in the development
Of South Africa and the Siberian railway
properly ought to have been invested here
Some malign influence has been exerted
to prevent Wichita from having the trale
which goes to New York. But the people
are so seIf-confident that they are capable
of getting along without it. and they are
so patriotic that they will put up their
last dollar to promote or protect the in
terests of their town.
During the hard times they heard that
a packing house was to be erected at the
rival town of Hutchinson. That would
take trade from Wichita and therefore
could not be tolerated. The people held
public meetings every night for a week
and appointed a committee to run down
the men and bring them to Wichita on
any terms dead or alive. The packers |
were willing to change their location if
they were given a liberal binus. and so the |
committee reported. Every body in Wich- |
tia was "broke," so the people could not |
offer any money, but they had an album !
dance of town lots and subscribed them to
the extent OF severa! millOns-at their |
own valuation. The packers did not care !
for that sort of bonus and declined. That |
did not discourage the Wichitans; they !
never were CUTTERS and they never will |
be, so their committee hunted around Un-
til it found the agent of an English in
vestment company with the nerve to loan /
$15G,000 upon several million dollars worth |
of town ;ots. The packers got the money; |
Hutchinson lost a packing house and /
Wichita found one. The Englishmen have
collected their interest regularly so far, /
and everybody hopes they will be equally |
fortunate in the future
Five trunk lines of railway furnish
transportation facilities for this town. but
they are not half enough. and Wichita
will never be satisfied until this future
great city has more railroads than Chi
cage. Another source of discomfort lies in
FIof 4
against Wichita. and in favor of all the
rest of the universe. From the local point
of view it would be no more than fair If
the railways were 10 give half rate on all
freight to and from this town and free
passes to all its citizens whenever they
want to trave,. Such recognition Of the
present importance and the future fame
Of Wichita would he only Just and proper.
To prevent and punish such discr;mina-
ton the people of the town have been
trying for years to elect one of their cti-
zens governor of Kansas. Marsh Murdoch
tried it once, but all the evil influences
on earth were combined against him. and
he failed by few votes to get the nominal
ton. That is the great sorrow of his life
He has held a good many Offices. He sat
for years in the legislature. serving terms
in both houses. He has been postmaster
under almost every eRpublican admins
tration. and occupies that office now. but
he was never a andidate for anything ex-
cept governor. Al the honors he enjoyed
were thrust upon him, and the one ne
wanted was beyond his reach.
But the people of Wichita finally got
governor in the present incumbent Of that
office ", yH-7e iua,rofrra Cd m
January. But no sooner was Mr.. Stanley
in the executive chair of Kansas than he
went straight back on his fellow towns
men, for In appointing the board of rail-
way commissioners he selected only one
member instead Of the entire FIVE from his
own town. so that It IS still Impossible 10
get an edict requiring the railroads to
haul the freight Of Wichita free.
Wichita is picking up rapidly. The city
has settled down to business basis and
IS more prosperous and rich than it ever
was. There hasn't been an empty house in
town for a year. and 5000 worth Of resi-
dences and store buildings are now under
construction. There is 10 finer town fin
Kansas. nor in the entire west. for that
matter, and both the residence and bust
ness sections Of the city are beginning %
take on polished and permanent air
The commercial transactions last year
were larger than ever before, and the in
crease thus far this season surpasses all
records
The relics az the boom period are seen
on every hand in magnificent residences
erected ;welv OF fifteen years ago. by men
who were then mlllionaires. but sfterward [
in the maelstrom or remained
among she wreckage TO earn living as
each found a way. ore Of them IS driv-