The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-07-15
ANOTHER STORY OUT
Explaining Why the Burton
Car Works
WILL OPEN IN WICHITA
Recent Action of Chicago City
Council Responsible,

A new rumor which has very plausi-
Bile foundation has sprung up with regard
TO the speedy opening for business OF the
Burton car works by the company that
owns them. A prominent Wichita attor-
ney who spent q few days in Kansas
City recently, informed a reporter for the
Eagle Of a conversation he overheard be-
tween two leading members Of the Kan
sas City board Of trade, concerning an
action which the city council Of Chicago
had taken which would drive part of the
business of the Burton car works from
that city. For obvious reasons, which
the attorney explained, he did not want
his name mentioned In connection with
the publication OF the rumor.
ct tell YOU" he said, lit would not sur
prise me to see the Burton car shops
IN Wichita turning out work inside of
three months. The conversation which
overheard in Kansas City has Interested
me considerably, though 1 have never
said anything about IT until now. The
gentlemen talking about the matter were
very prominent board Of trade men and
were measuring the possibilities of the
cities in the southwest You see, the
city Of Chicago has recently passed an
ordinance compelling the Burton Car
Works people to raise all Of the tracks
leading to their shops to a certain grade
inside the city limits. This means nearly
sixty miles OF tracks which will have to
be raised and graded, and 1t is estimated
that It will necessltate an outlay of $780,,
900 to comply with the councils demand,
as grading is very costly in Chicago.
Now, as these gentlemen said, the COM
pany will never expend that much money
in Chicago, especially In such useless
manner. They will use their outside fla
cilities and abandon the greater part Of
their tracks in Chicago. Kansas City
would like to have the Burton Car COM
pany go there, but II is no use; the COM
pany has its own shops in Wichita and
other western towns, and they will be
very apt to put them to immediate use.
Every facility is here. with the exception
OF employees. They could send them here
from Chicago and begin turning out work
in a week. The great increase of business
in the south and west will finally bring
the Burton people to the west any way.
There is more railroad building in this
section now than anywhere else in the
United States, and the car works people
will want to be close to their field. The
shops in Wichita will be used to supply
the territory OF Texas, Oklahoma, Ar
kansas, Missouri Kansas and the entire
southwest, while now all this work goes
TO Chicago or St Louis and has to be
shipped back here, necessitating great
deal of extra cost and waste of time.
81 have understood, further, since re-
turning from Kansas City, that there
have been some improvements going on
about the car works right lately, and
they are said to be in excellent condition.
Some new spurs Of track have been laid,
1 understand. and the furnaces are fired
up occasionally
The gentleman said he thought that in
case the report were true. the car works
people would probably transfer a third
of their employees to this point and run
only such a force as would be necessary
TO furnish the territory rightly belong
ing to these shops.
Notwithstanding the many rumors that
have been circulated about the car works
since the time when their Improvement
began last fall. this one seems TO be the
most encouraging. The fact that the
company could better abandon part Of
its tracks in Chicago and send some of
fits work here than to pay the immense
sum necessary TO grade its tracks in Chi
cago seems very plausible. The action
of the city council of Chicago was prob
ably necessary. The city is growing very
rapidly and the large manufactures can
not get beyond its reach. New streets
are shaped up every spring and walks.
tracks, buildings and everything else that
needs lettering in any manner are
promptly ordered, no matter on whom
the burden falls. Metropolitan airs must
be maintained at any cost. The city has
grown out to and beyond the Burton car
works and its tracks, making 1t neces-
sary to order them graded up to the reg
ulation height. If the necessities Of Chi
cago force good things TO Wichita, let
the good work 60 on.