The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-11-18

Of these class OF Offices would receive as
emolumeut 90 per cent Of all stamp sales
Judge McCandless carefully posted up on
the letter Of the law and forthwith pro-
ceeded TO bankrupt me whole depart
ment and ne naively declares ne would
have succeeded IN little while more.
He bought u stamps and then went ar
il To peddle them out as merchandise
and made them legal tender He gave
ont stamps in change. paid bills in
stamps and negotiated all sorts OF deals
in stamps. and was gettins rich when
Inspector Crowsn swooped down on him.
but as the intrepid jUdge had complied
with the letter OF the law and done no
misdemeanor. he was left 70 pursue his
stamp brokerage business with the real
western zeal. until the department made
a new ruling that he and an II that c'ass
Of postmasters would thereafter receive
50 per cent OF all stamps actually caH-
celled at his Office Then the judge
brought over whole contract sheets OF
stamps 10 this side Of the river and dis
posed Of them and resigned the arduocs
duties and the Office was abandoned. All
this time, and for years before while
the village was sull known as Elgin the
old cattle tran. known as me Chisholm
tran. ran through the two towns, The
trail was named after old Captain
Chisholm, who camped on he trait on
the banks OF the creek which now bears
his name. As New York city was Is
iginally laid of to follow IN its main
street an old COW path. 50 the two towns
Of Delano ard Wichita followed 30 taeIr
~f+r ~.
trail. The trail entered the west village
from the southwest and made straight
for the river along line afterwards fol-
lowed By Chicago avenue Then because
OF the ueaeherous quick sands and also
the low places IN the banks. long since
filed in. the trah crossed the river a iit-
tie south Of where the bridge now u.s.
BY natural selection this trail sought in
the bed of the river spots and lines
least troubled by the shifting sands and
in time this path become naturally.
packed and solid. Then IL bent 8 little 10
the north and east striking the opposite
shore and banks exactly where the east
approaches Of the bridge now are. Then
&c took q course across the city which
may be marked by Douglas avenue nov.
which street was made 20 follow IT just
as Chicago avenue had done across the
raging stream. At Chisholm creek IL
turned eastward and went over the hills
toward Abilene.
During those halcyou DAYS OF COW
punchers, dance halls and Indians there
was ferry which connected the two
villages and Il crossed a little north OF
the present bridge and landed us pas
On frf. .t-
patrons had to wade the rest OF the way
or get to land the best they could as the
transportation company only cone
traeted at so much per TO get their pa
irons over the deep water. Some time in
the early part OF the 1850 decade. sol
Kohn formed and was made president ~
the West Wichita Town company. and
after a big fight all around. By act Of
legislature the burgh wac taken INTO the
city OF Wichita and known as the Fifth
ward
In 1871 the first wooden bridge wac
built by Gilbert Bros. at a cost OF Ss1.-
600 and afterwards sold to the county
While It was a private toll bridge they
charged 8 cents each way for foot pas
sengers and from two to six bits for
teams each way no one Believed piles
could ever be sunk deep enough TO make
a bridge possible in that flowing bed OF
quick sand. but the first bridee was
built on piles which were sent down irto'
the bed sixty feet and pillared on cold
rock. Several years later the second
bridge was QUILT CA the site OF the FIRST
and that is the one now IN use
So the explanation Of the bend in the
historic old street is that the city fathers
Of both towns long before any one
dreamed Of the two ever being consoH-
dated made their respective main streets
to conform to the Chisholm cattle TRAN
Then, too. It is readily seen that this
arrangement made The
west side town better adapted o. NJ it-|
self to the lay ~ the land as north ~
the street lies the low lands and lotions
Of the river and the best part naturally
became the mart living a-frfh % ff. ~t-o~.t .