Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1902-03-08

IN ~ p'~' = ''' ~ if
the Territory For Its Si@S--i Rec
ord of 81 ~ Years.
On the Forth side of til" Canadian
river. like II hub in n half Wi.CCl of biz
producing country. is Lexington, Okla.
1t is Il town of about 1,:i"o people now.
There are reasons to believe it will
have $1,000 or 5000 population in a
short time. one reason, says the Kan
saS City Times is because the Chcro-
kee Central and. as some believe, the
Illinois Central, is headed for LcXing
ton on its way southwest from Shaw
nee. to which point the line is Il settled
matter
Six years ago Lexington began to
make Il showing on the map across the
river from Purcell. |. I. In spite of
one mile haul across the river to the
railroad Lexington grew as a trading
point unit, cvcncd up with its neigh
Dor, Purcell. and. in sight of each 9th
er, with only the Canadian river, like
a water ribbon, between, the towns
developed. Six months ago Il fire start
ed in Lexington and in five hours gut
ted the business portion of the town.
Instead of killing it that fire has given
Lexington its biggest boost, and today
it stands with frame stores replaced
with substantial brick blocks and new
ones going up actively and new bust
ness interests coming i'll in a manner
that leaves but one result possible.
That result means Lexington the
trade center of the southwest Canadi-
an border and Il manufacturing point
of some note under present conditions
of the Indian Territory and some big
prospects if the present efforts toward
making Indian Territory and Oklaho-
ma one are successful. There is con-
siderable money in Lexington, and
some big money is becoming interested
in the situation. Twenty thousand
dollars has been raised to secure the
railroad, and Santa Fe spur from
across the river is Il sub rosa PROPOSE
tion under consideration in private
railroad councils as strenuously denied
as it is openly discussed.
Without Il railroad Lexington Is
ucts and getting trade from twenty
five to fifty miles in every direction,
and it is taking more stores and bigger
stocks to handle the business. What it
will do with Il railroad is beyond con-
lecture One hundred and fifty bales
of cotton on a business street in Il fore
noon looks like money to Il man who
knows what business is At present
Lexington has brick plant with Il ca
pacity of 80, 600 bricks per day. Il forty
bale cotton gin and compress, Il big
distillcry and other industries. Fruit
growing int"rcStS-and fruit of every
kind here cNccls-arc interesting can
ming factory men. \ foundry and ma
chine shop, a planning mill, cereal
food manufacturing company and scv-
cral other concerns are becoming inter
cstcd in the situation as presenting
particular attractions.
Lexington is surrounded by as fine
an agricultural country as there is in
Oklahoma. \ deep sandy loan from
three to ten feet deep produces corn,
cotton fruit, vegetables and fine stock
in fields side by side and detics drought
with good water at an underlying
depth of from fifteen to thirty feet.
Everywhere through the country fine
crops are seen. and substantial class
of farm improvements is evidence of
the prosperity of farmers, planters and
fruit growers.
Lexington has good electric light
plant and bonds are preparing for IL
watcrworks system to be owned by
the city. Sewers and paving are also
crOwding on the heels of watcrworks
and will be taken up as conditions
require with the same active spirit
that marks the town in all its growth.
With creditable sense of the impor
tance of educational matters, LeXing-
ton has crowded school interests and
enjoys the reputation of having the
most advanced school advantages in
oklahoma of any town of its size. The
best teachers have been secured. and
the enrolment is now about 600 pupils,
as bright and widCaWake children as
one will find in any state. Every re-
ligouS denomination is here represent
ed. and those who do not yet have
churches are preparing to erect taste
full, modern editiCeS.
The past year over S1JO,OOO has been
put in business and residence building
improvements, among which is Il $15,-
600 hotel building, a much needed i'm
provement, that will be appreciated by
the numerous travelling men who
make Lexington and who say it is one
of the best towns in Oklahoma of its
size in which to sell goods, owing to
the volume of goods sold and the bust
ness integrity of its merchants, many
of whom, in dry goods hardware, fur
niture and clothing, carry $4,000 to
S2J.OGO stocks. All lines of smaller
business are doing well, and there are
many openings for wideawake busi
ness men in this town.
Altogether, few places offer Il better
proposition just now to live, new cner-
gy and capital than Lexington. The
town is growing rapidly, and the sur
rounding country presents attractions
in land prices, quick market and crop
resources unsurpassed by any section
of Oklahoma and cqualcd by few, and
people from many states are finding it
out.
School Ventilation.
In considering the subject of ventila-