The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-04-27
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POSITIVE PROOFS OF A FAST cRowT4.

POSITIVE PROOFS OF A FAST GROWTH.
Outside of the wen recognized business that
reaches along Douglas Avenue and Main and Mar
ket streets there are no less than three distinct
sections Of Wichita which in assuming a citylike
seeming are taking metropolitan air. or a dis
tinctive up-todate commercial atmosphere of their
own The new jobbing district on Water and wich-
tia Streets now boasting several as fine new bust
ness edifces as are shown by any average city. be
ing modern structures in every particular is the
first Of the sections alluded to. The next one is
on the river front south Of the Union mills where
several massive structures, such as are seen in
no country town are being erected. Both Of these
sections are reached and served by the Missouri
Pacific direct Wichitas third section wearing
an unmistakable garb Of commercial makeup is the
section around the Midland RockIsland and Santa
Fe stations Familiarity called the jobbing district,
from the fact that practically every one Of the larger
and more massive of the buildings erected in this
district, within the past two years, is occupied by
some wholesale interest In this last section sew
eral permanent and established buildings are now
in course Of construction. This last section boasts
also number Of mills. foundries and factories
Little Of the life and activity little of the magn
tude of the business transacted in these three dis
tricts. described are comprehendod by the average
daily shopper or by the casual visitor 70 the city.
Still they constitute the proof positive that Wich-
tia is no longer country town but coming com
mercial financial and manufacturing center such
as are envroned by superior facilities or are backed
by exceptional natural advantages and superior pro-
ductive areas
It must not be understood that the sections
named are the only ones in which active building
operations are going forward. Nowhere within the
corporate limits can the listener get beyond the
sound Of hammer, saw and trowel More money
has been expended the last winter in walls Of stone
brick and mortar in the Wichita packing district
alone than in any half dozen cities of Kansas. In
addition to the hundred new residences built during
the winter, the hundred additional cottages and
more pretentious homes now in course of construc-
ton and still another hundred Of sites being pre-
pared and foundations put in at the present writing
two new church edihces, in cost aggregating up
wards OF a hundred thousand dollars, will be erected
within the year one Of which is now receiving its
foundation Of stone and cement. The Diocesan
Cathedral, of which mention has been made in the
Eagle, but of which have authoritative verif
cation is not included in the above In short never
in the history Of the city, few boom" months
excepted, have the building operations Of Wichita
reached such magnitude. In the absence of some
unforeseen disaster or seemingly impossible reac-
ton the present year of 1902 will prove this citys
red letter year in substantial growth.
The fear sometimes heard expressed that the
Peerless Princess may be experiencing an unwar-
ranted growth is but the tmid expression Of a burnt
child. Ere Wichita fail. all her surroundings
must first fail and her advantageous location and
her transportation facilities come to naught One
of the richest agricultural regions on the Ameri-
can continent by which she is surrounded must
cease to produce and become desert and all the
hundreds of fourishing communities Of said wide
domain reaching from the Kaw divide on the north
TO Texas on the south and from the Flint Hills on
the east to the Red River region on the west must
become bankrupt. and fall into decay. ere Wichita
can cease to grow in greatness as principal COM
nercial and financial center.