The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-10-18


Al Thomas moved his grocery from the
Occidental. now Baltimore. 70 the build
ing on the corner of Market and Doug
las. Allen and Tucker moved their place
from Main street to the present location
of the National Bank of Commerce.
Hess and Getto moved from the corner Of
Main to Greenfeids. Deter ard Kaiser
moved their barber ssop. Joe Allen
moved from First and Main to ROY Al
lens present location. George Mathews
! moved to the room now used by the Tor
nado store. Charles Hill moved to the
brick store now occupied by Stanford s
drug store. Sam Houck moved from
North Main to the present Houck hard
ware store. Tow Jewel moved to Tom
Johnsons barber shop. Sluss. Hattoa,
| Stanley. Wall. Baiderson. Adams. Eng
lish. all attorneys. moved to Douglas
avenue. Allen, Fabrioue, Furiey and
| NcAdams all doctors. moved TO Douglas
avenue During these years the First
| National Bank failed and as a conse-
| quence thereof, the officers were indicted
by the United States grand jury. They
were technically guilty of violation of
the national banking act and were found
guilty, but were thereafter pardoned
They returned to Wichita. but their in
| ffuenee. as men. was over. No one par
| tieulariy blamed them for the failure of
the bank. The paper they had taken in.
| became worthless by reason OF the panic
of 1917. caused by j. Cook and Henry
! Wizards failure. But when all these
things came to rass. the back bone of
A,fr, IL -
being the business street Of Wichita was
over and it is now considered on all sides
that the dream Of Main street as the busi-
ness street of Wichita was over fore~e-.
In this connection IL might be remarked
that the first law Office On Douglas ave-
nue. was Harris e. Harris. over the street
car office az 1873 West Douglas avenue.
unless Bully Parsons is counted. who had
no books and stayed in the card-room OF
Lew Dittmans saloon in the old building.
that has been replaced by the Royal on
West Douglas avenue. Bully played
''rounce'' and the devil among the tail
ors with Greiffenstein. Colonel Mcclure.
Jim Steele and James McCulloch and OH
ers. IL business was dull and sometimes
when business was not dull.
This may seem a DEPRESSION from Wich-
itas history to purely Douglas avenue
write-up. but these days were so imbed-
ded in my mind, being a young and i'm
pressions bic boy. that the Clan Douglas
avenue won me over and | was loyal to
Douglas avenue unto this day. The ends
aimed at in these days were success and
the glorifcation of Douglas avenue;
hence my views of Wichita. are full of
Douglas avenue prejudice and bias.
Greifenstein loved his rends and
though he WAS not demonstrative man.
unless a man was a good hater, he was
not worthy of confidence. Tested by this
rule. Greiffenstein was worthy of abso-
lutte confidence. If he believed man had
purposely given him an insult or done
him an injury. Greinenstein was a So
cialist in Germany. He left college as
refugee in 1s4S. some time about the time
that Charles SchurZ and Joseph Pulitzer
CNew York World NAM left the old coun-
try. Greinenstein believed in liberty IN
der law and also some liberty in defiance
OF law. His views of the prohibtoTy
liquor law were so pronounced AMI are
so we'll known that no comment is neces-
saTy. He came here on the prairie. es-
tabiished a trading post lived In the
open, helped TO found the town and the
idea that a lot OF puritanical pharisees
should move in and control the town.
founded by him and prohibit the use e
beer, was as abhorrent TO his feelings as
a law. today would he. prohibiting the
use of coffee and tobacco. Greifensten
was not q snob. nor an aristocrat- He
was plain. simple and honest in all his
dealings. | have no recollection OF his
ever wearing a collar OF having his vest
buftored up. I do not say he Eev@r did.
but / say that in daily associa ton viii
him for years. | never observed that
fact He was not as old a man as he
looked. with his gray hair AMI whiskers.
He said TO me one day call me BIZ.
do not like TO be called Mister. GreiNen-
stein was Bill to his friends. always Will
lam TO his wife and he was Old BIZ.
Sore Eyed BILL Dutch Eli and the
Douglas Avenue Dutchman' to the
north end. He always rubbed and blink
ed his snow blinded eyes. having been
struck snow blind in 1861 or 1858. wander
ing over the prairies. when he lest MS
bearings. He smoked cigars. but ne loved
his pipe and with that pipe in MS hand. I
held by it's long stem. he smoked and
the curling smoke assembled to the clouds
and after r time he gave an opinion.
He was an oracle to his followers He I
was Bismarck In the Douglas avenue !
fight Jim Steele was Van Moltke. y 4
A English was the crown prince and
everything from the north lire Of Doug
las avenue 20 the Big River on the south 4
were trained armies to do his bidding I
He was an iron gray town building wiz /
ard IT may be that destiny located {
wichita. and Colonel Murdoch has often i
said. but II was Greirenstein ;ha; made I
Douglas avenue There are those that !
belittie his life and deeds. but the fsoe
that be built Eagle block on the /
bare prairie and afterwards built Doug
las avenue hotel and that except English
and Steele. ali the population Of wschits
was north OF Dougias Avenue. Tbs north
end bouzf. his lots and moved on the
avenue after most Determined effnrt
10 locate the depot somewhere north or
Douglas avenue on Santa Re avenue.
Some near or distant day. GTeifeHztein
viii have rr.onurnen; IN wichiis an8 81
ny tudg-nena. Of The pioneers q witch
tia He viii be the only one. because Re
Is tbs only man who has impressed bis
Individuality upon the minds 81 wichita:
others may have ssr5e eiairrs. ossf sFey
must continually prove them Douglas
avenue r. Wichita ard Ds1siss avenue Il
6rs.se1s.esn On hsth sides from Lsw-
renee avenue 20 the bridge. exceTt Nc
Leans lumber yard and the Hissga-i
pzcf.c depot
GresSsnste,n vas not a. sn@dBcztsd
rar .s charses ~ r. Re ~. - :