The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-04-10
WICHITA MUST
ACT RIGHT NOW
Pan to Organize For Purpose
of Drilling:
PEOPLE TO BE COMPANY
Popular Subscription of One
Dollar Suggested.
To the Editor of the EAGLE:


In last Sundays Eagle the ACCESSIBILITY
of boring for gas in Wichita and paying
for it by popular subscriptions of 500
was discussed There is no question but
what this would be a successful move.
The great trouble with methods of this
kind is, that men will be elected TO the
mana cement who DO more talking than
work, creating discord The salary list
consumes the working capital and usually
only about twenty-five per cent of the
funds subscribed go into actual develop
ment. As a continuation of the Eagles
suggestion. why would ii not be q good
plan for dozen men get together. appoint
a conservative man president, with five
other men to act as directors. OF the
five there should be a man acquainted
with machinery, at least two men who
have had experience in mining and the
remaining two should be good. sharp bust
ness men. The officers and directors
should agree TO work without salary, in
fact everybody connected with it outside
of the firm who is engaged in boring
the hole, should work without salary. The
officers should be named before a dollar
of subscription is asked for This does
away with an election which might posi-
bly, create friction, disputes, and i'll feel
ing. a person subscribing could see at
glance whose hands this money was
going into. Provision should be made for
drilling at least four. wells. one on the
West Side, southwest of the Friends uni
versity, one southeast of town on the
Hill, one northeast and one northwest.
The drilling should be open to competi-
ton advertisement being placed in several
papers. Mr.. Smith. secretary of the cham
Der of commerce could act as secretary
and would no doubt be willing to do
this work without extra salary. 1t would
not pay the subscribers TO buy a plant
and DO their own drilling. A liberal price
should be offered for the first thousand
feet and liberal price for the second
thousand feet and there should be a for
fixture if party took contract and did
not go down the two thousand feet or
whatever the contract called for. Ora
tuitous leases should be asked for. 1t
need not cover a very large piece of
ground for the reason that this is a pop
ular subscription and no one should re-
unless he should happen to be so situated
that it naturally falls to him. For in
stance a person on the West Side could
offer ten or twenty acres. There is no
doubt but what salt could be found on
the West Side. The characteristics are
similar to Hutchinson. The outcropping
is decidedly salty from some cause or
other. 1t the city bored a well and found
salt the whole country would be developed
speedily, yet no individual cares TO put
his own money into the extent of well
for others to gain the benefit of in case
ii is successful and he be the loser en-
tireiy If it is unsuccessful. 1t wouN not
be good plan to give all Of the wells TO
one drller. Two wells could be started at
the same time, one on the West Side and
one southeast of town. Now as to rails
ing the money for this drilling. People
have got to mix little religion with the
movement. 1t will not do for one party
to wait for another party to subscribe.
Individual differences must be set aside,
and a little bit of Japanese patriotism
injected into the movement. In other
words the subscriptions could be started
at one dollar each When a person pays
one dollar he gets white button. Any
one who was not wearing a white button
would be legitimate person 10 solicit
There is no doubt but what the white
buttons would be very thick. Subscription
lists could be open at all stores where
the owners were willing to devote a lit
tie time to it. 1t would not necessarily
mean that a person would have 10 do it,
1t is a movement that no one should be
forced into. It is a long time since the
energy and enthusiasm of Wichita people
has been aroused on a popular move
ment of this kind and there Is TO question
but what ten thousand dollars could be
raised in short time. OF course. a man
need not be limited to one dollar; if he
wanted To give five. fifty or one hundred
dollars he could do so, but the idea
would be that when the subscriptions first
started one dollar would be sufficient,
and the heavier subscribers could come
in 1T the end To those Of YOU who are
absolutely positive that there is no gas
or oil around Wichita l viii say that
You are probably not 50 confident as TO
salt. You all know that salt made Hutch
inson. The tonnage of Wichita in the
month Of March was twenty-nine hundred
cars. and the tonnage OF Hutchinson was
twenty-three hundred cars. Wichita IS
three times as large as Hutchinson.
Eighty per cent Of Hutchinson's tonnage
was salt and the growth % Hutchinson
as compared With Wichita viii pat
Hutchinson's tonnage ahead Of Wichita
unless we get something that will increase
W;chita's output; therefore, II We ssin
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