The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-09-05

the general manager. said on Saturday /
that il could not be ready before &c
tober 5th or 9Th but certainly would /
be running not later than the 10th. A 4
force Of 400 men a~~ working night I
and day and Su1rr--- 10 have the plant /
in operation by that date.
Perhaps few people realize what a 4
million dollar sugar plant is So far as
dimensions will give an idea, it is six /
stories high zoo feet long-about two |
city blocks-not including 160x75 feet
sheds a mammoth warehouse and !
enormous steel dumps on concrete |
foundations. It is built entirely of
structural steel and brick, 1000 tons
of steel having been used, 100000
brick, $4,000 barrels of cement, and
5000 yards of sand. The machinery
it Will contain weighs 3 900 tons, and
the steam power that will be employed
is 400 horse power, making it the
most perfectly built and equipped
sugar mill in the world.
While this is quite an investment it
represents but half of the investment
of the United States Sugar and Land
company in the two counties of F1nney
and Kearney and but a third of what
that investment will be. There is an
other million invested in lands and
minor improvements and still another
million Will be put in additional land
and Improvements in the way of a big
]
lake-which will be fed by the Ar
kansas river, and IN beet lands, pumps,
wells, bitches, farm Improvements and
dumps. For the beet sugar people are
taking no chances on the individual
farmers, and own enough land, which
they will lease. TO insure ample pro-
duction for their big mill. Already
| the company owns $4,000 acres Of land
! between Garden City and Lakin and
beyond, on both sides of the Arkansas
/ river part of this is a $500 acre
tract to the northward of Deerheld and
/ Lakin, which is natural depression,
\ where the reservoir Will be built.
which will form, when damned, a lake
1 80 feet deep in places and Will hold
4 water sufficient to irrigate Sc, 600 acres
of land.
The beet lands owned by the COM
pany are divided into 80 acre tracts
which are leased to beet farmers. On
each tract is a four room cottage of
wood or cement a windmill and
/ barn. Fifty such tracts are already
4 improved and many of them rented.
the writer was talking with Mr.. Davie
one of the tenants made arrangements
for the lease of two other tracts by
I his brother and another family.
The windmills and pumps furnish
| water supply for the beet fields which
: will later be supplied by the big reser-
voir and ditch. These pumps are sta
/ toned at convenient intervals and
each turns out 1000 gallons a minute.
! They are ample to supply the needs
until the big reservoir is ready.
When in operation the sugar mill
viii employ 400 or 500 men, bringing
probably 800 families to Garden City,
besides the tenants and others engag-
| ed exclusively in growing the beets.
As a result real estate prices have
gone up with a rush and rents are out
| of sight. A little five room cottage.
without modern improvements, rents
for $50 to s25 a month. and new
houses are going up all over town.
The city council also is taking adyan-
tage Of the general prosperity to en-
force the building of sidewalks and
curbs with the result that the town
is taking on a very modern and up-to-
date appearance.
But Garden City has always been
alive to its opportunities. Just now
the people are little stirred up be-
cause recent newspaper article gave
/ the Santa Fe railroad credit for devel-
E-optng their beet sugar industry. They
admit that the Santa Fe has promoted
sugar beet growing all along the Ar
/ kansas valley, but that the road has
/ done anything for Garden City, espe-
/ cially, they emphatically deny They
| argue that the factory came only be-
cause the beets could be grown sue
ceSsfully in that vicinity, that this
could be done only through irrigation
and that Garden City people them
selves were the first to have faith in
and to prove the suficiency of the IN
derflow water supply.
No one familiar with the facts de-
MES this. Government agents were
at first skepticaI and hard to get in
terested. Much credit is given Con-
gresham Victor Murdoch for finally
getting the government really interest
ed. But the citizens of Garden City
themselves had first shown their faith
by their works. and through a private
subscription helped D. G. Holcomb,
who has 1000 acres under irrigation
by means of a private pumping plant
effectually to tablish the sufficiency
of the underf1ow. thus stimulating the
esta bishment Of a great number OF
minor private plants. After the ex-
hibition of such enterprise and energy
the citizens of Garden City do not rel
ish the giving of all credit to a rail-
road company. although they are
quick to acknowledge the helpfulness
Of the Santa Fe's long promotion Of
the beet growing industry in the valley
generally.
And now that Garden Cfty's Ions
battle for irrigation and its fruits ha.
been won. the town is going to cele-
brate. AS soon as the big sugar mil
is in complete operation the town and
the company will join in big jollif
= cation. This will occur late in DC
tober or early in November c. A
Schneider secretary Of the Finne!
County Water Users association. who
with Norris Bros. publishers of tn
Herald. and pioneer champions of tn
+ cause of irrigation in western Kansas
= is responsible for most of the informa
I ton contained in this article. think