Omaha daily bee., 1906-12-26
sidney.

sidney.
The capitalist. the wholesale merchant,
the retailer. the grain buyer, the miller,
the laundryman. the irrigationist, the dry
land farmer. the mechanic, the common
laborer and the man who wants to heal
and build up broken-down physical body
will find the materials suited for his pur-
pose in western Nebraska, Of which Sidney
is the center and great distributing point.
Sidney is one of the best known and
widely advertised towns I'm the state. In
the EOS it was the principal Quitting point
for the Black Hills and the depot for sup
plies for the Indian agencies at Red Cloud,
Pine Ridge, Spotted Tail, Fort Robinson
and Fort Meade. Forwarding houses made
fortunes and government contractors for
Indian supplies performed stunts that
make the steals Of the present days seem
llliputian by comparison. Everybody
spent his money as thong It were dead
leaves and he had whole forest of them.
When the boom subsidized the majority
were broke. A few saved their money,
stuck to the town and now live on easy
street.
In the sos we had the land BOOM"
Homesteaders, pre-emptors and timber cul-
turists took up about every quarter section
of land in Cheyenne county. They were
as a whole rowing class with little means,
but all expected TO get rich quick. For
time nature smiled and It seemed that
their fondest hopes were TO be realized.
Nature, however, has never yielded it's
long-established habits TO man without
violent struggle. In the early sos # de-
cided to try the mettle OF these men who
Al.
II cut down the annual rainfall to twelve
or thirteen inches, and none OF these
hOmesteaders had ever heard OF the con-
servation OF moisture. or dreamed that
there existed a law OF capillary attraction
that sucked their soil dry II they failed to
keep harrows and cultlvators going during
dry spells. Instead OF doing this, they
stood idly by and waited for rain. So
capillary attraction had things all its way
with the result that croDs were ruined.
AS the crop was all these homesteaders
had, starvation stared them IN the face,
and the cattlemen, whose business they
had ruined jeered al them, saying:
Didn't we tell you sou SO most Of them
beat a hasty and precipltate retreat Those
who stuck It out are now rich in lands,
hacks and herds Modern homes have
taken the place OF the sod shanty and
immense stone barns shelter their stock
instead Of the erstwhile wire fence. The
country Is way ahead OF the town.
We look for much building 20 be done
in Sidney the coming spring and summer,
II contractors and wOrikmen can be Sc
cured A large amount Of work would have
been done last year. but We lacked the
labor. The crops Of 1906 and 1906 were
simply immense" over 5000 bushels OF
grain was threshed within a radius OF
fifteen miles Of Sidney IN 1905. II is esti-
mated that we have in this same territory
fully twice as much the present year, and
II present plans and prospects mature
we will have 1.5OoO 900 bushels in 1901 We
do not think there Is a territory In the
United States producing as much grain
as We do. and yet being without a Touring
mill We do hope some good milling firm
with capital TO buy grain will come in and
gi-e US an up-to-date mill An elevator.
too Is much needed. We are getting tired
Of shOvelng. Another enterprise we are
needing very much IL steam laundry. A
year ago one Of our leading stone men
secured an analysis Of our stone from the
analytical chemist OF the Union Pacific rail-
way and the result showed that a Port
! land cement factory here would be a paying
/ business.
This Is an ideal location for jobbinS