The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-10-15
RAISING ALFALFA.
A New Industry That Is Spring
ing Up i'm Graham Co.
Col, Al. Rice, the Wheat King,
Plants Over 1000 Acres.
HE MAY ERECT A MILL
Unusually Coed Crops i'm That
Section This Year.
Causes Hill City to Boom in
Building and Trade.

Hill City, Oct. 15.-There is always
something doing in Hill City. Her people
have always been lucky. Three of them
have recently drawn claims in Idaho,
where the government is putting in an
irrigation ditch. Arson Thompson drew
SC acres. and r. v. Wilcox and E. J.
Byerts drew 160 acres each
Col. A. J. Rice is no longer satisfied
with the title of Wheat King" of Ora
nam county and northwest Kansas but
asplres to be known as a member of the
royal FAMILY in the production of alfalfa.
| he now has more than one thousand
acres sown to that grass, and his crops
nave been immense. He is agitating the
erectlon or mill for making alfalfa
meal and the indications are that the
| mill Will materialize. a few years ago
re saw that he needed a telephone sys-
! tenn connecting his office with his hum
ored and more farms and without fuss
or nutter he began the building of a
line. Today his lines reach every part
or Graham county and over four hun
| dred miles Of wire are in use by the
patrons of the A. ]. Rice Telephone COM
pany. His friends predict that when ne
| gets good and ready for an alfalfa mill
he will quietly set to work and build t.
A new and important addition to tho
business interests of Hill City is the
Moss Rice machine shop and foundry.
He is a nephew of Gel. Rice and when
the young man came here and demon
strated his ability his uncle built
building, equipped it with up to date
machinery, and installed the young
machiniSt The young man is making
good and much work already comes IN
from Graham and adjoining counties.
The Republican office has moved into
larger quarters, fitted up especially for
printing plant. w. H. Hill and c.. H.
Emmons, editors and publishers, can
now tell their friends they have one of
the best all round print shops there is
in the Sixth district.
The J. H. Legere clothing house is a
new business industry in Hill City.
Five young business men in Hill City
have applied for a charter with a can
ital stock of 100000 to engage in the
furniture trade. Ben S. Smith. Homer
Harrison, A. E. Kerns. Ed MullaneX
and w. H. Hill, representative citizens
and young business men, with financial
means thrown ir for good measure are
the promoters of the new enterprise
Over $1,000 of the stock has been sub
scribed.
Graham is one of the few northwest
ern Kansas counties where fairly good
crops were raised this year. There is
lots of wheat and there will be big
corn yield. This has been the means of
including Hill City people to keep up
with the procession in the establish
ment of new business houses. Witness
the trade Hill City merchants draw for
miles in ell directions. 1t doesn't. leave
any chance for the visitor to remark that
there is an overabundance of business
houses. There is room for those who
are here already, and there will be room
for the new clothing house and furniture
store
The visitor will see in Hill City many
elegant nCmes surrounded with the lux
uries of life. as are seen in the Older
sections Of the east. In other words
they are living comfortably on Easy
street, ard enjoying modern autos. Her
people this summer have literally
patronized a circus and street carnival
thew have purchased enough tickets for
the winter lecture course to fill every
seat in the opera house for the five en-
tertainments of the course, and they
right to The title of short grass has
been duplicated with blue grass lawns.
A few gossippers make life a burden
for themselves while the mass OF her
people enjoy their homes and surround
inEs.
In the quarter of century your cor
respondent mas been doing Graham
Hill city from a struggling few to a
town close to 800 population. People
have come and gone. but many of those |
who staid are now comfortably situated. |
In these 25 years two of her people have
held offices of trIlst and honor, lieuten- |
ant governor and auditor OF state; he |
witnessed the laying Of the corner stene !
of the stone court house which Is now |
surrounded by thrifty growth of fine |
trees; he has printed obituaries of the
death of about dozen newspapers ard |
he has seen the buffalo grass disappear |
and the alfalfa and wheat and corn
take its place. Nowhere will one find |
a more pleasant people than there are |
in Hill City.