Omaha daily bee., 1909-01-24

ings was an after thought with the men who
settled upon the three homesteads which
formed the original parts of the town. OF
the five first merchants, four still reside in
Hastings and three are actively engaged in
business. Samuel Alexander came to Hast
ings on April %, 1872, and on July IS,
opened the first business house with a gen.
eral stock of merchandise. The first drug
store in the city was opened March "a, 1873,
by A.. Andrus. w. H. Stock opened the first
meat market January l, 1878. The firm
of Abbott, Batty & Dow, began the practice
of law, June 2, 1878. The pioneer news
paper of Hastings was the Journal, estab-
lished by A. l.. Wigton and NJ. X. Lewis.
They issued the first paper on May "a, 1873.
The first paper from the press was sold at
auction for $1O.5O.
In the early months of 1873, town lots
in what is now the business district were
sold for from SIS to $25. Before the close
of 1873, Hastings became a thriving bust
ness point. By reason Of its location at the
junction of two important lines of railroad,
the Burlington and st. Joe & Grand Island,
the town was an active trading point for a
large territory. Hastings first hotel, the
Roaring Gimlet, was noted more for its
peculiar name than for its excellent accom-
mediation. This hotel was built in 1872 and
1878. The April storm of 1873 will always
occupy a notable place in the history of
Adams county. 1t came upon the people late
in the afternoon of Easter Sunday, April 13,
and lasted for three days. 1t is remembered
1r n r1y gnft1ars nc fhn VnnCf Cartnrc CfnrDn
which has ever swept over Nebraska.
Hastings has figured prominently as a
railroad center since the inauguration of
service on the st. Joe & Grand Island in the
latter part of 1872. With only two lines of
railroad, Hastings would now be inferior as
a shipping point to numerous small towns
throughout the state; but in the pioneer
days, the advent of the second line of rail-
road marked the beginning of an epoch of
continued and substantial growth; for the
second road gave that town an advantage
over all other in this section of the country.
The present superintendent of the Lincoln
division Of the Burlington. Mr.. E. Bignell,
ran an engine hauling construction material
over this line in June, 1872, and was unable
to locate the town of Hastings. Until the
postoffce was established in October, 1872,
Hastings was not recognized by the Burling-
ton road. The city was named after the
contractor who built the st. Joe & Grand
Island railroad. Samuel Alexander was one
of the three men who selected the name.
No one can lift the veil and look into
the future, but it is quite plain that Adams
county will become one of the leading coun-
ties of the state in the dairy industry. Ex-
pert dairymen of the state are confident that
COWS producing 5000 pounds of milk and
200 pounds of butter annually are in reach
of every farmer or dairyman who will a k
the pains to bring his cows up TO such a
standard. The average yield for each COW
is less than 1000 pounds OF milk and about
go pounds OF butter. There are 2l 900, 600
cows in the United States and their average
is $500 pounds of milk a year. AS a nation
we consume about twenty pounds of butter
per capita per year. About one-third of the
nations output of butter comes from the
farmers, where about 8 800, 900 farmers and
their families still churn. Over 5000
creameries make the rest of the 1900, 00O,-
900 pounds that we use annually. More and
more each year the farmers of Adams county