Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-31

possibilities Of growth OF the trade OF q
town derivable solely from retail farm
trade. however asslduously and skilfully
attended to. The growth and trade pos
slble from manufacturing plants In the
little city has no limit. and is to be closely
looked to by towns the size of Stanton.
A certain per cent Of the retail trade
that belongs to stanton is being drawn to
the large cities. There is % question about
that. But there is nothing the matter with
the general system OF trade; the trouble
comes from an unequal distribution Of
business energy. Business is being drawn
to the great commercial c%enters, not be-
cause Of any special advantage possessed
by the catalogue houses and other con-
Germs that are cutting into the local trade,
but because the local dealers have failed
to utilize their natural advantages. The
first object Of all good merchants is to
get the possible customer to look at the
goods. The first object Of every local
trade center should be to get the people
into town.
Here is the knot, the untying Of which
will unravel the complicated skein OF local
trade. II the retail merchant expects to
get and hold the trade of the surround
ing country he must see to It that the
roads to town are made easy and pleasant
10 travel II tut any reason Aney are Cd"
struoted for a season, business stops.
Transportation is the life OF trade every
where. Interfere with 1t, even for a short
time, and you kill your trade. The neces-
sity for some immediate action to hold tho
retail trade of the country town has
brought the good road problem to the very
front. 1t supersedes all others and in the
solution Of It the business men Of the
country town must take the initiative.
When you think of building country
roads 1t is quite natural to assume that
the people who live in the country and
who are directly benefited should bear the
expense. 1t must not be forgotten, how
ever, that the cities and country town are
the centers of trade, the local points of all
public roads, and that they must bear the
greater share of the expense of building
and maintaining them.
Stanton county was named after Edwin
M. Stanton In 1867. Before that time it
had been known as lizard county. 1t is one
Of the smallest counties in the state, con-
tanning only twelve precincts, which gives
It 1872 square miles, or 25S, 300 acres. Stanton
county is located in the center of an agri-
cultural section of northern Nebraska, and
possesses a soil Of great fertility. Near the
center of the county the Elkhorn river
NlOs5te rum west 10 east, led Dy many
small streams from the north and south.
The effect of these channels through the
county shows itself in the great diversity
Of soil and product. Everywhere may be
seen all the graduations from the low
bottom lands, with their luxuriant growth
of grass, to the rolling prairie uplands,
which yield abundsntly Of all kinds OF
grain. About 30 per cent Of the surface
of the county Is valley land. Of The remain
der, 8 per cent is bottom, 10 per cent table
land, sS5 per cent rolling prairie, and Is
per cent sand flats and ridges. Along the
south side of the Blkhorn the faint be-
ginning of the great western sand region
may be traced in the belt varying from one
to three miles in width, which extends
nearly across the county.
The first settlers within the boundaries
Of Stanton county were Jacob Huffman
and Francis Scott. The first men to enter
the county and locate farms were Charles
and Mitchell Sharp. They came in the
summer Of 1865. staked their claims on the
Humbug creek, and returned to Omaha.
On their way back they met Scott and
Huffman, driving OK teams and bringing
their goods and families. They also To-
Gated on the Humbug and built their cabin,
the first buildings of any kind in the
0A6 NAN AZ ~ AACl oD-
tained work cutting ties on the Platte for
the Union Pacific railroad, while the two
women, sole occupants Of the vast wilder
ness. remained and looked after their prop
erty. In the spring Of 1866 w. D. whalen
and Andrew Bortoff arrived In the county.
In the fall OF the year a body Of Germans
settled five miles north of the Humbug.
Among them were August Draube, Fred
/ Koch, Adam Nye and Charles Schwartz.
/ During the years 1868 and 1863, settlement
increased rapidly. Prominent among those
/ who arrived were Fred Schneider. John
; WINNER, Jack Deborde and A. N. Gill.
The first store opened in the county was
; by George Graves, in the Humbug settle
, ment, In the spring OF 1869. At that time
the demands of the community were not
excessive. and the stock-in-trade was not
large.