Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1911-01-19
How the Interburban
Railway Benefits
a Community
Continued from last week.


to catalogue houses for his sup
plies, goes to town and trades,
The merchant instead of buying
a big stock of goods to save
freight and keeping a large pei
cent of it on his shelves till il
gets stale and out of date, thus
tying up his capital and dimin.
ishing his profits, carries a small,
fresh attractive line of stuff that
appeals favorably to his custom
ers and renews it frequently. He
can do this because he can tele-
phone his supply house in the
morning and have his order de-
livered at his door by the inter
urban road in the afternoon. In
stead of using his capital over
two or three times a year as he
was formerly compelled to do,
he may use it over two or three
times a month. Instead of his
credit accounts running along for
year or so, he sells for cash,
when his goods go out his money
comes in, for the farmer, who is
his best customer, brings milk,
eggs, butter, chickens, garden
stuff, berries and fruits, in on
the Interurban and sells to his
town friends for cash, so he is
always supplied with money for
his current necessities.
Gillespie is not the only town
that has been awakened from a
Rip Van Wrinkle sleep by the
noise of the interurban railway,
and it don't make much noise
either. Some time ago a gentle
man interested in interurban
railways sent the following ques-
tion to the mayors of some two
hundred towns situated about
twenty miles, more or less, from
large trade and commercial CEN
tiers. Each of these small towns
was connected with the larger
ones by an interurban railway
running ten to twenty trains a
day where the local steam roads
had been running two or three
trains before, and the interurban
roads charged less than one half
the fare that the people paid the
steam roads. The question was:
DO you know of any increase or
decrease of trade over that of
former years prior to the opera
ton of the interurban roads. "
More than one hundred answers
were received, some of them are
quoted, they are all in the same
general tone:
Bowling Green, Ohio; pop.
8, 900; q miles from city of $780,
900 pop.-Trade has increased to
all merchants since the incoming
of electric roads. We have two
railroads-north and south, east
and west. Don't kick about cleo
trio railways-that are a help to
any city or town. We we're against
the railway almost to man, but
now we would not be without
them.
Belvidere, Illinois; pop. 1000;
IL miles from city of As, 900 pop.
Dry goods men lost some trade
at first, but put in a better line
of goods, and business has now
increased. Electric railroads
bave helped our town in general.
Lebanon, Indiana; 1000 popi
% miles from city of 300, 900 pop
Business has increased. We
notice great improvement. Elec-
trio lines are good things for all
towns.
Huntington, Indiana; pop. H.
500; "a miles from city of $4,000
pop.-Increase of business IS to
80 per cent.
Upton, Indiana; pop. 5000;
40 miles from city of 2OO,O 900 pop
Our merchants here claim an
increase of from IS to 40 per cent.
Some Of our merchants objected
very strongly and there were all
kinds Of arguments used against
il, / do not know Of one who
would want TO be placed where
we we're before. There has been
a small increase in buildings and
population. If another company
wanted to build a railroad
through in another direction, the
farmers would give a right of
way and some Of them 4 bonus.
Springfield, Ohio; pop. $4,000;
As miles from Columbus ESQ.,
OOO) and "a miles from Dayton
go, GOO. -Trade has increased
in this city constantly, as well as
building and population. We.
would gladly grant admission to