The Washington herald., 1915-07-22
HISTORY BUILDERS.
Written expressly for The Washington Herald
BY DIR. f. j. EDWARDS.
Sherman's Predictions for the West.

Shermans Predictions for the West.
My first meeting with Gen. Sherman
| at least the first in which | had oppor-
tuEity to have a long conversation with
hinl-took place in 1850 and l shall never
forget it," said William r. Grace to
me shortly after his return from trip
to California, about 1885.
Mr.. Grace in 1850 was first elected
mayor of New York City and was elect
ed again in 1884. 1t was due chiefly
to him that the selection was made of
Riverside Park for the Grant memorial
and as the burial place of Gen. Grant
Mr. Grace was mayor of New York
when Gen. Grant died. Life long Dem
ocrat as he was. some of his choicest
cor Inionships were with Republicans.
and for several years he was in inti-
mate personal relationship with Gen.
Grant after Grant made choice of New
York City as his home. Mr.. Grace fire.
Quently alluded to his conversations with
Gen. Grant and to the less frequent chats
he had with Gen. Sherman. He said to
me:
Both of these great generals were
men of practical sense. l never heard
either of them allude TO anything that
appertained to military affairs.
Both of them were immensely inter-
ested in the material development of the
United States. Gen. Grant spoke to me
frequently of what our opportunities in
the way of developing the great re-
sources of Mexico were. | never heard
Gen Sherman speak of Mexico but
did hear him make a prediction re-
speeding the future of the United States,
which was later justified in n remarkable
manner. / saw some evidences of its
justification while upon the trip l have
just made to the Pacific sCoast
Gen. Sherman said to me in that first
conversation l had with him that he
thought it was high time the people of
the East woke up to the fact that ire
mendous progress was being made In
the West. He told me that in 1868 or
1859 much of the State of Kansas, the
western part of it, was occupied by
buffalos, gophers. some antelope and In
dams. Ten years later or a year or two
before the time he chatted with me.
Kansas. he said. raised and sent to
Europe nearly sixty million bushels of
wheat. He spoke of this as only an in
cident in the rapid development of our
great West. l remember particularly
that he said that New York City had
considerably more than one-half of the
entire commerce OF the United States.
But great as the aggregate of that COM
merce then was Il was small in com.
parison. Sherman said. with what the
commerce would be generation or at
most forty years later He told me
that there were millions of acres of
land of virgin soil, very fertile, which
it would do my heart good to see and
which was waiting for the on-coming
of pioneers and farmers. No one could
predict how much would be produced
from this soil and how greatly IL would
increase our exports to Europe Sher-
man furthermore said that we have had
great Development east OF the MASSES
ippi River. but In comparison to the de-
yelopment west of the Mississippi in
nifty years that growth would be small.
He spoke with enthusiasm Of the great
West and said ne could not ind words
In which to voice his feeling about what
the future of that great West was to be.
"Gen. Sherman opened my eye Not
until talked to him did I begin to
realize Whist that part Of the country
which Hes west OF the Mississippi River
meant for the entire United States, and
as looked from my railroad car win
dow while crossing. that country I was
n equently reminded OF the predictions
Gen. sherman made"
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