The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-05-31
OTHER SIDE OF IT
Drummer Would Move His
Family to Topeka.
But-And Thereby Hangs the
Tale of Real Difficulty.
WHAT HAVE WE TO OFFER?
No Shows or Entertainment for
His Family Sundays.
And There Should Be More
Apartments and Hotels.

Brother Crosby is a bear for boosters
and he might cancel my order II he
heard about it; SO I'll answer your
question by asking one. Why should
I move my family here?"
1t was conversation between a
travelling man and a Topeka business
man that a reporter was overhearing
The travelling man, il seems, was
looking for a home location and the
Topekan was trying to induce him to
bring his family here.
In reply to the counter question in
which the knight of the grip asked
why he should move his family to the
Kansas capital, the Topeka booster
spelled off a lot about Topeka's edu-
cational and religious advantages
about the excellent train services in
and out of the city, about the moral
atmosphere and the moderate living
costs and wound up with a more or
less eloquent Grafton about the oppor-
tunities offered over other towns in
the territory.
The travelling man listened patiently
until the Topekan was thru. Then he
seemed to forget Brother Crosby"
and his order. He himself was some
orator when he had an audience of
as many as two ears.
That is just the reason you don't
get more people to come here to
make their Homes" he said-'there
are too blamed many boosters here
who are using your arguments. You
seem to think other towns in this
part of the country do not have trains
and schools and churches-and you
Topekans appear to be trying to con-
vince the world you have a corner on
all the moral atmosphere in Kansas.
why, man, the trains stop in ev-
cry town I make in my territory and
every single one of these towns has
churches to which I can go when I
went to say my prayers in public and
schools to which L can send my chill
dren without having to pay tuitionl
And. as for your moral atmosphere.
your reference to it remainds me of
the first time 1 was going thru Kan
sas. The train was approaching a lit
tie town and the porter came thru my
coach and called 'Paradise-the next
stop is Paradise! When we got to
this place not a person left the coach.
Just before we got to the next town
the porter came thru and called Hell
City-the next stop is He'll City, And
when we came to the station blamed if
1t didn't seem like everybody in the
coach except myself was going to get
off at what 1 afterwards found out
was Hill City.
when L go out to sell goods I try
10 convince the men I talk to that
am offering them inducements other
statesmen cannot offer. That is what
Topeka has got to do if she expects
to get people to come here to buy
homes and groceries and pay taxes
1 want to sell him shoes that have
soles on them and that lace with shoe
strings like almost all other shoes do.
I tell him my shoes are made out of
leather that has been tanned by a
new process which adds to their dura-
bility; I show him a variety of styles
that I defy other statesmen to excel
and then 1 give him prices and dis
count figures that 1 think will catch
his eye.
Here Is the Reason.
'If Topeka wants to become a real
city she will have to take few point
ers from me, or from some other city
that is accommodating people about as
fast as am shoe customers. You ask
me why I MT bring my family to
Topeka when you know 1 am looking
for a place to call home. Well, sir.
I'll tell you one of the reasons right
off the bat. I don't propose to have
my kids Sleeping in the street and 1
don't propose to pay Riverside Drive
prices for a kitchenette-c community
ID bath-closet apartment in a private res
1dence that was built in the days of
John Brown. A friend of mine told
me the other day that he was looking
for place to live here in Topeka and
that before he got thru looking he
wondered whether all the landlords
and landladies took him for John D.
Rockefeller looking for summer quar-
ters or Adam Sucker with no more
er's lease contract and pay the full
assessed value for it on the first of
every month. If you want men like
myself to move here why don't you get
some of your idle rich interested in
your housing problems? Why don't
you show them that If they put few
thousand dollars into an apartment
house they can insure 1t against fire
theft and hail and if necessary they
can nail 1t down so it won't run away
thew fear fhRSe
things, or else they don't know what a
good return on an investment an
apartment house is.
Another reason why don't bring
my family here is this-I don't want
to get into a place where the only
way 1 can enjoy a Sunday at home
with my family is by sleeping all day
That's about the only way you can
enjoy yourself in this town on Sun
day. The wife and the kids like to
show off when I'm home because
they're proud of Papa, but the only
way they could do it here would be
to walk me up and down Kansas ave-
nue. and my wife has too many corns
to do that. When I'm home the kids
always go to Sunday school in the
morning and sometimes the wife and
1 go to church; then we have a nice
home dinner and in the afternoon we
like to go to ball game or a picture
show or something like that. A swell
chance we'd have doing anything like
that here in this rarefied moral at
mosphere, huh?"
The visitor-knocker was pretty well
winded. but he wiped his vest-but
toned glasses with a gaudy silk hand
kerchief and continued:
Wake Up, He Says.
III you Topekans will just wake
up before the flying machines make
it unnecessary for travelling men tc
pass thru dead towns your pretty
broad streets may never have to be
used for COW pastures And if yor
are ever going to wake up now is the
time.
In a little more than thirty day.
the whole nation will go on the water
wagon and then cities like Kansas Cit,
and st. Joseph and Joplin won't have
thing on you. If you'll scare UP 6
few Sunday amuSements, build a few