USA > Kansas > Sedgwick County > History of Wichita and Sedgwick County, Kansas, past and present, including an account of the cities, towns and villages of the county, Vol. I > Part 11
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The bank occupies a fine banking room in the Live Stock Ex- change building, and will undoubtedly enjoy a successful busi- ness under its present efficient management.
We have endeavored in this resume of the banks of Wichita to show no partiality and to name them all in existence at the present writing, June, 1910, though we are informed there are several banks in contemplation, all of which, of course, cannot be included in this recital no more than we could undertake to de- scribe the thousand or more new organizations and industries · that the coming years will unfold, these forming material for a subsequent history.
It might be well to state in conclusion that during the boom of 1887 the deposits of the Wichita banks increased to about $4,- 000,000, but later on and at the close of the boom and some few years subsequent thereto finally shrunk to the low level of $437,- 000, and at about that time seven of the nine Wichita banks then in existence either failed or liquidated as a result of the boom, leaving the two banks, the Fourth National Bank and the Kansas .National Bank, as the only solvent financial institutions of the city.
Subsequently, however, and in the last years of the century just passed, the deposits of the Wichita banks commenced to in- crease at a substantial rate, and later on increased very rapidly, until at the present time deposits of all the Wichita banks have reached the high figure of over $12,000,000, showing a financial growth seldom recorded in a city the size of Wichita, and is a striking tribute to the wonderful resources of the territory sur-
102
HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
rounding Wichita and the care, thrift and business sagacity of the various gentlemen now managing the twelve Wichita banks.
$12,000,000 IN WICHITA BANKS.
According to the last official report of the condition of the eleven banks of Wichita, there was on deposit at that time about $12,000,000, or more than an average of a million dollars each. The bank clearings of Wichita during the past year have in- creased in a greater ratio than those of any other city in the United States. This increase has at times run as high as 62 per cent over last year, as shown by the weekly reports sent out by the government. Of these eleven banking institutions of Wich- ita, three are national banks and eight are under state super- vision. They are all conducted in a businesslike and conserva- tive manner, and no legitimate banking institution in Wichita has failed in many years.
The three national banks, which have deposits aggregating nearly $8,000,000, are the Fourth National, the Kansas National and the National Bank of Commerce. The state banks, with an aggregate in deposits of $4,000,000 are the American State, the Wichita State, the State Savings, the Stock Yards State, the Gold Savings State, the Citizens' State, the Merchants' State and the Commercial. A new national bank has just been organized and will be ready for business soon. It will be known as the Union Stock Yards National Bank.
THE COUNTRY BANKS OF SEDGWICK COUNTY.
By THE EDITOR.
As Sedgwick county has grown and expanded, there has grad- ually arisen a need of banking facilities in the various trading and shipping points in the county. This want has called into existence a number of very reliable banking institutions, located in the various towns of Sedgwick county. These banks are pat- ronized extensively by the business men of the various commu- nities and very generally by the farmers in the localities named.
Sedgwick City, upon the northern border of Sedgwick county,
103
THE BANKS OF WICHITA
has two banks-namely, the Farmers' State Bank, organized in 1906, with William Nightser as president, J. C. Crawford as vice- president and Charles B. Harling as cashier; this bank has a paid-up capital of $10,000, and carries a good line of deposits ; the Sedgwick State Bank, which was organized in 1894, of which C. A. Seaman is president and J. H. Hume is cashier; the capital stock of this bank is also $10,000, fully paid up.
At Valley Center is one bank, the Valley Center State Bank, with a paid-up capital of $10,000. W. D. Goodrich is the presi- dent, S. B. Amidon is the vice-president and J. B. Gardiner is the cashier. This bank was organized in 1901.
Kechi has the State Bank of Kechi, with L. H. Watson as president, S. B. Amidon as vice-president and E. S. Basore as cashier. This bank has a paid-up capital of $10,000, and was organized in 1909.
Payne, Minneha and Gypsum townships have no banks, but Rockford township has a bank at Derby, called the Farmers' and Merchants' State Bank, which was organized in 1907, with a paid-up capital of $10,000. This bank is officered by S. T. Towns- din as president, R. R. Goodin as vice-president and S. T. Towns- din as cashier.
Mulvane, on the southern border of Sedgwick county, has two banks. The Farmers' State Bank was formed in 1906, with a paid-up capital of $10,000. George Miller is president, J. W. Dice is vice-president and O. W. Good is cashier. Also the Mul- vane State Bank, organized in 1886, with a paid-up capital stock of $20,000. Of this bank W. C. Robinson is president and C. F. Hough is cashier.
Clearwater has two banks. The Home State Bank was organ- ized in 1905, with a paid-up capital stock of $10,000. A. W. Wise is president and S. M. Broomfield vice-president and cashier. The State Bank of Clearwater was organized in 1899 and has a · capital stock of $10,000. Z. H. Stevens is the president, H. M. Har- rington is the vice-president and J. W. Dale is the cashier.
Viola has one bank, to-wit, the Viola State Bank, organized in 1903. This bank has a capital of $10,000, fully paid up, and Joseph Longe is its president, Charles Dalbom its vice-president and J. E. Mathes its cashier.
Cheney has two banks, the Cheney State Bank, with John T. Hessel as its president, J. W. Weatherd as vice-president and F. Zimmerman its cashier. This bank was organized in 1889 and
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
has a cash capital of $10,000, fully paid up. Also the Citizens' State Bank, organized in 1884, with a capital stock of $15,000, fully paid up. Of this bank A. W. Sweet is the president, Odin Northcutt the vice-president and E. M. Carr the cashier.
Garden Plain has one bank called the State Bank of Garden Plain. This bank was organized in 1901, with H. F. G. Wulf as president at this time, William H. Taylor, Jr., as vice-president and G. A. Tayer as cashier. This bank also has a paid-up capital of $10,000.
Goddard has one bank, the Goddard State Bank, with a paid- up capital of $10,000. This bank was organized in 1907. S. L. Nolan is its president, S. L. Hutchinson its vice-president and V. A. Reece its cashier.
Mt. Hope has two banks-namely, the Farmers' State Bank, organized in 1909, with a paid-up capital of $12,000. E. W. Jewell is president, E. C. Gortner is vice-president and H. M. Washing- ton is cashier. Also the First National Bank of Mt. Hope, organ- ized in 1885, with a capital stock of $25,000, fully paid up. Of this bank J. R. Fisher is president, S. B. Amidon is vice-president and Henry Jorgenson is the cashier.
Andale has one bank, denominated the Andale State Bank, organized in 1900, with a fully paid-up capital of $10,000. L. A. Townsend is the president, A. M. Richenberger is vice-president and E. O. Lamon is the cashier.
Colwich has one bank, the State Bank of Colwich, organized in 1885, with a capital stock of $10,000, fully paid up. W. H. Burks is president of this bank, H. H. Hansen its vice-president and A. C. Lambe its cashier.
Bentley has one bank, organized in 1901, known as the State Bank of Bentley. This bank has a paid-up capital of $10,000. H. H. Hansen is its president, T. J. Smith is its vice-president, C. L. Baird its cashier and Avis Baird its assistant cashier.
The country banks of Sedgwick county are regarded as uni- formly safe and conservative. Their business interests are in the hands of careful and conservative men-men who have an intimate personal acquaintance with the patrons of the various banks. Bank failures are unknown in the country banks of Sedgwick county. This situation is due to two causes-first, the uniform prosperity of the county, and second, the care and fidelity of those intrusted with the management of the various institutions.
CHAPTER X.
WICHITA POSTOFFICE.
TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTEEN PERSONS REQUIRED TO GIVE US MAIL.
Streams of people going through the entrance to the big federal building, crowds working their way out through the exits-that is all the passerby sees of the enormous postal busi- ness that is conducted in Wichita every day. A patron who takes his place in line in front of the stamp window, spends a quarter for postage and drops several neatly sealed epistles into the opening marked, "Other States," thinks little of the regiment of specialists that Uncle Sam maintains behind the lobby enclosure to serve the thousands of residents of the community. But the specialists are there, a little army of them, each with a depart- ment of his own, handling letters, newspapers, magazines and mail packages of every description. Two hundred and fifteen people are employed in the Wichita postoffice every day and they are kept busy from morning until night handling and accounting for the tons of mail matter that come in and go out from the federal building during the course of a day. Their aggregate salary allowance from Uncle Sam amounts to over $200,000 a year.
Included in this enormous postal force are the assistant post- master, the cashier, clerks, city carriers, railroad postal clerks, janitors, drivers, special delivery messengers, and rural carriers, with Postmaster W. C. Edwards at the head of the entire organi- . zation. It is no small undertaking to organize as large a work- ing force as that employed at the Wichita postoffice. It is still another matter to keep a large force well organized while many additions are being made in every department and the character of the work to be done is constantly growing more complex. That is what has had to be done in Wichita. During the past five years the postal force has been almost doubled in numbers and the mail requirements here are almost as difficult to meet as
105
106
HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
those in any city in the country. No department can be closed, even temporarily, at the postoffice. No matter who is ill or absent, no matter what happens; every department must be kept going, for every department is a cog in the great machine and its work is necessary for an efficient service. The postal force must per- form the task completely without a hitch, and the way the service is handled in Wichita is a splendid testimonial to the mental capacity and faithfulness of the scores of men who occupy posi- tions in the department here. The business of the Wichita post- office for the year ending March 31, 1910, aggregated nearly a quarter million dollars. This year it will pass the quarter million mark. The growing population, the enlargement of business enterprises here, the numerous institutions that are springing up anew in every part of the city are having a remarkable effect upon the postal business here. What is more, the process of development is only well begun. Although the Wichita postoffice now handles more mail matter than originates at any other post- office in the State of Kansas, provision for as much more will have to be made during the next few years while Wichita is growing into a city of 100,000 people. In any event, Uncle Sam may be depended upon to keep up with the procession. A splendid build- ing, has been erected for the accommodation of the government institutions here, the postal employes are trained in their respect- ive lines, and the force is capable of making the enlargement that the increasing business of the city will demand from year to year.
POSTOFFICE RECORDS PROOF OF GROWTH.
Three new families are moving into Wichita every day. This is the very moderate rate placed upon the city's growth by the "new family" officials of the postoffice. This statement is backed up by figures prepared by this department of the postoffice.
This is the rate at which families are moving in at this time of the year, the slackest time of the year in the moving line. When the winter rush commences, families will come in at the rate of six or seven every day. This was the rate last year.
The way the postoffice officials get tab on the new families is by the carriers. A carrier is supposed to be sort of a directory all of the time, and it is his business to keep track of and report all families which move in and out. These are recorded. A new system of recording new families and removals is followed at the
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WICHITA POSTOFFICE
postoffice now. The card system was formerly used, but did not give satisfaction. The book system is the one now in use. A two-column edition of the Wichita directory is kept on hand, and between each sheet there are two blank leaves. The new families are recorded there.
FARMERS GET MAIL DAILY OVER NINE RURAL ROUTES.
The rural free delivery department of the Wichita postoffice and Sedgwick county is one of the best conveniences that a repub- lican form of government is supposed to have for its people. This is not placing the Wichita and Sedgwick county departments away above other delivery departments, but it is saying that the rural free department in this county, which every day out of the year, with the exception of Sundays and holidays, gets mail to every farmer in the county, is as good as the best. Be- cause this department is several years younger than the other departments in the local postoffice, it is not one whit behind the other departments in efficiency. Thirty-six carriers take charge of delivering mail to the farmers in Sedgwick county. Every car- rier on an average covers twenty-nine miles per day. This num- ber of carriers means that once each day mail is delivered on every section line in the county. Nine carriers take care of the rural work outside of Wichita. This means there are nine routes, each averaging twenty-nine miles. These carriers deliver mail to 4,640 persons. Each carrier starts from the local postoffice at 8 o'clock in the morning, and reports back at 4 o'clock in the after- noon. No matter what the condition of the weather, he must make his trip every day. The rural carriers out of Wichita are very reliable men, and it is seldom that one of them uses a sub- stitute. Whom do you suppose his substitute is? Generally his wife. Strange, but true; most of the carriers' wives learn the route so thoroughly that it isn't any trouble for them to cover it when their husbands are unable to. They are said to make fewer mistakes than their husbands. The first routes in Sedgwick county were routes Nos. 1 and 2, leading out of Wichita. Each went north of the city. When it was first made public that Wichita was to have a rural free delivery, there was great agita- tion. Some advocated it as the proper thing for the government to do. Others thought they saw a nigger in the woodpile, and
-
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
said it was a scheme to get more money. The common report then was that it was a Republican scheme to get more taxes out of the farmers.
Some of the residents on the rural lines believed this so sin- cerely that they refused to take their mail for fear their taxes would be doubled. All of this happened in 1900. The first route was put in October 1, 1900. The first two rural carriers in the state were J. R. Moore and W. L. Appling. They agreed to cover the twenty-nine miles on each of their routes once a day for $500 per year. Carriers now receive $900 per year. It is said that they are trying to get their wages increased to $1,000 per year. In 1902 routes 3 and 4 were added; later route 5 came in. M. M. Murdock was postmaster at that time and was an ardent advo- cate of this system. In 1905 the county service was established. This gave Sedgwick county the distinction of having the second complete service in the state. There has been no change in the service since that time. The carriers who go out of Wichita every morning are: Route No. 1, Charles C. Snyder ; route No. 2, Benjamin F. Smith; route No. 3, A. J. Parker; route No. 4, Thomas A. Bowles; route No. 5, James C. Smith; route No. 6, Arthur Bell; route No. 7, J. W. Baughman; route No. 8, J. W. Snyder; route No. 9, J. T. Woodford.
POSTOFFICE.
Postoffice-Market, northwest corner William.
Postmaster-W. C. Edwards.
Assistant Postmaster-J. F. McCoy.
Cashier-J. H. McPherson.
Money Order Department-Frank Fisher, Ida W. Decatur, Henrietta Menz.
Register Clerk-G. A. Nachtrieb.
Stamp Clerk-Francis M. Cruse.
Night Service-C. E. Smith.
Chief Mailing Department-J. E. Higgins.
Mailing Clerks-E. W. Berdine, W. C. Ludlum, J. J. Smith, C. W. Berrman, J. E. Bishop, Otis Broadus, D. O. Julian.
Distributing Clerks-J. W. Belcher, C. R. Hibarger, H. S. Bird, Henry Kernohan, F. L. Bell, B. M. Farrar, H. H. Hatfield, J. H. Miller.
.
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WICHITA POSTOFFICE
General Delivery Clerks-G. H. Winn, W. H. Plant, J. J. McDermott, F. H. Towner.
Forwarding Clerk-Mrs. Martha McCabe.
Superintendent of Carriers-E. B. Walden.
Carriers-Oscar Ward, G. T. Chouteau, V. M. Briggle, J. H. Smith, J. T. McDonald, C. H. Bracken, P. S. DeMaree, C. G. Lilly, T. H. Mayberry, M. J. Sweet, H. A. Pinaire, W. E. Barlow, I. R. Moore, J. A. Simon, W. C. Webber, Louis Bulkley, F. W. McClin- tock, A. V. Taggart, A. B. Fortner, H. L. Dewing, F. H. Obrist, J. F. A. Nitchske, J. H. South, C. H. Baker, A. E. Johnson, R. H. Moore, D. P. Young, R. F. Washburn, E. W. Knowles, L. V. Koch, C. V. Poole, E. B. Smith, A. O. Bradford, E. J. Burns, B. O. Chick, J. J. Branson, Jr., J. C. McDonald.
Substitute Carriers-Harry Bertholf, J. S. Benn, A. L. Feeler, Lee A. Pennock, Ralph Wentworth, W. G. Wertz.
Special Delivery Messengers-Rex E. Boyer, Robert Smith.
Rural Delivery Carriers-No. 1, J. R. Moore; No. 2, B. F. Smith; No. 3, W. C. Rodgers; No. 4, T. A. Boyles; No. 5, J. C. Smith ; No. 6, Arthur Bell; No. 7, J. W. Baughman; No. 8, John Snyder; No. 9, J. T. Woodford. Substitute, C. C. Snyder.
Custodian-W. C. Edwards.
Engineers-R. W. Williams, Andrew Carmichael.
Janitors-Henry Schad, Henry W. James, John Simmonds.
Postal Stations-Station A, 1101 West Douglas avenue; clerk, G. T. Riley. Station 2, 726 North Main; clerk, Dunn Mercantile Company. Station 3, Boston Store; clerk, Charles G. Cohn; Sta- tion 4, George Innes Dry Goods Company ; clerk, W. P. Innes.
RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE.
Offices, second floor Federal Building; chief clerk, D. E. Barnes.
HOW POSTAL RECEIPTS IN WICHITA HAVE GROWN.
The receipts of the postal department of the government in Wichita were $66,344.01 in 1900. Since that time they have increased fourfold, the year ending March 31, 1910, making the enormous aggregate of $4,232,326.61. Following are the postal receipts here for each of the past six years, during which time the annual collections for postal privileges have doubled :
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
1904
$116,316.03
1905
129,939.42
1906
147,927.16
1907 167,554.74
1908
196,431.88
1909
232,326.61
1910, estimated. 275,000.00
(The period covered for each year begins April 1 of that year and ends March 31 of the succeeding year.)
CHAPTER XI. MEANING OF THE WORD "WICHITA."
By J. R. MEAD.
For a week or more the literal English meaning of the word "Wichita" has been in controversy. Some stranger came here from the East and asked a hotel man what the word meant. Hotel men in Wichita are a little too busy to give any time to the origin and meaning of the Indian words, and if he did not tell his guest that much, he indicated it by his actions. It made the Eastern man indignant to see such indifference to one of the prettiest town names in the gazetteer, and he began telephoning all over town-to editors, college professors, school teachers, city statesmen, and everybody else who, he thought, ought to know the meaning of the word. Not one of them knew, until the great- est of all authorities on subjects concerning this valley-James R. Mead, pioneer and historian-was reached. It was on the end of his tongue-"Scattered Lodges."
For fully two days this authority was accepted, until an Irishman came along and asserted to the "Eagle" that the word "Wichita" meant "Tattooed Faces." We hated to hear the deci- sion of Mr. Mead disputed-especially by a foreigner-and we called up William Mathewson, a man who was here before the Askansas river was dug, and asked him about it. He dissented very strongly from the Irishman's opinion and stood loyally by his pioneer friend, J. R. Mead. He informed us also that the word "Wichita" is not a Wichita word at all, but an Osage word, and it was from the Osages themselves, many years ago, that he learned that the word meant "Scattered Lodges" or "Scattered Villages," which means the same thing.
Now comes the Irishman, who cites as his authority no less a person than J. W. Powell, director of the Bureau of American Ethnology. We have examined Mr. Powell's references to the
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
matter in the Seventeenth Annual Report of his bureau, and a casual reading of it would indicate that the Irishman was a little more than a match for the two famous Kansas pioneers. A more attentive reading, however, reveals the fact that "Tattooed Faces" comes from a Kiowa word which was applied to the Wichita, Waco, Tawakoni and Kichai Indians on account of their habit of tattooing their faces and mouths. The word in ques- tion is "Doguat," which evidently means "Wichita," for we find the Wichita mountains in Oklahoma called "Doguat kop" by the Kiowas even unto this day.
The question now is whether the Osages knew more about the Wichitas than the Kiowas did. We doubt it, but for all that, the name "Wichita" has been recognized by the government for a great many years, and no one would be willing to give it up for such an ugly word as "Doguat."
It is settled, therefore, that "Wichita" means "Scattered Lodges," and not "Tattooed Faces," and the superintendent of education ought to have it at once proclaimed in the school houses, so that when the next inquiring Easterner comes along and asks the question, all may be able to answer him.
CHAPTER XII. THE DRILL HOLE AT. WICHITA.
By J. R. MEAD.
(Read before the Academy, Wichita, Kan., January 3, 1896.)
In the year 1895, the city of Wichita voted $10,000 in bonds to drill one or more holes to ascertain what of value might be found beneath the city. Coal, salt, oil and gas were among the possibilities.
A sample of each five feet in depth has been preserved in glass jars, properly numbered. The hole is within the city limits, in the valley of the Arkansas, one-fourth of a mile from the river, and within fifty feet of the track of the Missouri Pacific Railroad. Work commenced October 20, 1895.
The first twelve feet was through surface soil and clay. Strata of quicksand and gravel filled with water were then reached. This constituted the underflow, or "subterranean river," as it was called in the newspapers. Great difficulty was experienced in securing a curbing through this sand and water, which caused a delay of several weeks. First, a round wooden pipe, sixteen inches in diameter, strongly made of two-inch pine, and wrapped with sheet iron, was placed in the hole and gradually sunk by pumping the sand from the inside. As depth was gained, the pipe constantly bent to the southeast, indicating a pressure in that direction. Trains passing imparted a quivering motion to the sand and water. The wooden pipe was abandoned, as it could not be kept vertical. A heavy wrought-iron tube fourteen inches in diameter was substituted, which proved a success.
Following is the log of the well, which at this writing has reached the first hard rock, black flint or chert, at a depth of 642 feet. :
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HISTORY OF SEDGWICK COUNTY
Depth,
12
Surface soil and clay. .
27
15
Quicksand and water.
42
15
Coarse sand and gravel, full of water.
80
38
Tenacious blue clay.
90
10
Gypsum crystals (selenite). Between 80 and 90 feet a pocket of smooth water-worn pebbles, consisting of white quartz, quartzite, granite, jasper, etc., broke into the well from the side.
165
75
Alternating layers of clay, gypsum and clay shales.
250
85
Massive gypsum, gray and black.
265
15
Blue shale.
270
5
Gypsum.
275
5
Light and dark shale.
285
10
Soft clay shale.
295
10
Clay and gypsum.
300
5
Gypsum.
325
25
Blue shale.
350
25
Black shale.
375
25
Blue shale.
385
10
Dark shale.
390
5 Blue shale.
400
10
Black shale.
440
40
Blue shale.
455
15
White and gray gypsum.
480
25
Shale, strongly charged with petroleum.
490
10
Dark shale.
550
60
Light gray shale.
560
10
Gray limestone.
563
3
Fine sand full of very strong brine, which rose 300 feet in the drill hole, and would perhaps have risen to the surface had it not been stopped by the insertion of tubing.
572
9
Gray limestone and clay.
575
3
Clay shale.
585
10
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