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. II > Part 12
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These figures on live stock demonstrate the rapidity with which the Orient territory developed into an asset for the com- mercial interests of this city. Thriving towns sprang up along the line all through Oklahoma and Texas as the road was built south. Practically everything used by these towns for 800 miles along the Orient is purchased through the Wichita wholesale houses. For instance, last year the Orient hauled out of Wichita merchandise to the amount of 30,000,000 pounds. That with the inbound business of the road almost equals the tonnage of some older railways operating through territory settled years ago. The freight service offered the Wichita jobbers by the Orient is first-class. Today's shipments of goods will be in Altus, 300 miles distant, before store closing time tomorrow. On the second day they will be on the counters in towns at the southern terminus of the line. Passenger service on the Orient consists of one train each way every day. These trains are
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operated through to San Angelo, Texas, which is now the south- ern terminus of the line. The company contemplates the re- establishment of another passenger train, which was discontinued a year ago for lack of equipment. The traffic on the one pas- senger train is becoming so heavy that the second train will have to be established soon.
In one instance, where five years ago, or before the advent of "The Orient," the town consisted of a small settlement, today stands a little city sending 1,000 school children to its public schools and is spending $100,000 on its court house and twice that amount for a water works system, piping water a distance of over eight miles. Where Wichita used to send them an occa- sional shipment, the Peerless Princess now sends them over a carload of provisions daily. These are not exceptional cases ; dozens of towns have sprung up, growing vigorously and mak- ing daily requisition on the merchants of Wichita for the neces- sities of life. As the Orient pushes its rails farther into the Southwest, so follow the goods of our merchants. The Orient has carried the products of our mercantile establishments into a section of country whose door heretofore was closed to us. Peo- ple are now drawing supplies from the Peerless Princess who, before the coming of this road, had hardly heard of our city. They have found a market in Wichita for long trains of cattle and grain which formerly went elsewhere.
ARTHUR E. STILWELL.
President Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway Company.
(The following message to Wichita was written by President Arthur E. Stillwell, of the Orient, especially for the New Home number of the "Beacon." It is evidence that Mr. Stillwell places a high estimate upon Wichita as the commercial metropolis of the great Southwest and that in the plans made by the Orient officials, Wichita will always be considered.)
The Orient road, when completed, will have a mileage from Kansas City, through Wichita, to Topolobampo of 1,659 miles, being approximately 500 miles nearer the middle West to Pacific coast tidewater than any other line.
Nearly 900 miles, or more than one-half of this mileage is completed and in operation, the longest stretch being from Wich- ita to San Angelo, Texas. The line is being rapidly constructed
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from this point to Del Rio on the Rio Grande river, from which point it will make connection with the National lines of Mexico and will be very much the shortest line from Wichita to the city of Mexico, the capital of our sister republic.
Work is being pushed from San Angelo to El Ora, which is also on the Rio Grande river, and on the direct or main line to. the Pacific coast through Chihuahua, Mexico. The Orient road, on the Pacific Coast division, passes through boundless fields of oranges, bananas, lemons, grapes, and the strawberry season, which is at its height in that country during the months of No- vember, December and January, can be transported with other tropical fruits and vegetables, in a very short time, enabling the people of Wichita to enjoy all the good things of the tropics during the mid-winter.
The Orient road will have connections with not only the ports of the Gulf of Mexico, but also an adequate steamship service to and from the Orient, including the Hawaiian Islands and Australia, thereby placing Wichita in direct communication with commerce equaling any inland city on the continent.
The Orient is proud of Wichita, and hopes that Wichita reciprocates. The rich deposit of precious minerals in the Re- public of Mexico, together with other resources, will attract a large volume of business to that country, to say nothing of the pleasure and tourist business from the middle and Eastern states, all of which will pass through Wichita.
It is the hope of myself and of Vice-President and General Manager Dickinson that the Orient road will be completed entire within two years.
ARMY OF MECHANICS BUILDING THE SHOPS.
There is no longer any doubt in the minds of Wichita people in regard to the Orient railway's intentions toward this city. Everyone is perfectly satisfied that the Orient shops are going to be built, that Wichita will be the northern terminus of the line for some years and that the railway is strictly a Wichita proposition. When the Orient officials came into the city about eight years ago, secured bond issues for terminals, bought ground for these terminals and announced that the main shops of the railway would be located here, there was general rejoicing. The terminal bonds were passed without protest. But this slipped
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by and there was no evidence that the shops, for which bonds were voted, would be built. The time limit on the bonds was up and still no shops appeared. Then the bonds were voted a sec- ond time but with more difficulty. A second time the company began to wane. Finally the people were asked for a third time to vote Orient shop bonds. That was in the early part of this year. The officials of the road declared positively that the first unit of the shops, costing $300,000, would be built this year. Despite these announcements there was much skepticism in Wich- ita and it was feared that the shop bonds could not be carried a third time.
But they were and the contract for the erection of the finest and largest railway shops in Kansas was let to Westinghouse, Church Kerr & Company, of New York City. The actual build- ing of the shops was commenced early this summer and several hundred artisans have constantly been employed by the con- tractors. The first building of the shops is now ready for the roof. It is built of steel and concrete and is over 200 feet long by 160 feet in width. This is the locomotive shop. Other build- ings of the shops system are the power house, car shops, turn- table, machine shop, foundry and a dozen smaller buildings. Every building of the system is being built on the unit plan. That is, space is allowed each building so that it may be enlarged to twice its original size. Temporary ends of wood are being built in each of the buildings, whose general construction is of steel and concrete. When the shops are completed, as they probably will be within the next six years, they will represent an investment of $1,000,000.
The Rock Island Railway. The Rock Island Railway was built into Wichita in 1887. The line was built under the name of the Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska Railway Company. As such it issued its stock in exchange for the good municipal bonds, of which several millions were voted in Kansas; then went into the hands of a receiver. The stock was cut out in the suit and the road went to the parent company, where it was originally in- tended to land, and everything was lovely. Here was a lesson in high finance furnished the entire state, but the turn was so much antitcpated and the various cities and municipalities were so pleased to get the road that very little was said about the stock deal. Wichita and Sedgwick county were indeed fortu- nate to get on the main line of this system from Chicago to the
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Gulf. The Rock Island is a great highway of traffic. It runs through Sedgwick county; it is an up-to-date railway and we condone the stock deal from the fact that it has been a most important factor in the development of Sedgwick county.
The Kansas Midland Railway. The years 1886 and 1887 were lively years in railway projection in the city of Wichita, and our people early saw the importance of controlling the territory adja- cent to Wichita ; a number of business men projected the Omaha, Abilene & Wichita Railway. The late Dr. Furley was the presi- dent and leading projector of this line. The present Texas line of the Rock Island covers the old route of the Omaha, Abilene & Wichita Railway.
A prominent Boston capitalist came here to contract to build this line, and at a meeting in Topeka, at which there were pres- ent various representatives from the towns along the proposed line, it was learned that the Rock Island proposed to cover at least sixty miles of the proposed line; this being the case the Boston man withdrew his proposition and at the solicitation of O. H. Bentley and others came to Wichita, where the Kansas Midland Railway Company was formed, a meeting being held for this purpose at the Manhattan Hotel in Wichita. The incorpora- tors of the new line were J. O. Davidson, William E. Stanley, C. R. Miller, H. G. Lee, O. H. Bentley and Robert E. Lawrence. An organization was at once perfected by the election of C. R. Miller as president and O. H. Bentley as secretary. Later on H. L. Jackson was appointed as chief engineer and O. H. Bentley as counsel for the Kansas Construction & Improvement Company. The latter named company at once contracted with the railway company to build its line from Wichita northward through the counties of Sedwgwick, Harvey, Reno, Rice, Ellsworth, Lincoln, Mitchell, and Jewell, to Superior, Nebraska, to a connection with the B. & M. line of railway in Nebraska. It was always a dream of the Wichita business men to have a great north and south line from the Dakotas to the Gulf, running through Wichita; it was thought that by the building of the Kansas Midland Railway to the north of Wichita that this dream was about to be realized. Construction contracts were made and certain Wichita men gave their whole time to the project. Surveys were run ; aid was voted and the municipalities along the line responded nobly. A solid line of subsidies to the extent of almost $4,000 per mile were voted, from Wichita to Superior, Nebraska, and so strong was
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the aid voted, that it exceeded the statutory limitations and five enabling acts were passed by the Kansas Legislature to enable the municipalities to deliver the aid voted beyond the limitations of the law, and the matter rapidly assumed shape. New railroads were projected everywhere over the state; the Rock Island was building its great transportation lines to the south and west of Wichita ; the C. Wood Davis project, known as the Chicago, St. Joseph & Fort Worth Railway, was in the field voting subsidies; the Fort Smith, Wellington & Northwestern, a line from Welling- ton through Garden Plain and on to Hutchinson, was also in the field. The Salina, Sterling & Southwestern was also on deck, and other proposed lines, too numerous to mention, were in the saddle and a wild era of railway building and paper railroads was on the state. Indeed, some people doubted that there would be any land left for farming after the railroad and townsites were taken vut ; but the Santa Fe was busy and jealous of its territory. It built from Strong City to Superior, heading the Midland to that point. The Rock Island built its lines and the Midland was con- structed by the New Jersey Construction Company, headed by William G. Dacey, for a distance of 104 miles to Ellsworth, Kas., and to a connection with the Union Pacific at that point. Subse- quently it was leased to the Frisco and remains to this day a part of that system under a ninety-nine-year lease. It was a potent factor in the development of the northwestern part of Sedgwick county. Bentley, named after the secretary of the line; Patterson, Medora, Buhler, Wherry, named after and in compliment of Frank P. Wherry, of St. Louis, for years private secretary of Captain Rogers, general manager of the Frisco Railway ; Pollard . and Lorraine, named after a daughter of Governor W. E. Stanley,, came into being and are all prosperous towns, naturally tributary to the city of Wichita. To this enterprise the people along the line gave the most loyal support. Such men as John T. Carpenter, James Beard, J. E. Howard, W. O. Vanarsdale, Dr. Hunt, John Shive, A. B. Buhler, Fred Cooper, C. W. Silver, Ira E. Lloyd, Charles J. Evans, and many others along its line and in the towns, gave their money, their time and their influence to complete this line. The Kansas Midland was and is another spoke in the wheel which brings commerce to a great city, and its projectors and builders are indeed entitled to their share in the glory of Wichita as a great commercial and growing metropolis.
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A CRYING NEED. By J. J. BARRETT.
I have lived in several states and have seen localities de- velop and grow, and for several years past I have lived in the Indian Territory part of Oklahoma. For several years I have been attracted to Wichita, and for months past have made this city my home. I therefore speak as an observer and also actuated by self interest. What Wichita needs at this time is cheap fuel .. It is true we have natural gas, but the lasting quality of natural gas is limited; this is the history of natural gas in all of the American fields ; it is also suspected that the natural gas of Wich- ita and other adjoining towns is furnished from what is known as the Iola Quadrangle, and upon this Quadrangle have been located some of the greatest gas consumers in Kansas; they are still making a constant drain upon this supply, to such an extent that an effort is now being made to tap a field further south in what is known as the Hog Shooter District. At any rate, Wichita needs as a growing town connection with the rich coal fields to the southeast of Kansas. These fields are found in the old Indian Territory along the line of the Midland Valley Railroad. This line reaches now from Fort Smith to Arkansas City, Kan., and should be built to Wichita. This would give Wichita a direct line to the coal fields; these coal fields are located in Haskell and Le- Flore counties, in Oklahoma, and these counties are traversed by the Midland Valley Line; these fields are the most extensive in the new state. In addition to tapping these rich mineral fields, the Midland Valley reaches fine timber belts, all of which is needed by this city as a growing and expanding town. The Midland Valley Line also taps the Osage country, and a number of growing towns like Tulsa and Muskogee; Tulsa is in the Arkansas valley and Muskogee at the junction of the Verdigris and Grand rivers, where they join the Arkansas. Both towns are also in the rich oil fields of the Indian portion of Oklahoma; therefore, the building of that short gap of railroad from Arkan- sas City to this city would place all of these commodities at our very door. The importance of the extension of the Midland Val- ley Railway from Arkansas city to this city cannot be over- ·estimated.
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SURVEYING A NEW ROUTE TO WICHITA.
By
CHARLES H. BROOKS.
The ambition of the city of Wichita has for twenty years been to obtain direct connections with the coal and lumber regions lying to the southeast and also to link itself more closely by direct railway connections with western and northwestern Kansas. From time to time attempts have been made looking to a fulfill- ment of these ambitions, but nothing has ever come of it. It is apparent to every thoughtful man that Wichita, in order to main- tain its commercial supremacy, must extend its railway connec- tions into that portion of Kansas which is naturally tributary to it. At one time the lines extending into Oklahoma gave Wichita practically the command of the trade in that territory. Of late years the competition along those lines has become stronger and our business men and manufacturers are confronted with the necessity of reaching out into new fields and tapping new terri- tory which has hitherto been neglected. People are beginning to see that Wichita, in order to enjoy all the advantages to which its location entitles it, must become more of a Kansas town.
The extension of the Midland Valley Railroad from Arkansas City on the south to a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad on the north would be an important step toward the realization of these ambitions. The Midland Valley Company now owns and operates a line of railroad between Arkansas City, Kan., and Fort Smith, Ark. It passes through the Osage Nation, where countless herds of cattle roam and fatten, and taps along its route the richest coal fields in the West. Its connections pierce the great lumber districts of Arkansas and Louisiana. By the con- struction of a railroad across a gap of about 250 miles in a south- erly direction from Fort Smith the company will have a direct line to New Orleans. The region traversed by the road in Okla- homa is not only rich in agriculture, but embraces the greatest oil, coal and gas fields in the United States. By establishing direct connections with the Union Pacific on the north all of northwestern Kansas now closed to Wichita merchants and traders will become tributary territory.
The city of Salina is eighty-six miles north of Wichita and 186 miles from Kansas City. From Salina branches of the Union
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Pacific cover northwestern Kansas. This connection would place all of that productive district 100 miles nearer Wichita than Kansas City. The immense advantage of this to Wichita is appar- ent. Not only would an immense area be added to Wichita's jobbing territory, but Wichita would become the principal mar- ket for the vast quantities of grain and live stock produced in that part of the state. This connection would also give Wichita a direct line to Omaha and the shortest line to Denver. While the mileage to be constructed is comparatively short, no railroad project could be proposed which would contribute so much to the upbuilding of the trade and commercial supremacy of this city. The plan of the owners of the Midland Valley contemplates not only the extension of their line to a connection with the Union Pacific on the north, but also to fill in the gaps on the south, which when completed will give them a direct short line from the wheat fields of southern, northern and western Kansas through Wichita, through the great coal, gas, oil and timber regions, to the great market of New Orleans.
The hearty co-operation of the people along the line of this proposed extension will insure its speedy construction. The peo- ple of Wichita should awake to the importance of this enterprise and see that nothing is left undone to make it a certainty. The company which proposes to build this line from Arkansas City to McPherson is composed largely of Wichita business men. Early in August the Wichita, McPherson & Gulf Railway Company was chartered and organized. The capital of the company is $2,500,000. A subsidiary company was organized at the same time. This corporation is the Midland Construction Company, and its purpose is to build the proposed Wichita, McPherson & Gulf Railway. The officers of these two companies are: C. E. Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, president ; Frank C. Wood, of Wichita, vice-president; A. W. Lefeber, of Muskogee, treasurer. For the construction company the officers are: C. E. Ingersoll of Phila- delphia, president; J. W. McCloud, of Muskogee, vice-president ; A. W. Lefeber, of Muskogee, treasurer; W. C. Edwards, of Wichita, secretary. Charles H. Brooks, of this city, will be general counsel for both companies. Already the company is at work with the preliminary surveys for the road. A corps of fifteen engineers has been at work between Wichita and McPher- son for the past month. Right-of-way men will be sent out
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shortly, as it is the intention of the company to build the line as quickly as possible.
Proposed Railway Lines. Four lines of railway are now pro- jected in and out of Wichita. The Wichita, Kinsley & Denver Air line, the Orient from this city Northeasterly to Kansas City, the Kansas Northwestern from here to Great Bend, thence to Benkelman, Neb., and the Yankton, Wichita & Gulf Railway. The latter project is known as the Fremont Hill line, and Mr. Hill has been across the water for some time in the interest of his project. The latter line would be a most wonderful line for Wich- ita, Sedgwick county and the belt of country traversed. It would be a rate breaker and would move the basing line from Kansas City westward. The Orient line eastward is regarded as a cer- tainty-as it completes the links in the chain of a great trans- continental line, 1,600 miles long. The Kinsley project if it fell into the hands of one of the existing trunk lines, like the Union Pacific or B. & M., would make a short line to the Northwest and the intermountain region. The Kansas Northwestern would serve the same purpose and occupy a most important territory for Wichita, and the Yankton line would create a great north and south line from the Dakotas to the Gulf of Mexico. An- thracite, lignite and grain to the south, and lumber and cotton to the north.
With her present railways and the proposed lines completed Wichita's position in the great interior West would be a magical one, and a most commanding one. She would easily fulfill the predictions of Colonel Murdock, the great editor of the Wichita "Eagle," when he named her "The Magical Mascot of the Meridian."
WICHITA IS FIRST AS RAILWAY CENTER.
As to transportation facilities, the city of Wichita, so far as steam railroad transportation is concerned, has few if any equals among the western cities. It will no doubt surprise many people in Wichita to learn that there is no city in the state that has as many steam railroads and electric lines entering it, and from all points of the compass. And these railroads are so arranged that it is possible to reach every city of any importance in the state of Kansas without any trouble. And also directly every city west of the Mississippi, and extending to the Pacific ocean.
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There are at the present time five railroad systems radiating from Wichita, three more are proposed and being pushed along rapidly, and there are two interurban electirc lines in prospect with one interurban in course of construction. These railroads offer facilities better than any other city in the state of Kansas or any adjoining state. The new lines in course of construction, the many improvements that are being made in the way of shops, freight yards, stations, etc., together with the several railroads that are now proposed, will add largely to the freight and passenger traffic into Wichita, and when completed to the extent planned will not be excelled by any city in adjoining states. It will materially change, alter and reduce many of the inconveniences of the outbound and inbound shipments to and from the city of Wichita, and not only that, but will add largely to the appearance of the city.
The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railroad is now making an extremely large expenditure on its shops and roundhouse now in course of construction. When completed the Orient shops will be among the best shops this side of St. Louis and as a result a colony will be formed in that part of the city of the many men who will be employed there. All the railroads will be at an enormous expense in building the proposed elevated tracks and union station. When the union station is completed it will be one of the most commodious, convenient and safe pas- senger stations in the state and the railroads can with a greater degree of safety handle a greater number of passengers in the same length of time. Another thing to be considered is that Wichita is situated in a locality where it will control the greater portion of the trade traffic to the Southwest. Bounded on all sides by fertile farms, in the center of the wheat belt, command- ing the trade from all parts of the state for the reason that its railroad facilities reach to all parts of the state, there is no city in the Southwest that offers so great advantages to the manu- facturing and other shipping interests as does the city of Wichita.
It can be truthfully said that the authorities operating vari- ous railroads in the city of Wichita have never been unreasonably arbitrary, but have always been ready to receive and consult with their patrons. The higher authorities of each road have also been very considerate of the welfare of the citizens of Wichita and its patrons, feeling that fairness and justice are the best paying investments that could be made by any public
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