Overview of Kearney in 1888

P. 1 The Nebraska of To-Day.

P. 2 The Kearney Water Power.

P. 3 The New Western City.

P. 4 Situation of Kearney.

P. 5 Why Kearney Must Become a Railroad Center.

The Nebraska of To-Day.

        Even the young men in Kearney to-day can remember the following description of Nebraska in the geographies: “A great prairie desert, inhabited only by wild beasts and roving tribes of Indians.'' Indeed it has been scarcely thirty years since Chicago itself was the frontier boundary of western civilization.

        The North American Review in an editorial in 1858 said: "The people of the United States have reached their inland western frontier, and the banks of the Missouri river are the shores at the termination of a vast ocean desert over 1,000 miles in breadth, which it is proposed to travel if at all, with caravans of camels, and which interpose a final barrier to the establishment of large communities, agricultural, commercial or even pastoral."

        Then there were not 500 people between the Missouri River and the Pacific slope; to-day there are over 5,000.000. Then there was riot one mile of railroad in the slate; to-day there are 5,000 miles. Then there was not a bushel of agricultural product raised more than was necessary for the sustenance of the few Indians then in the territory; now the agricultural reports show over 200,000,000 bushels of corn alone raised in Nebraska in the year 1888. At that time there were not fifty white people in Nebraska, yet before the close of 1880 she numbered over one-half million inhabitants, doubled that in five years, and has to-day nearly 1,500,000— more population than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, and nearly as much as Massachusetts.

        Over 83,000 acres," says General Morrow, "were entered, by homesteaders in Nebraska during three months of 1807, and the United States land office for the extreme southwestern portion of Nebraska, embracing but a few counties, remitted last year to Washington $5500,000 for homesteads and preemptions”.

        The Nebraska of to-day is a network of important rail­roads, and has built in the last two years enough track to make a single line track from New York to Salt Lake City. Nine years ago the Northwestern had not a mile of rail laid in Nebraska; today it has ten distinct lines. Eleven years ago the C. B. & Q. road questioned (he advisability of extending its line beyond Lincoln; to-day it has eleven different lines and over 700 miles in operation in this state alone. Eighteen years ago there was no town west of Lincoln except Grand Island, on the I'. P. railroad, and Crete. Countless herds of buffaloes roamed over central and western Nebraska, one herd alone estimated at 50,000 grazing peacefully between this point and Lincoln. The antelope roamed the plains by thousands, and the elk and wild horses and cattle were in great abundance. The Sioux Indians were everywhere, and the Pawnees on their reservation, and a few scattering settlers along the Platte Valley occupied all the country west of Lincoln, and no white settlers were at that time between Crete and Ft. Kearney. It was all one great waste with no civilization except a mere handful of troops at Ft. Kearney, on the south side of the Platte. it was hut eighteen years ago: but now how changed/ In this very territory west of Crete there are now over one-half million happy and prosperous persons. Westward the star of empire has taken its course, and the Great American Desert blossoms as the rose.

        From "Western Resources" for September we take the. following suggestive facts: While the United States census of 1880 found Nebraska standing eighth in the production of corn, twelfth in the production of wheat and fifteenth in the number of cattle, it occupied last year the fourth place among the corn states; it has passed three of its former rivals in the production of wheat, and has stepped forward to the tenth place in the number and value of its live stock. We should not be strangers to the fact that in the above-mentioned period, its population has almost doubled; that the number of its farms has increased from 63,387  to  119,897:  the number of its live stock from 2,424,590 to 4,647,630, and the value of the latter from 833,440,295 to $81,099,941 nor that its manufactories, which numbered 1,403 in 18S0, with products valued at 812,627,336, have increased nearly three-fold in number and more than four-fold in the value of their products; nor should it excite our surprise to hear it stated that its crops of the three principal cereals, which aggregated in 1880, 85,853,017 bushels, .have since reached 173,282,000 bushels: or that the actual value of its real and personal property now amounts to the enormous sum of 8703,431,021. The importance of these figures is still further heightened by the fact that not more than one acre in four of the arable land of the state has so far been cultivated.

        Hon. Charles F. Mandcrson, IT. S. Senator from Nebraska, delivered a most interesting address at Lincoln to the House and Senate in joint .assemblage, February 20, 1889, from which we quote the following: "Twenty years ago I be­came a citizen of Nebraska. J have seen her grow from the infancy of statehood to the maturity of to-day. The story of her increase during her twenty-two years of sovereignty is "simply bewildering. In 1870,-1 22,000"people dwelt within her borders; now, her 76,000 square miles of fertile soil give health and happiness to at least 1,250,000 souls—as intelligent, contented and prosperous as any like number of people anywhere on God's footstool. One hundred and twenty thousand improved farm 90 per cent of which are operated by owners, are worth $300,000,000, and produce annually ' 855,000,000 worth of live stock and farm products. The numerous domestic animals that constitute her live stock are worth 890,000.000. We use up annually in manufactur­ing, 830,000,000 worth of material, and turn out manufactured products worth 850,000,000. Our railroads, over 3,000 miles in length, receive annually from passengers nearly $5,000,000, and from freight nearly 814,000,000, affording a net earning of nearly 88,000,000.

        Regarding the growth of the west in general, and Nebraska in particular, the Omaha Herald recently said:  The West is the land of youth, of rapid performance, and its development is a constant succession of surprises as vivid as the shifting scenes in a great opera house and as real as the drama of actual life. Future generations inheriting these magnificent estates now in the making will look back upon the apparently prosy and practical developments of every day occurrences as something more thrilling and intensely more real and fascinating than the tales of Aladdin's lamp. The very ground that statesmen, scientists, and even the native hunter and trapper had declared absolutely worthless, commonwealths of remarkable extent, contributing by the hundreds of millions to the annual! wealth of the nation have arisen, and there is no brighter star in the Galaxy than our own great and pros­perous Nebraska. Its population has increased at the rate of 100,000 a year .for fifteen years, and during that time nearly 1,000.000 acres have been added to the cultivated land each year, while stock raising, banking, merchandising and every branch of business has developed with a rapidity never before known in the settling of any country. The statistics of the state show an advance in wealth, business and population of 22 per cent each year in the last live years. If the rate of increase is the same for the next live years, our population will be more than 3,000,000, and values in proportion, so that in 1895 we will be where Illinois is now. 'Corn is king, and hog is heir-apparent to the throne. They are the royal family of the state. They confer prosperity upon the people by the mere act of being eaten and eating. Corn is the metal and hog is the mint; supply the latter with the former and you will have coin in abundance. The state which can produce with facility an article which is ail the time meeting with an increased demand and all the time furnishing a decreased supply, can with mathematical certainty acquire wealth.

        “Corn is king' originated within this state, and is a truism. Corn is the greatest crop of Nebraska, and wherever the cereal is put into competition with, that of other states, it superiority is shown. The latest victory was at the recent exhibit in the corn palace at the exposition at Sioux City, Iowa, where, as usual, Nebraska corn was awarded the prize over all competitors. It is a sure crop, being raised on the same land for twenty years without a failure. Where corn is abundant there you will find hogs and. cattle, and this combi­nation brings wealth to any country. Also, that soil which will produce good corn is adapted to the profitable growth of any other crop. Nearly everything is raised here with profit; wheat, oats, barley, flax, broom-corn, sorghum cane, millet and fruits of every variety; orchards flourish; timothy, clover and blue grass are sure, and timber is started everywhere."

The Kearney Water Power.

        From the Electrical Engineer, December, 1888: The value of the water power at Kearney is evident. The population of the place consumes large quantities of manufactured articles made in eastern mills from raw material grown by themselves. Manufacturing has developed in the coal states east of the Missouri river, but is rendered impracticable by the cost of fuel when steam is the source of power, in Kansas, Nebraska and Dakota. Kearney's location is such that there is every reason to believe that her water power will make her a great milling center.

The New Western City.

        From the Boston Courier, November n, 1888: The ad­vice, "Go West," was addressed to young men. To help pre­pare the way for them, however, a syndicate of New England capitalists has been formed with a capital of three millions, one-third of which is already paid. They intend to assist in the development of Kearney, Nebraska, situated at the junction of the U. P. and C. B. & Q. railroads, and which has recently developed into a lively growing place, having a population of 10,000.

Situation of Kearney.

        Kearney is situated in the center of the fertile Platte Valley, the very garden of the West. Buffalo county embraces 700,000 acres of the best land in Nebraska. The county produced last year over 8,000,000 bushels of corn—20,000 car loads; 3,000,000 bushels of oats—7,500 car loads. There are probably more than 60,000 hogs and 60,000 cattle in this county alone, and yet it is stated that not more than one-fifth of the county ,has been turned by the plow. Kearney is the natural focus of both Platte river valleys. The Wood river, Republican and Loup valleys are also situated so that their western fertility should empty into Kearney's market places, unless unnaturally diverted. In Nebraska alone, west of the Kearney line, there are nearly 40,000,000 acres of land. Only 20 per cent of the acreage of Buffalo county is now under cultivation, and it is perfectly safe to assume that this same percentage, at least, of the entire 40,000,000 acres, would be equally productive. Of course this is no real guide, for fully 80 per cent, of all this land in counties about Kearney would produce as good crops as those now farmed, which are selected as a sample. Cut and reduce as one will, the crops this sec­tion will produce, when railways have intersected it, as now contemplated, cannot help making a stupendous total. Kearney means to handle the bulk of this product. Her active business men see the possibilities. Every foot of ground will be contested for by her buyers and salesmen; manufactures will" increase as fast as there is a surplus of raw materials; the cattle markets will develop and grow naturally, and wholesale houses will multiply fast enough to prevent any of this desir­able trade from going beyond her doors. New ranges will be enclosed, ranches will be turned into farms, and the radical change and development will bring millions of people into this section and the adjoining states of Colorado, Wyoming, Dakota and  Kansas.    But the lines are fixed, and the stakes set by nature are not to be invaded. The mountains, rich in minerals, mark the agricultural boundaries, and beyond them the ranges may increase, but nothing valua­ble in the way of farming lands will be found. Kearney has nothing to fear from any competitor further west, and pro­poses to take care of those to the eastward. Excellent wheat is now grown> as well as millet, flax, rye and barley, The acreage in these will be largely increased by the presence of manufacturing facilities, for which the vast Western market is opened up to Kearney, and the difference in freights alone will allow a good profit to the manufacturer and yet enable him to pay the farmer higher prices for the raw material than he now gets. Where culture in certain lines is not profitable,' it will become so under these circumstances.

Why Kearney Must Become a Railroad Center.

        A careful study of the geography of the country between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains will present the following facts, which to an intelligent mind are proof positive that in a short time Kearney; from its advantage of location routes soon be a great railroad center.

        1st. It is on the main line of the Union Pacific and the most important city between Omaha and Denver.

        2d. It is the crossing point of the Burlington & Missouri railroad in Nebraska, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's system on its way to Wyoming.

        3d. The Missouri Pacific is at Hastings forty miles to the east; it is already built and running trains to Prosser, nearly half the way, and graded to within five miles of Kearney, and will be completed to this point probably within the present year, and soon extended toward Wyoming and the Black Hills.

        4th. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe is at Superior, only seventy miles to the southeast, and since the bonds were voted in the county below, has already built a portion of the way and will cross the B. & M. at Minden, fifteen miles to the south, coming direct to Kearney.

        5th. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific is already at Nelson sixty miles to the southeast, and its officers have signified their intention to continue the line to Kearney or beyond during the coming year,

        6th The Chicago & Northwestern has completed its line to Albion, ninety miles to the northeast, and intends extending the same during the coming year to Kearney, and from thence on: through the southwest portion of the state to Denver, making almost an air line between Minneapolis and Denver.

        7th. The Manitoba railroad is already at Yankton, Da­kota, 170 miles to the northeast, and has secured a charter under the name of "The Yankton & Southwestern R. R. Co.," with a capital of seven millions, to build from Yankton to .Kearney.

        8th. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul is already at Running Water, 150miles 'to the northeast, a short distance west of Yankton, graded towards this point; twenty miles, and has signified its intention of building to Kearney and on to the southwest, at an early day.

        9th. The Illinois Central is now crossing, the Missouri River at Onawa, Iowa, and has Kearney for its objective point.

        10th. The St. Joe & Western is already at Hastings and is graded to within five miles of Kearney, crossing the un­occupied territory of forty miles to the east.

        11th. The Beatrice railroad, a part of the 1.1. & I. system, is already at Crete, at the east, and has signified its intention of continuing its. line to Kearney, which will give, when completed, almost an air line from Kearney east to Jersey City and New York.

        12th. The Wood River branch of the U. P. road is already graded for 80 miles to Milldale, on the northwest, through the Wood River Valley, with Bessemer, in Wyoming Territory, as its terminus.

        13th. The Burlington & Missouri has already surveyed and will soon build a road from Kearney up the Wood River Valley connecting with its northern main line at or near Broken Bow ninety miles to the northwest.

        14th. A charter has already been applied for, for a road from Bismark, Dakota, at the north, to Kearney, tapping the wheat fields of Dakota, and extending south to Salina, Kansas, and from there to Wichita.

        15th. A road has already been projected and some steps taken towards its consummation, from Kearney southwest to Santa Fe. New Mexico, for its terminus, developing the western section of Kansas and bringing the cattle and products of that region and of southern Colorado in direct communication with Kearney.

        A careful study of the railroad problem at this point, tracing out the different lines and their connections in all directions, will elicit the fact that most of the great trunk lines from the east are coming On either side of Lincoln and Omaha, leaving them in an apex and meeting at Kearney, there crossing in every direction and spreading out towards the .Rocky Mountains.

        The geography of the country at this point is such that this is rendered absolutely necessary from the very nature of the situation.

        Kearney is the last city of any importance in central and western Nebraska, and there can never be between this point and Denver, Cheyenne and the Rockies. less than 300 miles to the westward, and any city of importance established.

        This territory must necessarily pay tribute to Kearney, and, lying as it dues, almost in the geographical center of the state, in the center of the hog and corn raising region west of the Missouri River, with a great water power, it becomes at once the natural market for the cattle, hogs, corn, wheat and produce of every variety which is grown between this point and the mountains, and for a radius of a! least 300 miles the north, east and south.

        By the completion of these lines, or a small portion of them even. Kearney is put in direct communication with the wheat fields of Dakota, with the cattle raising section lying between this point and the Rocky Mountains and northern and western Kansas; by two direct lines, the Missouri Pacific and the Atchison. Topeka & Santa Fe with Galveston and sea ports on the Gulf, and by two lines in direct communication with Duluth and lake transportation, and direct routes to all of the large commercial cities in the east, south and west.

        In a prairie country where railroads can be built at a very-small cost per mile there has ever been and ever will be a rivalry among the great railroad systems to extend main lines and branches into any territory that can furnish them freight and passenger traffic.

        With at least eight of the great railroad systems above mentioned all within an average radius of not over forty mites and now built and stopping at unimportant points looking for favorable termini, it is fair to presume that with the business already at Kearney and soon to be greatly increased, most of these lines will be extended to secure their portion of the trade within a short period of lime.

        When it is considered that Nebraska had not a single railroad in operation until the Union Pacific was built under government subsidy in 1864, followed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy in a road from Plattsmouth to Lincoln in 1870, and yet to-day is a network of important railroads, all within the short space of twenty-four years, a faint idea can be formed of the enormous producing capacity of its soil.

        Only fifteen years ago several of the officers of the C. B. & Q. declared that it was ridiculous for their company to build a road further than Lincoln in Nebraska, as it never could be made a paying line. Yet they have to-day in operation over 700 miles in this state alone,

        Nebraska produced last year over 200.000,000 bushels of corn, which, if transported, allowing 400 bushels to a car, would take 500,000  cars,   making a solid  train   2,500 miles long. Add to this the cattle, hogs, grain and other produce to be freighted by the different railroads, and it will be seen that Nebraska to-day is the Mecca toward which all the great trunk lines are centering.

        Nine-tenths of the soil of Nebraska is suitable for culti­vation without the use of a particle of fertilizer, but yet not one-third is to-day in cultivation.

        The railroad centers of the state must profit most largely by the enormous wealth produced by this soil in agriculture, and Kearney by its location is more eligibly situated than any other.

        That she must soon be a great railroad center in Nebraska stands without question. This, with her manufacturing and agricultural advantages, should make her a peer among the great cities of the west.

Nebraska's Climate.

        We do not claim that people who come to Kearney can live forever on "rarified air, and hope." Nebraska is not a paradise and Kearney is not Heaven. Unfortunately the elixir of life has not been found here or elsewhere. In spite of health resorts and physicians' skill, of the thousand diseases that knock for admission as the human citadel, consumption is still king and no pleading of loved ones nor discovery of science can stay the progress of the merciless tyrant. One out of every five of the human family must still be sacrificed to this monster. No race is exempt, no blood untainted. Fortunately, however, there are localities with dry, exhilirating air, where diseases of the respiratory .organs are reduced to a minimum. There has been much said and written about the climate of Nebraska, but it has not been overdrawn nor told too often. If the thousands of invalids in the eastern states who have contracted diseases of a pulmonary nature from exposure to their irregular and constantly changing, damp, and chilly atmosphere, knew of the health   restoring properties of the Colorado and Nebraska climate, these states would soon be turned into a great sanitarium. No one can fully realize the condition of the atmosphere or its invig­orating influences, without having experienced it. A leading physician of Kearney told the writer that in four years' practice he had lost but one patient by consumption. During this time there has been no epidemic whatever, he says, except measles. Children are exempt from summer diseases. Asthmatic and catarrhal patients are always relieved in Kear­ney. There is no malaria here. A sanitarium or health re­sort must possess an exhilarating atmosphere. As a rule, low, damp altitudes are debilitating and enervating. They are more conducive to the propagating and spreading of disease germs, especially epidemics. Kearney is 2136 feet above the sea level and possesses the combined properties of purity, rarity, elasticity and transparency. There are no fogs or mists, so disagreeable and unhealthy in the east. The sun is the great source of vitality and health and it shines in Kearney 300 days in the year. People who come here from the east feel that they have taken a new lease of life and are sensible of a quickened pulse, an increased circulation, and a renewal of energy and vigor. A prominent gentleman from Connecticut; Mr. E. M. Judd, writes: “I went to Kearney to recover my health, an extended stay cured my bronchitis, I became attached by the wonderful climate, and marvelous possibilities," Neither the excessive heat, nor occasional epidemic laden breezes from the south, or the severe blizzards of the country further north reach Kearney, leaving her a neutral position in temperature far more healthful than is usually enjoyed in the same latitudes. The winters are short and not severe; very little snow falls, and although the ther­mometer sometimes has a slight downward tendency around the zero point, the changes are rarely sudden either way.

        Mrs. General Custer, in her recent work entitled "Tenting on the Plains," says of this section: ”It is seldom even damp, and the air is so exhilarating one feels as if they had never breathed a full breath, before. General Sherman said to me, you will find the air of the plains like champagne, and so it .surely was. We felt as we rode on, speaking enthusiastically of the fragrance and purity of the atmosphere, that we were indeed in the land of the free."

        Harpers Magazine for July. 1888, in an article on the “Great American Desert." says: It must be noticed as regards beat and cold there is a great difference between Dakota and Kansas. For instance, this is merely a question of latitude, but take a medium such as southern on central Nebraska and there you will find as near perfect a climate as the United States affords. As between wintering there or in Florida, there is much in favor of the former. Twenty-five days in the month, every month in the year, are to be relied upon ascertain to be lovely. The crisp, frosty air, the clear sunshine in winter, put a life and mettle into one which the soft balmy atmosphere of Florida cannot supply. It follows that such a climate must be remarkably health)."

 The Water Power of Kearney

        The magnificent water power of Kearney is one of the roost important factors on which to base an estimate of the future growth and importance of the city.

       The value of a water power depends largely upon the nature of the source of the supply—whether continuous or unsteady and also upon its nearness 10 points advantageous; for cheap transportation, and its proximity to raw material arid suitable labor.

       It would be well in considering this subject to bear in mind the following important" points regarding the water power at Kearney:

       First- Unlike any other water power it has two sources of supply, one from the main Platte  River,  fed  by  the  North Platte extending into the mountains of Wyoming territory, and the South Platte finding its rise in the mountains of Colorado.

       This river is supplied not only from its source proper, but from the seepage of water formed by the melted snows of the mountains running through the loose sands and gravel over what was originally the bed of this inland sea, at a descent of seven feet to the mile, and mingling eventually with the waters of the Platte.

       There are in reality two Platte rivers, not only the sur­face river a mile wide at this point, which is never dry, but a subterranean river holding a largely increased volume of water running through the loose gravel between the bottom of the present Platte and the old ocean bed, at this point nearly seventy feet deep.

       The water powers of Kearney is furnished by a canal which taps the Platte River 16 miles west of the city, and by this canal the water is brought into the depressions on the bluffs within and near the city limits, forming lakes of large capacity.

       These bluffs are 80 feet higher than the surface of the Platte River, about one mile to the south, and give a direct fall immediately under the bluffs of 65 feet on two turbine wheels, which allows 15 feet fall to the mile in the tail race from the weels to the river.

       Recently some of the best engineers in hydraulics in the United States base demonstrated by practical experiment-, that by sinking a large basin near the river tit the source of the canal, the under current of the water could be reached and the supply obtained wholly from the great perennial .spring which is continually running, about fifteen feet tinder the bottom of the present river.

       This basin is nearly completed and demonstrates beyond peradventure that soon all of the water required for the canal will be supplied from the under stream or subterranean river, This water being naturally filtered is pure, soft and clear,

       With both of these sources at hand, and in fact, with cither, at least 100,000 practical horse power can be secured and so regular as not to vary one cubic foot in volume during every month of the year.

       A study of a few of the water powers of the country elicits the following facts:

       The Connecticut River Water Power Company, at Holyoke_, Massachusetts, has 32,000 horse power—all that the Connecticut River will afford at that point—and all now under lease by seventy manufacturing establishments at; $30 per year per horse power for water alone. The total cost of this water power was 13,500,000, and the gross yearly income from the same is nearly $1,000,000.

       The St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company, at Minneapolis, Minnesota, has 15,000 horsepower, all under lease;

       The Wamisit Water Power Company, of Lowell, Massachusetts, has about 10,600 horse power, most of which is rented.

       The Essex Water Power Company, at Lawrence, Massachusetts, has 11,000 horse power, 10,000 of which is under lease.

       The St. Cloud Water Power Company at St. Cloud, Minnesota, has 3,500 horse power," just completed, and 1,000 horse power is already in use.

       The water powers of this country, especially in the West, are few and valuable. The water power, at Minneapolis, al­though but 15,090 horse power, has been the means of making her the milling center of the northwest, and has aided in increasing the population of the city from 50,000 to 200,000 in eight years, and every horse power of it is to-day in use.

        The water power of Holyoke, Massachusetts, has been the means of making that city the paper making center of the United States, of increasing its population from a few hundred to 35,000 in a short space of time, and that water power is wholly exhausted.

        The Water Power Company has already in operation two turbine wheels, 350 horse power, and this power is used for generating electricity by dynamos for the lighting of the city, and is also transmitted to the various manufacturing estab­lishments through electric motors.

        Raw material of many kinds is abundant, and saving of freight alone in competition with eastern manufacturers would be a handsome profit.

        At no, other point within a radius of 500 miles can a water power of any importance be obtained. Kearney, when its power is utilized by manufacturing industries of all descrip­tions, as it soon will be, must necessarily become a great manufacturing center.

Death Rate of Kearney-One-Half of One Per Cent.

        The strongest commentary on the healthfulness of the city of Kearney and of Buffalo County is the report of the sexton of the Kearney cemetery for the year 1888, made to the city council. The territory covered would include a radius of from fifteen to eighteen miles surrounding the city, and a population of between thirteen and. fourteen thousand. There were buried in this cemetery during the year, 67 persons with ages as follows: Infants under one year, 24; children over 1 year and under 10, 8; over to and under 20, 3; persons over 20 and under 30, 7; over 30 and under 40, 5; over 40 and under 50, 3; over 50 and under 60, 8; over 60 and under 70, 3; over 70 and under .80, 5; over 80 and under 90, 1; total, 67.

        The total deaths, therefore, for the year, show an average of one-half of one per cent to the population, or one to every 200. The percentage over five years of age would be a trifle over one-fourth of one per cent, and over ten years of age, about one-ninth of one per cent This report challenges comparison by any city in the United States, and speaks vol­umes for the healthfulness of Kearney and this section of Ne­braska as a place of residence.

CENTER OF THE CORN BELT.

Reasons Why Kearney Will Become a Great Pork Packing center.

        Thirty years ago Cincinnati was termed "The Porkopolis" of America, for the reason that she was the center at that time of the pork packing industry of all the region then settled around her. Later on Chicago entered the field, wrested the title from her and became the greatest pork packing center of the United States. To-day two-thirds of the pork packing industries of the country are located west of Chicago. This is a plain, statement of facts. The reasons for the migratory tendencies of this important industry are as follows: Thirty years ago Chicago was virtually the western boundary of civilization; corn and hogs, the twin products, were raised only in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and in that immediate region. Later the vast country lying between Chicago and the Missouri river became settled and the states of Iowa, Missouri and western portions of Illinois and Wisconsin became the hog and corn producing states; and Chicago, by reason of her lake transportation and railroad facilities, became necessarily the greater pork packing center to the detriment of Cincinnati. Later still, and up to the present time, the great onward march of settlers following the setting sun reached Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota and the western por­tion of Iowa, and these states have become producers of corn and hogs, and by virtue of their adaptability of soil and climate, now excel any of their sister states and are the center of the corn and hog raising region of the United States.

        Hogs and corn go hand in hand. They are the two great products that constitute half the wealth produced by this sec­tion of the west, and of late years have become the standard by which the thermometer of rise and fall of railroad stocks in the financial centers is read. As a natural sequence of the moving of the corn and hog raising belt farther west, the pork packers have followed. Chicago had reached her 'maximum as a hog market in 1880, when the receipts were 7,059.355. Since that time she has divided her market with Kansas City, Omaha, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Nebraska City and other pointy, and her receipts have steadily declined until in 1887 they were reduced to 5,470,852; and during the eight months following March s, 188$, were only 1,460,000, and will not exceed this year over 4,000,000. It will no doubt be some years before she will lose her pre­eminence as a hog market, but that this must eventually come is certain, and the cities west of the Missouri river will draw from her the elements that have made her great, thereby adding to their own greatness. Sioux City on the east bank of the Missouri river, in Iowa, packed during eight months of last year over 200,000 hogs as against 19,000 in a corres­ponding period the previous year, which demonstrates the growth of this particular industry in that region.

        A study of the following table taken from the Cincinnati Price Current under date of Sept. 26, 1888, demonstrates the fact that the pork packing industry is fast being monopolized by the cities lying nearest and within the great corn belt in the region" of the Missouri river:

                                                                                                                          1888.           1887.   

Chicago........................................................................................................ 1,460,000       1.070,000

Kansas City................................................................................ .................    689.000          944.400

Omaha..........................................................................................................        522,000           502,060

St. Louis......................................................................................................     222,000           262.000

Indianapolis................................................................................................       187,000           220,000

Cincinnati............................................................................................. .....       110,000            123,000

Milwaukee...................................................................................................      146.000            169,000

Cedar Rapids..............................................................................................        130,501             146,022

Cleveland ……………………………………………………………........... 106150             135,350

Sioux City........................................................................................................     207.,200                 19,500

        An estimate of the corn crop made in the Farmers' Review under the date of October 7, gives the total crop of Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, which would embrace this particular section of the west, at 859,268,648 bushels, with an average to the acre in Iowa 41, Missouri 50. Kansas 29, and Nebraska 57, with a general average in the four of 35^ bushels to the acre.    The states lying east of Iowa produce but 600,000,000 bushels and a general average of 36 bushels to the acre.

        It will be seen by this that Nebraska, with her corn crop of over 200,000,000 bushels, and an average of over 57 bushels to the acre (if this report be correct), stands at the head when her acreage is considered, of all the corn producing states in the Union.

        When corn is cheap and plenty the farmer makes it into pork, and as the shipping of hogs on the hoof for any consid­erable distance becomes unprofitable, the reason is; apparent why hog raising and hog packing, from force of circumstances must center in the corn raising belt Omaha, Sioux- City, Kansas City and other pork packing centers have robbed Chicago of a large proportion of this industry because ship­pers could not afford to ship on the hoof through these points to Chicago.  For this same reason they cannot afford to ship through Kearney 200 miles to the nearest pork packing points on the Missouri river. The following from the Beatrice, (Neb.) Express of recent date is apropos:

“The growing importance of South Omaha as a stock market means a great deal to Nebraska farmers and stock raisers. Within the last few days higher prices have been paid for bogs in South Omaha market than at Chicago, and adding this to the saving of freights on the short haul where transporta­tion  used to be paid to Chicago, it will be seen that the saving to Nebraska will be hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on the cattle and hogs sent to market."                       

        The same theories advanced why Kearney must eventually be a large distributing point will apply with" equal force to its pork packing interests. Already she has secured one large pork packing establishment with a capacity of 350 hogs per day, and it will pay Omaha prices for hogs. With the com­pletion of the railroads now building to this point the hog raising region for at least 150 miles surrounding Kearney in every direction will become accessible and tributary to this point. Paying Omaha prices for the product, it follows abso­lutely that Kearney will become the great pork packing center between the Missouri river and the Rocky Mountains, and being in the center of the corn belt of this territory, will never have opposition at the west. Her location, then, is at once vastly superior to any of the pork packing centers west o Chicago, and her importance in this particular branch must soon be vast and permanent.

WHY KEARNEY WILL BECOME A BEEF PACKING CENTER.

        Many of the same theories that apply to the migration of the pork packing industry nearer the point where the product is raised will apply with equal force to the beef packing interests of the west. Chicago, in beef as in hogs, has until recent years monopolized the larger portion of this industry Recently, however, she has found active competitors in Omaha on the west, Witchita on the south, and Kansas City 250 mile to the southwest. The receipts of cattle in the Chicago market during 1866 were 394,007, while in 1887 they were 2,382,008. The receipts of cattle in the Kansas City market in 1871 were 120,827, in 1881 284,863, and in 1887 699,224, while in 1888 they were nearly 1,500,000. These figures demonstrate not only the growth of this important industry, but its growing tendency to leave Chicago and locate nearer to the ranches where the cattle are raired. With cattle as with hogs, it is important that they should be shipped on the hoof the shortest distance possible to the point of slaughter but it is also fully as important that this point shall be within the natural corn producing belt, as corn fed beef is now demanded in eastern markets. It is not feasible to establish the point of slaughter so near the ranches as to be beyond the region where the corn is raised, and all attempts to establish market for grass fed cattle exclusively have therefore proved unprofitable. The regions of cattle raising directly tributary to Kearney, especially at the west and southwest, produce probably as large a number of cattle as any other equal are in the United States.

        The wild winter climate and abundance of nutritious natural grasses render it safe and profitable in many cases to breed cattle on an open ranch without feeding. This belt, by reason of the increasing altitude as we go west, and the snow of the mountains giving cold nights and short seasons, can never be extended beyond the territory lying between Kearney and the base of the mountains.

       Another important factor in the establishment of a successful cattle market is the matter of proper railroad facilities, both for the shipping in of the cattle on the hoof and for the transportation east of the manufactured product. A glance at a railroad map of Kearney will show at once that the important trunk lines crossing at Kearney and diverging in every direction will reach the cattle raising country of Indian Territory, New Mexico, Kansas, Colorado, Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Nebraska, and render them tributary at once to this point. Within this territory it is safe to calculate there are now between seven and ten millions of cattle. Western beef is already taking precedence over all others in the eastern markets, and Omaha beef is even now laid down in New York city at the same prices for freight as on shipments made from Chicago. Owing to superior geographical location and railroad facilities, the time cannot be far distant when Kear­ney will become a great cattle market for buyers from the beef packing centers further east, and a point from which a large majority of the cattle raised in the great ranches at the west and southwest will be slaughtered and shipped in refrig­erating cars direct to eastern markets. Already preparations are being made for the slaughter of beef here, and with this, as with hog packing, one establishment forms the nucleus for many others. Kearney's natural advantages are sufficient at once to make it center for these two important industries.

A Great Distributing Point

        The following reasons will serve to demonstrate at once why Kearney should be a distributing point:

        First, and perhaps the most important, is the fact that it will be the greatest railroad center in Central Nebraska.

        Second, it lies 200 miles west of Omaha, the nearest dis­tributing point of any importance or center of jobbing trade, and her  only  other  competitor, and   that  of much  less importance, is Lincoln, 125 miles to the east.

        At the north there is none nearer than Bismark, Dak., 400 miles away; at the south none nearer than Wichita, 250 miles away; and at the west only Denver and Cheyenne, to compete for the great territory of 300 miles intervening between here and there. What a vast empire is this! 200 miles to the east, 250 miles to the south, 400 miles to the north and 300 miles to the west, all the richest and most productive country that the sun shines upon, and a greater portion of it from force of circumstances must necessarily look to Kearney as a market for its cattle, hogs and agricultural produce and to receive in turn the manufactured articles and supplies which they require. The crossing of all the leading railroads at Kearney that stretch out again to the Rocky Mountains renders it the hub of the wheel whose spokes will reach this territory in every direction and "make it the future market for the farmer and ranchman, the center of pork and beef packing, of manufacturing, and of wholesale and jobbing trade. It is fair to presume that a large part of the territory lying between the base of the Rocky Mountains and Kearney will pay tribute here, as well as half the distance between here and Omaha, and between Bismark on the north, and Wichita on the south.

        Six tenths of all the produce raised in this section to-day is shipped west into the Rockies and beyond.

        Mining and cattle raising are the chief pursuits of all that country to the Pacific slope, the soil being unsuitable for cul­tivation without irrigation, and they must look to the farms of Nebraska for their agricultural produce and to Kearney for a large portion of their manufactured articles. For this we shall receive their cattle, and sheep, their iron, coal, building stone and ores. A peculiar feature and one not commonly known regarding this section is that we have not only a market east but a market west, and all the products of our manufacturing establishments will be taken by the country lying beyond us on the west, and between here and Chicago on the east. The distributing points have been moving west with each decade of years, but the Rocky Mountains make a barrier at which point they must stop, Kearney is the last important stopping point before they are reached, and has every advantage of location, being the nearest point within the corn belt for the shipment and slaughtering of the cattle and hogs, a natural railroad center, and having a water, power for manufacturing that cannot be secured elsewhere in this section of the west.

A COTTON MILL

        To many people it will at first glance seem absurd to claim that cotton spinning at Kearney would not only be feasible, but undoubtedly profitable. “As the crow flies," Kearney is nearer New Orleans, Mobile and Northern Texas than any of the New England cotton milling cities. By railway freight rates she is equally as near or nearer. Ocean and gulf freights deliver cotton from the chief markets of the South to other ocean ports on the Atlantic coast at low rates, but rail freights have to assist in delivering the raw material to the mills of Manchester, Lowell, Chicopee and other of the most important in the country. They still continue to manufacture largely at good profits, notwithstanding the great competition of the newer mills of the South, located in the heart of the cotton belt. The reason of this is partly because of the enormous demand from the West. St. Louis cotton market is practically the same as that of New Orleans in price, as the freight by barges on the Mississippi is only 10 to 15 cents per 100 pounds. Speculation enables purchases in St. Louis frequently if not generally at New Orleans prices. The prices at other supply points are enough lower as a rule to allow for the difference in freights. From St. Louis a rate of 60 cents per 100 pounds is already named, with the assurance of lower prices if necessary, and this without competing roads for present delivery. Suppose that steam power is as cheap or cheaper than water power ordinarily—or in some favored spot where coal is very cheap. At Kearney the power is cheap enough to compete with the cost of power anywhere in the world. The cost of living is so low that New England or southern rates of wages would leave the operatives a larger net result for their labor, therefore wages should be no higher. The climate is far more desirable, so there would be no difficulty in inducing them to move west. The climate generally is better adapted to making certain classes of goods than that of Alabama, Georgia and many other southern states where cotton milling is most extensive. But the chief argument is in the fact that the country west of the Missouri river uses such an enormous quantity of cotton goods and that the freight on manufactured articles over the great distances, 1,500 to 2,000 miles and over 3,000 to the Pacific coast makes a hand­some profit of itself for the manufacturer, The fact that timber is so scarce and cooperage has to be obtained from a distance makes a large local demand for seamless cotton bagging and cotton flour sacks, etc. If Anniston, Ala., mills make and ship cotton goods largely for the Chinese and Japanese markets, using steam power—even with their cheap fuel and cheap cotton, there is no obstacle to making the same class of goods at Kearney, and competing for the trade, con­sidering that 600 miles at least of freightage is saved in reaching the point of export, San Francisco. The $1,000,000 already-subscribed toward the necessary capital for a large cotton mill at Kearney was pledged by experts, thoroughly versed in the whole cotton problem. There is no doubt that more than one such large factory will shortly be in Operation here.

SEWERAGE.

         Good sewerage is in many places difficult to obtain, and many times wholly impossible; not so, however, with Kearney. The city lies on a perfect inclined plane with a fall of fifteen feet to the mile toward the Platte River, and the water from the canal sixty feet above the city can be used for flushing the sewers at any time.

 RAILROADS IN NEBRASKA.

        The first railroad constructed in Nebraska was the Union Pacific, built under government subsidy in 1864. This was followed by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and a road from Plattsmouth to Lincoln in 1870. Since that time the mileage has been rapidly increased, and during the year just closed 196 miles of new railroad were constructed in the state. It stands second in the list of western states in the amount of new mileage, and with the new lines projected to be built during the year 1889, will stand at the head for this year. The following report taken from the State Board of Transportation shows the amount of mileage now in operation" in Nebraska;

        Sioux City & Pacific, 26.95 miles; Elkhorn Valley, 926.57 miles; Chicago. St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, 244.52 miles; Chicago, Kansas & Nebraska, 141.50 miles; Kansas City & Omaha, 193.69 miles; St. Joe & Grand Island, l13.70 miles; Union Pacific, 465.96 miles; Omaha & Republican Valley, 401.92 miles; Burlington & Missouri, 2,115.64 miles; Missouri Pacific, 193 miles; Pacific, 71.21 miles. Total, 4,894.66 miles.

Commercial Business, 1888.

        The value of flour handled in Kearney amounted to over $200,000. The grocery business of the city amounted to over $350,000. In drugs, the business was about p. -0,000, many of the druggists handling paints, oils, glass, glazed sash, etc. In hardware, implements and wagons, the business reached over $400,000. Dry goods sales amounted to about $500,000, many of the stores handling a general line of goods in addition, so that amounts cannot well be separated. The clothing busi­ness and connecting branches traded to the amount of $350,000. In other branches the details are more difficult to obtain. Over $500,000 worth of building materials were handled, including lumber, etc., but excluding stone and brick. The coal business was fully $120,000. The entire business, including cattie, hogs, grain, etc., exported from Kearney, .and exclusive ofthe grain business done by Kearney people   having, business elsewhere,  amounts   to between  $3,500,000   and $7,000,000. There is little doubt that the  entire volume for here will be over $6,000,000. The new enterprises already served will swell the volume, and the general increase in building supplies and staple goods sale will work a wonderful improvement. Out of a total amounting to over 3,000 cars of hard coal: 600 cars of lumber and wood building materials; 69 cars of cattle, 152 of hogs, and 33 of sheep  300 cars of flour were handled, about 20 cars of agricultural implements,  wagons, etc,  and 600 cars of assorted merchandise.

The State Industrial School.

        This institution is located in West Kearney. The grounds, comprising 320 acres were donated to the state by the citizens of Kearney. The buildings are of brick, very tasteful in design, and lighted by electricity throughout. The object of the institution is to teach the boys and girls good, useful trades. There are about 300 boys and girls now in the institution. The school is of a reformatory character, but under its admirable management it has largely lost this characteristic. The boys are trusted and rarely betray confidence. It is a remarkable fact, and one that speaks well for the Kearney climate, that there has never yet been a death at this institution from natural causes. A single death, and that by accident, covers the whole field of vital s t a t i s t i c s among the hundreds of inmates since the f o u n d i n g of the school.

Water Works.

        The City Water Company supply the city by a system of direct pressure. The present capacity is 3,000,000 gallons in twenty-four hours. The lire pressure is from eighty to one hundred pounds to the square inch. There are already over seven miles of mains laid.

Manufacturing Industries That can be Made Profitable at Kearney.

        With an abundance of raw material for a great variety of products, a magnificent water power, and admirable railroad facilities both present and prospective, there are few lines of manufacturing that could not be made profitable here. Below is a list of a few that could be operated with large profit to the investors, and a home market secured for the product. Desirable locations will be donated by the citizens of Kearney to capitalists who will locate any of the industries named below, and favorable arrangements can be made with the Geo. W. Frank Improvement Co. for either electric power or water: A beef packing establishment, pork packing establish­ment, woolen mill, cotton mill, tile factory, paint factory, box factory, soap factory, paper mill, flax seed oil mill, stove works, furniture factory, starch factory, cheese factory, shoe factory, candle factory, creamery, lithographing and book binding establishment, sorghum mill, machinery works, beet sugar factory, broom factory, electric engineering company, oat meal mill, artificial stone factory, plow works, agricultural implement works, chair factory, match factory, carriage factory, pump and wind-mill factory, straw-board factory, glue factory, harness factory, tannery, jobbing and wholesale houses. Of the above there is already secured a beef and pork packing establishment, cracker factory, electrical engi­neering company, creamery, paper mill, woolen mill, machine works and two jobbing houses, and excellent prospects for the the location here of a cotton mill, starch factory, and flax-seed oil mill at an early day. There is, however, abundant power, material and home market for more, and all will be welcome.

Why Kearney will Become a Large Distributing Point.

        To a thoughtful mind a study of the map of the United States west of Chicago will clearly show that the distributing points have followed closely the development of the territory lying between that point and the Rocky Mountains.

        Chicago, west twenty years ago, has now been passed by the great onward march of progress and is considered quite an eastern city by the inhabitants beyond.

        The last quarter of a century has developed as competitors for Chicago's claim as the chief distributing point, Kansas City, St. Joe, Atchison, Topeka, Wichita, Omaha, Lincoln, Sioux City, Yankton, Bismark, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Dubuque, Des Moines, Keokuk, Davenport, Council Bluffs, Nebraska City, and many others. While Chicago has constantly increased in wealth, population and importance, as other cities have grown up around her to the westward she has been compelled to share with them the honor of handling a large proportion of the products raised in the western country. They have necessarily been compelled to pay tribute to her in the past, but the tendency now is to flank her on either side and ship direct to eastern points. It has always been the tendency, and always will be, as the country becomes settled and the soil is made to produce its wealth, for distributing points to be established nearer where the produce is raised, and these points are made largely by increased and proper railroad facilities.

Kearney Gas Company.

        This company was incorporated June 15th, 1886, with a capital of $50,000. The plant consists of a gasometer with a capacity of 35,000 cubic feel of oil gas. The yearly capacity of the plant is about 3,000,000 cubic feet. Over four miles of main are already laid, and two miles more are contracted for the coming spring. The first gas turned on in the city was in October, 1886. The gas supplied by this company gives the best of satisfaction to consumers. The price ranges from $1.75 to $2.50 per thousand, according to the quantity used.

Housekeeping in Kearney.

         The cost of housekeeping in Kearney is unquestionably less than in the east. The list of prices given elsewhere will convince the reader of this fact, and the writer having applied those figures practically to the housekeeping problem knows that there is no mistake about it. Rents are much less than in the vicinity of great cities, and on a par with those in provincial eastern towns. But the terms on which homes may be acquired are so reasonable that few people will care to long occupy rented houses. There are several very beautiful residence additions to the city where lots can be had for a small first payment, and money is loaned to enable the purchaser to build. Experience has shown the writer that the meat bills of a household here are not more than half what they are in the East, and that the grocery bills are smaller upon all items except goods brought necessarily from the sea­board. The total makes a showing very favorable to living in the West.

Living Expenses in Kearney.

        The necessities of life cost less in Kearney than in the east, and in fact most sections of the country. Meats and vegetables of the finest quality are produced in the surrounding country, and are sold at very reasonable prices, We quote the ruling price for some of the leading articles of living:

        Meats.— Round steak 9 cents, rump 8 to 10, sirloin 12^, mutton chops and roasts 121/2, lamb 12, sausage 9, chicken and turkey 10, fresh pork 10, bacon and ham 12 to 15, fresh oysters per quart 25 to 40 cents.

        Groceries,—Potatoes 30 to 50 cents per bushel, butter 15 to 25 cents per lb., lard 10 cents, flour $4.50 to $6.00 per barrel, coffee 25 to 32 cents, sugar 7 to 9 cents.

        The above are the regular retail prices at the city markets and stores for the best quality of goods.    We quote the following advertisement from the Omaha Bee, showing the retail market prices in that city, which is a fair statement of retail prices for most of the cities of Nebraska: "For one half dollar you can buy: 7 lbs. loin steak, 5 lbs. roast of mutton, 8 lbs. rump roast, 7 lbs. rib roast, 5 lbs. leg of mutton, 10 lbs. chuck roast, 7 lbs round steak, 5 lbs. pickled pork. 15 lbs short rib roast, 7 lbs. roast of veal, 5 lbs. Frankfort sau­sage, 5 lbs. roast of veal, 6 lbs pork sausage. West End market, 1425 Saunders Street."

Horses in Kearney

        The west is the land of the saddle horse. In Kearney he is plenty, graceful and cheap. He is also marvelously tough and surefooted, and canters with even stride over the hard roads, across the unbroken prairie, the furrowed field, or up and down the steep sides of ravines, which are here called draws. The eastern man is charmed with the even, tireless gait of the western horse, arid his freedom from the racking trot. One can never look out upon the Kearney streets without seeing the saddle horse moving among the crowd of vehicles, or waiting patiently in front of stores. Good riding ponies can be bought at prices ranging from $25 to $75. These, of course, are not thoroughbreds. They are the horses of the plains, bronchos, mustangs, or Indian ponies. They came from points north and west by carloads and there are four or five corrals in Kearney always more or less full 'of them. During the latter part of February a carload of Indian ponies arrived from Idaho, They were all young, were bought directly of the Indians, and were "squaw-broke," which means that they were taught to guide by the pressure of the rein against the neck. These ponies weigh from 500 to 700 pounds, are excellent for riding, and sold for $20 and upwards. A pair of them would make a good team for driving. Thorough­bred horses are plenty and cheaper than in the East. The cost of keeping horses in Kearney is almost ridiculous. The very best livery stables charge $8 per month for saddle horses, and $10 for a horse and carriage. To keep a horse oneself -costs less than 75 cents per week. Good hay is from $2 to $4 per ton and grain 16 to 20 cents per bushel. The cheapness and excellence of horses, putting them in everybody's reach, is a feature of Kearney life which adds very much to the en­joyment of the army of newcomers.

Taxes and Insurance.

        The basis of taxation in Nebraska is about one-tenth of the actual valuation. This became necessary from the fact that railroads have been enabled to secure the, assessment of their property at a ridiculously low valuation, and individual owners have applied the same principle to their own property In order to equalize the burden. Gauged by eastern standards, taxes in Kearney are about one and one-half per cent.

        The rate of insurance is less in Kearney than in some other cities of the same size in Nebraska, because of the com­paratively good facilities for putting out fire. There are about twenty different insurance agencies, representing nearly one hundred companies.

Kearney Wants

         More jobbing houses.  There are no exclusively wholesale houses in drugs, hardware, or dry goods, and in each of these branches, now is the time to establish a foothold.   Present business would pay beyond a doubt, while the growth in the next five years will be more rapid than at almost any other point in the West.    There is a splendid opening for a first-class crockery house, and in no branch of retail trade is business lax or overdone.    There is no time like the present for securing a location, and before the year is out the growth will have at­tained such proportions that an increase of the  competition :In all lines will prove welcome to the public, and be certain to make business enough for all.    Mechanics and artisans of all classes will find ready employment, especially in the building "trades. Dealers in builders' supplies will find their capacities strained to the. utmost, and there is room for  more.    Blacksmiths, machinists, painters, woodworkers for wagon and implement repairs, roofers, tinners, etc., etc., will find ready employment. Architects, masons, bricklayers and carpenters especially, will be in great demand. There is immediate demand for a first class tailor's establishment and millinery and ladies' furnishing store.

The Brick Industry of Kearney.

         The clay of this vicinity is admirably adapted to the manufacture of the finest merchantable brick, The establishments at present engaged in the industry in the city are as follows: Richard Hibbard, capital $20,000; employs fifty men; yearly product 1,600,000. W, W. Mannix, capital $14,000; employs thirty men; yearly product 3,000,000. Kear­ney Pressed Brick and Terra Cotta Co., capital $60,000; em­ploys twenty men; yearly product 1,600,000. Mr. H. S. Hurley, of Hastings, has recently located his brick works at West Kearney, He will turn out 30,000 brick per day. The present capacity of the brick manufactories of Kearney is not sufficient to supply the demand, and the product is at present sold far ahead of the supply at hand.

National Banks.

         Four National Banks have already been established in Kearney and two more will soon be opened. Kearney National Bank, capital $150,000. First. National Bank, capital $200,000. City National Bank, capital $100,000. Buffalo County National, capital $100,000. The average bank earnings last year were from twenty to twenty-five per cent. There is still a demand for more banks and banking capital.

Secured or Now Building.

          Metcalf Milling & Cracker Co., $50,000; Kearney Paper Manufacturing Co,, $50,000; Crystal Starch Works, $50,000; Electric Railroad Co., $100,000; Kearney Construction Co., $100,000; Citizens' Water Co., $100,000; Western Engineering Co. $100,000; also a woolen mill, machine shop, etc.

Public Schools.

        The educational advantages of Kearney are unsurpassed by any city of its size in the state of Nebraska, noted for the excellence of her public schools, and the completeness of her educational facilities. The public school system of the city is under the superintendence of Prof. T. J. Morey, and under his care has been brought to a high state of excellence. The high school building, an imposing structure, occupies a com­plete square at the junction of 22d, 23d and 24th streets, and 3rd and 4th avenues. Pupils are here instructed in every branch of modern tuition, and fitted for entering the different colleges of the country. The scholarship of the institution is divided into the following grades: Three grammar grades, eight intermediate grades, three mixed grades, and eight primary departments. In addition to the high school, there are located three large brick and three frame buildings in the different wards and school districts of the city. The number of teachers employed in the different buildings and depart­ments is twenty-five. The school census for the year 1888 was 1,798, and is rapidly increasing with the growth of the city. The average total attendance for the last year was over 1,000. The excellent school system and educational advan­tages of Kearney are the pride of her people, and have done much towards attracting as residents a cultured and intelligent class of citizens.

        Two members of the school board are elected annually for three-year terms.

Lodges, Societies and Associations.

        The Secret and Benevolent Societies of Kearney are represented by nineteen different orders, as follows: Mount Hebron Commandery, No. 12, membership 43; A. A. O. N. M. Shrine, Sesostris Temple, 26 members, meets at Lincoln, Neb.; Kearney Chapter, R. A. M,, No. 23, membership 50; Robert Morris Lodge, No. 46, A. F. A. M., membership 120; Lodge of Perfection, A. F. A. M., membership 23;  Astrol Chapter, U. D., order Eastern Star, membership 25; Forman Lodge, No. 12, A. O. U. W., membership 45; Hope Camp, No. 316, M. W. A., membership 84; Kearney Assembly K. of L., membership 86; Gem Lodge, No. 14, K. of P., membership 40; Mona Division, No. 24, U. R. K. of P., membership 30; Canton Excelsior Lodge, No. 3, P. M., I. O. 0. F., member­ship 50; Buffalo Lodge, No. 38, I. O. O. F., membership no; Kearney Encampment, No. 15, I. O. O. F., membership 45; Naomi Rebekah Degree Lodge, No. 12, 1. O. 0. F., membership 35; Victor Lodge, No. 109, I. O. G. T., membership 45; Sedgwick Post, No. 1, G. A. R., membership 60; Young Men's Christian Association; Kearney Branch W. C. T. U., membership 38; Kearney Musical Society, membership 28.

Churches.

        The Churches of Kearney are represented by nine different denominations, all of which have their own buildings, as follows: Congregational., Rev. John Askin, pastor; First Methodist Episcopal, Rev. D. K. Tindall, pastor; United Presbyterian, Rev. J. C. Lynn, pastor; St. Luke's Episcopal, Rev. Dr. R. D. Oliver, D.₍J>., rector; Baptist, Rev. J. D. Pulis, pastor; Christian Church, Rev. J. Shields, pastor; Swedish Evangelical Lutheran, H. D. Freden, pastor; Catholic, Rev. A. M. Horts, pastor; South Kearney Methodist Episcopal, Rev. P. A, Crow, pastor,

Hotels.

        There are several hotels in Kearney, the chief among which is The Midway, only opened one year ago. It is built of brown stone and pressed brick, and would do credit to any city in the East. It is heated throughout with steam, lighted by gas and electricity, and has an elevator. Mr. O. S. Marden, for the past twelve year’s manager of the Ocean View Hotel and proprietor of "The Manisses," Block Island, R. I., is proprietor. C. E. and E. A. Brown are managers. Prices in the various hotels range from $1.50 to $3.50 per day.

Why Kearney Will Become a Second Minneapolis.

        Minneapolis is pre-eminently the milling center of the United States. Its output during the season of 1887 was over 10,000,000 bbls. of flour, and the value of that product at a low valuation was over $50,000,000. A proper answer to the inquiry: What has made Minneapolis the center of the mill­ing industry? would be its superior location, adjacent to the wheat fields of the northwest, railroad shipping facilities, and water power. But its water power is all in use, the volume of water in the Mississippi is steadily diminishing, and most of the mills have been compelled to add steam for use during the summer months, making an increased expenditure to a business which at its best has a small percentage of profit and is dependent for its success largely upon the volume of business done. A serious problem presents itself to the flour kings of that region, where shall we establish a second Minneapolis? It must be near the wheat growing sections which are constantly extending west, and it must be where a suitable water power can be secured, that the manufacture of flour may be made profitable in this time of increased competition and reduced profits.

        In looking over the great wheat growing territory, between Minneapolis and the Rocky Mountains, no spot will be found more suitable to meet these requirements than Kearney. In fact there is no spot but Kearney where a suitable water power can be obtained, which is one great essential, and no spot with equal facilities for the shipment of the grain from the wheat fields to the mills, and the manufactured product to the east and seaports. The water power at Kearney is in a great many respects superior to that at Minneapolis, being continuous throughout the year. There is no necessity for steam power, no danger of Hoods or ice gorges, and it is capable of being extended to almost an unlimited amount of horse power. The section of Nebraska in which it is located is being made, under intelligent cultivation, to produce a quality of wheat which by experts has been pronounced superior to the wheat of the Red River valley. The soil of this section possesses qualities which prevent its being cracked or thrown by the frosts in winter, and reasonable care in sowing makes the growing of winter wheat in this section safe and profitable. Those who have studied the advantages of central and western Nebraska as a wheat growing country are unanimous in their belief that it will soon rival the far north­west in the raising of this valuable cereal, and a glance at the map will show that the wheat fields of the northwest are as nearly adjacent to Kearney as to Minneapolis, and those of Dakota, with the completion of the lines to the north and northeast, more so. It is safe to say that the produce of a large portion of the wheat belt of the northwest can be laid down at the mills of Kearney as cheaply as at Minneapolis, and when manufactured by the enormous water power at this point can be laid down at Boston, New York or any of the shipping points on the Atlantic over present existing lines at a larger profit to the manufacturer, all things considered, than is now possible at Minneapolis.

        Considering her superior location, her railroad  facilities and valuable water power, there is every reason to believe that Kearney will at an early day become a great milling center and a second Minneapolis.    It is difficult to advance reasons why she should not, and every reason apparent why she should.

A City of Homes.

        Unlike many western cities, Kearney is a city of beautiful and tasteful homes. The broad avenues, bordered by trees, and the beautiful lawns and flower gardens of the Midway City, would do credit to New England. The location and climate of Kearney combine to make it a very desirable resi­dence city. The bluffs surround the north side of the city in the shape of an amphitheatre and slope gently toward the city, presenting very attractive views.

Business Houses of Kearney.

        Kearney is one of the most important business points of western Nebraska. Its location makes it the center of trade drawn from a large radius of rich surrounding country, and its streets are ever alive with farmers' teams loaded with produce to be sold or exchanged with the merchants of the city for merchandise and supplies. The business houses at present, with the number of men and amount of capital em­ployed, are as follows:

        Meats and provisions, 6 stores, 22 employees, capital used $25,000.

        Harness and saddlery 3, employ 8, capital $20,000.

        Stoves, hardware and tinware 4, employ 27, capital $35,000.

        Clothing and gents' furnishing goods 5, employ 18, capital $55,000.

        Dry goods 3, employ 13, capital $75,000.

        Dry goods and general notions 5, employ 13, capital $140,000.

        Millinery 5, employ 15, capital $10,000.

        Groceries 10, em­ploy 37, capital $42,000.

        Plumbing and gas fitting 2, employ k), capital $8,000.

        Flour and feed 2, employ 5, capita! $1,000.

        Drugs and sundries 9, employ 18, capital $40,000.

        Boots and shoes 3, employ 8, capital $25,000. 

        Music and musical instruments 2, employ 5, capital $5,000.

        Furniture 2, employ 11, capital $50,000.

        Jewelry 3, employ 6, capital $15,000.

        Books and stationery 2. employ 5, capital $10,000.

        Bakeries 2, employ 7, capital $3,000.

        Tobacco and cigars 3 employ 10, capital $7,000.

        Lumber 5, employ 20, capital $115,000.

        Coal and wood 4, employ 14, capital $40,000.

        Farm implements 5, employ 13, capital $50,000.

        Builders and contractors 4, employ 50, capital $35,000.

        Painters and decorators 3, employ 10, capital $5,000.

        Second-hand and commission 1, employ 1, capital $1,000.

        Fruits "and confectionery 2, employ 5, capital $3,000.

        Bottling works 2, employ 2, capital $1,000.

        Variety stores 2, employ 4, capital $2,000.

        Gun store 1, em­ploy 2, capital $2,000.

        Pumps and wind mills 1, employ 6, capita! $2,000.

        Grain and feed 1, employ 4, capital $55,000.

        News stand r, employ r, capital $500. 

        Broom maker 1, employ 1, capital $200.

        Undertaker 1, employ 3, capital $2,000.

        Wholesale teas and coffees 1, employ 3, capital $10,000.

        Marble works 1, employ 3, capital $1,000.

        Florists 1. employ 5, capital $2,000.

        Nurseries 2, employ 10, capital $5,000.

        Banks 7, employ 35, capital $700,000.

        Total 105 stores, 449 employees, capital used $1,557,700.

       Miscellaneous.— Physicians 18, lawyers 40, dentists 5, loan agencies 5, real estate agents 25, hotels 10, livery stables 12. newspapers 5, restaurants 10, blacksmiths 7, barbers 8, billiard halls 4, saloons 7, photographers 4, laundries 4, insur­ance agents 17.    Total 167.

Kearney Electric Light and Power Company.

        This company, owned and controlled by the George W. Frank Improvement Company, was organized in April, 1887, and their power for the manufacture of electricity is furnished by the water power, also, owned by this company. They have at present in operation twenty-five electric, arc lights in the different streets, hotels, and business houses of the city, which are run during the whole of the night. Their incandescent plant was started in September, 1888, and they have now over twelve hundred incandescent burners in operation, and many additional ones ordered as soon as they can increase their power. They have thirty miles of wire, and four and one-half miles of poles already in place. They also supply many of the manufacturing industries with power, and will furnish the electric street railway plant when completed. To supply their rapidly increasing demand for power and light, it has become necessary to largely increase their plant, and they have now under construction a large three-story building of pressed brick, which will be built at a cost of $15,000, and new water wheels added, which will enable them to supply ail the power and light needed in the city. The company is on a sound financial basis and has been eminently successful from the start.

Rainfall and Snowfall.

        Mr. Nathan Campbell, of Kearney, furnishes the Daily Hub with the following table showing the fall of rain and snow in this county during 1888; also the largest quantity, and the average of each for ten years:

        In making comparisons between the fall of rain and snow, in this portion of Nebraska, and states farther east, or even eastern Nebraska, it should be borne in mind that there is scarcely a portion of the country that can produce vegetation and crops of all kinds with so little fall of rain as Central Nebraska. A crop failure in this section is exceedingly rare, even when frequent in Kansas, Iowa, and the eastern states. Fifteen years ago the only rains here were in May and August, and were not very numerous at that; but during all of this time it has* been proven that Buffalo county is a crop-raiser with the best of them, and for a number of years has been counted the banner agricultural county of the state.

        It has been demonstrated that four inches of rainfall properly distributed is sufficient for good crops. For the last five years the average has been greatly in excess of this figure, and it will be observed that in 1888 the fall was 19 1/2 inches. There is no hard pan here, a fact and an advantage that every farmer in the East will appreciate. The soil holds water well, and even in the driest times the soil will be found moist a few inches below the surface—an indication that there is a surface sheet of water underlying this whole section which is constantly sending its moisture upward. These ex­planations will suffice to show why Nebraska doesn't have to make maximum comparisons with other states where the rain­fall is considerably greater.

The City's Banking Business.

        The reports required by the comptroller of the treasury at Washington from the national banks of Kearney have all been rendered and the showing for our city is very creditable. Besides the business done by the national banks there is a very considerable amount of private banking done by such institutions as the Commercial and Savings bank, and the different loan and trust companies, which from their private character we have no means of correctly estimating. It is-thought however that the amount of city business would foot up over $2,500,000 at the present time at a low estimate The following tables show the business done by our four national banks;

CAPITAL PAID IN.

 City National Bank........................................................................................$  61,200.00

First National Bank...........................................................................................200.000.00  

Buffalo County National Bank..................................................................... 100,000. 00

Kearney National Hunk.................................................................................... 150.000. 00

                                                                                                                              $511,000 00

DEPOSITS.

City National............... ...................................................................................... $ 43,565.45

First National………........... .................... ..........................................................   174,132.23

Buffalo County National..................... ............................................................    186149.19

Kearney National…..................................... .......................... ...................... __. 262,822..49

                                                                                                $666,669.36

ACTUAL BUSINESS.

City National............................................................................................................... $128,911.23

First -National............................................................................................................... 391,628.40

Buffalo County National................................................................................................ 356,871.06

Kearney National………………………………………………………….............. 545,978.83

                                                                                                                                        $ 1,423,389.52

             Few banks anywhere can make a better showing. The next report will give much larger figures/as in a short time there will be two more banks established in the city. Nearly three times as much business has been done as the amount of paid-in capital, and in the case of one bank, its business was nearly five times it capital. In some cases the earnings have been as high as thirty per cent. These figures speak as loudly for the prosperity of our merchants and manufacturers as for the institutions specially refered to.

        Some of the above banks are comparatively new—the City National for example has only been in operation about two months.

Why Kearney Will Be a Large Manufacturing Center.

       New England, up to the close of the war, and even at a later period, enjoyed the reputation of being the- manufacturing section of the United States, and even up to the present time a large portion of the manufactured articles used in the south and west are brought from New England. This is con­trary to all economic principles, and the west and south have fast become manufacturing as well as agricultural sections. Alabama and Georgia have become competitors of the iron industry of Pennsylvania to such an alarming extent that there are to to-day over 100 furnaces out of blast north of Mason and Dixon's line. The south has also established its' cotton mills, compelling the mills of New England to share their trade with them. Michigan has monopolized the furni­ture manufacturing of the country. Indiana and Ohio make the wagons and agricultural implements, Illinois the watches, and nearly every western city east of the Missouri river has become an active competitor of New England in manufactur­ing and supplying in many important branches her home market, A reasonable solution of this is that manufacturing is moving where the raw material is obtained and a home market assured.

          The region west of the Missouri river to the Pacific coast has not yet become a manufacturing section to any extent. Millions of dollars worth of manufactured articles are carried through Nebraska yearly to supply those engaged in mining and cattle raising pursuits in the territory between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast. But this state of affairs cannot be of long duration. Already manufactories are springing up west of the Missouri river, and becoming claimants for this trade, and competitors to those farther east. It is natural for manufacturing industries to center at some advantageous point. While nearly every city and town of any importance in New England has some manufacturing enterprises, there are few that are manufacturing centers. This because of some advan­tage these particular cities or towns possess over others. For this same reason it is fair to presume that manufacturing west of the Missouri river must center at Kearney. Not con­sidering her advantage of location geographically, her rail­road facilities, and abundance of cheap raw material, her water power is of itself a sufficient advantage over any other city in this" whole territory, and one which no other possesses or can possess. Already, several important industries, realiz­ing the advantage of our very superior water power, have located here, and several from surrounding cities are prepar­ing to avail themselves of its advantages. Take for illustration the manufacture of paper. With the exception of some few mills engaged in the manufacture of straw board and cheaper grades of paper, nearly all that is used between Pennsylvania and the Pacific ocean is shipped from the East and largely from Holyoke, Mass.; while millions of tons of finest amber straw, (lax straw and other paper material is burnt in this section annually. All the material for cheap grades of paper is immediately at hand. The rags for the finer grades are shipped from the cities surrounding us 1,700 miles to the east to be manufactured into paper and sold to us again with the freights both ways and the profits added.    We have the same pure, soft water and water power that has made the manufacturing of paper profitable at Holyoke, and the time, is not far distant when Kearney will be the center of paper making in the west as Holyoke is in the east. The manufacture of cotton and woolen goods, of starch, oat meal and all grain products and manufactured goods of all descriptions can be made profitable at Kearney, and more profitable here than at any other point within a radius of 500 miles. With the saving of raw material in many lines and freights in others, and a great region lying beyond us on the west to supply, and with equal advantages for the territory on the east, and the advantage of unlimited water power and railroad facilities, there is no good reason why Kearney should not become a great manufacturing city of the west.

        The admirable railroad facilities, present and prospective, previously mentioned, render it possible to make Kearney first, a leading market for cattle, hogs, grain and produce; second, a great milling center; third, a great manufacturing center; fourth, a great distributing center, handling the live stock, the grain and the produce from all the magnificent territory immediately surrounding and the distant territory rendered tributary by proper railroad facilities, and from here shipping it either in bulk to other points or as manufactured products direct to the markets of the world.     

Opportunities for Young Men.

        Probably there is no better place in the United States for pushing, energetic young men, than Kearney, and now is the time to come. Almost every day brings new additions to the ranks of our young men, and they are very seldom here a week without employment. The youngest architect in the city said to the writer recently: "Although in the middle of winter, I am now working six men in my office and must have two more at once, as 1 now have over a quarter of a million dollars of contracts ahead.

A Second Minneapolis.

        From the New York Morning Journal, October 19: It was just ten years ago when Minneapolis first demanded the attention of the eastern public, and its history since has been simply unparalleled. Up to a few short months, Kearney,, Neb., was hardly known beyond the spheres of railroad maps,, and even to-day an intelligent traveling public passing it on the cars is apt to class it on par with hundreds of other frontier towns, dependent on corn and cattle for its existence; but the man who will stop over at this point and investi­gate the improvements of Kearney, will bear out the state­ment that the name of this city will in the next five years be as well known throughout the nation as Lowell in Massachusetts or the more modern Minneapolis. The conditions for an extremely healthy and substantial growth at this muck favored point are simply perfect, and the effect must neces­sarily follow the cause.

Corporations Now Existing.

        Kearney Brick Company, capital $60,000; Kearney Canning and Pickling Co., capital $25,000; Hecht Beef and Pork Packing Co., capital $100,000; Kearney Milling and Elevator Co., capital $100,000; Kearney Iron" Foundry,, capital $10,000; Kearney Planing Mill, capital $10,000; Hibbard Brick Co,, capital $20,000; Mannix Brick Co., capital $15,000; Hub Printing Co., capital $10,000; Kearney Gas-Co., capital $50,000; Kearney Water Works, capital $50,000;, Kearney 'Canal and Water Power Co., capital $100,000;. Kearney Electric Co., capital $250,000; Kearney Horse R. R. Co., capital $50,000; Geo. W. Frank Improvement Co., cap­ital $3,000,000; Kearney Land and Investment Co., capital $100,000; Midway Land Co., capital $300,000; Hancock Land and Improvement Co., capital $500,000; West Kearney Im­provement Co., capital $1,000,000; Gothenburg Improvement Co., capital $1,000,000.

A Great Showing for 1888.

        The year 1888 has been one of very rapid, yet substantial growth. The following improvements   have been accom­plished:

        The introduction and utilization of the water power from the Kearney canal.

        The organization of the Geo. W. Frank Improvement Company, with a capital of $3,000,000.

        Organization of the Mutual Loan and Investment Com­pany, capital $250,000; $90,000 paid up.

        The establishing of an electric plant which furnishes light to the city and transmits power to the various manufacturing industries already established.

        Completion of the Kearney brick works for the manufacture of pressed and other brick with an output of 70,000 per day.

        Contract for a court house to cost not less than $60,000.

        Contract for a new city hall to cost not less than $25,000.

        Establishment of an evening daily paper in addition to morning paper already established.

       The erection of over seven hundred new buildings comprising business blocks and substantial and ornamental residences.

       The erection and completion of a packinghouse, the plant costing $50,000, with a capacity of 350 hogs and 100 beeves per day,

        Building and completion of a canning, pickling and preserving factory with a capacity of 30,000 cans per day.

        The laying out and improvement of two important additions to the city, Kenwood by the Kearney Land & Investment Company, and Last Lawn by the Midway Land Company.

        The completion and opening of the the Midway hotel, costing $75,000. the finest hotel of its size in Nebraska.

        The establishing of a wholesale grocery house.

Dawn of a Greater Year.

        The year 1889 promises great things for Kearney. Already the organization of the Kearney Electric Railway Company has been completed, which will be standard gauge throughout the city and equipped with Pullman cars, all in the best and most substantial manner.

        The establishing of a morning daily newspaper, the Kearney Enterprise, having both the United and Associated Press franchises.

        The laying out of West Kearney, a manufacturing suburb.

        The increase of the Electric Light and Power plant.

        The establishing of the Western Engineering Company for the building and furnishing of electrical plants.

        Location of a paper mill with a capacity of twelve tons per day.

        Location of the Crystal Springs woolen mill.

        Location of the Metcalf cracker factory.

        Location of the Galvanized lion and Cornice Company,

        Contract made for the West Kearney depot building.

        New power house of the Geo. W, Frank Improvement Co.

        Increasing the capacity of the brick works to 100,000 brick per day.

        Second wholesale grocery house located.

        Opening of the City National Bank with a capital of $100,000. Increase of capital stock of First National Bank from $50,000 to $200,000. Increase of capital of Kearney National Bank from $100,000 to $150,000.

        The City National Bank has contracted for a handsome new structure.

        Appropriation of $75,000 by the state for the embellishent of the State Industrial School grounds.

        Kearney Land and Investment Company—Thirty-seven new residences have been contracted for by purchasers in Kenwood, this company’s addition, none of which are to cost less than $2,000.

        Midway Land Company—Buyers of land from this company have contracted to build twenty houses, ranging in cost from $2,000 to $5,000, in East Lawn.

        West Kearney Improvement Company—Improvements in this new suburb to the amount of $100,000 will be made.

        Applications already made for thirty houses and business buildings, costing from $2,000 to $5,000.

        Establishment of the Midway Loan and Trust Company with-a capital of $100,000.

        In contemplation and probable—A cotton mill to employ 500 operatives and to cost at least $500,000; a national bank with a capital of $500,000; a corn starch factory with a capi­tal of $250,000; a Y. M. C. A. building; a" club house; an opera house with complete equipment; large addition to the Midway hotel; a new Masonic Temple; establishment of the Midway Dairy, West Kearney Hotel, Bakery, etc., etc.

Fire Department.

        The fire department of Kearney is considered as good, if not better, than that of any city of its size west of the Missouri River. Under the direct pressure system of water works, no engines are required, and the department consists of one hose company and one hook and ladder company. The complete department own about 2,000 feet of hose, and the membership is about one hundred men.

Chamber of Commerce.

         The foregoing description of Kearney's advantages as a place of business and residence has been carefully prepared under the auspices of the Kearney Chamber of Commerce. The officers are energetic  pushing men of the day, tit: for any emergency, and with unbounded confidence in Kearney's fu­ture greatness. Every project for the development of a new feature in Kearney's onward progress is taken up with energy and systematically pushed to success. Parties desiring to investigate the specific advantages and inducements offered by Kearney in any line, may obtain all necessary information in detail. The secretary or any of the following committees will cheerfully undertake to enlist the interest of Kearney capitalists and investors in behalf of any worthy manufacturing in­dustry presented:

For full information and further printed matter, etc., address,

K.O.Holmes,

                                                                                                                                                                                         Secretary Kearney Chamber of Commerce.

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