Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, June 3, 1888, Page 15

KEARNEY, NEBRASKA HER RAPID STRIDES FOR COM. MERCIAL IMPORTANCE, Fact Becoming the Manufacturing City of the West. The Great Canal. WONDERFUL INDUCEMENTS TO RICH AND POOR ALIKE, Fine Homes, Magnificent Water Pow- er for the Manufacturer—Beauti- ful Lakes, Parke, Ete,, Ete, Fora young city, only fifteen years old, Kearn growth must be con- sidered phenomenal, yet not o surpris- in when consideration is given the faot that she possesses many very great advantages over other cities in the west whichaccounts for her steadily ineres ing population. Kearney is the county seat of Buffalo Connty, witha population of over Bight Thousand, and at the pres- ent rate of increase, will have at least Ten Thousand inhabitants by January 1t,5 next. Raliway Facllities, Kearney is located upon the main line of the Union Pacific Railway, 200 miles west of Omaha, Nel the Burlington and Missouri River Rail- way, which is a part of the great Chicago, Burlington and Quincy system. The Missour tilway Co., are now within miles of Kearney,und are pushing forward as vapidly as possible for this place. This rond will furnish di communication with Kansas City, St. Louis, St. Joseph and all other points in the South and Southwest reached by this extensive railway system and its connections. By this rond the seaport of Gulveston, Texas, will be 600 miles nearer to Kearney than any of the prominent shipping points on the At- lantic coast, a saving in railway transit of greut advantage in the shipments of manufactured articles and food suppli The Yankton and Southwestern Rail- way Compuny, with a capital of $7,000,000 has heen organized to build from Yank- ton, Dakota, to Kearney. Thisroad will furnish direct communication with St, Paul, Minneapolis, Duluth, and the lum- ber regions and wheat ficlds of the Northwest. The Union Pacific Com- pany is constructing a road from Kear- ney to the Bla Hills, ninety miles of which are graded, and the Burhington and Missouri River Company is prepar- ing to build from Kearney into Central Wyoming. These two extensions will open up a territory, said by experienced geologists to be richer in timber, conl and valuable mineral deposits than any other known section of our country. The Rock Island, the Northwestern, and the Illinois Central Railways ave building rapidly toward this city, and in the near future Kearney will be arailroad as well as a manufacturing center. Climatie tages. is 2136 feet, nd nig Ady ahts, even in midsumme reshingly cool. Lung diseases and throat affectionsare almost unknown. The lakes adjoining the city furnish bonting, fishing and shooting in great varicty to the sportsmen, while the wide and beautifnl graded avenues, and the very best roads, make walking and driving a pleasant and healthful recreation. Tourists en route for the Rockey Mountains will find Kearney an excellent point to visit for a few weeks, and become acclimated before entering the higher altitudes of the country West of us. Buffalo county is a fine blue grass country, and the breeding and raising of blooded stock of all kinasis oneof the most profitable and successful industr of this scction, and is quite extensiv engaged in throughout the county. Commercial The location of Kearney between Omaba and Denver, and the facilities afforded by its numerous railvoad con- nections, muke this young city the nat- ural distributing point for a large and rapidly developing section, The Platte, the Wood, and the Loup rivers flow through the country from west to e and both valley and prairie land rank with the most fertile agricultural por- OVERFLOW OF CANAL, tions of our country. In every respect Kearney has elements of growth which equal those of the best of the new towns the west, while in one particular, I8 GREAT WATER POWER, it has an advan- tage which will place it in the front rank. The development and utilization of all the power which is available will result in building up a eity of tens of thousands of people, make Kearney the manufacturing (‘,cn'r'r of many States and Territories, and give «‘mnin_\'mn-nt to the thousands of surplus labor now burdening our eastern cities, who can here obtain nice homes upon terms and live comfortably the rema; der of their lives. The accompanying views will readily convince the reader that Kearney is surrounded by a series of most interest- i v, mot to be outdone in any gree by the and resorts of the Northern or Fastern lakes and waterving places; her fine broad driveway and gravel walks around the lake and throughout the city are features not to be found to such an‘extent in any city in the west. scenc Canal and Water Powe The Kearney Canal and Water Supply Company has completed thecanal which taps the Platte river sixteen miles west of the city, and is now prepared to lense permanent power direct from the al. Vietor turbine wheels have also been set 200 feet from the canal, to which the water is conducted from the forebay througn a fifty-four inch iron pipe, with a divect fall o1 sixty feet, and, when preferred, power will bo leased direct from the line shaft. Ar- rangements will be at once perfected for the transmission of power through elec- trical motors to all parts of the city. Power can be furnished in this way ? any desired quantity, from one-half e power upwards, and at reasonable larging the canal. The Platte river is over one mile in width where the water is taken from it, and the supply is | tically inexhaustible for manufacturing purpo The river ) springs und melted snows of the Rock, Mountains, furnishing pur a feature of snecial advantag kinds of manufacturs The work of en- larging the canal will be continued until the capacity shall reach ten thous- and horse powor”or more, if | The dynamos of t Light and Power Compan by water power. lxten the manufacture of pressed b cotta ware, tile, ete., and for the cutting and dressing of stone for buildings and ornamental purposes, are being evected, and will receive their motive power from the same source. General Manufacturing Induce- ments, Kearney offers to manufacturers the following general inducements: A cen- tral location in a territory affording a large and rapidly increasing market for the sale of m: nuLul\u d article excelled railw: 5 churches, schools, mul all the imp ments of modern civilization where em- ployers and emplo an build cheap and pleasant homes in the midst of a community of cultured people, and a permanent, cheap motive power by which the cost of production 1s reduced to the very lowest figur abling the manufa v compete with Eastern factories for the Western trade, In addition to these general advan- tages there arve special inducements for the establishment of certain lines of KEARNEY, H_SCHOOL BB manufactorics, among which mentioned the following: STARCH, OAT MEAL, ETC. This section of the West produces corn, wheat, oats, barley and flax of sup- erior quality, and in large quantities, warranting the immediate establish ment of mills and factories for the pro- duction of flour, starch, oat meal, hom- my, linseed oil, erackers, ete. PAPER AND PULP MILLS. All the straws needed in the manuinct- ure of paper, and straw pulp are grown in the immediate vicinity of Kearnoy in enormous quantities. ~ The cost for manufacturing purposes would be nom- inal, as thousands of tons of such mater- ials are burned annually in Bufinlo County, The water supply by the Platte river is pure and soft. With the ‘ption of one mill in Missouri, one in , one in Colorado, and two in a.this industry is unrepresented south of lowa and west of Towa and Min- nesota, an immense tervitory, increas- ing most rapidly in population. BROOM FACTOR Adjoining Bullal (ouuu are the Counties of Kearney and )’h('l]l- noted for producing broom corn in large quan- tities, the quality of which is unsur- passed, having taken first premi wherever exhibited. This super arises from the peculiar composition of the soil, and climatic conditions which may be LDING . city of Kearney, and indications of en- terprise on the part of her citizens we would eall attention to the recent con- struction of the magnificent **Hotel Mid- way,” ereeted in 1887, by J. L. Keelk, at 2 cost of over § SMidway” s second to none ern coun- try, having been constructed npon the latest designs of modern Architecture with a capacity of about 100 rooms, all modern conveniences and conducted by Thomas C. Brainard, who has s d a life-time in the hotel business, is known far and near for his hospitality and pop- ularity among the traveling pul)hc Eteetrie Lights, Kearney has an electrie light plant which furnish arc lights for the use of the city, and is now placing an incandescent light vlant of the Edison system which will furnish 1,000 lights, and in addition power from the canal will be transferred by means of electric- ity to all parts of the citv. and the sew- ing machine of the housewite, the roller mills, the elevators, the plamng mills and everything requiring motive power can be furnished by this at $20 per annum, and when this is compared with steam power at $100 per annum, the great advantages of the former are at once apparent. LAKE KEARNEY AND CITY OF KEARNEY, NEBRASKA ly aid in properly curing the corn. cellent facilities exist for the distribution of the manufactured article. CANNING FACTORLES. No place in the West can offe ior inducements for the establ of canning factories. The soil i ially adapted to the prolific growth of all nes ary supplies. A strip of extreme- ly fertilé land, sixteen miles in length, and averaging over two miles in widt lying between the canal and the Platte viver, is susceptible of cheap und com- plete irrigation from the canal, thus as- suring, no matter what the season, a per- fect oxemption from failure in either quality or quantity. ~While this portion of Nebraska is peculiarly exempt from seasons of extreme wet or drought.there not having been a failure of crops in years. yot the advantages of irrigation, in adding to the quality, and in wsing the product of certain ‘small fruits used canning, are too well known to be denied, super- hment espec- The Ml(lwn) Among otheratteactive featuves of the NEBRASKA, Kearney's Manufactories. ROLLER MILL. The Kearney Milling and Elevator Company’s voller mills ave the largest and most complete of any in the west. They have a capacity of 200 barvels of flour and 50 barrels of meal per day, and ship 1000 earloads of grain per annum. The product of this mill has heen shipped to Amsterdam and Australia ith satisfactory returns to hoth manu- facturer and pirchaser. The elevator of this company handles nearly all the product of this section 1d hias aostor- age capacity of over 100,000 bushels of grain, thl' *Pent -!ll the “Acme 1 J Ik machine .mll dry pressed brick n 000 plant, fifty horse-w. power with a ¢ sty Of 50,000 stoc and 12,000 dry pressed brick dail They also manufacture hollow b cotta lumber, paving br ~hmul Ihhhm-nl brick manufacturer, uses v,hv Grand Automatic br ma- chine, of Cincinnati, capacity 30,000 su- brick daily; does good work. almost the entive product of this factory at $8.50 to $10 pev thou W. W. Mannix, contractor, tures a fine building brick; or output, 20,000 daily. This facto ships to the outside trade,in carload lots, the bulk of its product. he Kenrney Planing. Faclory, gapital, $20,000; capacity $100.- 000 during season, Running on full order and enlarging their works to meet tuture demands. FOUNDRY, Kearney .has a fine foundry and machine worls.established in 1887, by Ketehum & Kuhn Bros., capital, $10,000. They are prepared to do all kinds of work, and are overrun with orders. ICE COMPANY. The Nebraska Ice Com ney with a capitalization ol a storage capacity of 50,000 tons, control the Ice business of Western Nebraska. They shipped over 4,000 tons pure lake ice last season and declared a handsome dividend. LUMDER YARDS. C. R. Ford & Son, are the oldest lumber dealers in the city of Kearney and carry a full line and assortment of all building material. They make a specialty of good grades and low prices The Kearney Lumber company, H. H. Secly, Manager. has a capital of $20,000 and about 1,000,000 feet in stock. The Bogue & Sherwood Co. invested capital, #50.000; number of feet lumber in stock, about 2.000.000. F. H. Gilerest & Co.. Lumbermen, es- tablished in Kearney in 1884, now have an investment of #40.000 with 1,500,000 feet in stock. LAUNDRIES, ‘Diamond Steam Laundry,’ Kanatsher, proprietors, ~Cap cay ¥y $200 per week running orders and have about 12 em- of Kear- The * ley & 21,0003 on full ployees. The Davis Steam Laundry™ has acap- acity of $150 per week: 0 nvested and gives employment to 10 persons, National Banks. National Bank. President; W. C. The “Kearncy J. Bartlett., son. Cushier. Capital $100,000: Surplus and undivided profits, $42,000. The *‘First National Bank Lew Robertson, President, F. Y. Robert- son, Cashier. Capital $100,000: Surplus, $20,000. The “Buffalo County National Bank”— Ross Gamble,” President; A. J. mble, Cashier, Capital #100,000; Surplus, $43,000, The “Kearney Commercial and Savings Baunk.—Leroy Robortson, President and Cashic Capital 360,000, Churches. Presbyterian — Pastor, Rev. Kerr. Methodist— dall. Congregational—Pastor, 2 I ill- wstor, Rev. D. K. Tin- Rev. John in. Baptist—Pastor, Rev. Mr Pullis. Episcopal—Pastor, Rev. Dr. R, W. Olive Christian — Pastor, Rev. Joseph Shields. Evangelical Lutheran — Rev. K. J. Staner, Scandinavian—Rev. New Catholi The Baptists and Catholic v is well supplied with Schools. hool building of which a E ai 1 is afine three story structure cost gives employ t0 12 teachers and has an enrolln about 1,055 pupils, There are also two ward school building which cost $15,000 each L a third bei B is son. From these schoolsschol admitted to the state university upon diplomas. Court House. The work on the new Court house is being pushed forward rapidly, when completed it will be a model structure and the pride of Buffalo county. The walls are now up to second stor done the building alone will have cost about $75,000, Kearney now has about five miles of t railway will extend the nt system at least two miles west irom the court house to the canal and factories this seas i unged to run the notor from water power as soon as prac- ticable. Newspapers, Kearn well supplied with news- papers, hiwving four weeklies ood live daily which hasan exe field for an immense circulation, Opera House, Arrangements have been nmn.,,mvvu_!_\“',‘ 'RESIDENCE OF F, ¥, ROPFICT-0N HANKE within the past ten days by which Kearney is to have a new opera house, to be constructed immedintely, with & seating capacity equal to “Tho Boyd," in Omaha, and with all the stage and scenic conveniences of our modern theate It will cost not less than 250,000, Kearney's future is assured. She needs no boom; she is beyond that point where there can be any retarding of her progress, The state reform school is located at this place upon a beautiful plateau about a mile from the city, sur- rounded by 820 acres of fine land donated the state for the institution by the city of Kearney. The institution consists six or seven large two-story brick build- ings of modern architoctural designs in which they have the ] instruction, dormitories, shops, laundry and electric light engines. There are at present about two hundred pupils—boys and girls—at this institu- tion, and it is a great eredit to the city of Kearney, as well as the state. The climate and =0I| at Kearney are both most exeollent for fruit growing the plim, poach, pear, cherries, grapes, strawber ourrants, raspbor- b grow in abundance in this hu‘\ln\ The citizens of Kearney deserve credit for their energy and deter tion to keep down the prices on r tate so that the poor as well as tho r can afford to settle there and build their own homes. Certainly nothing can be me commendable this, it shows enterprise in the right direction the fictitious va ns and spect prices together with indiserote ¢ tinuous misrepresentation of facts that brings about a BOOM which is sure to be followed by disastrous results and per- haps the natural growth of a small town or city Iyzed to such an extent that recovery mpossible. Tho s IMEIR and the mxnu«u find no encouragement in Kearney. Her future prosperity is abundantly secured in her great natural resources and sufliciently husbanded in her sagacious enterprising citizens and business men to w nt a conser ulnl' prediction, that Kearney will be a c of 25,000 population in five ye um. The writer desires to thank Mr. G. W. I'rank and others of Kearney, (m- data furnished and to add that persons wish- ing information in regard to Kearney her resources by writing Mr. i i eceive prompt at- tention and reliable information. S A Negro Boy's Dollar. One of the best jokes of the s current in the Gale City bank building, says the Duluth ribune. All the | 3 are laughing about it. 'l'hu tims are Mr. Frank Walker, John B. Re and a uegro boy whose name is .| Johnson. A few days ago this boy was on a trash pile, and was en running his toes through the debris. noticed something bright in the pile, and when he picked it up found it to ho small yellow coin. At first he thought it was copper, but as he fin- gered it his native sense told him it was too heavy for copper, so he at odee con- jectured that it was made of gold. He had some business with Mr. Walker, id while in his oftice showed him the picee of money. He asked the lawyer how much he would give him for it. Woolfolk’s attorney, after eycing it closely, thought it was a gold dollar, i ag he was particularly *tsuch acoin to wear on h chain, he offered the boy a dollar for it, which he gleefully accepted. Mr. Wall gave the coin examination and became that he had paid too much for it. was in Colonel Redwine’s oftice, and took the coin and exhibited it to the great finaneier “What will you give me (m it?? b 1. “I'll give you a SAnd Ul grive i upted 2 in to renew anot exclaimed Mr. Walker. s yon money,” was the quick an- with his he had convinced He 1 “and the Inwyer d barguin. ol to 0 man that huys coins, v exhibited the piece. The v serutinized it closcly and said: What will you take for it?” **What After a little consider- D UWIll you take was: “No, but “IUs o go; here' ud the happy man walked coin. thought oin which figured in these trans- actions is a eonfed gold dollar. A gentleman was tall yesterday to a reporter and he said: sold man of the four was he who sold the coin for $30. If it be true that it is resented, a genuine confedc it is worth 50. Iam told that there only six of these coins in existence. They are worth $650. —— Tn a Russian Prisc A Russian army ofticer who was con- demned to " for an assault committed in o moment of excitement, and who was pardoned by the ezar after several years’ detention describes the Opega prison, where confined, as follows: “For smoking and minor offenses of that sort, a prisoner could be made to kneel fortwo hours on the bare. frozen The next punishme nl, for the same minor offense was the black hole— the ‘krazer’—the arm one and the cold one, underground prison- ers slept on the stones, and the term of ILII' ided on the will of were kept there which they were into daylight and land where pain During the four the age 0 per cent thought that kind he was , after literally drag then dismissed to the and sutfering are not. s of my confinement ity in the prison per annum. [t must not m whom penalties of this inflicted w havdened dospe does, We ineu 1 them if w morsel of bread from dinner supper, ov if a mateh was found on prisoner, The desperate characters were treated aff another fashion. One, for instance, was kept for nine months in solitary conlinement in one of the dar and came out blind and insane, In the evening the director went his rounds, and usually began his ite occupation—floggii row beneh was brought the place resoundea with the director lookea lashes, sm: vods were of exception and not in they were kept imine water, 50 4s to make them more pli After the tenth lash the shricking and nothing was heard but Flogging was usually applied in batches, to five, ten men or more and when the torture was over a great pool of blood would n to mark the spot. After every such scene we had two or thiree days of compurative peace; The Hogging had a soothing influence on the director’s 3001, how , he would f ngain, u he was di drooping , or when went out shootin hom an ompty bag § that the evening the rod v i counted th The hirch on a | siz thie ‘best G-0ent Meyer & Co., w | throat v PETRIFIED HUMAY BODIES. A Woman Statue With an Angel's Face. SOLDIERS TURNED TO STONE, The Works of Nature at Kearney, Neb.- Strange Freaks and Happenings—A Startling Recital of Facts, Potrification, Kearxey, Neb,, May 81, 1588, —~[Specal to SUspy Bee |- Before presenting read- ers of Tre Ber with the truly authentio ao- count of the bodies that were found petri- fled at Fort Kearney. Neb., I will pass in rapid review some of the different localities of this country abounding in petrifactions, and cnumerato the species of matter gen erally found in this marvelous condition, From the obscrvations of scientists and from the accounts of reputable persons who have traveled much in this country, I' have learned that there are many places which abount to a greater oxtent in petrifactions pbraska, but, on the other hand, no place presents to our notice such wonderful marvelous and scarcely credible instaticesof this change of the nature and very sub- stance of things as our own u{’w In cortain parts of New Mexico there have been found great quantitios of petritied wood. the grain being plainly visible, In the na- tional museum at Washington, 1. _C., tiere 15 on exhibition, & specimen from New Mox- ico, consisting of two angular picces of petri- fied wood with lava between them, perfectly resombling a slice of chocolate cake. There huve boen found fish, wood, birds and rabbits in & petritied state. In Montana and Wyoming the same things have been dis- covered. In the Yellowstone park, Wyoming, there is a tree stump two feeteight inches high turned into solid rock. ~Tn the state of 1a few miles from Macon, there was. scovered something resembling a human body, supposed to ¢ been petrified. But after' it was analyzed the constitucnts were proven to be of exe shells, calcium, soft ashes and other substances of a deeelving nature. Now let us return to Nebraska. The first two instances eite, are authenticated by reliable eye-witnesses, and men of ropute, who will willingly” cor roborate every statement in rogard o this matter. Fort Kearney, situated south of the central part of the state, forms the scene,and the time dates from 1870 to 1874, In 1870 there were stationed at Fort Koarney sev- companies of the Second dragoons. There was employed by the government a man by the name of Thomas P Ga ey, who meraly been a soldier, and whou dis- was & sorgeant of Company K, Sec- ond dragoons. On the 11th of January, 1870, Gaffney died, the result of a severe attack of billious fever. On the 13th of the same th he was buried in the government cém- consisted of a fow lots, set apa:$, by the military authorities for that purpose. In the spring the condition of these lots was swampy, due lo the higher elovation of the adjoining land. In November, 1871, there also interred in the same burying ground a man by the name of George Gates, a-privata company Ninth regiment. Gates was a soldier at the time of his death, and when re- turning from Hastings was caught in a storm and severely frozen. He was accidentally found and tiken to the garrison,but only iived for a few days after his arrival. In June, 1878, the bodies of the men buried in the Fort Kearney cometery were exhumed by military orders, and _were to be transferred to the buarying grounds at Fort MeP’herson. When the'body of Thomas P. Gaffney was lifted from the grove it was discovered that the body sidly turning into stone, unmis- takable stone of a dark gray color. The fleshy part of his~ body was not of so hard a substance, but was unidoubtedly of a coarse and nd the unmistak- able clem tion were present. “The body ates was taken from the grove on the same day, and the condition in which it wa 4'0f 4 more surpris- n that presented by the corpse The latter buried hof Gates, and e of solid soldier had In n turned into Hn mass of stone, From appearance 1t was stone of tho sume apoole h Gaffney’s body hadbeen vious 1o his death — Gat ied about 160 pounds. When his hody was found petrified it was weighed, and the scales marked 552 pounds The bodies of the two men were on exhibi- tion_at Fort K g some days and finally transfc tin v'ut(hl-«ll\smv\m many bodies in the sume cro rosurrected, some were r ke 0f bupy- i them in i Ijmmn-' cometorion, but the ising of ot prompted’ by m curiosity. r incident in - conncetion with the body of a littlo girl who was re- moved from the same cemetery by her rela- tives will be of interest. The stono into which the bodies of the two men previously mentioned had been turned, was, it will_ be remembered, of a dark gray color, but the ittle girl who was also found of a dark brown color and of n r nature than that of the other It is very difiicult to account for the ence of color and nature of these two species of stone, for the grave of the little was adjoining that of George Gates. he fourth and last body found petrified in the san At of an unknown person. The c nees incounection with this discovery are truly wonderful. No head stone marked the resting place, and no one knew when or who it was that Iay in that awe-inspiring grave, for such - indeed it T lost of the eitizens reaacked ad been in the same condi- first visited the cometery, | as now, it always attracted tho visitors on account of > and being without 'k of identification. that the grav tion when th and that thel attention of its barren appearan headstone or other On the 4th of July, 1873, the coftin in which this unkuown person luy was taken from tha grave, and a more dlv.ulful but still aston. 1shing sight can searcely be conceived, Tha lid or top of the coftin was quite loose, and in raising th Jy the lid dropped from tha one hln' 1 alone held it and remained posing 1o view the whola The fow people stand- the grave turned away horror- for in that cofin lay & woman i a black silk dress, with i hair flowing over hor shoulders, o perfect piece of statuary., The body must have been quickly pet Aftor L for the exprossion u' the face, although of stone, the features quite lovely and_ihe Would havo. bbou. - surely bealitiful and less shocking, had it not been that th upon bosom, neck and shoulders of this once beautiful woman, now of statuary, were coiled four monster in_snakes, With their huge eyes flash- their venomous stingers protruding irom their mouths, their large heads turning first in oue direction and then in another, at the same time keeping up a loud and gon- tinual Inmu ¥ Those cngaged in raising the body, as the bystanders, lost all gon- trol of themseclves in the pro of such a dreadful sight Finally the huge mousters were killed and the corpse examined, but no marks of identi: fication could be found, On the following day this picture lovel was buried iv o0 glant with the follow i pace, quae One From Georgla An animal, different from any ever before seen in that part of the country, has heen de sheep. swine, and. mty, Georgin, sayn ition. Its vietima stroying calves in Barl K the Atlanta Constit were found dead, with o wound in the mbling the stab of a stilletto ho surprised the beast i the ill & sle 1 oall. saya the ereat cmb L coyote o its movements It w of a dark copp: b ‘possum-shuped Liead Ba small. bead-like oyes, the tuil bushy and and the body nd smooth, A farmer L of trying t loug geiher Lut ha On one ed it, when sud- whinipg ing from throut, audin Lalf an bour died.