A Trip to the Rockies

by B. R. Corwin

After a sumptuous dinner at the Brunswick, we visited the chief points of interest in Hutchinson; with the mayor and leading bankers of the city. We were driven past its twelve salt works to the packing-houses of Fowler & Underwood, and Tobey & Booth, and the great lard refinery of Fairbanks & Co., the ice factory, the banks, the home office of the Empire Loan and Trust Company, and to the office of the Hutchinson Daily News (Ralph L. Easley, Esq., President and managing editor), then to the Santa Fe Hotel, where a banquet had been spread for us by the members of the Hutchinson Clearing-House, who were accompanied by their ladies.

This hospitality was an entire surprise to us. Hon. Darwin R. James, Hon. John Jay Knox, and the Hon. D. O. Bradley expressed our thanks to the citizens of Hutchinson for the courtesies and hospitality extended to us. We take the following from the Hutchinson News:

“Before leaving the dining-room the News reporter took occasion to inquire of several of the gentlemen how they were impressed with Hutchinson.

“Edward Merritt, Esq., President of Long Island Loan and Trust Company said: ‘We have been delighted and surprised at the wonderful development of the State of Kansas. The growth and progress of Hutchinson are marvellous. The discovery by Mr. Blanchard of the salt fields underlying this section of the country must certainly add largely to the wealth of the city and its inhabitants. The natural advantages of its situation together with the inevitable growth of its industries make the future of Hutchinson, in my judgment, sure beyond doubt.’

“Hon. John J. Knox, who was Comptroller of Currency at Washington for eleven years, said: ‘Yes, Hutchinson is indeed a beautiful and also a wonderful town. The geographical position of Hutchinson respecting the great through lines east and west is such, that she is sure to continue to be one of the leading cities in Kansas.’

“Mr. D. Ogden Bradley, President of the Tarrytown National Bank of Tarrytown, N. Y., a member of the Legislature of the State of New York for several years, and a banker of forty years’ experience, said: ‘I am greatly pleased with Hutchinson, and see elements of great strength and certain prosperity all around it. I greatly admire Kansas. It is rapidly advancing to the lead of the moral and intellectual forces of the nation. It is doing a great work, and has a gigantic future. Hutchinson will certainly become its metropolis.’

“Hon. Darwin R. James, who served in the Forty-eighth and Forty-ninth Congresses, is an importer of indigo and spices, president of a savings-bank, and secretary of the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, said: ‘Words fail to express the pleasure of the excursion we are making. Kansas is a magnificent State, and is developing with wonderful rapidity. I thought I knew something about it before I came, but I am amazed at the progress made since my former visit. All that I had heard of Hutchinson, and it was much, has been more than realized. She is a magnificent young city, whose possibilities for the future are unlimited. We might say of Hutchinson “She is the salt of the earth.”’

“Dr. Frank W. Shaw, of Brooklyn, N. Y., being asked for his impressions replied that, while not a banker himself, he could appreciate the interest which men of affairs always feel toward the prosperity of any growing section of the West. The opinions of Kansas which he had heard from the distinguished gentlemen with whom he had the pleasure of travelling had shown him the broader views of observation, but what he had personally seen to-day of Hutchinson and its wonderful industries and possibilities convinced him of the soundness of Western enthusiasm. Those magnificent salt works alone assure the future success of the city. He said he should always feel indebted to Mr. Blanchard for his first view of the substantial prosperity of Kansas and of this beautiful city.

“Crowell Hadden, Esq., President of the Long Island Bank of Brooklyn, the oldest bank in the city, said: ‘I am highly gratified at the growth and enterprise of the city. It bids fair to become one of the greatest of Western cities. The recent discovery of salt underlying the city by Mr. Ben Blanchard will add largely to its wealth.’

“Capt. Ambrose Snow, President of the Board of Trade of New York City, said: ‘Yes, sir, Hutchinson has a great future before her. That wonderful salt! Why, it is a revelation to me. With that, and the railroads you have and those you are getting, no power in the world could prevent Hutchinson from forging right to the front and staying there!’