208 Kansas Academy of Science. 



THE GAS-ENGINE IN THE COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT 



OF KANSAS. 



By P. F. Walker, Lawrence. 



'T^HE state of Kansas is well situated with reference to the great 

 -^ producing sections of the country for the establishment of 

 important manufacturing interests in cotton and woolen fabrics, 

 boots, shoes, and leather novelties, and has itself mineral resources 

 of various kinds not yet fully developed, and which are now being 

 shipped as raw rather than as finished products. With these ad- 

 vantages of location, and native resources in material to be wrought 

 upon, are valuable deposits of coal, oil and gas for fuel, building 

 materials of the very best quality, a soil capable of supporting a 

 far greater population than the liveliest imagination has pictured, 

 and a climate well suited to attract the earnest home-seeker. The 

 question, then, may be seriously considered if a fair proportion of 

 these raw materials may not well be expected to be worked upon 

 here in the not far distant future, instead of their being shipped 

 far into the Northern and Eastern states and then back again, in 

 great part for final consumption by those who are working to send 

 food on its long journey to pay the debt. 



There are three conditions which must be favorably met before 

 business interests of the kinds indicated can be successfully estab- 

 lished. When once it is demonstrated that they are favorable here 

 in Kansas, the necessary capital will come unbidden, and there 

 will set in a new era in industrial development. These three con- 

 ditions are : First, efficient and economical transportation facili- 

 ties, both to the mills and to the markets ; second, a supply of 

 competent labor ; and, third, an abundant and economical source 

 of power. Other special conditions may sometimes arise, as, for 

 instance, the necessity for a supply of clear water, to be used in 

 the manufacturing process; but the three general conditions must 

 always be met. 



In respect to transportation the state is peculiarly fortunate, and 

 better conditions could hardly be desired. This is especially true 

 because of the fact that the power to be depended upon is not scat- 

 tered over the country at falls in the watercourses, but the mills 

 may be located at will on trunk railroad lines. 



The labor condition is a serious one. Practical mill men have 

 expressed the opinion to the writer that this is the greatest obstacle 



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