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This article was taken from the Allison Breeze dated Friday, December 2, 1887. Thanks to Darrell Jepson for donating the article.
What Makes a Town? A town will not make itself. If the people of the town stand around with their hands in their pockets waiting for it to grow, they will wait until doom�s day and still be disappointed. Location is something of course. Natural advantages count for a good deal. One or more rail roads are regarded as indespensible in the making of a good town in these times. To be sure, all these things which we have mentioned, together with many not here enumerated, go a good way towards building up a city or center of trade, and of social and political influence. But the most important factors in the establishment and developement of a town are MEN. We don�t mean drones spiritless, go easy things, but men, active, wide awake, enterprising men, who have push and who are public spirited who know no such word as fail. Let a town have a number of such men to back it and its success and prosperity are assured. They can and will compel success and are superior to their surroundings. These are men who dig down mountains, tunnel hills, bridge rivers, who cause a beautiful city to arise out of the midst of a quagmire, who create the very foundation upon which the city rests, as in the case of Chicago, in such matters there is scarcely any limit to a man�s power. Allison may not become a Kansas City, an Omaha, or a Chicago. But there is no reason why its people should not make the most which can be made out of it. We can make a good town here. We can make it a city which will, in the near future, number its thousands. Can we? Do you really believe it? Of course we can. What hinders? All we need is enterprise and determination to conquer every difficulty. We can�t all get rich in a few months. We can�t double our wealth by doubling the price of our real estate. We don�t need and we don�t want a speculative, mushroom boom. We must not drive away business or capital by our selfish greed to make all there is to be made. We must give others a chance with ourselves. Business and capital are not coming here for OUR SAKES�to enrich US. Business and capital seek profit as well as we. The profit must be divided. It ought to be divided. Somehow we must make it plain to those whom we invite here that it will pay to come here that it is to their interest to come. There is plenty of capital to be invested. There are any number of good active business men to locate here if THEY CAN MAKE IT PAY. CAN they make it pay? If so, can we convince them of the fact? Let us study how we may make business, how we may develop the resources of the country, how we may induce immigration, by what means we may convince business men and capitalists that it will be profitable for them to invest with us. Let us think on these things. Having thought, let us act. We must have faith ourselves to inspire faith in others; for � No great deed is done by falterers who ask for certainty.� ALLISON! PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE Its Advantages, Its Inducements and Its Needs. Kansas is a proud state. Proud of its schools, of its progressive people and of phenomenal strides from the lowest to the first rank in Agriculture and Horticulture. No part of the state has contributed more to this result than the west and of this section the rich Valley of the Solomon river is probably the most famous. Pulsating with life and business on the headwaters of this beautiful valley, its clusters of tasteful brick and brightly painted houses, in the emerald setting of the surrounding forest and slope, Allison, very appropriately styled the Crown of Solomon rests on a level plain, a picture of loveliness and thrift, endowed with and surrounded by every natural advantage, ALLISON has an inexhaustible supply of pure water at depths of twenty-five to forty feet. Dry pure air that will cure most lung troubles. No malaria. Rich soil. An intelligent and progressive population. The best of school facilities. Regular church service of the Methodist, Congregational, Catholic, Lutheran, and United Brethren churches. Mail facilities in three directions, and will soon have more. A good Brick Yard, Two Hotels and three Grocery Stores. The Dry Goods, Drug, Hardware, Furniture, Flour and Feed, Livery, Nursery, Meat Market, Blacksmith and Printing interests are all present. It has four Notaries, three Land Agents, two Attorneys, and one Physician. Also an Art Studio. TRIBUTARY TO ALLISON, extends, in every direction, a wide fertile and well settled territory. It is nearly centrally between four County seats, viz; those of Norton, Graham, Sheridan and Decatur, and is from twenty-six to thirty-five miles away from all of them. North to Nebraska, thirty miles, there is no larger town than Allison except two of those County seats. South to the K. P. R. R., thirty-five miles, there is no town as large; and no town at all inside of twenty miles. West to Colorado line, one hundred miles, there is no town as large except the County seats, and to the east our only competing town is Lenora, eighteen miles distant, the present terminus of the Central Branch Pacific little railroad. Our R. R. PROSPECTS are bright. The Central Branch has built its last one hundred miles or more directly westward up the Solomon via Beloit, Downs and Kirwin to Lenora. It has made a survey following the same course to Allison and we have reason to expect it here next summer with a Division Station as we are one hundred miles west of the division at Downs. The Rock Island has planned to run from Norton to Colby; and if it does, cannot fail to make Allison a Station as it is on a direct line. We are assured of the Santa Fe railroad as their agents have purchased large interests in the town and they are building in this direction from Plainville evidently en route for Oberlin and the north space west. We offer INDUCEMENTS to Farmers and Investors as we have a surrounding tributary territory of over four hundred square miles of all rich land equal intrinsically to the one hundred dollar per acre land of the East, much of which can now be bought for five dollars per acre and even less: and, as we are practically out of debt, our taxes are very light. To the farmer we can show four successive years of heavy crop, excepting this last season which was not so good. To the Horticulturist we can show Orchards bearing abundantly of Apples, Pears, Grapes and small fruits. ALLISON NEEDS more good farmers to raise corn, wheat, rye, oats, barley, peanuts, cattle, hogs and sheep, all of which do well here. More farmers to raise Broom Corn which is at home here, and a BROOM FACTORY to work up their product. More growers of sorghum which is always a successful crop, and a SUGAR FACTORY to supply the immense home demand for sugar and syrup. A GRIST MILL to buy our surplus wheat and supply our big demand for flour. A WOOLEN MILL to work up our big wool crop and supply all northwest Kansas. A TILE FACTORY to make roof, floor, chimney, well and other tile from our splendid tile clay. A CHEESE FACTORY to supply the cheese that we now ship from New York and Chicago. A TANNERY to use up the car loads of hides annually shipped east. Allison needs all these and offers fortunes to experienced men in all the lines. There are also FINE OPENINGS here for good Lumber Yard, a Bank and Dealers in all the leading lines of Merchandise. Persons desiring a more detailed description, or information on any special branch of industry will do well to open a correspondence at once with the Allison Board of Trade. �Sharleen
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