White Water, an incorporated city of the third class in Butler county, is located in Milton township on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific and the Missouri Pacific railroads. It has 2 banks, 2 flour mills, grain elevators, an alfalfa mill, a weekly newspaper (the Independent), a large number of retail establishments, telegraph and express offices, and a money order postoffice with three rural routes. The population in 1910 was 518. The town is located in the midst of a prosperous farming district and handles large quantities of grain, produce and live stock annually.

Whitewater River. This stream rises in the southern part of Marion county about 6 miles west of the village of Burns, flows south and unites with the Walnut river at a point about a mile south of the town of Augusta, Butler county. The stream has only one tributary of consequence-the West Whitewater--which has its source near the town of Walton in Harvey county, and unites with the Whitewater a little north of the village of Towanda, Butler county. The length of the

stream is about 35 miles. During the '60s the late James R. Mead of Wichita had a ranch and trading house on the Whitewater, the town of Towanda now occupying the site. In 1868 the Nineteenth Kansas cavalry, while on the march to the Indian Territory, stopped at Mead's ranch for supplies on the evening of Nov. 1I.

White, William Allen, journalist, author and one of the best known men in Kansas, was born at Emporia, Kan., Feb. 10, 1868, the son of Dr. Allen and Mary (Hatton) White. He is directly descended from Peregrine White, who came over in the Mayflower. His maternal

ancestors were natives of Dublin, Ireland, and his maternal grandmother, Fear Perry, was a relative of Commodore Perry. In 1869 Dr. White removed to Eldorado, Kan., where William passed his boyhood. This locality is the "Willow Creek" of his early stories, and also the "Boyville" where White was "Piggy Pennington." He graduated from the high school in 1884 and the next year started to work as "devil” on the Butler county Democrat. In 1886 he began his real newspaper career as reporter and city circulator for the Eldorado Republican. Next he learned to set type, run a job press and write items for a country newspaper. In the fall he went to Lawrence to attend the state university but returned to work on the paper at the close of the school year. During 1887 and 1888 he attended the university and in the summer of 1888 worked on the Lawrence Journal as a reporter. In 1890 he left college without completing his course and again went to work on the Eldorado Republican. From Eldorado he went to Kansas City as correspondent and editorial writer on the Journal and subsequently on its rival, the Star. In 1895 he borrowed money and bought the Emporia Gazette in order to have a paper that he could run to suit himself. The paper was on the down grade when he purchased it, but within three years he had paid for it and expended $1,000 on improvements. Mr. White runs the Gazette as a Republican journal in an independent fashion, but it is worth noting that no rival has ever been able to secure a foothold in Emporia since White "came into his own," though there have been numerous attempts to do so. During the campaign of 1896 he wrote an article called "What's the Matter with Kansas," the press took it up all over the country and chairman Hanna made the statement that this editorial "was more widely circulated by the Republican National Committee than any other document sent out by it." Mr. White is regarded as an asset by both the Republicans and Democrats; he is a mixture of simplicity and shrewdness, but no one can prophesy what he will do or say next, while behind his eccentricities there is a real, honest, warm-hearted `man. He possesses to a marked degree the "human touch," which is so noticeable in his works. One of his first books was a collection of stories entitled "The Real Issue," which was a decided success. His articles on public men, published in McClure's Magazine, created a stir in political circles. In 1899 a study of boy life appeared by him under the title "Court of Boyville." Since then he has published "In Our Town" and "A Certain Rich Man" which have made him famous. Mr. White is a member of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In 1893 he married Sallie Lindsay of Kansas City, Kan., and they have one child, William Lindsay. It has been said of Mr. White that he can criticise with no suggestion of hositility, and praise with no hint of favoritism, and this is one of his greatest holds upon the people.

Whitfield, John W., the first delegate to Congress from the Territory of Kansas, was born in Tennessee, but came to Tecumseh, Kan., early in the '50s and began to take an active part in local politics. He was

elected delegate to Congress as a Democrat on Nov. 29, 1854. Connelley describes him as "a tall and stuttering Tennesseean who lived in Jackson county, Mo." At the expiration of his first term he was a candidate for reëlection and was opposed by ex-Gov. Andrew H. Reeder. At the election on Oct. 1, 1855, Whitfield received 2,271 votes, Reeder received 2,849, and contested the seat, which was declared vacant on Aug. 1, 1856. Mr. Whitfield took an active part in the stirring border warfare carried on between the pro-slavery and free-state men. He had been a pro-slavery man in politics from the time he came to Kansas and was elected by that party.

Whiting, one of the villages of Jackson county, is located in Whiting township on the Central branch of the Missouri Pacific R. R. 10 miles northeast of Holton, the county seat. It has a newspaper, banking tacilities, express and telegraph offices, and a money order postoffice with two rural routes. All the main lines of business are represented. The population in 1910 was 550. Whiting was first platted in 1866, but was resurveyed in 1872 and in 1882 another plat was recorded. The lands of Whiting township belonged to the Kickapoo Indians until 1867, when they became the property of the Union Pacific Railroad company. The first settlements were made in 1867 by Henry Haub, G. T. Watkins, A. D. Stone, C. A. Eams, W. C. Reynolds, Andrew Brown, H. M. Duff, Michael O'Neal, G. C. Weibles and D. R. Williams. A. D. Stone was the first man to locate on the town site. He was joined in 1870 by Mr. Shedd and together they opened the first store. Shedd & Marshall established a business in 1871, and in 1881 built the first substantial stone building, which was a beautiful edifice for those days. and contained a hall for public meetings, which held 500 people. The first commercial club was established in 1878. Whiting township was named in honor of Mrs. S. C. Pomeroy, that being her maiden name.

Whitman, a hamlet of Sumner county, is a station on the Missouri Pacific R. R. 13 miles northeast of Wellington, the county seat, and 5 miles southeast of Belle Plaine, from which place it receives mail by rural delivery. The population in 1910 was 25.

Whittier, John Greenleaf, poet, was born near Haverhill, Mass., Dec. 17, 1807. He was educated in the district school and when only nineteen years of age wrote the "Exile's Departure," which was published by William Lloyd Garrison, and encouraged by him Whittier went to Boston at the age of twenty-one years and engaged in journalism. Subsequently he became editor of the Haverhill Gazette, then of the New England Weekly Review, published at Hartford, Conn. Although Whittier was never a resident of Kansas, he was deeply interested in the efforts to make it a free state and sympathized with those who were struggling to accomplish that end. He wrote "The Kansas Emigrant's Song," beginning,

"We cross the prairies as of old

The Pilgrims crossed the sea,

To make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free."

To the air of Auld Land Syne this song could frequently be heard, as it was sung with spirit by parties of emigrants from the free states on their way to Kansas. Whittier is regarded by many as the most American of all American poets. He died at Hampton Falls, N. H., Sept. 7, 1892.

Wichita, the second largest city in Kansas, is the judicial seat of Sedgwick county, in the southern part of the state. It is located 230 miles from Kansas City on the Arkansas river, and is one of the most important railway centers in Kansas, having direct connections with almost every city west of the Mississippi. Five roads-the Missouri Pacific, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific,

St. Louis & San Francisco, and the Kansas City, Mexico & Orientradiate from this point, and three new roads are in prospect. An interurban line, connecting Wichita with Wellington, Hutchinson and other points, is in the course of construction. The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient, which has lately placed Wichita in position to handle vast shipments from the southwest, is building workshops at this point which, when in operation, will add a new colony to the already cosmopolitan population. New elevated tracks and a union depot are under con

struction. There is an average of 110 freight and passenger trains per day. The value of the city's manufactured products for the year 1909 was $9,000,000. Among the important manufacturing concerns are 5 flour mills with a daily capacity of 4,100 barrels, a broom factory with a daily capacity of 2,000 dozen, 2 packing plants with an annual production of 60,000,000 pounds, 4 alfalfa mills, 3 overall factories, 6 planing mills using more than 12,000 cars of lumber annually, and 6 foundries. There are in all 230 different manufacturing concerns in the city, and 138 wholesale houses, shipping over 50,000 cars of the finished product to its tributary territory. The wholesale and jobbing interests are represented by 500 traveling men who live in the city, and the volume of business in 1909 was $30,000,000.

The area of Wichita is about 20 square miles, with 30 miles of paving, 35 miles of street railway, 65 miles of water mains, 75 miles of sewer, II public parks, 100 miles of natural gas mains, 6,500 telephones in use, 16 publishing houses, 2 daily newspapers (the Beacon and the Eagle), 20 public school buildings, 3 Catholic academies, 2 business colleges, an art school, 2 music conservatories, 2 colleges ranking with the best in the state-Fairmount College and Friends' University-11 banks, good hotels, etc. The amount spent for building in 1910 was $6,000,000. There are a number of large office buildings and department stores, 6 sanitariums, 10 theaters, one of the finest Masonic buildings in the country, costing $250,000, a Masonic home and grounds worth a similar amount, a $150,000 Federal building, and a city hall which cost about the same, a chamber of commerce, a commercial club, a fair association which holds one of the largest fairs in the state, a Commercial League, 2 country clubs, owning fine buildings, all of which are busy promoting the development and best interests of the town. The women's clubs, of which there are four, have memberships of several hundred each and large, well furnished club rooms.

establishment of a trading The Wichita Indians were named for that tribe. The

The history of the city begins with the post at that point in 1863 by J. R. Mead. then occupying the land and the town was word means "Scattered Lodges," and for a long time the little town lived up to its appellation. As early as 1860 William Mathewson, the original Buffalo Bill, freighted through Wichita, and in 1869 settled on a claim near the town site. On July 9, 1868, a military postoffice was established with Col. Barr, who was in command of the militia stationed there, as postmaster. Shortly afterward a civil postoffice was established with Milo B. Kellogg, manager of Durfee's ranch, as postmaster. About the same time the Wichita town company was organized by Gov. S. J. Crawford, W. W. H. Lawrence, J. R. Mead, E. P. Bancroft, A. F. Horner and I. S. Munger. A survey of the site was made by Mr. Finn. William Greiffenstein bought Moore's place, now comprising a part of the city, and for a long time there was a rivalry between the two sites. In 1870 Mr. Munger opened a hotel and the Wichita Vidette was started by F. A. Sowers. Before the railroad was