Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Our Past Is Present September 19, 2017

September 19, 2017
            This is “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.
            In the early 1900s, Junction City’s Charles Henry Manley was known as a newspaper editor, a real estate broker, a poultry fancier and was described as a “man of leisure.”  In September 1907, he held his annual chicken sale in the Ballinger Feed Store on Jefferson Street.  It was not generally known that during the previous spring, Mr. Manley decided to make a little money on the side and so he ventured into the chicken business.  He sent several hundred poultry breeders all over the nation a message that if they sent him some of their best eggs, he would give them free advertisement for a month in the Republic newspaper.  Breeders of chickens believed in advertising and by the next train the eggs started to arrive. On one shipment, an express wagon was filled and the express charges were $26.00.  Manley paid the bill without hesitation, because he knew he was going to get his money back in the end.  Manley made an additional agreement with some of the farmers who provided eggs, that half of the chicks hatched after September 1 were to be his. The following week after the agreement had been made, the finest bunches of chickens ever seen in this part of the state were sold to fancy breeders at good prices.  Breeders from surrounding towns attended the sale and secured a select lot of high-grade fowl.  Mr. Manley had proven himself to be successful at his part-time job of… raising chickens. 
            And… that’s today’s story on “Our Past Is Present” from the Geary County Historical Society.   


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