News Items from The Kansas City Journal ~ Old News That's New to You from Vintage Kansas City.com

November 3, 2025

PLEADS SIZE FOR HALF FARE.

"Look How Small I Am," Said

Everett Crane, 22.

Age, and not height, is what counts in getting railroad fares halved, as Everett Crane found to his sorrow yesterday afternoon. Everett is 22 years old, thirty-seven inches high, and weighs sixty-two pounds. When he is not posing as Prince Henry, the smallest man in the world, with a carnival company he makes his home with his father, John S. Crane, a farmer near Lenexa, Kas.

Everett is so small that he rides around in a go-cart which would hardly accommodate a good-sized child. He has been out on the farm with his father for some weeks, but yesterday he got a wire from the carnival company to join them at Houston, Tex, and getting in to his go-cart, he was wheeled over to the station, where he arrived about 5 o'clock.

An usher hunted up the Missouri Pacific agent for Everett, who has a small body but a well developed head with the unmistakable face of a man.

"I want to get a half-rate ticket to Houston," piped Everett in his childish treble when the agent came up.

The voice was a puzzler, but the face was not.

"How old are you?" asked the agent.

"Twenty-two last October," said Everett.

"Well, you can't get a half-rate when you are that old," said the agent.

"But look how small I am," said Everett. "I don't take up hardly any room."

The agent, however, was obdurate and Everett had to pay full fare.

Labels: farmers, Lenexa, railroad, Texas

August 2, 2025

MACADAM FOR PART

OF SANTA FE TRAIL.

WILL BE BETWEEN KANSAS

CITY AND OLATHE.

Board of Highway Commissioners of

Johnson County, Kas., Propose

to Expend $100,000 on

Improvement.

The Santa Fe trail, over half a century old, is soon to come into its own for the distance between Kansas City and Olathe, at least. Yesterday afternoon the board of highway commissioners of Johnson county, Kas., and some of the prominent citizens of Olathe, toured the road, which it is proposed to macadamize at a cost of about $100,000. A meeting of the highway commissioners will be held this morning at which the final steps toward deciding on this work will be taken.

The plan that will be presented for the approval of the board today is for a macadamized strip sixteen feet wide and a foot thick. The petition for the road was circulated by John W. Breyfogle under the law which was fathered by Senator George H. Hodges.

In the party yesterday were Senator George H. Hodges, Roy Murray, engineer; John W. Breyfogle, W. W. Fry and Harry King, a commissioner, in Senator Hodge's machine. In the other machine, owned by Will Lemon, were Robert Baker, chairman of the commissioners; B. F. Culley and J. M. Leonard.

The party took dinner at the Hotel Baltimore and discussed the road informally. All were enthusiastic for the road. Senator Hodge's machine sustained a badly punctured tire and he and his party returned to Olathe by way of the electric line.

The road will connect with Hudson avenue in the southwestern section of Kansas City. The town of Lenexa, Kas., has promised to assist and will macadamize the street which the road will touch in and out of that town. Olathe will macadamize to the road which under law cannot be built inside an incorporated city or town.

Labels: automobiles, Johnson county, Lenexa, Olathe, public works, Santa Fe Trail