Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1868-10-24
ComaICsunt,, Texas

pally lon lhe South side 1T a range
: uf mountains that run across tho
, State Irnm northeast lo southwest.
Tho grrat road iron Ansiin 10 San
, Anlon'o passes through N, eeniro
al this county, AZ the Junction of the
Gsuda.upe and Cumai rivers, Al
this junction, and upon tho west
bank III the latter Ncw Braunfels.
, lhc county seat, il situated thirty
miles east OF san Antonio and about
, hlY woa, OF Austin.
This county embraces about nins
hnrdrcd square miles, aud large
portion Of II Is extremely fertile aud
la high state OF cultivation. Tho
principal staples are c"rn and cot.
, ton, The average of the former IL
thirty bushels per acre The cereals
d" Icierably well, but 40, so well rs
~ the adjoining counties -: n high.
or latitude, Peaches are abundant
aud very fine, but apples are scarce
and rather uf an inferior quality.
The African aud Chinese cane AFRO
produced abumdan;ly, net ouly for
prUycnder, but tho syrup manuiac.
lurcd from il, with the latest i'm.
proved machinery, is of superior
quality, and amply sufficient for
homo cnnsumptium-wJrth in tho
market from 10 cents to a por gal
Ion.
The cultivation of The grape has
proved II suct o y as far rs tried, Cs.
pccially the French Burgundy aud
The white grape. The wild Mus.
tang grape grows everywhere, aud
makes very drinkablc wine for
domestic use; and here are found
quantities Of other wild grapes,
wild cherries, plums, etc. Tho
swcc; potato is extensively cultiva.
ted, bat the Irish potato is an un-
certain crop. OF good seasons, such
us We have had for several years
past, all the ordinary garden vcge-
tables do well, being less liable to
the encrOnchment of insects than
those u many other counties of this
latitude. Poultry Of all descrip-
tons flourish, remarkably secure
from vcrmim and disease.
The climate is healthy for man
and beast. No epidemic reaches
here. Cattle, horses, sheep and
goats fattcn upon these prairics,
while men, and women, ~ Il chill
dren work and live mp to natures
lais. No idlcrs here; no puupers,
no thieves; no riots, but little use
for lawyers, and doctors, and bureau
for freedmen.
Twenty three years ago a colony
Of indct;ligable German emigrants
pitched their tents upon the bank
OF this beautiful Comal. Here they
have lived and laborcd and pros
pered, through evil report and good
report, until now they have quito
an imposing city Of near four thou
sand inhabitants, and destined, ut-
timatcly, to become the foremost in
the State. 1t is now rapidly ini-
proving. Everybody is building,
or in some way augmenting the
value Of his property. This gives
evidence Of general prosperity.
The Industrious mechanic, who but
last year seemed to live in poverty
and obscurity, this year inhabits IL
mansion worth from $1,000 to SS000
erected by his industry and fi'ugali-
ty. In this city there are 80 dry
goods stores. 3 Touring mills, 8 saw
mills, Il largo factory for cotton
cloth, one for woolen cloth, a sash
factory, and mechanic shops Of
every description. The country
around may be supplied with wa.
gons and buggles from these shops,
From 1000 to 5000 saddle trees arc
made here annually. This place
supplies the country around with
barrels for beef packing, moasses,
etc. This is quite cotton market
for the surrounding region, export
ing to Mexico annually several
bales.
But what gives New Braunftls
peculiar advantages over all the
other southern cities is her immense
water power. The Comal, which
is only three miles long, has on one
half this distance fall or momen-
tum Of 2O00 horse power, and never
overfows its banks. And here is
the very population for plying ma
chinery.
There are very few colored people
here. In eight hundred registered
voters, only about eighty are color
cd Good mechanics work forS2 so
per day, and common laborers for
Il 80. The city and country are
well supplied with schools. Tie
New Braunlels Academy is buiid-
ing OF hard stone, 100 feet in length,
aud embraces five departments, un-
der competent teachcrs-two Ger-
man, two English, aud u translator.
This school averages about lhree
pupils, all studying tho
English as well as the German Lam
guage: 50 that the present genera
tion all become acquainted with tho
Englsh language. About q dozen
American families have permanent
IL settled here. There are four
churchcs-one Catholic, two Lu-
thcran and Que Methodist. Tho
services ia all is held in German.
The building material, such as
bard aud soll stone, brick, (burnt
aud uHburnt.) and cedar aud cy-
pr IS, are abundant, but pine luu-
bcr is hauled from fifty to sixty
miles, aud costs from five to six
cents per foot; burnt bF.e.s ten dol
lars per thousand.
We have a superb brass band of
orcr tH'eniy musicians, diseOursing
nightly their swect aud thrilling
music. While the sofi toned melody
Of tweniy pianos. sirnck by softer
& s..~.- -. f..-..I - Il A.......f