New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-07-04
LETTER FROM TEXAS.
Especial Correspondence of the Republican
WACO, Texas, June 8, 1871.

| EDITOR REPUBLICAN
Having discovered some points OF interest
touching this portion Of Texas, am
tempted to give them to such of your read
ers as may seek information.
Leaving your city Sunday morning at 3
A. NJ we took the Morgan train for
Brashear City. This road deserves our
special notice. 1t is the best road, the hand
soonest train, and the swiftest speed we
have found in the South.
A quick and pleasant trip across the
gulf, not to mention a charming little attack
of sea sickness, brought US to Galveston on
Monday morning just in time for capital
breakfast at the Exchange" by the way an
excellent hotel. The Importance of Calves
ton as a business point is well known, but
the peculiar cleanliness Of this sea girt city,
the pretty air of comfort which crowns her
homes, and the beauty Of her situation, are
not her smallest attractions. Large and
well built stores, twenty or thirty vessels
anchored in her harbor, all receiving or dis
charging their rich cargoes, wharves well
filed with cotton bales, street cars in swift
motion, ETC., give her an air of business
thrift and energy pleasing indeed.
From Galveston following the Galveston,
Houston and Henderson railroad, through
spreading prairies, stretching their great
wealth of pasturage from horizon to horizon,
with now and then clear, limpid stream
kindly inviting the myriad herds of cattle,
fat and smooth, who roam through these
wide flower gardens from year to year,
basking in rich plenty and caring not for
| corn.
Noon brought US TO Houston, a city whose
| piles of brick and mortar, fine buildings,
etc, present look of stability and business
| life. Here, changing to the Great Central,
we continued to wind through those wide
prairies which spread forth their rich abund-
ance of beauty, filling the soul with sub
Unity and grandeur with their very vast
ness. Untold wealth lies sleeping in the
lazy sunshine, Tapped in wantOnness on the
bosom of these plains, in thousands and
| tens of thousands of cattle, all seal fat.
This route is literally thronged with pas
sengers, all hurrying on with the air of
! business men of life and energy.
One particularly gratifying feature here
is that the men are large, strong, robust
and athletic. No Liliputians, no long faces
either, or croaking over hard times
Work, industry and enterprise are the pass
ports to favor.
This whole road is dotted with pretty live
towns, that in two or three years have
sprung up in the wlds of the prairies, as if
some magic wand had touched her soil and
each sweet prairie flower" had bloomed
factories, sawmills etc.
Night brought us TO Kosse. from which
point, with forty miles of staging, We
reached Waco. This is beautiful town of
about four thousand inhabitants, nestled in
the valley of the BrazOs. and commanding
country rich in all that may render a
people independent. Miles of rich, dark
green cornfields wave their feathered tops
in the golden sunlight the growth OF soil
which knows no poverty. Cotton, from one
and quarter to one and a half bales to the
acre; wheat, rye, potatoes and every variety
of vegetables, fruits and flowers grow in alb
solute profusicn, while the vast prairie
lands offer a pasturage the world can not
surpass.
This must prove the Queen State of the
South since the variety of her resources,
the richness of her soil, her climate and the
beauty of her scenery give her superior ad-
vantages, while her wealth of unsettled
lands and her growing towns invite tens of
thousands to seek rest in her bosom.
Waco is only of a few years growth. 1t
has two town halls, two large and hand
some institutions of learning, several well
built churches which would be an honor to
the old States, several hotels, and can boast
as many lovely homes as adorn many an
older district. Her improvements are all
well constructed of brick, with an eye to
stability and taste. In business sense she
is a live town" Gold and silver circulate
freely, as though the South knew not the
grinding of gaunt poverty. The people are
thrifty, industrious, healthy and prosperous,
knowing well how 10 offer Virginian hospi-
tality.
Railroads, the great source of improve
ment-the "open sesame" of country's
wealth-are all this people need to raise
them to the highest pinnacle of prosperity
and cultivation. These they must and will
have.
The rapidity with which fruits and the
vine grow to perfection is remarkable. A
few days since we visited a farm only three
years old. Here we found every modern
improvement; every convenience, comfort
and luxury that may render home de-
lightful; an orchard weighed down with
fruits the finest and rarest; a vineyard rich
in its own beauty, bending under a wealth
of grapes, and limiting of royal cellar,
ruby wine and hearty cheer. We were not
mistaken. Our host, round and rubicund,
vanished awhile. Soon his smiling face was
seen emerging from fine cellar, while he
held great silver urn, sparkling with
rosy wine, and freezing with huge piece
OF ice of Waco manufacture. We merrily
drank the old gentleman's health for
getting to 'look not upon the wine when it
is red'') in a goblet of the pure juice of the
grape, while the genial smiles of our hostess
sweetened the draught
Having given you some general items
touching this portion of Texas (the Queen
State of the South, l reserve some of its
special features for other communications
Personal.
Hon. J. S. Harris left last Saturday eve
r
New York. Senator Kellogg is said to con-