Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1872-01-20
GaIvess0n-Her Past, Pre1ens
And FMtnrc.

I GaIveston-EHer Past, Presens
And Future.
r 1t Is usual at the close ofthc year
ior prsdent business mon to cast
t up scsounts, strike balances and
, see how their business stands. We
: propose enlnrging upon this annual
, practice, by saying a few good
/ words Of our city, OF her past, pres
ent and probable future. When
| We 20 back thirty four years and
see our present prosperous city as
/ she then was, we shall behold few
: miserable sfanties and a dozen or
| two tents, occupied by persons who
, hsd sought refuge here from the
Mexican dcspot, then but recently
: the invader of tho co@ntry. During
1887, q few frame houses, were
| erected, but the great gale Of that
season swept most Of them to the
four winds, and consequently Gal
weston cannot be said strictly to
have been founded until abont She
} winter of 1937-'39 Hcv march thon
was very slow indeed, retarded as
it was by the want of men, m0Hey
and the sinews of Improvement, to
say nothing of the want ofa coan-
try-a producing country-to buiIG
up and sustain her. The country,
though in it's infancy at least, had
been ovcrrun and broken up, and
to produce even sufficient for abso-
lutte domestic necessities was i'm
possible.
DARK DAYS.
In 1889 q disasterous yellow fe-
YER epidemic scourged the town,
carrying off many persons who
promised to become valuable citi-
hcns. That too was II very bad
crop year, nothing being made for
expectation, and emigration con-
tinued to be the only hope. The
succeeding years of 1910, Al, ~ and
'43 passed by without very great
change in the country. Emigra-
tion enlarged our population, ex-
tended agriculture and added to
the wealth of Galveston in CORES
ponding degree, but those were
years of financial troubles-our
currency deprecated to its lowest
point; our credit was Frustrated
the iI-fated Santa Fo expedition of
Al spread gloom over the couh-
try and the forays Of the MoSicans
in 1928 drove in the frontier set
tiers, destroyed confidence and
checked emigration. The battle Of
Mier resulted in the imprisonment
of nearly three hundred ofour most
daring frontiersmen. That was
dark period in our histery-With-
out the ability in our Government,
physical or monetary, to remedy
tho evil.
A CLEAR SKY.
With 1874 tho scene changed.
"Thc EXchequer System" rs it was
called, improved the finances Of the
Republic; the expenses of the gov
ernment were brought within it's
receipts; foreign emigration wa7
encouraged through tho colonies of
Peters, Fisher and Miller; the spir-
its of the people revived, and imi-
grafton began to pour in. Calves
ton opened communication with
European ports, and rose rapidly
in commercial Importance refer
ence to the port lists of the day
often showing as many as twenty
European vessels in port at the
same time. Being the only port
of entry of any Importance on the
coast, men of means were attracted
to Galveston for Investments in
business, and she speedily assumed
the garb of Aourishing town.
ATA HALT.
The Annexation of Texas to the
United States, in 1915, while it at
once induced heavier immigration
from the older Stat 8, and more
rapidly developed the country at
large, diminished for time the re
lative Importance of Galveston, as
it well nigh annhilated her for
eign trade with all its attendant
advantages. ITO Let" was to be
seen on nearly half the doors in the
place. After a partial decline she
remained in stata quo, until about
the winter of 1913, and 1S49, when
slight improvement was percept-
ible owing to the increased prOduc-
tions Of the state finding outlet
here.
ONWARD AND UPWARD.
1850, found Galveston steadily
prospcrng, with population of
six thousand, and she continued to
increase in population, business and
importance until 1860, when for
the year ending September 1st,
there were received 793, 3,693, bales
of cotton, and exported 19l 900
bales. During the year 293, vessels
entered ut the customhouse classified
us follows: Steamships 90, Ships
IA, Barks SO, Briggs %, Schooners
22. The town did not improve
much after the winter OF 1860, the
agitation of mOmentous political
questions, and the far off murmcr-
ing of war, preventing capitalists
from investing, and causing con-
templated Improvements TO remain