Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1873-07-28
TEXAS.
The Fire at JeffersOn-T Railroads
Built, and those Under Con
struetiOn.
The Women and the Business Men-The
Land and its PrOduets-The
Towns, Schools and
Churches.

l. Churches.
e From our Speciel CorreSpondent.l
JEFFERSON, TEXAS, July 2l.-Wt
J had big fire here only few night;
7 ago. Jefferson has been burned dOwI
about twice since the war, and still she
goes ahead. Nothing appears to retarC
f her onward career. Burnt districts are
D Immediately re-Occupied and business
t resumed in an incredibly short time
4 Her Iecuperative powers are surely very
t great. She boasts of about twelve thou
2 sand souls, and the business people ap-
? pear sanguine of a rapid increase, as
! railroads are finished. The road from
Marshall (siXteen miles has Just been
! finished, and daily trains are now being
run to Shreveport, fifty-six miles.
THE ROAD TO TExARCANA
will be in running order in a few
months, when and where northeast
Texans propose to shake hands with
Memphians. viii speak more particu-
larly in future article on the great i'm
portance to Memphis of a direct railroad
connection with this section of country,
which is being rapidly accomplished.
At this writing there is a gap of only
thirty miles between the approaching
ends of the Texas and Pacific, which Is
proposed to be closed by August Ist, thus
| connecting Dallas and Shreveport by
! direct line. MinneOla-pretty name-is
the name of the Shreveport terminus Of
the Texas and Pacific, and it is of this
! pretty-named place we firise to expIafn.u
In the first place, the reader must re-
| member that this place is in Texas, right
| slap-dab in the woods, where mortals
have seldom made footprints before.
| Rude houses have been hurriedIy erected
by dOzens-some of logs, some of good
| framing lumber, while many are
Jolly, happy and content,
SnooZlng under cloth tent.
THE WOMEN
locked brawny, stout and healthy, while
the men, with broad-brIm hats, were
busy in attending to various pursuits.
Stepping IN front of a small "hash-
house" we looked up at the signs. The
hrst was 'SalOon;" next, "Beer on tap"
next door, "R. r. salOOn;" next, "Red-
hot entertainment" By this time some
half dozen "hangers-on" had been eye
ing our sign, and as we walked aWav
were alarmed, but perhaps our dilemma
was similar to the little bov. who. when
attacked by several bad boys, exclaim-
ed: ''pm not skeered, but want to 90
home mighty powerful bad.n Towns
are springing up along the lines Of rail |
roads like magic. Even Dallas, with
her eight thousand souls, is not vet ont
Of tents. The woods all around are full |
OF houses and tents, and as commercial |
center Dallas is destined to make her
mark as an inland city. Her
BUSINESS PEOPLE
appear full of energy and push ahead, |
seeming determined to let their business
be known. Well, since penning the
above, We have had a call from an old
Memphian, who gave US a hearty shake
of the hand. His name is John Chan
dler, the colOred boy who worked il |
Chandler's drug store sixteen years, and
whose face is quite familiar. John left
Memphis over q year ago, and is now
chief cook at the Central hotel here, and
says he is on his way to Mexico, but will |
eventually wend back to Memphis. We
asked him if he was getting good wages,
and he replied that he was getting |
.'hfty-hve dollars per month, coin, and
fed" At Shreveport we fell in with an
old friend from Memphis-genial, pleas
ant K. B. Mitchell-and we are kinderi
together for a while. And
while We are writing, you would be
at the manner and earnestness
with which Bob lies on the bed, fighting
1les one minute, and trying to snOozt |
the next. Bob has seen a few things
himself, and ''yet he is not happy.D
THE LANDS OF TEXAS
present a variety of soil unequalIed by
any other State. Cotton, corn and
wheat constitute the chief productions.
Inc BraZos bottom, from Waco to the |
gun, embraces the best cotton lands in |
the state. Ses-island cotton, rice and
sugar-cane being produced as you ap-
proach the gulf. The best wheat and !
corn, are grown in central and northern
Texas. Almost every species Of yegeta.
ton is produced in some sections of the
State. The variety of its production is
peculiar. The writer has seen cotton.
corn, wheat, oats, millet, peas and sweet
potatoes all growing luxuriantly under
one fence Of one hundred acres. Irish
potatoes, cabbage, peas, melons, broom
corn, tobacco, sugar-cane, castor-bean,
etc., grow well, but not in all sections.
The Impression has gone forth
that fruits do not grew well here, but
the idea appears erroneous. Peaches |
can be raised in abundance, and apples |
DO well If one hundred miles from the
coast. Pears also do well. PIums grow
in abundance. Figs are grown equal to ;
any IN the world, in the southern sec
ton Of the State. The grape seems to
be In its native element almost any, {
where in Texas. Barrels of them are S
obtained from one vine, and the wine is
II a superior quality, resembling port. | 9
U can be made at one dollar per gallon. l
oranges and bananas are grown on the {
,Oast. The pecan is one of the finest t
orest trees, and produces the nuts In 8
abundance. The magnolia is the queen s
rec OF all the evergreens of Texas,
growing large and lofty over the south f
asst portion of the State, Its L
arge white flowers present a lovely d
light to the eye Of the traveller. il
iood lands are at almost any price, ac- f
ordlng to location. Improved lands a
lear La
RAILROADS AND TOWNS s.
ange from five to twenty-five dollars D
'er acre, in coin. Unimproved can be v
lad at from one dollar to ten dollars per
ere, on good time. Lands around Fort r
Worth, Weatherford, Cleburne, Waxa- q
iatchle, Kaufman, ETC., are very pretty, q
indeed, and being rapidly occupied. An o
Id friend Of ours, DR.. w. B. Dashiell, at
kaufman, owns and controls thousands \
I acres of land in a fine section of the i
tate. He says working men have only
o come and furnish the physical capi-
al-eveTything else will be furnished. :
he soil is here, and workers are needed y
verywhere. Railroads are rapidly check +
ng the State, beautiful towns, with lofty .
pires and domes, are springing into ex- :
stence; churches and schoolhOuses are r
hiding their way on every hill and in
very valley; in fact, the band of civil c
satlon Is making its onward march with
Unprecedented rspidity. Society, in all P
hickly settled neighborhoods, is good,
choOls fiourishing, and
CHURCHES n
re exceedingly well attended. The v
Iethodist denomination predominates, Il
ne circuit-rider having made his way in Il
lmOst every vale and hamlet of the il
tate. The Baptists are also rapidly Il
aiming ground; the Presbyterians are "
making good headWay also. The Cath d
lies are confined more particularly to Il
ne cities, constituting at San An n
anio inrifxr ~ h. 10