Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1873-04-18
THE TExAs FEyER.
! A Nashville HAN ON Tour Of Obser-
aiaH l-+e vaafone asa- tlf-tl

! W "
a tour of observation through Texas, writes
| home as follows: -
eve have seen the frontier ell
ephant and feel little knocked up, but will
| belal right soon. We leave today for Dallas,
and viii coufne our operations to railroad
| towns. The frontier houses are splendidly
ventilated. You can throw q cat through
| the walls of the house and not hurt the cat,
and the roofs OF these mansions match the
walls. A very good idea for Q summer
house, but rather disagreeable III a Norther.
| We spent night in just such house Dur
ing "a Texas Norther, and Texas Norther
must be felt to be appreciated. The furni-
ture in our small room was three bedsteads,
two chairs, a pile of cotton seed, two
navy revolvers, 4 d0uble-bafreled shot gun,
and q dirk knife, not including
the weapons we had ourselves. The ord I
nance were part the fixtures fths r. or.
It rained during the night and the bed got
wet and the door wouldn't stay shut because
it had no latch or key, and my hat that was
placed on a sort of t1antel piece was half
full of water next mOfning. But you know
| was soldier during the war and have
learned how to take such things phi.osophi-l
cally. B. stood it first rate and privately
complained more at the absence of butter
and milk than he did at our lodgings. Onei
meal is type of the rest, viz; coffee with
ont milk; bacon aud biscuits, although at
Comsnche we had wild turkey for dinner
and supper. This applies to the country
houses in the interior and not 10 the style
of living in town. One night it hailed very
hard and the hail came down through the
finely ventilated roof on the bed where
was sleeping. $50 >" - There was
something aboutthe little frontier village of
Comanche, way out on the verge Of civili-
cation, that made me like it as soon as
got there. But we did not think
it prudent to 60 into business there. 1t is
ITO miles from the nearest railroad ard is
already flooded with goods, and more bust
ness houses going up every day, and mail
facilities wretched. The water in this sec
ton is terrible TO Stranger but the set
tiers say after you get used to it it goes
very well. The present outlook is very IN
favorable, and unless we meet with more
encouragement in North Texas will 90
back home. Nearly everyone has mania
for merchandising so far, aud the towns are
filled with goods. 1t would surprise you
to see what large stocks are carried in
Waco. And, another thing, the growth
of many Of these railroad towns is
delusiye, mushroom growth. Denison
is already On the decline. The Fort
Worth excitement may or may not be jus
tilted. | am told that land at Fort Worth
is held at enormous figures. We can tell
more when we get to Dallas. There will,
in my opinion, be large town somewhere
in North Texas; but it is question of
doubt now where that town viii be. Pos
sibly Dallas or Fort Worth, or may be still
west Of Fort Worth. As regards the inter-
Tor towns that aye now doing wei; when
this line of railroads is completed that is
now being pushed forward, he effect upon
them will be different. Some of them win
be Filled completely, and some will Re ben
Gifted. One thing is certain TO my mind,
the lands, towns and villages Of Central and
Northern Texas are in transition state
some viii make big money and some viii
be disappolnte |. This country through here
has fine land, but is frequently subjected to Sc
we're drought. The pf ople say that their
land though retains moisture long time,
and can always count on small crop auy
how. La a favorable season they claim
from 80 to 40 bushels Of wheat to the acre,
and corn in same proportion. Lands range
different prices-from 81 to $50 per acre
according to location and improvements.
There is one great defect in Texas lands,
that is the titles. This State is peculiarly
the theatre of fraudulent land titles, and one
should never purchase land there without
having titles thoroughly investigated by
competent authority. Three years ago
was the time TO NIKE money in this
section of the State, and many are
going into business here under the
idea that they can reap as rich
harvest as was then, but 1 differ with
them. In the village Of Comanche, ITO
miles from the railroad, you can buy a
lady's shoe from $I.50 to $500, and an
eastern boot from So to S.. Cigars, 2 for a
quarter, drinks, for quarter, and bite
from panther for nothing. One of the
bfr-keepers has couple of panthers chain
ed near the door Of the saloon, that he calls
pets, bat l took his word for it, and didn't
investigate-one grOwl was enough for me.
Coming back from Comanche we did some
hunting. shot one bird from the buggy,
but our mules were so deeply affected by
the noise of the gun and insisted so strong
ly on standing on their hind legs, that we
out Of mere regard for their feelings
didn't shoot from the buggy any more.
We practiced the golden rule
once at least. The farmers through
here have been very unfortunate
this spring. Last night for the second time
this season their cotton aud corn was killed
by the frost. The Norther that met on
prsiries wound up with killing frost and
this morning the growing crops are black
and withered; do not know how general
the frost was, but its effects were serious
through this section.