The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1875-09-04

ED. STAR: Our famous "Empire City" ION
paper) |. G., in the minds eye, can scarcely by
reference to the United States Census Reports
for 1870, be conside ed ''Gilt Edge," and. there
fore, will content ourselves by referring cred
ulous victims TO recent reports of Government
surveyors, for Instance, Brown county, Texas,
the ostensible seat OF this future gift Empire
is located in the vast volcanic region OF West
ern Texas and the tract Is said to contain an
area OF two ~ millions of acres Of arid waste
land, and, as whole, embracing
Brown county and others are either marked in
the United States Census Reports, "a," pno :
ganized territory, "b," no reports, or else the
.b"--blank. Again, scientists and geologists
define the southwestern portion Of these bad
lands, eozoic, or life-dawn, limettone strata,
or masses somewhat coral-like IN texture,
whilst the southeastern and central portl0ns
are defined as silurian, or paleozoic, and be-
longing to the devonian age, a formation con-
tanning fossil fish, shell coral, and rock, and the
northern portion Of this arid waste Is aenom-
mated as coal measures and p3rino -carb0nl-
ferrous IAN inferior shade); farther, by refer
ence to census reports, lS o, 1t appears that
this much advertised gift, Brown Co. (the seat
OF Empire), as well as the adjoioning counties,
are given the following statistics, viz: I'm
populated. pnfertile, no timber. fuef or .vege-
tati0n. For instance, Brown county In 1850
had IA Inhabitants; 1870, = b44 grazers,
and they slowly Craze along Number
OF acres Ol lulpTOVeu ldnub, %, WOou lduu,
none; unimpr0ved. 1,0A acres; balance, 8,7U0
acres Of uncultIvatable shae; farming impe-
ments, value S4iS; value OF Sheep walks and
wild animal traits, 70, 6,450: value OF hides (all
in horn), $3.50; wool (bahD, $1,56u; corn,
| l,0W bushels; sol ghum. 1855; wild honey, wv
pounds; including all products; whilst the as
sessed value OF real and personal properly, that
is its wealth aud taxation, are marked "D"-
blank; also, other OF these counties, including
Coleman county, are marked ''a''-unorgaa-
lied, While some are marked "b"-n0 report.
and population ''p0J"-nothing.
MORAL.
The modus operandi of these frauds is gen.
orally The coinage of some newspaper mans
fertile brain, and their convenient auxiliary, o
Subsidized press; of course they must have
their rWhack-adYertising slush-while the ac-
| tive agents who puil the foul ropes and dirty
| pulleys are, for the most part, either adven-
| Iurers or non-residents, and the prin-
cipal capitalists usually Japanned from public
view and the contemplate fraud, q though
dlffused amidst the dUfenseless masses, lap-
prentice boys and servant grls), though In the
small sum of ~ cents for deeds, with record
ing fec OF only VI 80, nevertheless aggregates
with It's various branch ofiices, thousands OF
hard earned money. And the moral turpitude
OF this infamous scheme rests as well upon
abeStors as the more plant tools; farther, the
just Indignation of an incensed community
VIII be more fully aroused when the magni-
tude Of The swIndle bee mes thoroughly ven
tIlatcd.' JOSEPH X. COBB.