New-York tribune., 1879-04-26
TEXAS AS 1T is.
III.
THE PlITROAD CENTRE.

RESULTS
IrRox SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF THE rRIBrSkI
HOUsTON, Fcb10.-The traveller, scttingout from
Galveston for tour in the interior OF Texas, goes
first to Houston of necessity for the only railroad
in operation between the Gulf City, and the
mainland takes him there. aud passes no other
place where there ia the slightest inducemcnt TO
stop. After the shallow bay Is crossed on pile
bridge two miles long, the road traverses forty niles
of fiat, moist PRAIRIE without fences or habtations
save at long intervals the little bare brown houses
Of the herdsmen. The stations exist for no obvious
purpose for there are no people 10 take
the train. and in all the Wild lonely landsca. o
the only signs Of life are the cattle browsing in
scattered herds and the locks Of wild ducks and
blackbilds. The existence Of this vast solitude be-
tween the two chief towns OF Texas in q country
settled more than fifty years ago. is an anomaly and
is explained only by the fact that much
OF the land would need draining to
grow crops. and nobody is willing to
drain II as long as there are immense areas OF
equally good land little further off where no e1-
peDse Is required before putting in the plough. The
grazing region Of which this Is q part begins cast
Of Galveston. and widens constantly, until from a
narrow strip at its eastern limit. half marsh and
halt prairie it becomes at the western boundary of
the State an immense district Of fat prairie
and rolling upland stretching back from the coast
to the Staked Plains, distance Of over 500 miles.
Its northern boundary follows pretty closely line
Of latitude far as the Guadalupe River, and then
sweeps off TO the northwest whilo its southern
limit is everywhere the bays formed by the cham
Of sandy islands which lie along the coast like hinge
natural breakwaters. On this grazing belt stock
runs all Winter without shelter or fodder. The
poor animals often have hard time of it. however.
m aIa rsl IN tta and "A
survivors are doefu racks OF skin and bone by tho
time the grass starts IN February. little labor
devoted 10 cutting hay and building sheds would
be mercIful to TIE beasts and profitable to their
owners, but the Texas herdsman never thinks OF
such a thing. The loss Of few hundred steers does
not trouble him, for hc gets their lidcs, which are
worth half as much as the 1--we animal bfirG'.
About ten miles south of Houston the pra:res
cease, and the country becomes rolling and tImbcred
with pine and occasional belts of oak. The former
capital of the Republic OF Texas has the air Of a
thriving Western town, OF would have If 1t would
pave It's business street. and provide something for
sidewalks on the residence streets better than tie
prairie sod and mud. In the Winter season the
main thOrouglfarcs are slOughs OF mirc. and for
weeks heavy teamlng stops altogether. One gets
all sorts of estimates of the population OF the place,
varying IN their degrees Of cxaggeratiOn from posi-
tive to supcrlatIvc. Probably $4,000 would not be
far ont of the way, though the citizen who should
iail to stand up for 10000 would be tho ght uu-
worthy of the high privilege OF LIVING i'll such
favored locality. There arc few handsome blocks.
but tho stores arc large aud well built. and tho
business streets wear an air OF activity and pros
renty. he houses of wood, painted
vl.Itc. with green shutters, and two-stOry
p.azzas il front, and usually stand back
from the streets i'll the midst Of shrubhcry.
Shade trees are not nearly az plentiful as they
ought to De in a climate where the heat and burden
Of the day is felt for six months Of the year. Good
free schools for both races are sustained, aud the
people arr proud of tn" fact that theirs IL the only
large town ia the state which has successfully
copied the free school system Of Northern cities.
Churches arc numerous and well sIppOrted. There
arc two street railroads. and there is a spacious
market house erected lately az A cost of a hundred
Thousand dollars. In word, Houston Is n wide
awake. prosperous little city, with most modern
improvements and "A cOmmrndahlr ambition 10 be
big city. winch does not seem so absurd when its
eight railroad lines considered, and its advan-
tageoIs position as a distributing point for planters
supplies and receiving point for cotton. IL lacks
what nearly all Southern cities lack-manuflc-
turrs of such articles are of general MS" bY tho
IuIil pppulai iov. Almost everything made hy hand
OF machinery j. brought from the North, and tho
and expenses IL struck at the years end the country
accumuiatrs wealth very slowly. uotwlthstandIn.
Its tccmiug soil and prof able crops.
G!cAt tiIiuss are - pected for llou,ton from the
or. uiug Of the raiiroad to New-Or!eana. an event
now D., more thlr two years distant. The T,Nas
g e. ,- thc road fiaa Houston to Orange on the
a;..ue liver WI. completed several years ago, and
the sd ction from Ncw-Orieans TO Morgan Cry was
iu!!t before the war but the connecting Ink OF
ab"rt 700 miles, up iiIyoI leche and across the
pine woods md swamp. of Calcaslcu, has only just
been pat under contract. The Morgan Line viii
bulll a. far a. NeIIiinOuyllie, and Phllade phlx
company. r"p's t,ed by Cap ain Adams. under
takes tie TeI'i .'rf uf the work Il was vital 10
I lee interests o. y y-Orlcans that this road should be
pushed ten 'r@I, ago. before IT. LOuls extended
i,rr IS" long G'u arms down through Western
the rich pnzc % ne Ec1as trade; but New Orleans
does nothing bVt talk OF her former grandeur and
lamrlt the rc.Ic'tnce of Northern capitalists 10
come forward Ii help her out OF her present slough
rail connection with lrIds she ought 10 have
secured Ur herself long ago Is due. not 10 her own
cXertlons, but 70 the fact th. the Morgan Company
secs tnat II cannpI Keep lis piohtanlo tIahspora
ton business With only a line OF steamers to
betNec Newt Orleans and all parts OF |
Texas Is entirely IN tho hands OF the Morgan Line
the property OF tho irirs OF the late ChaIes Nor
gan Of New-iOIk. Eighty miles II the line. as | |
have SAID, is hy rail to Morgan City, aud the re-
mander Is 10y a fleet of fine light-draught side
wheel IRON steamers, admirably managed, which !
make daily iTlps to Galveston and thence up the |
bay u a new port live miles from Houston and |
semI-weekly weekly trips to Corpus Christi, !
IndIanola, Arkansas and tho mouth Of the RIO |
(irande. Before ;bo northern roads were opened |
all the Texas trade came tO me coast ports and
TO tho Morstn Line; but now much OF |
the cotton. winch /. tho principal lrIas product, |
zoe, by rail and tho ST. Louis drunm.rs have over
un the land and captured nearly all tho trade that
once went 10 Ncw-Orlenns Ihe opening OF the lIns
from Houston to New Orleans will glvs back |
10 the latter city ut least far share Of !
the Southern and Western IsIas business. and viii
naturally iucTc,o ths Importance Uf Houston; but
tL.s must DO .. ITO cxyen.s OF GAys,tDu, wlirh |
will be- Efty miles away from tho now curTouI Il |
travel and transportation, httIug dIscOu Olato hy
ho sca lac Ncni,c. hayo iIkIHg Tor tavrston. |
Ii Is coanw which can be saId 0f no other SoutIeru