San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1879-06-14

Gem lwfkHches xe0cN-s puSavSs " ~
way, which can no more fud adequate
translatioh into English than can our
word home into the French aad Isal.
ian tongues. I wish, however, thsy
would sipg and dance : littls lsas. ard
take the time to build sidewalks about
their streets, which are sl but inpass.
able after . rain, the black, sticky mud
being Of the consistency and adhesive
sttsbsth Of 'shoenaksr's wax. ! nads
lt41 sssssaiioA 10 Vie village editor,
after . psrilons journey % biz printing
Office. He replied that il seldom fain-
cd, and that the ground dried vRso
quickly aftefward that By the tiiAs the
people began to seriously thiak abett
sidewalks there was no longer need Of
them. Besides. hs sddsd, II ceun.
try where . good saddle-nars costs
only slb no one need 20 far On foot.
Very pretty are the New Brausfela
cottages, with their whitsWashed walls,
set back from the streets IN the midst
Of trim gardens and orchards Of plum
and cherry trees. Some Of the larger
houses have stuccoed fronts. initiating
| marble, and pilasters between the win
dows--just such houses % every trav-
eller remembers to hsve seen in the
suburbs Of South German cities. The
ine courthouse is another pleasing
feminiscence Of Old. World architect.
ure, and so are the pretty stone church,
es. How have these Germans managed
to become so we'll of 10 . single gene
ration, beginning with nothing on the
bare soil? we naturally ask. By .
| careful system Of small farming, rais-
ing everything they eat. keeping cattle
and sheep. and growing cotton only %
one crop among many. Every farmer
makes only as much cotton % he and
| bis family can pick. In the picking
season the women and children 40 into
the fields, and it il considered IN I'd
vantage to have large family, for the
more children man has the more cot
ton he can venture TO plant. Corn is
not a profitable crop, yielding only
thirty or forty bushels to the acre. and
bringing but 25 cents . bushel. Wheat
seldom yields ever eighteen bushels
and now sells as low 90 70 cents. Oats
do best Of all the grains, seventy. five
bushels being not an unusual yield
Irish potatoes grow to great size, but
are so watery and spopgy ~ to be
scarcely fit to eat. Apples are brought
from the North, but peaches, plums,
apricots and cherries flourish. Beel
costs s cents q pound and is cheaper
food than white bread. The common
bread of the country is made from rye
-four mixed with the poor dark -four
Of native wheat, and good wheat bread
\ made from Northern flour IS somethine
of luxury. Last yoar the wheat
crop all over Texss was nearly ruined
by rains in harvest time. and the f0ul
sells for $3 barrel less than thai
brought from st. Louis.
! A DRIVE ACROSS COUNTRY.
| found little satisfaction in travel
ing boxed up in stage through coun.
try deserving more than passing g,imps.
eb through dirty coach windows, 80
made the journey from New Braunfell
to San Marcos, the county seat OF tht
next county, in an open buggy drawn
by two good horses and driven by q
German who was susceptible to ques
tions and impaired considerable 10.
formation as We bowled along the soft
spongy, black roads. We forded the
Comal where ireshet bad swept away
new iron bridge, and the Guadalupe
which Is too big a stream to bridge a.
the expense of the tax. payers, and
drove through foe rolling country
sweeping away from high cedar cloth
ed ridge in long. billowy swells Of cot.
ton fields aud pastures, dotted with
clumps of live oaks. This ridge rupi
from San Antonio nortbeastward fal
beyond Austin. and is much the most
prominent feature in the scenery o.
the settled portion Of Western Texas
having at little distance the appear.
ance of a mountain range. Ii is the
birth place of nearly all the streams
that How toward the Gulf west of the
Colorado, and possesses the remark
able faculty Of sending out young riv.
ers from single springs under its lime
stone cliffs. Thus the San Antonio
the Guadalupe. the Comal. the Sar
Marcos and many lesser streams star
on their way 10 the sea with volume
of water that makes them respectable
and useful from their first dash ovel
the pebbles. The ridge il ooIy Co
| feet high. but its rugged sides. rocky
lodges and clothing Of evcrereens var.
rant the people in speaking Of it az
"tbe mounssips. They call the conntr,
beyond in the mountsins." sud g,
IL is broken snd wooded ~ far bael
IS they have any ksovlelee of IL viii
sparse settlements along the little val
leys for fifty miles of 90 westward
A. long a. We are in Comxl count,
the smsll farms continue. With snoofl
6al5s inclosed by GOOD cedar fences y
N-l-1.-r Ill ~ 3~-~~ I<tIIx