New-York tribune., 1879-05-17
TEXAS AS 1T is.

THE GERMAN SETTLEMENTS.

THEIR CIVILIZATION CoNTRAsfED WITH THAI of
THE SOUTHERN ELEMENT-sAN MARCos-ACRoss
TgE COUNTRY TO AUSTIN.
,r,oN A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT OF rHE rRIBUNF.I
ArsrrN. Texas" If you want to see the prettest
.art of Texas" said a San Antonio acquaintance,
rIaave the railroad at Marion, a little station
.-.,+v miles east of here and go across the coun-
A.. IN AuStiu There's stage running. III was
.obbed a few days ago. but the performance won't be
aDeated 50 soon and you viii be safe enough stop
:, tba NeY-Braunfes settlement and see the oldest
~ most nrospefous German colony in the state
tool his advice left the cars at daybreak on
ra,y morning when the fag-end OF nortAer was
blovyinp. and embarked IN a stage-coaeh IN company
with three soldiers. little distance 1rom the sta-
tion the driver stopped IN mesquite thicket
sbow us where the robbers came
rnon Linn. There were three OF them,
10 aid II seems that they did the business In
MAR Dick Turpn style, one covering the driver
+b a., rifle while the Others thrust their revolveTs
r5 masked faces in at the window of the coach
and ordered the passengers to hold mp their hands.
The soldiers discussed various plans for getting
the drop on the highwaymen in case we should be
attacked but their courage was not put to the
,,roof for we got ont of the thckets safely and
thence on to w-Braunfels the country was open
and dotted with the comfortable farmsteads of
tbe German settlers. The small fields are well
gpl
cattle and horses browsing the dead grass are sleek
and fat. and the little farmhouses look neat and
comfortable In the whole landscape there is moth
ingpeculiary Southern, and nothing at all Texan
save the occasional stretches of untitled land COW
cred with mesquite. This tree figures a good deal
in all descriptions of Texas scenery, and 1t Is time
IL had an introduction 60 the reader The mesquite
looks much like a large untrimmed peach tree, save
that it often comes out of the ground in two or
three stems instead of one. In the Winter
season. when the limbs are bare, the resemblance
70 the peach tree is marked, and the habit
Of the tree of growing at regular inter
walls apart as if planted. makes a MESQUITE grove
appear like a neglected peach orchard. The farmers
say there is more of the tree underground than
above aud after the brush is cleared oil the serious
work Of getting rid of this cumberer of the soil has
onlviust begunor the loose roots have TO be gubbed
MP before the land can be titled 1t is a curious fact
that while the trunk cannot be burned for a year
after il is cut because of the quantity of sap
il contains. the roots make excellent fuel a few
days after they are exposed to the air The mesquite
has leaf like the locust is covered with thorns,
and bears large pods 1t exude5 a gum resembling
gum arabic.
A PROSPEROUS GERMAN COLONY
After two hours drive sticky black roads
the stage drew mp at the door Of the NewBraunfels
tavern, where a genial landlord in a knit jacket
welcomed the travellers TO a big room that was bar
room office and biliard-room for the inn, and gen.
eral loungng place for all the lazy fellows Of the
village. The walls were hung with prints Of the
Austro-Prussian War. varied by sentimental love
scenes. In the room to which l was shown the
GRnakiSsen on the beds, the chlntz curtains at the
windows, and the heavy cherry furniture carried
my memory back at a bound to little German village
inns in Bavaria and Wurtemburg. So did
the dinner, and the people at table, who
chatted and joked necessarily, with the
happy German faculty of making a few
tritlmg topics furnish material for deal of lively
conversation. 1t was about forty years ago that
Prince Salm of Braunfels to Texas with reti-
nue. of barOns and knights and a goOdly following
Of stout artisans and peasants and founded this
colony on the head waters of the Comal. The
Prince and his fine gentlemen full of romantic
notions of life in a new country, which were
knocked out Of them in year or so of rude expert
ence. Most of the young noblemen returned to
Germany with their leader, but the sturdy mechan-
les and farmers could not get back nor did they
want to- for they found the land good, the climate
like that of Italy, and the OF life easy TO get
With them remained few of the poorer gentry
enough 10 give an intellectual tone 70 the colony
and keep alive a taste for German literature ana
music The colonists receiving few accessions, and
that they and their descendants now occupy the
whole County of Comal. Their wealth is pro-
verbal in Western Texas. 1t Is said that
there is more gold and silver hid in old
stockings in COmal County than can be
found in the vaults of all the banks IN San Antonio.
Their village Of New-Braunfels has 5000 nhabi-
tants who support good public schools where Eng
lsh and German are taught Lutheran and Catho-
lie churches, and a weekly newspaper. They have
O choral society, orchestra, dramatic club and,
Of course, tapzkyGRScben they make little wine,
and they used to make their own beer, but since
the railroad came so near the big ST. LOnis brew
cries have supplanted the homemade brew. $50
lated from the American element of Texan life, with
which they have little sympathy, by wide stretches
OF thinly settled country and producing IN abund-
ance all their simple wants require, these excellent
people are joyous and cOntented, and, mlngllng
pleasure with industry, seek with music dancing
and good fellowship to realize the German ideal OF
a Gemdfhlicbes LCbei-a phrase, by the way, which
can no more find adequate translation into English
than can our word home into the French and Italian
tongues wish, however, they would sing and
dance little less and take the time to
build sidewalks about their streets which
are all but impossible after rain the
black. sticky mud being of the consistency and
adhesive strength of shoemaker's wax. l made
this suggestion to the village editor after peUlous
Journey to his printing Office. He replied that IT
seldom raIned, and that the ground dried up so
quickly afterward that by the time the people be-
gan TO seriously think about sidewalks there was
no longer need of them. Besides, he added, in a
country where good saddle-mare costs only ol5
. no one need 90 far OF foot.
Very pretty are the New-Braunfels cottages with
their whtewashed walls set back from the streets
IL the midst of trim gardens and orchards Of plum
Al. 1o,-sr 1tfr- hsvrn
succeed fronts initiating marble, and pilasters be-
tyyeeu the yyindovs-iust such houses as every