The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1880-09-25
NEGLECTED RESOURCES.

| acquainted with the state ana us posslolIl1lts
is well aware. While attention is being
directed towards the development of some Of
the resources Of the state, not Il iew indeed,
still there are all about us Others that are
being sadly neglected. We have but to stop
moment and consider the vast extent Of
pastoral lands to be found in the state, and
the immense cattle interests dependent there
on to form something like an adequate idea
OF the hide business Of Texas. We have
not before us any statistical figures
from which to estimate the
hide trade of the state, but We know, and so
does every ore else who has travelled over
our railroads and visited our shipping points,
that tho hide shipments from the various
sections'of the state every year run up into
the millions Of pounds, and yet the trade is
| not exceeding two. thirds of what 1t could be
and ought to be, if they are to be shipped
| from tho state at all, with energetic effort
made in that line. This is one of our neg
lected resources. II is douoly neglected,
| first in that thousands and thousands Of hides
are permitted by carcltssness, by Indifference,
to rot that could Just as we'll be saved as not
and second in that not q hide ought to be
shipped out ofTexss. Where is the wisdom
or economy in shipping hides to Boston
and other eastern and northern points there
| to be tanned into leather and then shipped
back TO Texas, or else manufactured into
shoes and boots and harness, and trunks and
saddles and shipped back hereH Why not
establish tanneries in Texas and work up the
raw material into leather right here a. home !
1t would give employment TO thousands of
people and II would lead to the establish
ment of great SCOT and shoe factories, harness
and saddle manufactures and trunk manu-
factories, all of which would add to the pres
perity of the state and bring wealth to
US. The development of this neglected
resource would lead to the development
Of other neglected resources, All over
Texas, especially in eastern Texas, tho sumac
grows in the greatest profusion, and the
sumac stands at the head Of the best CON.
mercial materials for tanning purposes. Last
year there we're II 900 tons Of sumac impor-
ted, worth $l,l00,C00 In gold, and this i'm
ported sumac, experts say, is much inferior
to our native sumac. lho establishment of
tanneries in Texas would lead to the cultiva'
ton Of the sumar, AS for that matter, 1t
would pay 10 cultivate the sumac on worn
out lands in eastern Texss, anyhow, and ship
tie crop gathered to eastern aIkels, where
it can always bo sold Mt remunera-
two prices. Texas has another indigenous
product, the value of Which for tanning pur-
poses is but little understood or appreciated,
yet il has no superior, We refer to the
mesquite wood that grows so rNnkly all over
the prairie sections Of the state, that, in, fact
Is transforming the prahies into woodland in
some regions. The leaves ard wood or This
tree Yield larger percent 20 Of tanun than
hemlock bark, redoak bark, sumac or sny
other known material used for tanning hides
into leather. Tanning material from this
source would DO inexhaustible here
in Texas, for there are millions
and multiplied millions of acres
of the mesquite timber. This OF itiolf
another neglected resource. The heart of the
tree yields the greatest per centsge Of tsunin
end the best way to obtain it is to saw up
the timber ard extract it from the saw'du3t,
while the leaves of the tree could be treated
as the leaves of the sumac are. The mos
quito is hut species of the acacia from
| which gum arabic ia made, and from which
also an astrirgent drug is prepared. With
ilnneres here and there throughout the
state in sufficient numbers to handle all the
hides that are annually shipped out of the
state, our hide market wonld he better than
it is, and Texas instead of buying
leather, instead of buying her boots
and shoes, the bulk OF her saddles, brides
and harness, etc, could ship those articles
oil and supply ether markets. 1t was thought
up GA few years ago, comparatively, that it
would not pay to have cotton and wooden
factories in the south, that wc could not
compete with the mills of Now England, and
that it was folly 10 attempt it, Experiment
aud experience now teach us that this was
but the talk Of visionary, and the idea has
vanished before superior intelligence
on the subject gained by trying
like the mist before the morning sun
We have demonstrated that cotton and
wooden mills do pay in the south and pay
WE'LL too; and every year we hear ofnew cot
ton and wooden manufactures being estab
lished and of increased facilities being given
to those already in operation. Every species
of msnufactory that we have attempted il
the south has been successful and proven tC
be remuneratve. Why, then, should W,
doubt that it would pay to make the hdcI
wc ship off every year by the thousands int
leather, and then manufacture that Leather
into shoes, boots, etc ? Texas is an empir,
within herself and if her neglected resource
are only looked after she will be
come the commercial and industrial
giant of the American union. She ha