Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-12-07
SAN ANTONIO LETTER.
An Accession Of 5000 People
in Five Months.
ThIrty-TwO Thousand Men at
Work on One Railroad,
A Place That Needs some Fist
Glass Funerals.
[No.2I
CorrespOndenoe Public Ledger.

Correspondence Public Ledger
SAN ANTONIO, December |, 1881.
In my last l promised in future t
say something about San Antonio anC
I'll Paso. San Antonio had a popula.
ton of 20,600 when the census wa!
taken in 1880. The completion OF the
Gould railway to this place and 1t:
extension southwest, aud the extern
sion of the Sunset road from Calves
ton and Houston westward to the RlC
Grando and northwestward to meet
the Southern Pacific, now being bull
from I'll Paso, gave an impetus TO this
city that is just a boom. IL is said
that 5000 people have come here tC
reside since last March. The ques
tion with this city is how can they
prevent the two syndicates- Gould's
and Huntington's-from crushing the
now inflated shell and leaving it high
and dry, a mere way station. As
matters now stand, these two reads
have or will have this city in their
power, and maylet certain parties, who
own real estate, down a few links.
They have put the prices of their
property on stills so high that a poor
man cant get up to it, But they have
it in their power to place a check
upon the two great syndicates and pre-
vent them from pooling their freight
and passenger rates so as to discriml-
nate adversely to San Antonio.
The Mexican. Texas Railway Com
pany. the Palmer Sullivan syndicate,
propose to run q branch Of their road
from some point on the gulf north
through this city and on entirely
through the State and through the
eastern part Of New Mexico,
it will Join the Den
yer and Rio Grande railroad,
both being narrow gauge, and both
one ownership and manage
This company is already run
ming trains from Corpus Christi, at the
mouth of the Neuses river ON the
gulf, to Laredo, one hundred and sixty
and across the Rio Grande at
that place, and down that valley to
Camargo. whence it is pushing on to
the City of Mexico and it is said will
run through trains from Cairo, Ills ,
10 the City Of Mexico before either
the Gould or the Huntington people
will complete their roads to that old
city. The Palmer Sullivan people
$4,000 men at work on the main
and their branches in the West.
This is a larger force than compose
the United States army, officers in
This association is building their
road from Corpus Christi to Calves
ton, Houston and on via Texarkana to
His, and it is said will not
stop until they can run a train from
on the Pacific coast, to
Boston, Mass. Now, if the people Of
place will make up and shell out
some of the immense capital which it
is said is horded in the banks here and
elsewhere, they can give such encour-
agement to that narrow gauge road as
will, within six months, secure therun-
ming Of cars from here to Galveston,
and thus have a check upon any com
bined monopolies. But there aremore
or monetary mossbacks here to
the square mile than many city outside
Of Mexico or Spain. Each saws
the air aud proelaims, San An
tonic must secure this road"
but when some one asks how
much he will give? he has business
across the street. About forty or
more first class funerals would be a
blessing to San AntQnio, and the
would still hove on its
course. 1t costs full double as much
to live here as in your city. A house
can be lad at all, composed OF
rooms and box" kitchen will
rent for $50, and there are none, no
not one Of the kind to be had 10 the
place.
San Antonio has great natural ad-
Tantages in water power as the San
Antonio river meauders like a snake
through the city, and cotton and wool
10 abundance in the raw, is at our
very doors, yet this can never be a
manufacturing city until the price OF
living etc., gets low enough for the
manufacturer to compete with bis
-ivals in New England and foreign
countries There are many places
"a Tennessee, North Carolina aud
Georgia and the northern part Of
Florence for instance, where
manufactures Of cotton, wool, wood
ware, iron and many other things can
be made and sold as cheapin the gen
eral market as the New Highlander
can sell them. This place has, within
the last three mouths, began to put
on city ways, but everybody is wOeful-
ly behind in the city way Of doing
business. Itseems almost imposs:ble
for many Of them to shake the moss
Of centuries from their backs. One Of
the live young merchants of Mem
phis could come here aud knock the
sawdnst out Of the old fogy style Of do
ing business. They are about com
plotting the numbering Of the houses
on the streets, aud putting the names
OF streets On the corners at crossings.
And such names. All, or nearly all
Spanish. | must stop and speak Of
Ell Paso and her future 10 my next
SAN A. DE BExAR.