San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-02-17
A Critical Era n he History q
Han Marcos.

A Critical Era u tAs History q
San Marcos.
This may bs looked upon - an i'm
portsnt period 10 the history Of the
town. The rsilrosd. Il istras, reached
" several months ago. and some par
haps looked ior . sudden rash or i'm
provsmeuts At that time; but - 10 have
.seu, almost the sa'irs attention Of the
road has bees occupied ~ the extern
sion Of the lius " San Antonio. The
transportation of materials tor ooustruo
ton, Us we'll as the work Of construction
itself has excluded freight to such an
extent that we cauDo, be said - yet 10
have felt the beneficial sdsotA Of the
road. Now that tho road has reached
San Antonio, however, II msy DO ex'
pectsd that the heretofore irregular
running Of trains and carrying Of
irsishts will be rcmsdled and passengers
freight aud lumber brought 10 regular
" from this time on. This then would
seem to DO tho timU from which We arc
to date our prosperity, II there DO AIRY
such thing 10 store for Us. ~
There is q wide difference Of opinion
as to the future Of San Marcos. Tho
enthusiasts think we are to become
city. That respectable but rather to-
convenient class Of men commonly call
ed croakers, insist that We are likely to
remain as. wo are. for all time, The
truth as is so often the case lies no
doubt between these two views. There
seems to DO no reason why We cannot,
BY proper exertious, build up . place
Of considerable importance.
But whilst San Marcos has many
natural advantages, any thinking man
must see that they are not so great as to
insure her prosperity without any exer-
tons on the part of its citizens " 90.
cure il. Though situated in what is
perhaps one OF the finest sections OF the
State, we should bear 10 mind that the
country around US, from which we can
hope to draw trade. is very limited 10
extent, in fact for too limited to serve
uu aided as basic on which to build
up town Of any considerable size. We
cannot reach out north. south, or
east more than ten or fifteen miles with
out coming into competition with other
trading points. On the west alone
can we reach cut with the expectation
of securing any very large amount Of
trade. These facts considered, show
that we IRE working at disadvan
tage which, if not compensated for BY
extra exertion on our part, must operate
ipjuriously to our interests.
II, then, it be true that We must
exert ourelves 10 order to build up San
Marcos. we should consider what is to
be done, and go ahead and do it. Now
ut this time. II we DO not make start
NOW VIC probably never will. Every
one admits that trade is what we want.
Should W. not make every effort to bring
it here from any and all quarters. Not
long since York's creek farmer, who
lives on this side Of the creek within
about seven miles of San Marcos in q
direct line. was met by citizen Of this
town on his way to Seguin to buy lum.
Der. He stated that he, and probably
two thirds Of the York's creek farmers
would trade 10 San Marcos provided
they could reach the town by decent
road, that IL, one not three or four
miles longer than necessary on account
of crooks and turns and two feet deep
in mud 10 wet weather. Il this prop
er state of affairs? Again. how 10 it in
the direction Of Martindsle? A strong
effort was made sometime since to open
up communication with Blanco City,
and great deal was effected, as the
road was put 10 good condition. How
it stands at present we do not know ;
but there ia nothing Of more importance
to us than opening this road. keep
ing it 10 thorough repair, and also adver.
Using the fact in the counties with which
it communicates,
Can we afford to have matters of SC
much importance unattended to? Just
here we would make suggestion: Pub
lie improvements Of this sort involve SO
many difficulties and require so much
perseverance, and continued attention
to start them aud keep them up when
once started. that it is useless to hope
to accomplish much in this direction
through tho haphszard, irregular work
ings OF committees appointed at occa
sioual mass meetings Of called citizens.
Some system must be resorted TO. if We
intend to accomplish much. Might il
not be we'll for the citizensiof San Mar
cos to meet and form regular, system
attic and permanent organization. hav'
ing for it special object the advance
ment Of public improvements Of this
sort in our town?
Shiloh's Consumption Cure.