National Republican., 1881-10-22
A NEW MEXICAN CITY.
LAS VEGAS AND SURROUNDINGS.
What the Advent OF the Railroad Brousht-AdObo
Houses -Sehoois-The Plows Of the Ancienls
Former rwashinstonians-Live
Real.Eslate Men.
- ft,s = A

Special correspondence of THE REPUBLICAN,.
LAS VEGAS, N. NJ, Oct l3.-This is the
frst city Of much Importance have found west
Of Topeka on the line Of the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe Railroad. expected to find half
civilized town from what / had read OF New
Mexico In Eastern papers Judge OF my surprise
to find on arriving here place Of $500 people
and rapidly growing. Houses arc being built by
hundreds, mostly Of frame and small In size; yet
now and then n spacious brick or stone residence
rises up to denote the solid prosperity OF Its owner
and his confidence in the future OF this Denver OF
Mexico, as 1t is appropriately called. Less than
three years ago not more than half dozen
American families could be found here among
population of nearly two thousand. although for
many years Vegas has been important as point
at which the native Mexicans obtained their sup
plies With the advent OF the railroad come en-
terprse and capital and soon people locked here
by hundreds aud thousands to engage In every In
dustry common to n Western city. on the streets
you will meet far moro Americons than natives,
and
TT HARD To REALIZE
you are in place to which they have so recently
come There are two live daily papers published
here, of which has full Associated Press reports
four wcoklies, one being printed In Spanish, with
n large circulation among the natives. Two fine
large school-housos and several churches are In
the course Of erection. The Catholic schools here
have for years been noted for their thorough
course of training, and some Of the weather.
young natives, who have had the means Of oh.
tanning an education, compare favorably with the
young men Of the East in their qualifications for
business Among the other modern conven.
fences are street railroad, water and gas
telephone exchange, two express companies,
two national banks several private bankers, &c
The markets are excellent, rs they are not only
supplied from the local products, but from Cali
forna, as well as from the East. There are great
many peaceable Pueblo Indians coming in here
every day from down the road near Albuquerque
and socorro, selling fruit The railroad company
is generous enough TO keep on the right side of
these Indians by transporting them free wherever
they want TO go. They are perfectly harmless,
and, am informed, are industrious, hard working
farmers. The native Mexican seems disposed to
resist innovations far possible, and those who
build houses in the city put them up of adobe In
stead Of erecting frames or bricks.
THESE ADoBEs ARE SIMPLY MUD BRICKS.
say three inches thick, four wide, and six long,
and arc dried in the sun instead of being baked
in kiln. They do not harden so as to be a safe
material for over one story in height. promi-
nent and wealthy native named Baca sent his son
| to the east some years ago TO be educated. He
come home with marvellous tales about the height
and the number of stories of the houses. He so
| infatuated his parental ancestor that he set to
work and at a cost of about $4,000 built an i'm
mense adobe house four stories high, surrounded
by porch, and a town hail two stories high.
When they were completed they were
considered unsafe, and are now pointed
out as evidences of the misdirected public
| spirit the owner. drove out into the surround
ing country and saw the farmers threshing In sew
| eral places. This is done by throwing the wheat
| upon piece of smooth, hard ground, aud then
turning herd Of goats upon 1t and chasing them
When il is Is SUPPOSED % the the grain IS ali sheliod out
| the straw Is pulled off and more put on and
the process repeated. Then, when good wind
comes along, they throw the chaf and grain up
together; the former Is blown away and the latter
| Is caught In blankets.
| THE PLows THEY USE
are couple of sticks rudely put together Many
of their carts are made without the use of iron,
l the wheels being made by saving pieces from n
| good-szed log and boring holes In the middle OF
them. IN the simple habits and customs OF these
| people can now sec why the great resources OF
| this territory have never been developed The
stock business is very remune rativc, and almost
here aud apply himself closely can within few
| years amass fortune. 1t does not require a
large amount of capital TO- start A man was
pointed out TO me who came here poor few years
ago and isnow worth $50 900, In stock raising
rode through IDorseys immense m s,, ranch % ON R my
Ssy hSTe sNt1 Saa sau.S 70 be isF'y bSi %os S gs
cattle and 1900 horses, and his income will be
this year nearly $4,000 This is a productiys
no charges which bring investigations. Joe Dwye
and John Delano. whom many of you know, are
ranchlng at otero with good success, am IN.
| formed. Farming Will pay largely here IL well
| managed. The wheatcrop isgool, even on high
altitude, while corn 6ourlshes better In the val
leys am informed by old residents that there Is
good rainfall in about three years out of five
! Irrigation Is much simpler and cheaper process
than 1t Is generally understood to be In the East.
II Is done by digging small bitches from tho rivers
| or creeks and then
TURNING THE WATER INTO THEM
and letting It overflow upon the adjoining land
whenever 1t Is thought necessary. In case streams
| are not near wells are easily dug and the water
| brought into the ditches by pumping. New
Mexico Is by no means u desert. 1 had supposed
WAS eS mere e@t
mills within few miles of Las Vegas, all running
on full time. The common yellow pine lumber Is
worth, delivered, from $40 TO SIS per thousand.
| The business done here astonlshes me. / SEQ the
streets full of teams, many of them of eight yoke
OF oxen, The business of the railroad depot
% freight Bins 50 of S the two leading Wholesale houses r%
here amount to from $4,000 TO $4,000
runs up Into the millions annually The sur, sur;
rounding country is beautiful. The vision ex-
tends 100 miles TO the dark, indigo coored noun
which there Is not q cloud, The air Is pure, the
attitude being 600 feet above the level of the sea.
In the carly days of September, the thermometer
| registered only COZ In the shade, while we were
| reading of your suffering under temperature OF
1902. This Is Il good place to loan money; only a
man must KNOW MS uuu see MS security
| IL good before he parts with his cash. Rates arc
from l8 per cent. per nnnum to per cent. per
month. by the way, your
LIVE REAL ESTATE MAN, D. II. WARNER,
was here for week In September. and rather
started a boom by buying lots Wholesale. He has
since been selling thom at retail for three four
times what they cost him. lie came out to visit
Jefferson Reynolds, esq, president Of the First Ma
tnnal Bunk, who, by the way, held n Government
office in Washington seventeen years ago. He is
new rcputcd TO be the best banker in the Terri.
tory and Is the head and front of three good, solid
banks which bring him an income Of from
$4,000 to 5000 per year. James NJ. Latin
was here the other day. He is located ut
| Albuquerque, 40 miles below, aud Is
u contractor on the Atlantic and Puclfc Railroad,
making lots of money. Edward Medler the car
pentcr, from your city, Is also there, doing well
General Grafton, of Paine, Grafton IL Ladd, is
largely interested in mines near Socorro, and
rumor says ne has struck bonanza. leave fol
white Oaks" and will have something TO say
about the mines In my next. Tell some of youl
live young men who want to make fortune "a
come out, take Off thcir coats and go to work
Success will surely come. GEN"''' ~ ''