San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1881-10-27

Galveston news.

why he tells what he knows about farm
ing, but how he happens to know 1t
and incidentally something OF life il
Texas forty years ago. The old Alcal
do was prepared for the practice Of thu
law in Alabama, where it used to bt
said the first questions put to o candi
date fer admission to the bar were "Cai
you swim ?" Have you horse?" Gar
the horse swim?" He incidentally tell
how himself and steed proved theil
proficiency in those accomplishment
before the days Of ferry-boats and rail
roads in the Lone Star State, and how
be had seen the country converted from
state of nature to the most flourish
ing State Of the Union, in hisintroduc
tory letter, as follows:
Nothing appears to me as being more
appropriate than an explanation OF
how ithappened that ], a small farmers
lawyer and a judge, most OF the. time
during residence OF nearly forty years
in Texas should have collected the ma
terials for such work, while busily
engaged in my ordinary pursuits. Hav-
ing settled in San Augustine in Eastern
Texas in 1s41, I entered upon my pro-
- p. q aa
fessional pursuits in the manner then
common in the country. That was
then the legal and political center OF a
large portion of the surrounding coun..
try. The district courts, Correspond
ing to the circuit courts in other States)
were then held during the spring and
fall months, of the year. 1t was not
unusual, when the time for holding
them arrived, to see o dozen lawyers,
with the Judge, mount their horses, with
saddle.bags. blanket and tie-rope, and,
thus equipped, started on their journey
around the district, which then en-
braced many counties, spreading over
large scope of country. As some OF
them would drop off and not 60 around
the whole circuit, others would fill their
places, SO that about an equal number
of travelling lawyers joined to the local
bar would be met with at nearly every
court. This mode of practice was kept
up until the late civil war, after which
the members of the bar became more
and more localized in their practice.
At once adopting the habit of fol-
lowing the circuit in which I located,
I travelled over wide scope of country,
from the Sabine to the Trinity Rivers,
q distance of $50 miles. We encount-
cred the usual hardships of travel in o
new and sparsely settled coun-
try, from rains and storms, Of
ten having to swim creeks and the
slough of rivers. Upon one occasion,
being the youngest man in the party,
had the honor of being selected
to swim the Nechez River on horseback
to bring over the ferry-boat from the
opposite side, where it was fastened.
On such trips we often met with Meth
odist itinerant preachers going or COM
ing from conference, and aided each
other in crossing streams, they coming
up on one side and we on the other.
The universal hospitality of the set
tiers was socacing relief to all our
fatigues of travel. Night or day their
doors were thrown open, and hearty
welcome was given to share whatever
they had, usually without money and
without price. Their humble fare, sea-
soned with their unobtrusive kindness,
was far more refreshing than the artis-
tic dishes of modern hotels. I was
never refuse admittance for the night
but once. Travelling with young
friend in sected of the country where
the houses we're from five to ten miles
apart, Just before dark when misting
norther was inst coming up, we.called
at lone cabin and asked the man of
the house to let us stay all night. He
replied that he could not take us in,
because his wife was sick. / answered
that 1 could probably give assistance,
having medicins along with me which
[ usually carried. He then said he had
no feed for our horses. / replied that
we could tie them up and feed the
next day; shelter from the coming storm
was what we wanted. He answered,
well. you can stay. I asked him how
far it was to go to the next house, and
xbat about the road to get there. He