San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-10-26


and experience that Texas is one oil
fine healthiest countries on the globe.
We frequently remarked to the teach
ers and people of Corsicana; Your
place must be one of the healthiest IN
the world" Many of our cities with
all their sanitary measurers aIe sub
iect to epidemics; the Texas cities that
do violence to every sanitary principle
are healthy in spite of it. We simply
allude to this subject to show how tree
from prevailing sicknesses these cities
are, and would not by any means be
understood to say that this neglect of
cleanliness is u rule. Many OF the
cities, among which may be nam
ed Tyler, Austin, Galveston, &C.,
are noted for enforcing their health
regulations, while Waco, San Antonio,
and even Dallas, are delinquent IN
this matter.
Texas is as free from sickness as
any new country can possibly be.
There is tendency to biliousness, but
care in eating and drinking are the
great preventive. Texans drink too
much water and eat too much bacon
and other fats. Let them learn that
man is not a drinking animal and live
more on vegetable diet, and they will
escape much of their biliousness. We
started away from Pennsylvania this
summer more or less bilious and were
entirely relieved of it before we were q
week in Texas. But some will argue
that we did not stay long enough to
become bilious. We feel certain that
the longer we would have staid, if we
had observed the same hygienic rules,
the less tendency there would have
been to biliousness. We weighed 1866
pounds when we left Pennsylvania and
172 when we returned. We ate no
bacon, no pork, no butter, but little
meat, mostly fowl, drank water per-
haps half dozen times, and very
little of any other kind of liquid, ex-
cept good coffee GALL the Texas women
know how to prepare good Coffee and
cold milk as often as we could get IT..
We ate water-melons, cantalopes,
peaches, tomatoes, okra, sweet. pota-
toes, in fact all kinds of vegetables,
yes, apples too. Texas has good apples,
all reports to the contrary notwith-
standing; slept soundly from ten to
seven, with plenty of fresh air and no
revolver under our head, no cares and
enxieties; had pleasant, jolly time,
plenty of agreeable company; no mos
quitoes to bother us; took daily exer-
else, sometimes an evening walk into
the country of three miles and back,
and felt sorry that the distance was
not ten; worked every day in the week;
studied our lessons; spoke our pieces;
preached on Sundays; lectured in the
evenings; argued on politics, religion
and education, and didn't get angry;
took things easy in general; and here
we are having never felt better in our
life and pulling seven pounds avoirdu-
pois more for having gone to Texas.
Had we lived there twenty years, we
have no doubt we could say the same,
provided we were not too lazy and
cowardly to observe the laws of health.
We have met persons who have lived
their life time in Texas and were never
sick a day.
There are places where it is I'M
healthy, such as the bottom lands of
the Brazos, for example. But when
there is so much choice of location,
no one need be so foolhardy as to set
tie there. There nature, always true
to herself, points out the unhealthy
localities so that they can be avoided,
Wherever the tropical moss is seen
pendant from the trees there is mala-
ria, which is the food it feeds upon.
These bottoms must be stunned. But
these are the exceptions. Texas as a
country is healthy.