Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1883-09-09

OF London, England, m renIv 10 one
sppehrlngin that paper which did not
uo justice TO Texas. Mr. Rentley's
,e..er VIII bear reading IN the state
he so ably defends; rs ~ ''' 's
o.. 70 The Editor 81 the Globe
o'T'--in your issue of ths 7tb inst,
appearcd letter under the above title,
when appears to have been written
from Waco, Texas, July s. / gather
lIoni my reading Of said letter that the
wii'ef made only hurried run
through The state. Yet he professed
20 nave seen much more of Texas. aud
70 nave learned much more of its
climate, resources--or want of resources
ahd general characteristics. than
DINERS have learned who have resided
'nere half n lifetime. do not purpose
questioning the intelligence of the
writer, nor do wish to- e understood
rs minimizing that he Intentionally
mlsrepresen.ed the state. But to
any one really acquainted with Texas.
her people, her resources. and her gem
eral peculiarities, his letter il so mani.
testify unfair that 1, as d Texan, crave
your permission to state some facts for
ms Information and for that OF others
Texas Is large state, and Ii Is un-
reasonable, TO say the least, To expect
any body, however intelligent and OBJ
serving, to learn great deal ,fbout II
IN week or ten days travel through
II. From the Sabine river on the east
to the Rio Grande on the west is a dis
lance of nearly 700 miles; while line
from the northern boundry line of the
state to the Gulfof Mexico on the south
VIII measure near 500 miles, extending
over about l05 degrees of latitude and
about 10 degrees Of longitude. Accord
Ing lie the Official survey of the state
there are 26J ,69i square miles of terri
tory in Texas. | give these figures
that you may understand how little
reliance Is to be put in the statements
OF one who forms his own conclusions
OF so vast IA section OF country, after be-
ing there but once and then remaining
but a few days The general tone of your
correspondents letter Is unfavorable to
Texas, and, II his insinuations are to
be relied on. it will appear that Texas
Is vast plain, without hills or noun
tainj; treeless country whore the sun
Is hotter than in Central Africa. n vast
area of worthless acres in the main I'M
III for farming, and but poorly tit for
stock-raising; where the general Gus
tom Is 10 carry arms about the person,
and where lawlessness liz the rule:
where private landowners are not will
ing to sci and where the state will not
sell OF its public domain to those wish
ing To secure homes. | cannot under
take to follow your correspondent in
all his assertions, but submit that the
following statements will Civ you and
yourreaders Il very impression
from that they have gathered from the
letter aforementioned. Texas may
be generally describ ID as level coun-
try. but in reality 1t has great vare-
~ Of mountains and hills, valleys aud
plains. One may travel in some por-
rions of the state for days among
mountains, often very high and impos-
sible OF ascent, and know of sections
of the state where there are practically
little but mountains and hilIs--as, foi
instance, in the counties of Pecos, Pre-.
sidio, Ell Paso and Crockett. OF course,
where there are mountains. rs distin-
guished from Il single mountain, there
are also valleys. and | am sure there
are no finer valleys anywhere than in
the counties mentioned, though they
constitute Il minor proportion of the
territory. On the other hand, notably
OH the plains, one may of travel fifty
to one hundred miles in II straight lint
and not see considerable hill. Texas il
not, slictly speaking, timbered state
but there is no serious scarcity of Tim.
Der for general purposes. In
| Eastern Texas are some of the fines
forests To be seen anywhere in Ameri
ca, and your correspondent had tray
eled he would have seen them extend
ing so to $50 miles in every direction.
There is the same variety in The
| lands of Texas that one will find else
| where, even In Great Britain. Their,
are lands as rich AS the richest lands
on the Nile, while, on the other band
there are considerable sections of terri
| tory where the lands are poor. But, on
the whole, Texas has quite rs large {
portion of fine lands, extent of terri
! tory considered, AZ will be found il
! Great Britain. In Eastern, North
| Eastern, South Eastern, Northern anc
| Middle Texas the rainfall will average
| fully three inches per month, and there
| is a superior farming country. II
your issue of the 9th you published |
| statement from the National Agricul
tursl Bureau of the United States
which shows that Texas has greatel
percentage of probability in tbemattel
| of it's cotton crop for 1883 than any othel
| of the said states, two only excepted
and in those two cotton Is not thu
staple. This is significant fact, ano
! hardly bears out your correspondent
| idea OF Texas as Il dry and thirsty
country at this season Of the year
Texas grows annually more cottof
than any other stare In the American
Union; ranks high as a corn and whea
st .ie: is second only to Louisiana as
sugar state; and second only To Souti
/ Carolina as II rice-producing state.
have before me the report OF the United
states Signnl Service Department fol
1882, which embraces ~ stations II
Texas, all bat two of them west of TN
meridian of longitude 96deg 2olnin
west of Greenwich, and ii shows TN
rainfall to be . ~ inches on an average
ner month. And most of these sti,
lions are west Of the line, dividing tn
strictly grazing from the farming SEQ
tions of the state. There Is no stat
where life is more secure than in Texas
! have within ten years travelled eve
two-thirds Of Its counties, often alon
and by private conveyance OIL OF TN
mail routes and have never used a pl-
toll or other weapon, aud have not on,
never been disturbed, but neYe
thought OF danger. ifa man Il long
ing for a row, he can find one o
easily in Texas rs In any place II
Christendom; but if he will attend Z
his own business he will never o
troubled. On the extreme western
frontier. where wild Indians are IN tn
, no 80 nj making frequent forayS, til