St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1883-06-02
LETTER FROM TEXAS.
TExaRKaSA, May q, 1885,

this legend, staring lin III the iace
from a large sign-board on each
side of the railroad track: "Iexar-
kara, the gate city of the South;
age, five years; population, 5000
Anchor here" The Texas and Pa
ciic Railway, and the great st.
Louis, Iron Mountain and South
ern road form q junction here. One
may travel from the Gulf to the
Lakes without changing cars.
It is wonderful what immense
and far-reaching business firms
there are in st. Louis. / am in
position to verify my assertion,
when I say that hundreds OF cars
filled with beer pass this point
every day during the summer sea-
son. There have been cars built
expressly for this vast trade. They
are really ice-bo1es, or. as they are
termed, ''rsfrigerators." Their APP
pearance. externally. is not unlike
that of On culinary box car. Their
walls and ceiling, however, are
built hollow, and have three sepa-
rate zinc-lined compartments,
which are picked with charcoal.
They also have double doors, and
every device possible is provided to
exclude the air. They are designed
to bring beer and ice Southwark
during the summer, and carry fruit
and vegetables Lakeward during
the winter and early spring seasons.
To one who does not reflect on the
matter, the fabulous quantity OF
beer that flows into the South
through the bed OF these great raIl-
road rivers is alarming. SO it is
with other articles we use-match-
es, wagons, ax-heives, wheel-bar-
rows, threshins machines, and in
fact eveIy manufactured article III
daily use. There are cars built for
the exclusive use of makers of fur
niture, wagons, stoves, water-pipes,
and every article of proprietary
manufacture.
There is, I understand, soon to
be a competing through line OF mar
row-gauge railroad completed from
the South to st. Louis. 1t is known
rs the Texas and ST. Louis" This
is tnaverminus of the road ut pres
ent, but work is being gradually
pushed toward Cairo, where con-
pection will be had with L road Of
similar gauge. The cost Of i.
narrow gauge road is about half
that OF standard gauge, both fir
the road-bed and rolling stock.
I intended coming to this place
by way OF the New Orleans Pacific,
but the floods i'll the Mississippi
and Atehalalaya rivers have torn up
the track, So was obliged to leave
New Orleans by The Morgan line.
At Cheneyyille changed cars fer
the New Orleans Pacific. I will re-
turn either by the same road or by
Red River steamer.
1t is quite noticeable, the change
of soil and clay in the country. As
sopn as we enter the yellow clay
cAhtry, we find pines and no
marshes or swamps. Hills and
coarse, pebbly soil, begin together.
One of the first things that at
tracted my attention here was u
medical sign. 1t occurred to ma
that the locality was not healthy,
and / am still of that opinion.
Take Bile Beans" My first i'm
preston was that it was an adver-
tisement for some article of diet.
Bilious fevers are excessively preva-
lent here.
The main street of Texarkana is
State. Line Avenue, and this street
is actually the boundary line be-
tween the States of Texas and Ar
kansas, hence the name of the
town. The expressions are quite
common here, Il am going to
Texas" or 81 am going to Arkan-
sas -
As religious center" the town
is pronounced and conspicuous
failure. This, / presume. is the
result of its being SO easy n matter
for criminals and witnesses alike TO
escape into an adjoining State and
be ont of the jurisdiction OF tho
laws they flee from; to do this, they
have but To walk across q narrow
stseet.
As 1 DO not know the population
of this place, l will say nothing
about it: but do know that about
every second house is a gambling
dive, or place of lower corruption.
ANY of our st. Tammany fIiends,