The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1883-05-24
Galveston's New Disaster.

Galveston, whose intelligent and
enterprising people have been honor.
ably and heroically struggling to avert
the fate threatened by increasing cir
cumstances, has at present good rea-
son to mournfully remember the old
proverb, at never rains but it pourS.'
Nature intended her for a Sanitarium
Her splendid location on a cool sand
bar in the midst of the refreshing
Gulf breeZeS, her healthful separation
from the coast by broad eXpanse of
water constantly in motion, her un-
equaled beach, her safe and uneXcelled
bathing, all pointed toward natural
design, a summering place for inva-
lids, watering place for pleasure
seekers, a rest for the tired business
men Of the live cities on the adjacent
coast.
But Galveston was ambitious. She
aimed to be an emporium unrivaled.
She put on metropolitan airs. She
built warehouses and WharVeS, and
made every package that landed
from the ships pay heavy toll. This
brought her first severe check. Nor
gan got his back up,and built Clinton,
and moved Galveston's sea-going
business up Buffalo bayou to that
PirseuS of Houston. That STAMPED
Galveston, and large section of her
retired inland. Next st. Louis struck
bee lines of steel for the Rio Grande,
keeping well off the coast, and sweep.
ing wide Swath of trade into
her marts. She gathered in Hous-
ton, Austin and San Antonio, cleaned
up north Texas, and left Galveston,
like Jerusalem, marvel for beauty
of situation. Then Gould laid a
wighty curve from New Oaleans to
ElPaso, with its concavity turned
toward Galveston. simultaneously
Huntington built another curve with
its conveXity toward Galveston, but
battered in on the eastern half, so as
to keep off the coast. GalvestOn's re-
manning population Strove more Gag
erly to stem the adverse current.
They put their small change
together and built pretty
little railroad of their own, to
Lampasas to Fort Worth, to
Dallas. to Montgomery, to Houston,
and Dragged of it with excellent rea-
son as a safe and sound feeder to their
business. But it is no sooner done
than Gould turns his complex south
western system, including 1854 miles
of road, into an enormous battering
ram and proceeds to demolish the
poor little Galveston road. Galveston
is very brave, and pretends not to
know what it all means; but it means
that Gould is great devilfiSh, and is
going to squeeze the substance out of
Galveston. In short, her embryonic
railroad millionaires will either go into
or sell their nest egg to
Gould.
This big war against Galveston's
sole railway stay is no sooner begun,
than along comes Huntington and
gives Houston the largest boost she
ever had. The aggrandizement of
Clinton is the decadence of Calves
ton. The great increase of Houston's
business Importance consequent upon
the establishment of the South
ern Pacific headquarters for all
Texas traffic, both rail and steam
ship, at Clinton, is unqueStiona-
bly, the making of Houston. Hith-
erto it has seemed likely that San
Antonio would be the greatest COM
mercial city in Texas; out now Hous-
ton takes unrivaled lead, and will
spring to $4,000 population before 1890
and to 10000 by 1900. Her future
will be anything she chooses to make
it, and her widest dreams will not
be visionary. Her merchants should
take pity on forlorn Galveston, and
build palatial winter residences on her
famous beach.
Galveston has one joy unreft. She
has the medical branch of the state
university.