Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1884-03-27

persons recommend it to be, why is it that
So many who have been induced to go there,
write back to their friends here, implOring
means to enable them to return to their old
homes? TO those who have the most dis
tant notion of going to Texas, l say, look
we'll before you move! You may there
find fertile virgin soil, but that is offset by
countless evils. Even the smallest ants are
a great pest and from this insect, insigniti-
cant in size, but powerful in execution, ob-
stacles Of human enjoyment multiply IN
number and increase in magnitude until
they become an aggregation OF Ills that may
all the pills and potions of a"city druggist'
would prove Intellectual.
1t is claimed by some, and my brother
among the number, that immigration con-
tinues to pour into Texas from all parts OF
the Union. This is no doubt true, on the
principle above indicated, viz: that they
are lured to the State by false inducements.
| know that they are restless and discon-
tented, and according to their means, they
pour out Of the State as continuously as
new victims pour into it.
AS to the houses in Texas. Well now the
confiding South Carolinian ought to see
some of them before emigrating, If he would
have foretaste Of the comfortable manner
in which the Texas settler dOmiciles him
self from the scorching rays of the summer
sun or the chilly blast of the freezing north
er! And the city of Tucker Station, with
it's water tank, its inevitable drug store,
it's two or three habitatiOns, and its un-
bounded eXpanse of unimproved lots, eX-
tending in either direction as far as the eye
can reach, the magnificent prospect losing
itself on illimitable space! Why, l have
seen men out there glad to live in shanties
that would not be used in South Carolina
for cow stables.
AS to the abundance of cattle in Texas, I
do not deny that they are plentiful, but they
are totally unfit for beef, and the milk and
butter they produce are rendered almost use
less by reason Of the peculiar flavor of the
grass on which they feed. A man may be-
come FUSED to it," when he can do no better,
and when he can't get away; but all such
persons have my sincere cOmmiseratlOn.
And suppose the unsophisticated emigrant
who goes to Texas wishes to purchase one
or more of the ill-conditioned, ungainly bO-
vines, consisting mostly Of hide, horns and
hoof those who happen to own them are SO
selfish in the possession of few kline that
they will hardly sell at any price. | am in
clined to think the tough beef on which the
Texas cattle owners feed, imparts tenaclty
and creates a fellow feeling, making them
wondrous kind, for verify believe that a
stranger could approach one of those cattle
kings with as much assurance of buying
u member of his own proper family as the
poorest offering to be found in his petted
herd.
am twitted because l complained on the
score of a scarcity of timber, that / could
procure none with which to make rails,
boards or a basket. This is almost literally
rrue, as to the scarcity Of timber in the sec
zion to which / unfortunately went In all
hat part of Texas that visited, 1 saw only
Two Well-fenced farms, and as a comparison,
L would say that seven acres OF our native
forest contain more good timber than can be
%ound on a half milesquare ofthe best tim
bered land saw in Texas.
Ihave spoken ofthe total lack Of comfort,
out that might not be SO Objectionable, all
things considered, were it not for the ab-
sence of ordinary conveniences. ~ city
drug store is a good thing, even at the water
tank of railroad, but submit that the i'm
mediate needs Of Texas demand less osten-
tation and something of a more practical
nature, such, for instance, as grist mills.
What is the use of man making crop OF
corn in Texas, when it is with the greatest
difficulty that he can get ground into meal,
of a quality but little better than hog-feed,
at that, and having to give as toll one-slXth
of the grist? And then, as to ginning cot
ton it costs twice as much to get cotton
ginned in Texas as it does in South Carroll
ma. aside from the trouble and inconvenience
of hauling the representatives at great
distance-to the gin; and after all this labor,
the market price Of the lint is no more there
than it is here. And then the marketing OF
the crop is attended with vexations never
known in South Carolina. The aristocratlc
office to the sellers wagon. When you go
to sell your cotton in q Texas city, if you
wish to try the market all round, you must
drive YOUR wagon to the door of each prince
ly buyer, and not depend upon one sample
sufficing for each bale, because each man
who bids on it takes very liberal sample,
and the further you go the lighter becomes
your bale, and the deficiency would barely
be made up by an advance on the previous
bid
But as l have said in the outset, it would
be a laboriouS task to enumerate al the oD-
iections to life in Texas; and will close by
briefly alluding to only one or two more more OF o.
the minor vexations to which the citizen of
Texas is constantly subjected. The buffalo
gnat is one of the institutions of the State,
and Judging by his pertinacity he feels his
Importance fully as much as does the lordly
cattle owner or the princely cotton buyer.
By wise provision Of nature, however,
this fly or gnat operates only about one
month in the year; but he loses no time!
Like the doctor, the mill owner, the cotton
ginner and the cotton buyer, he ''improves
each shining hour" and puts in more solid
work to the square yard than any other AMI
mate part of Texas creation. During the
busy season of these pestiverous insects, and
they swarm in myriads, it is necessary TOR
the preservation of the horses to apply TO
them mixture of tar and lard twice day.
And then there is a species OF ant when
has a peculiar fondness for any bean-shaped
product of the field, especially peas, ana
when a swarm of these ants raid on a Dasket
| of beans, or peas, or vessel containing un-
roasted coffee, each ant takes Oft one bean
| or pea or grain of coffee, it being light
load for him to carry. And in Texas these
ravagers are denomnated little ants"
They have peculiar fondness for milk and
sugar, and the only way to protect from
them any thing for which they have an
affinity is to suspend it out of their reach:
More could be said on this subject; but l
have written enough. | seriously advise
nv friends and others in South Carolina
against going to Texas with the expectation
of improving their condition or succeeding
better in life than by proper application
they can achieve in our good old State.
Suffice it to say that 1 advise no one to go
there expecting to change good home IN
South Carolina for a better one in Texas.
If he does he will be previously dlsappolnt-
ed. NV experience is that Texas is poor
place for good man and good place Tor
mean man. l.. ID. JOHNSTON.
THE LAND OF FLowERs.-N1rs. NJ. r..
Donnely, of Arredonda, Fla, says: Nor
| ftorf1io1 iC q SD1an1j1