San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1885-01-01

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Below ws copy the las, half Of an article
In tho Galveston News Of Nov. Esd
entitled paper Making In Tsraa." written,
We believe /, IL understood. BY our towns
man, Mr.. w. Goodrich Jones,
In the interest Of some projectors Of . pa
per mill, Travelled all over tho state last
spring 10 find desirable location. On ao-
count OF the recent financial crash tho pro-
jeci miscarriei. However, tho result Of my
travels induced me 10 recommend San Mar
cos as the best point Its magnificent and
only partially developed water power. clear
est OF rivers, and well-known healthfulness.
make II the best point a. regards natural
advantages. in the State. Again, its old
and semi. German population furnishes
steady and cheap labor. The river rises On
masse mile from town. the present dam OF
earth and rock proving amply strong. ~
neither drouth OF food 10 known. The San
Marcos and New Braunfels water powers
should be the pride Of Texas aud her boast
at the New Orleans exposition. Not sub
ject to freezing or the destructive freshets
which we have In the North and the equally
dangerous cloud bunts OF the south, with
water which never muddies and a. deep
blue a. that Of the Alpine lakes, what poven
of like sizs can compare with them With
an even, dry atmosphere, whore could ma
chinery work more smoothly Ihave e.
amined many watsr powers throughout the
North and In other Southern States, yet
have never seen the uniqueness and like IA
vorabls conditions Of those In question, &C.
pecially that of the san Marcos BY raising
the dam at tho head or the Nan Marcos some
Ave feet, Judge there could be obtained
about 500 horsepower. The magnificent
$50, 900 dam at New Braunfels has never
been used since It's comp stion-the wooden
mill thore running by steam. The choice
location for manufacturing enterprise In
New Braunfels is above tho present dam
beyond the entrance of the Dry Comal and
where Mr.. Landa's Touring mill now stands.
Here there is no risk from floods. One
trouble, common TO all Texas rivers, and
from which the San Marcos and Comal arc
not exempt, is the hardness Of the water.
This makes wool-washing very difficult and
would also be drawback In the making of
the finer grades of paper. However, have
analysed the water Of the San Marcos, aud
find IL but slightly alkaline; the solids being
largely carbonate Of lime, with traces Of
the sulphate. The wealth Of subaqueous
vegetation shows the presence Of the car
Donate. Plant food is carbonio acid gas, ie.
one atom Of carbon combined with two Of
oxygen. The plant eliminates the oxygen,
the carbon, and the lime, thus
robbed of its solubility Is precipi-
tated. Hence the further down
the river one goes the softer the
water becomes. An examination of the
stones in the river will show accretions of
deposited lime understand that branch
road is contemplated from Luling to San
Marcos this would be of incalculable bene-
fit as giving competition in freight rates and
making the town good distributing point.
A mill for making the oommoner grades
of paper would pay at either of the above
points, especially at San Marcos,
where the owners of the power offer very
inducements.
The price Of paper has seen its lowest
ebb, and is now advancing. Ragsin abund-
ance could be collected from over the State
"a market for them stimulating the supply.
An abundance of wheat and straw can be
had for mixing with the rags, or, better, the
baled Norway wood fiber, now 80 largely
used throughout the North, could, in cotton
vessels, be more cheaply brought to Calves
ton than New York, This in also true Of
the various chemicals needed, especially 30
with chloride of lime, of which great quanti-
ties are used There are seveaal paper
.aiii.- In fs,ssrHm ma -1snnessee, uut mons
further south or west With deep water
at Galveston, can foresee future Of
manufacturing prosperity in the State.
Tho Navasota Tablet expresses our mind
in the following. Substitute Hays for
Grimes county and it becomes entirely
pertinent to this latitude
We would like weekly to have q short,
pithy, we'll boile6-down communication
from our friends in different localities in
Grimes county, giving the news the feel
ings, the sentiments, the changes the pro-
gress and improvements in their vicinity.
Generally we could find room for them.
The only restriction we insist on Is they
must short, truthful, ana the subject matter
of interest to our readers in general. Who
will volunteer to let US hear from them
occasionally It will bring your neighbor-
hood into favorable notice, and do much to
sngender worthy emulation in farming, in
in merchandising, in mechanism,
and generally in the improvement of society
I will leave for New Orleans on or
about the Goth of January to be gone
about two months. Those wanting work
done will please call prior to that date.
GEO. J. RILEY,
NJ Tin Art HalIarv