San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1885-07-02

NN<Np $500
with the placidity Of philosopher.
He is assisted by his son Fred, whom
we had met with the other Texas ed
itors at Galveston and New Orleans.
We believe he now takes "the labor
ing oar" of the Item, both as printer
and editor. "The old man" may
well congratulate himself on having
80 efficient q co-laborer in his declin-
ing years, and one so altogether ex-
emplary as we understand Fred. to
be. BY the way, we were specially
indebted to him for attentions on
this trip.
A chief distinction of Huntsville
lies in the fact that from 1916 it was
the principal residence of Gen, Sam
Houston. His house, we are told,
still remains there, in the neighbor-
hood of the Normal Institute. There
he died, and his remains repose in
the Huntsville cemetery, which we
visited. Tis an old and interesting
one, but never having been laid off
into lots, the need Of another is being
discussed. Houston's grave, up to
few years since. we were told, was I'M
marked; now it has only common
headstone, placed there by some out
siders, with his name and the date Of
his birth and death inscribed upon it.
Some day, statues at Austin and
Houston will commemorate the fame
of this foremost man of Texas.
Meantime, Sam Houston Normal In
stitute is q nobler monument.
Mr.. Robinson, ST., who was well
acquainted with Houston, gave us q
good deal of information new to us
concerning him. Although contrary
to his own sentiments, he bore testi-
mony to Houston's pronounced I'm
ionism, down to the close of his life.
One of his boys, it is true, contrary to
his fathers wishes, went into the con-
federate service; and since he aoould
go, the old man, with natural pride,
gave him respectable send off. But
his sentiments remained the same,
and he freely denounced jeff. Davis
and his enterprise, predicting clearly
the result. The immediate cause of
his death was malignant liberation
of the the throat, somewhat similar to
the malady of Gen. Grant. His wife
died at Independence in 1867, about
Christmas, of yellow fever, contracted
from some remains of the disease
which had prevailed there the previ-
GUS summer.
In the Huntsville cemetery is q fine
monument to Henderson Yoakum, the
historian, as we presume.
Huntsville has population of
about 1000. The negroes have about
800 hundred majority i'll Walker Go.
We called at the penitentiary, and
were cautiously received 10y Col.
Goree, n pleasant and affable gentle
man, who, we believe, has the general
management of both the Huntsville
and Rusk branches. He showed us
through the various departments in
some detail Nearly every branch of
the mechanical arts and manufac-
lures is represented. The inmates
worked with apparent content. From
their physiognomies, we were i'm
pressed with the conviction that many
of them are not the worst ofmen. We
shrewdly suspect that there are many
worse people at large than some who
are in our penitentiaries, and that
verdicts of earthly courts
and juries will be signally reversed
by the unerring Judge before whom
we must all in little while appear.
Prominent among the inmates in
the mechanical department was John
Wesley Hardin, but he kept his face
averted so we could not see him to
advantage. We suppose he is bored
with idle sight-seers, and we rather
his feelings.
Col Goree complained that the
hard times" were seriously affect
ing the revenues of the institution,
there being no sale for tho manufac-
lures, causing suspension of some
Of the contractors.
Hn noinfn1 ont tLe hoSnitol and