Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-01-01
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Correspondence of the Yorkville Enquirer
LETTER FROM TEXAS,

LETTER FROM TEXAS.
TURNERsvILLE, Coryell Co., Texas, De
cember 24.-I have been purposing for some
time to write letter from this section to
the ENQUIRER, and now l will make the
attempt. / have been here about nine
months, and, as all my acquaintances know,
have always been subject to asthma: Since
l have been living here | feel that have
been entirely cured Of that complaint: |
have been troubled but very little with 1t
quaintanc of several persons who were sub
iect to asthma when they came here, all
of whom are entirely well.
This section of the State of Texas Is most
ly prairie. The land is black, waXy SOIL,
and very productive when the season suits.
There is no timber here. The timber, or
brush, resembles in its growth an apple or
chard more than anything else to which
can compare it. There is plenty of this
growth along the creeks and ravines to an
swer the purposes of supplying fuel, which
is the only use made of it. For fencing pur-
poses, wire is used, with cedar posts.
The principal agricultural productions
here are corn, wheat and oats. It's so very
dry that this is not much of Il cotton cOun-
try, though am told that when the season
salts, cotton will yield from one bale to a
bale and quarter to the acre. Corn ma
lures by the time the drought begins.
\ farmer can pursue his avOcation here
with more ease than any place | have ever
seen. Here we use all kinds Of labOr-savlng
agricultural machinery, and consequently
can cultivate so much more land than by
the old methods, that one man can cultivate
more land, and with less labor than in the
hill country of South Carolina. Though
when it comes to picking cotton the farmers
have to rely upon the old method of pick
ing it out by hand, for which the customary
price is one dollar per hundred pounds.
The most serious OBJECTION a Carolinian
would have to this section is the water,
which is limestone, and not very plentiful.
So great is the scarcity of water that those
living in some localities haul it for several
miles; brnging..a supply, of course, at each
trip, to last for some time. The water is
hauled in barrels, which, on arrival are
placed on scaffolds, in the sun, and the water
lraWn from them as it is needed. There are
few lasting wells, and some fine springs
here, but neitherare as plentiful as in South
Carolina. When l came here last April
there were creeks of running water, but the
beds of these streams have been dry since
the first of last July. There has not, since
that time, been enough rain to start the
flow of water in the dry beds. Although
there is scarcity of water, what we have is
good, and owing to the purity of the atmos-
phere it does not stagnate. In the the prai-
rie country the ground is SO thoroughly
drained that there can be but little stand
ing water
Turnersvlle is situated on the head waters
of Bosuue Creek. There is a fine spring
here, and that alone renders the location
desirable. The population of the village is
IS or more. There are three stores, post
office, two blacksmith shops and good
mill in the place. Mr.. Robert Suggs, the
mayor, is clever gentleman. His father,
Greene Suggs, was York county man
whom many of your readers will doubtless
remember. We have regular preaching
here, and as to religious services in Texas,
they are conducted by all denominations,
and as frequently as in the older States. In
the one church edifce in our village five
different denominations worship, viz: the
0. S. Presbyterians, the Cumberland Pres
byterians, the Baptists, the Methodists and
the Campbelltes. We also have flourish
ing school and temperance council with
nearly one hundred members. Our village
is quiet, and it and the surrounding country
boast peaceful population.
The climate here is delightful. There is
a constant breeze from the south nearly all
the time. Occasionally we have a "north-
er" which is sudden change Of the wind
from the south to the north, and when a
'norther' is blowing, the weather is cold
and disagreeable Fortunately they are of
short duration and do not occur very fire.
quently.
As to the healthfulness of the country, |
have already given my experience, as de-
suffering with asthma is to move to prairie
country. Here the air is pure and dry.
Mills and cotton gins are scarce and con-
seuuently independent. Mills take for toll
from one-third to one-siXth, and gins, | am
informed, when charging tolls from the
crop, take one-twelfth. 1t requires 800
pounds of seed cotton to make hale of 500
pounds after paying the toll charged by the
ginner. Millers will exchange one bushel
of meal for two bushels of corn.
The best cotton market near here is dis
tant thirteen miles, and a poor market 1t
is. Waco, forty miles distant, is our best
not do as those at Palestine, complained of
by your correspondent, Mr.. l.. ID. johnson,
viz: take each large handful and keep it;
but in sampling a bale, they take out only
a small handful and after examining it, re-
turn it to the bale, or throw it down upon
the ground.
The people here raise their own provisions
out and out, and are consequently Sef-suS-
tanning and self reliant. While the country
affords many advantages, it must not be de-
MED that it also has its disadvantages. OW-
ing to the scarcity of timber, houses are
necessary built as small as circumstances
will permit, and on a cheap style. For the
same reason-scarcity of timber-there are
no stables, cOW-houseS, corn-cribs, wagon
sheds or tool houses. Corn is usually put
up in pens, but stock, wagons, farming i'm
plements, &C., are almost invariably eX-
posed to the weather. There are some fam
lilies who live in tents, and have good
health.
In the way of fruit, the peach is about the
only kind that can he raised with any sue
cess. Apples will not mature here with any
degree of satisfaction nor do strawberries
and blackberries, while there are only few
grapes. The most profitable industry is
stOck-raiSing.
Game is very scarce. There are a few
deer, and game birds of all kinds are scarce.
In the way Ofsavage animals there are some
wolves and wild cats, but they are disap-
pearing before the advancing emblems Ofin-
dustry and civilization.
The people here, unlike those of South
Carolina, do not take every man for an hon
est man until, by experience, they find out
better; but on the contrary, they regard ev-
cry man as dishonest until he proves, by his
actions to be honest, and | am inclined to
think that this probationary period usually
lasts good while.
venture to say that have heard more
profanity since | have been in Texas than |
ever heard, during the same length of time,
in mylife. With some exceptions, all, from
tho lnoSt tn tho (rrpotnSt ucn urOfonp Ian