The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1886-07-31

way along the roads between those places.
For some distance on each sideof Forney-
one of the many thriving little towns on
the railroad-the crops were the finest we
have seen in Texas. There had been rain
in this favored region and the effects Of the
blessed visitations from. the clouds were
visible on every hand.
The extreme rarity Of flowers and bloom
ing shrubs is one of the striking features
Of Texas landscape, at least in the parts of
the State we traversed in reaching this city.
This popularity was particularly noticed by
our Gretna brother, who is an ardent ad
mire of posies. From the Texas line to
Longview, distance of more than fifty
miles, Bro Gross declared that the only
flowers he saw were one aickly blooming
lilac bush aud a pumpkin blossom. A lit
tie further on we began to notice few
mayweeds in bloom, and after the prairies
had been reached several other flower bear
ing weeds were seen aud also numerous
sunfowers growing wild along the road on
each side. Bro. Vinson attempted to make,
the Gretna " rose man I" believe that this
was the famous 'yellow rose of Texas"
but Bro. Gross was dubious on the subject,
and now he knoMs better, as Fort Worth
affords good many specimens of the gen.
uine article.
r.. / don't know why it should be so but my
comrade from Gretna was not favorably
impressed by this corner of the Lone Star
State and had some disparaging remark Of
nearly everything we saw until at last he
sp1ed healthy specimen of the iackass
rabbit and kangaroo. This long cared
creature filled Bro! Gross with unbounaed
amiration, after he was told ii wasn't a
young goat, and he descanted upon the
splendid hunting these parties afforded I'M
til he learned that nobody goes cunning for
the John A. Rabbit and that those who are
familiar with the strength and fragrance OF
the little animals meat would almost as
| soon think of eating buzzard or polecat.
One Of the signs Of Texas thrift and in
dustry which attracted our attention was a
farmer, bis wife and daughter blowing and
hoeing in cotton field, the woman ana
girl working with vim that proclaimed
determination to hold up their end of the
family welfare whether school was in SEES
sion or not. But the worst signs we saw
were those over the stores in the villages.
A painter who can make letters of uni
form size. on straight line and not set
any of them backward Or lopsided, ought
to do land Office business in this part of
the country. Another thing which i'm
pressed me rather disagreeably was the
widespread propensity of the girls and
young ladies who boarded the train for
chewing gum. Nearly three -fourths of the
the damsels who rode in our car between
Marshal and Fort Worth kept their comley
jaws moving with persistence and contin-
uous regularity that produced an extreme
ly disagreeable impression upon my sensa-
tive nerves. What a pity it is that pretty
mouth and pretty features should be dis
torted in public by such silly habit.
Among the twenty-odd towns and villa
ges between Marshall and Dallas, one of
the most attractive is Tenell, a growing and
enterprising place. The State Insane Asy-
ylum situated there is an extensive and
handsome structure-one Ct the brethren
irreverently remarked that it was She big
gest thing we had yet seen in Texas, OK
cepting Bro. Shepherds appetite.
Dallas is one of the boss cities Of Texas.
1t is chock full of people aud the people are
chock full of push, pluck and business
sense. The latest city directory gives the
population at "a $50 souls, and it is steadily
on the increase. am glad this letter will,
not appear in print until I am far away
fran Fort Worth, as there is great rivalry
between this place and Dallas, and might
get into trouble if it was known here that I
would presume to speak SO favorably of the
little village to the west of here which he's the
presumption to put on city airs and to COM
pare herself to the young and bullying me-
tropolis from which write.
/ find that I have stretched this narra-
tive out to such an extent that must leave
description of Forth Worth and an ac-
count Of the session of our Grand Lodge
for another chapter. The proceedings of
this body will be fraught with much inter-
est to the members of the noble order it
represents and will no doubt be instrument
tai in largely increasing our numerical
strength in this grand jurisdiction. The
election of Bro. J. Henry Shepherd as
Grand Master Workman fer the ensuing
term took place to- day, and is coInpli-
ment to the Louisiana Lodges that ought
to lead to redoubled efforts among the fra
ternity III our State for the advancement of
the welfare of the 4. 0. u. W. Mr.. Shep-
herd is gentleman of eminent ability and
worth VINO will preside with credit and dig
nifty over the fine body Of men composing
the Grand Lodge.
We are to conclude our busines TO- morrow
and | will start for home Friday morning,
reching Donaldsonyille the follow day. Till
then, du recoir. L. E.B.
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