The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1886-03-18

where there were scores just NAltlhB
(fguratively speaking) for 3 chance 70
al their turn. Pointing to the haT-
Dor theytsli you that where there were
scores Of lofty masts and scores Of
bsrques and brigs and schOOneTs and
steam vessels taking IN cargOes Of
cotton and other productions, or IN
loading merchandise Of all kinds,
there Is only q Struggling line Of YES
sels tied up along the sea line. On
the faces Of the Galveston merchants
Is depicted gloomy premOuitiOns Of
the business future. But Kansas
City, with such 9 sea front-in the
face Of losses Of all kinds and the most
adverse PrOspeets-wOuld carve out
for herself q future both brilliant and
glorious, and have q seaport as IA
nous as that country whose morning
drum tsps are heard around the
world. In its haFbOrs would be seen
flying the fiAgs Of all Nations. A
pity it Is that lazy, sleepy Galveston
should not have the push and enter
prise Of the "City Of the Hills"
II Is q debated point whether the
great fire which pushed its narrow
but heightened tongue through the
residence portion Of the city was
really a calamity or a benefit. II it
was 4 calamity II at least removed
from sight row after row Of Of ancient,
dilapidated, unsightly tenements, and
substituted 3 fine lot of fresh, newly
painted wooden structures: the frame
building being preferred to those of
brick or stone on account Of the eX-
traOrdinary amount Of dampness
which gathers In the stone and brick
walls ia that lOcatiOn-all OecasiOued
by water being only three or
four feet below the surface. II the
fire was n benefit, It at least destroyed
some Of the most expensive aud ele-
CANT residences in the city, which
were scattered here and there among
the dilapldated structures, and which
cannot for the extraordinary demand
for lumber and stone and brick be re-
placed for several mouths hence. In
the reigning dullness Of Galveston
the builders were all busy. Carpen-
ters and masOns were receiving 50 80
to $3.50 per day.
The city has never seen such a win
ter as the one just passed. For the
first time In their lives children en-
jOyed the privilege Of snow balling
each other. There was also a thin
coating Of ice on the bay. The severe
weather played sad havoc with the
magnolia and orange trees. The
former have been pared down to the
roots, while the latter have been Sc
verely trimmed. The GalvestOniaus
feel these losses very deeply. The
South without the orange and mag
nOlia Is truly another land. Trees OF
any kind do not prosper in Calves
ton as IN New Orleans or other cities
where the soil is better adapted TO
their growth. IL Is q made soil on the
island, the use Of fertilizers having
been most prOfusely resOrted TO for
time out Of mind 10 give it vitality.
The trees are all Ofscraggy growth aud
shOrt-lived.
A scriptural chapter teaches US the
futility "a well as danger Of building
our houses on the sands but the Gal
vestOnians have overcome the
Scriptursl example In a very practical
way and really built their temples in
midst Of the sand. Sand OF the mos [
"agile" nature-if this eau be applied
properly to quick-sand-underlies all
Galveston. II we are to believe the
"oldest inhsbitant" tue usual custom
Of drying piles in places where a
foundation for a heavy building can
not be set upon rock, was In the early
days aud is now, dispensed with.
Pointing TO pOnderOus brick build
ing perhaps so years old-he tells us
that the sole support of the fOunda-
ton stone Of that vast edifice was cy-
press plank! And not q crack, or
an irregularity was to be seen on the
walls on account Of the cypress
plank laid there fifty years ago. The
cypress, however. Is a historic wood
surviving the ravages of the centur-
les better than any other wood. II
was the cypress which withstOod tho
assault Of l50 years IN ruined POmpeii,
when all other woods had "crumbled
into dust"
One of the days we spent in Gal
weston was Ash Wednesday. The
day before was Mardi Gras day-ss
popular in the South. A few years
ago rs many as 5000 people were
seen on an occasion of this kind in
Galveston, (sO we were informed
Fat Tuesday" is now celebrated in a
very quiet, uRpretentiOus way. The
children, however, do not propose to
be O6liviOus 10 the practices Of their
ancestors, aud 90 about in masques
and costumes of every nature-ehjoy-
ing the day as much rs the northern
infant does his July Fourth. Those
who wish TO enjoy Mardi Gras in all
its splendOr leave the island city for
New Orleans few hours only by
rail.
Men seem to worship "by proxy"
more even In the South than In the
North. At the Ash Wednesday ser
vices at Trinity (EpiscOpaD church
there were perhaps a hundred ladies
present, and only sir gentlemen.
The wet soil Of the Island has COM
PEELED the inhabitants to bury their
dead above the level Of the earth. In
the Galveston cemetery may be seen
rs In New 0flea ms, exact models Of
the tombs Of Pere Ia chaiss cemetery
Of Paris. These mausoleunls, how
ever, are expensive aud in most
eases curbing Is built about the
cemetery lot, the earth filled in to its
level, and then q shallow grave dug
rounded of to a good height. Each
denomination has a separate plOt-di-