Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-10-05
WISE COUNTY.
Something iDsut ths Crops Of GgxIr.
Cotton end Grass-The Bate Of
TsIiuon-Ihe Schools.
An Epthusiastic Democrat Who Got Hi,
Poll los and Religion 8 rrlas Alixed
The County Site,
peclal Oorrespoudencs of the Gazette.

-the County Bile,
Special Correspondence of the Gazette.
DECATUR, TEX Oct. 4.-Possioly s
few lines from this beautiful l:.tls city,
on d. IAN hills, may prove interesting
to some Of the msny readers of The GA
zsTTE. Decatur is forty miles northwest
from Fort Worth, on the Fort Worth and
Denver City Railway, and is the county
seat Of Wise county, one Of the best Of
the gres. sisterhood OF counties tina. Gem
pose the commonwealth CT Texas. Il is
not necessary, neither would 1t be inter
estiDg to ths readers Of The GAZETTE, for
me to drsg them over thst moEotomoug
ard stereotyped trsil CT minute desail as
to the origin OF Wise county, or her
name, or he founding Of the queenly city
that vas selected for her capital, or the
daring spirits CT her brave men and the
Christian fortitude Of her beautiful Wo.
mer, that figure only il rehearsal # the
blood curdliIg scenes that won this IA.
Yored spot from the rad braves and from.
tier desperadoes. But faW specimens Of
| the early pioneers remain, aad amorg
those who inherit ire peculiar character
istics Of thoge froBtisr heroes Tom
mcMurrY ranks first. Tom IL
q dyed in-the wool Democrat from away
bsck. Ho is DiId over Mills renomins
ton. He cus Mills picture out 81
The GAZETTE, snd wears il in his hat,
and cats, drlt IS and sWasrs By t. Tom
is good church member, snd often lesGs
in prayer mseslrg. A reliable citizen
tells
good JOKE
on hin that occurred ava prayer meeting
last Wedaestay Digat. Tom WIS 7e
quested TO close the m se,iDg with short
prayer, When ne lnesnt to fe2ea. the
Lords prayer, bud got mixed up gome-
what IS follows: "Our Roger O., who
art in the heart of every Democrat,
hslloNed be thy name" Tbs you1g folks
cegan 10 Sucker, but Tom, in al
sale unity, cI.iuueG: "M3y thy tariff
oil! pa5s and ta7 will pc done il Congress
as il Is in the Nin.h district OF Tex4s."
The young folks were s5ou: to blow thei.
6sfeiy waves CT in supervising their
laughter, and the old people were Just
Awakening up to What WAS going on ana
Ton was getting eEtdused AID pre- ceedei
with bis prayer: "Conttnue TO give us
those Jenersonisn principles OF Democ.
rEcy, and deliver Ls :ron the cuuliae
Of the Dirk Lantern politician,
for thine is the victory" Here the sup
pressed merriment exploded with q tear
and snort; ont Tom, obliviods to his
sscTes Surroundings, but, no doubt, In
sgining thst he wss addressing political
gathering, shrieked st lie top of his
voice, "And By the eternal thou shalt be
returned to Congress-" Hsre the prescher
broke in with the doxology, when Tom
arose, thGrked the audience ana left
Tom says they don't tell that exactly
straight, but he will scceps any SORT OF
yarn from any crowd that would vote for
Mills.
Decetur politics Is IN healthy condl.
ton. Business is also On boom, and |
Decatur business men are wearing
THE broadcast SMILES
they heve put on in three years. The |
crops in Wise c0unty this year surpass
snything In its history. Last year Decs-
tur shipped 5000 bales OF cotton. This |
year they will Flip IL. coo. or three times
as mach as last year. Tae receipts run |
from 100 to 125 bales daily.
Tie small grain crop vas also heavy. /
Wheat averaged eighteen bushels, and |
much Of it made thirty bushels to the |
sore. Oate made all the way from sixty |
20 one hundred boshsls to the acre. Corn |
will average fity bushels. Millet and
j Johnson grass yielded the heaviest crCp
ever raised in the county. Wise slso |
produced an immense fruit crop, hun.
dreds Of bushels of which were shipped |
10 Danver.
Decatur he's two roller mills, 200. bar
rel capacity each. TheSe mills afford
home market for al the wheat raised in
the county, and slso buy considerable |
wheat outside.
This Is not only 81 agricultural coun- |
try, but there are uDdeveloped mineral
resources here that will call into action
millions CT capital il the course Of = few
yesrs. Al Bridgeport, twelve miles west
CT Decatur, are
RICH COAL DEPOSITS
simply fox the wasn't OF rail-
road facilities. Decatur does not buy
pound of coal away from home. Taking
ner coal fields snd mineral deposits into
Decstur's prospects for
more railroads sre indeed fstterIng.
TEis county is rapidly filing up, and
her immense unprocuctive pastures sre
being cut ~ into small productive farms,
.illed By wide-awske, enterprisfng far
ners. The population of Wise now mum.
1ers $4,000, OF which number Decatur
claims $500 or 5000.
A very commendabla feature is her
schools and churches. There are more
ihsn 100 public free schools in the county,
With an enrolment OF 5000 pupils Of the
scholastic age. The Decstur city schools
ire Of high grade, uader the manage
nent OF superintendent and six assiatsf
snts. The schools run eight monthss4h
he yesr. They have an elegant sc6oolf
erected st cost OF S1S 900. ,H
Taxes are comparatively light, stste1
md county being 80 cents on the SlHo,
md city and school tax Is cents on the
300. There sre twenty-one
TOWNS AND VILLAGES
y the county, aside from Decatur, the
post important being Aivord, ten miles
forth OF Dscstur, on the Fort Worth and
Denver City Railway.
Oae advantage Wise enjoys ever many
# the older counties in the state is that
jus few Of her farmers are renters, nesrIy
IL cultivAtiDg their own land. The coun.
' Is well watered, and is sufficiently
im5ered for ordinary purposes. Her
population Is composed of an intelligeUt, Ia