San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-12-29
BOOSTING SAN ANTONIO.

ut OuOluy NouhVy bObiOSi"ot VI
fetal paper of Shelby county, Ohio, in
its Holiday edition of the 2lst, con-
tains very lengthy letter from its
editor, dated San Antonio, Texas,
November %. This gentleman, James
o. Amos, editor and proprietor of the
Democrat was one of the visiting
editors who took in this city, and
from his letter we make the following
extract:
"Our last letter closed with our ar
rival at this city. The town was full of
visitors attending the international
Exposition and meeting of the Ma
tional Editorial association. The citi-
zens of the place had arranged for the
comfort of many of those attending
the Association in private families.
The Ohio delegation was very agree
ably located. :,
The session of the association lasted
for four days. but the attractions OF
San Antonio were so numerous, IN
teresting and instructive that every
moment of time we could spare was
given to becoming acquainted with
its people, and seeing its many pleas
ant resorts, valuable Improvements
and natural advantages. San Anto-
Mo is the historic city of Texas. 1t
has been captured thirteen times in
contending wars and factions.
Though one of the oldest cities on the
Western continent, San An tonio is:
young and pretty.
Bright and witty,
Flock the maidens to the city,
Texans handsome, brave and gritty"
No city in America has better water
than this city. 1t has good water
works and good arteslan wells, coal,
Ignite, stone, lime, cement and pot
ters' clay are all found in the imme-
diate vicinity of the place, and in
place of being Mexican town built of
adobe, as many in the north suppose,
it is a city of $4,000 population sub
stantially built of brick, stone and
lumber. II is one of the largest horse
and mule markets in America and is
the center of the stock market of
Southwestern Texas.
The soil around San Antoniois good,
but being comparatively dry climate
stock raising is the principal business
of this part of the state. Very little
attention has been given to agricul-
ture and fruit growing. Where cult
walton has been tried, corn, cotton,
grapes, figs, and other fruits requiring
similar moisture and temperature
grow abundantly. The climate is mild
and healthy, and roses bloom ten
months in the year. The elevation of
Go rfn n re
comparative dry climate, prevents it
from being subject to malarial dis
| eases.
Some idea may be formed of the
rapid growth of San Antonio, when
its statistics show that the valuation
of property in the city has grown from
S2,O00,000 in 1866 to So, 00O, 900 in 1877,
while taxation has only grown from
so cents on the 500 to SIPS on the
500. 1t has thirty-three churches,
eighteen schools, nine banks, and a
university with departments of law,
medicine and literature, and eighteen
miles of street railroad.
The farmer utilities small species
of sorghum and Johnston grass, a
plant similar to sorghum, for feed.
Both these plants are sown thickly,
and in the dry, clear climate cure very
readily, producing several tons of feed
| to the acre. Cotton grows very large
and is a more remunerative crop than
| in the states east of the Mississippi,
because the land is richer and fertiliz-
ers are not required to produce full
crop. Timber along the streams
graws to a good size, and the pecan
| gathered along the streams are one of
the important sources of trade in San
Antonio.
During our stay in San Antonio the
International Fair was in progress.
This is the first year this fair has been
opened. We spent an afternoon in
seeing it. There was good display of
Mexican manufactured goods. There
was some fine racing on the mile
track. Texan horses are not to be
judged by the ponies that are periodi-
cally brought to Ohio, and purportin
to come from that state. The horses
exhibited on this track were as fine.as
any found in this part of the state, and
the turn-outs of teams and carriages
in the cities of Texas are equal to
those of any other state in the Union.
One of the great attractions of this fair
was the celebrated military band from
the City of Mexico, forty in number.
AS the Editorial Association entered
the main hall the band played Hail
Columbia.
The business men and citizens OF
San Antonio are not as some sup
posed, mixture of cowboys and Mex,
leans, but on the contrary they are as
courteous, polite, shrewd, active, in.
telligent and as successful a set OF
people as are to be found anywhere