San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-03-29
SOUTHWEST TEXAS
AS Seen and Described by Our
Special Correspondent.
SAN ANTONIO, March 90, 1889

ART. No. II,
The country in general south of the line of
| the Corpus Christi and Laredo railroad is fer
| tile and well adapted to tae culture Of corn,
| oats cotton, tobacco, sorghum, tropical sugar
| cane, beans peas and garden vegetables, The
| lands composing the lower valley of the Rio
| Grande are exceedingly ricu, equalling and
| even surprising in fertility the famous sugar
| and cotton plantations of the Mississippi
valley With suitable seasons two crops of
| corn are made in the year on the same piece of
grOuud. | have data showing that two
thousand pounds of prime sugar per acre has
been mace on an average on plantation with
a field of $50 acres in sugar cane. L have seen
the sugar and the plantation. The sugar cane
rattoons there five, six and seven years,
in Louisiana only 3 years, and besides
the growing season is longer and there is
very little danger of injury to the standing
cane by heavy frosts. such as too often blight
the prospects of the Lou sIana sugar planters.
Owing to n suffciency of rain, the last crop
of corn has been very abundant; but there is
no market for it, because there is no means of
transportation. Corn has be~n sold at
Brownsville as low MS Sl.50 In Mexican money
per cargo. or about % cents or reales in
Mexican money per bushel, equal to less than
20 cents in American money per bushe.
/ was reliably Informed that in the district
of CamargO on the Mexican side of the river,
four miles from Rio Grande City, over seventy
thousand dollars worth of excellent corn was,
for want of a market, absolutely destroyed by
the weevills. The inhabitants, all Mexican
on both sides of the river, have no interest in
farming, because they cannot dispose of their
crops.
have enquired into the working of the
"Zona Libre" and free zone, on the Mexican
border OF the Rio Grande. knew that the
cities of FL PasO Eagle Pass and Laredo had
lately made complaints againts that system.
being detrimental to their interests; /
think their remOnstranceS are well justified;
besides it fosters general system of SNUG
Cling very demoralizing for the population of
The population Of Brownsville is i, 45l inhab-
itants according to the census taken in 1887 by
the county assessor Cameron county(-the
pOpuati of the whO'e county, including the
city, being l7,G0l inhabitants. of whom prob
ably fOur.tifths are MeXiCans.
Rio Grande City has lately had some i'm
prOvements erected there, among them a neat
brick courthouse, a twO.Story building, beau
tifully located on a rising ground. and from
the balcony of which you survey large piano.
rama of beautiful scenery in Mexico,
the city of CamargO, with the steeple of its
old church, Mier, to the north OF it and in the
distance the mountains of Mexico looming up
in clear weather at distance of 30 or 40 miles,
and near to you the gracious meandering of
the Rio Grande, whose course can be traced
for many miles up and down the valley.
A new convent building, and Catholic
church. both also of brick, and very tasteful |
buildings bave lately been erected. A safe |
cOmmOdouS and well arranged jail adjOins
the court house. Besides these some neat |
private buildings for stores and residences
have newly been built.
Rio Grande city. the county seat of Starr
is reached only from Pena. a little |
railroad station on the Mexican National X. X. |
in Duva County, by fatiguing trip in mail |
stage of 81 hours duration-it makes six trips |
a week. each way, fare SO in United States |
currency.
At Pena I was 40 ieeably surprised to see |
by Senior Pena, large land |
owner there. He intends to plant this season |
400 acres in cotton and sorghum g.! saw at |
work four sulky plOws and three harrOwS. |
The plOws were drawn by three horses each |
and were doing very good work. This is the !
first time that COttOnis to be planted in this |
section. All the freight saw at this station |
and there was a good supply of it for Rio |
Grande City, Roma, Camargo, and Mier. was |
from Laredo or New Orleans, none from San |
Antonio. At San Diego, the county seat of |
Duval county, 50 miles west of Corpus Christi, |
by the Mexican National railsoad. marrow |
guage,; ! found town of about 1000 people |
should judge there are about twenty stores |
there. one or two livery stables, one drug |
store, two hotels, etc. Thanks TO the liberality
and public enterprise of the firm of Gueydan h |
Co., French firm, formerly of Louisiana, and |
doing large business there, San Diago haI |
lately gone to the cultivation of cotton Some |
two years ago Mr.. Gueydan procured an |
abundance of seed OF good quality of cotton |
that he distributed gratis amongst his Next |
can neighbors, with directions how to plant |
and cultivate it. The crop of 1866 was "a bales |
of <cOttOn, that of 1887 was about the same. |
and the last year crop. that is for lSSS, was PA |
bales of a superior quality of cotton. |
cassed from middling to good middling and |
middlng fair. bringing very good prices.
How much of this cotton came to San An |
tonic? Ask your merchants Mr.. Editor. TO |
many of them, suppose, this statement will |
be news indeed
The totally of the crop went to Corpus |
Christi, and from there by sailing vessels to |
Galveston. Consequently you don't see in |
San Diego many packages of goods coming |
from your city.
From present appearances, the buying of |
plovs, CultivatOrs. the clearing of new tracts |
Of land Sc , it is probable that the crop of this |
year will reach two or three times that of |
1888. The owner of the Ii tie steam cotton gin |
there, who ginned last crsp with a gin of 80 |
saws has ordered Il much larger gin with 80 |
saws. warranted to gin 10 bales day. ] say, |
Mr.. Editor, your tOwnSmen ought to awaken |
from their apathy, study and learn something |
of the limtless capabilities of the magnificent |
to the south of them. 1t won't do in |
these times of acute rivalry for commerce, to |
sit supinely and relying on old pres tge and |
deluSiOn of natural advantages, too often a |
snare, to wait for trade to he forced unto you. |
o ter cities not so near, but with more fore |
sight, ! luck and enterprise will carry off |
the commerce of country who would |
be tributary to you. believe in |
your citv, wish it Or" sperity; think she has |
a magnificent future before her, but if her |
citizens don't rise to the emergency, her |
future impOrtanc will be dwarfed to regret |
able extent.
| could say much more on this subject. it is |
a matter cOngenial to me; | have made long |
and tedious trips so as TO master fully the |
details of the theme, but not to tax your in |
diligence to too great an extent will close |