Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-08-07

| the Darn OF America
! II Is the garden. the orchard the
lumber forest, the ore BED, the coal deposit.
the sugar plantation and the cattle ranch Of
the states.
This vast quantity and variety of food
| and fruit, and forest ana mineral, are open
and easily accessible 10 the markets of the
world through her ports on the gulf. and
through her railways TO the southwark and
| to the northward,
No fertilizers are sold in TEXAS. The
soil: black and rich, reaches 70 q depth Of
six, 10 in certain places 1900 feet. This i
| a statement so extraordinary that I recoG-
| nize It TO he necessary to give my author
ity. Col ". :. Eerrdor, ex-
member of congress, now residing at
| Tyler, told NE that the soil had been found
as deep as 1900 feet. Texas mas no naviga-
bic rivers. and is subject to protracted
| drouth, but this seeming drawback is more
| than COMPENSATED for by remarkable pro
extensive and marvellous. perhaps. IN the
| world, were built Tor Texas during the ter
tiary period OF the earths formation.
a few thousand feet below the surface
| there was placed i layer OF watcrtight
| lime rock. Above this was layer of i'm
| pervious lime rock This last lime stratum
| keeps ali surface impurities from reaching
| the sand stratum.
70 the north of the state the water-tight
| lime stratum gradually comes % the surface
and gives out, leaving the previous
| sand layer 10 catch the rainfall
and the Rocky Mountain snow wa
| ter for 2 thousand miles. During the
| rainy season in the winter and the snow
| melting season in the spring wateris caught
| by this vast area Of now surface sand ana
| carried and distributed under the state.
| All that is necessary TO have this water
| come from its subterranean home between
| the upper and under waJer-tight lime
| strata, is to bore through the upper one,
| and then the water comes up in great,
| neyer-failing sluices. At Waco, the
| standpipes are 100 feet above the level OF
| the city. vet the pressure is 50 great at the
| bottom of her lS5O-fOot deep wells that wa
| ter poUrs through the tops Of them with
| tremendous force, thus indicating that the
water comes from some high altitude.
| Some of this water underneath the
state finds direct outlet in rivers which
| flow straight out from the ground.
as the san Marcos, the San Pedro aud San
Antonio These find their way to the gulf
on the surface after having gone hundreds
of miles beneath il. The whole state of
Texas seems to overlie wonderful
water system. According to the Gal
weston News artesan wells are being
tapped al different points 10 bring il to the
surface.
In some places crops are being irrigated,
and an experiment is now III progress at
Alvin, between Galveston and houston,
which IS expected 10 show that all that part
of Texas contiguous to the gulf is adnra-
bly, adapted 10 rice There are a dozen
wells at Hitchcock, within few miles of
Galveston, where water is used for irriga-
ting fruit and vegetable gardens.
The prospect is that the whole gulf coast
of the state Will in this way be converted
into gardens and orchards, with a water
supply to set droughts at defiance And
there is an equally rational prospect mat
other portions of Texas, including many
millions of acres lying to the north and
west. viii be reclaimed by artesian enter |
prise from the liability TO drOuShts and be
permanently blessed with plentiful supplies
of seasonable moisture TO quicllen into mag
nificent harvests the natural fertility of the
soil.
It is seemingly further TO the edge of the |
horizon here than elsewhere. In the prairie |
country one can see thirty miles in q
straight stretch II is like nothing one sees |
elsewhere, except from the deck on an At |
lantic steamer during fair day.
The very skies above and around seem TO |
wish to impress one with the immensely OF !
the country.
l asked i man if Texas was healthy |
state He replied that MIR Porter refused |
to accept the death rate from Waco in the |
census returns, and that II was returned to |
the city authorities with the statement that !
it was so low there must be a mistake. The |
CITY authorities certified to its truth under |
oath.
The opinion conce prevailed that Texas |
was the general resort for escapes from |
justice in the older states. There was |
doubtless much truth in this opinion. But |
this has corrected itself, and resulted in its |
own remedy. All peace officers in Texas. !
all sherihs, city marshalS and policemen !
whose duty il is to protect the lives and !
property of the people, have a convention.
OF this they are all members, They are |
strong and thoroughly organized body |
They act as one man. When the name OF
criminal is sent to Texas from some other
state, all members of the convention are |
furnished with it. Several newspapers
give them a column free, in which to:adver-
tise the names and description Of the fugi- |
tives from justice Thus Texas is getting
TO be the last state in the Union TO fly 10 in
case of crime
Each member of this sherifs' convention
has $1,000 insurance on his life.
The entire convention is pledged to pro-
tect every single member, and in case he is
shot or wounded in the pursuit of his duty.
the offender is hunted down prosecuted and
convicted at the expense of the convention. |
This came about because it used 10 be
common thing in Texas to waylay and shoot |
an officer of the law in the back counties,
or for some rough to shoot marshal or 20
Iceman in the city.
Woe to the man here that kills or INJURIES
an officer Of the law. He is sure to be found,
prosecuted anu convicted. 1eXaS now has |
the best system for the protection of the
people and for the prosecution and convic-
ton OF criminals Of any country in the world |
Texas has public school system endowed
by 800, 100000. The people Of Texas pay
less state and 1county tax than in any other
state
The governor had to call an extra session
of the legislature to consider the matter of |
getting rid of the surplus money in the
treasury.
Everything is moving at rapid rate here.
The churches have taken on something of |
the same enterprise found in other lines of
work.
Texas has 4 great many Georgians. They |
are here teaching school, practicing law,
preaching the gospel and farming
The presiding elder of the Dallas district,
Rev. Thomas F. Pierce, is Georgian, so is
Rev. {. O. Jones, pastor of the leading
Methodist church in Dallas. At Fort |
Worth the presiding elder of the district is
Georgian, and SO is the Rev. W. r. Lloyd
who has charge of the leading Methodist
church At Tyler, another progressive,
live place, there is being built the most i'm
posing and cathedral-like Methodist church |
in the Southern connection. The pastor. |
Rev D. L. G. Simmons, is from Georgia |
He is accomplishing great work in Texas
At the Southwestern university we have |
Professor Cody and Professor Hyer, both |
Georgians. Until recently the regent Of
the university at Georgetown was Geor-