Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-21
ITS FINE COUNTRY
And John Howard Has Not
Told the Half.
BRoWNW0OD, THE BEAUTIFUL.
A Paradise on Earth for the Homeseeker
Splendid Corn and Cotton Growing
Luxuriantly The Country
Along the Rio Grande.

The saying. sSee Naples and die" is a
familiar one, but a better one would be,
See Brownwood and De happy" John
Howard has used all the ~eloquence
Of which he is possessed to tit
he has fallen far short of the
actual reality, and it IS indeed an exceed
ingly difficult matter to fittingly portray in
cold, unfeeling type the fertility and beauty
of this section.
The traveller to the Brownwood country
from Fort Worth must needs pass over the
: Fort Worth and Rio Grande railway which
anche TO B~rownwood, and on Sunday in
augurated regular passenger train
service. Leaving Fort Worth, the
line winds in and out among beautifully
rolling hills, at present almost in a state of
nature, but which is capable of yield
cotton to the man who will tickle
it with a hoe, as is abundantly attested by
those portions already under cultivation,
but which form an almost intinitesmal part
of the total area. No stop is made unless
the train is tagged until Virgile, twenty
two miles distant, is reached. This is the
shipping point for large quantities of
wheat. From. Virgile to Cresson, a dis
lance of three miles, the line begins to
| trend to the southwark, and at Cresson a
wide detour to the west is necessary
in dropping down the breaks
of the Brazos into Granbury,
a distance Of fifteen miles further. Cresson
is noted from the fact that the postofice is
in Johnson county, and the rest OF the town
in Hood county. A mile beyond Cresson
the Santa Fe is crossed, and after
running a considerable distance to
the westward along il the Rio Grande
swings to the south and winds in aud out
4h~ I'll ~-. l-- oil th~
time, passing Chaplin and Aiken until the
Brazos is reached. a mile or so beyond this
stream. Granbury the county seat of HOOD
county is reached. This little city is the
proud possesser of 4 very handsome new
courthouse of stone, which is rapidly near
ing completion.
From Granbury the road again ascends
the divide, and at Tolar begins dropping
down again until at Stephenville it crosses
the valley of the Bosque. AT Bluffdale, a
station seventeen miles north of Stephen
vile, the rough, hilly country gives
way to long. rolling slopes of
Il rich black loamy soil, upon which
corn anu cotton are grOWing Ia rich luXuEi-
ance. Stephenville is surrounded b. fine
country, capable of being converted into
magnifcently productive farms. Hardin
is a f1ourishing little town, eight miles south
west of ~Stephenville and eighty-four from
Fort Worth. At Dublin. ninety miles from
Fort Worth, an exceedingly fine country is
shown, it, too. needing the hand OF the
man with the hoe'' to thoroughly develope
it. AT Dublin, the Albany branch of the
Houston and Texas Central, the ia
nous Angelmaker is crossed. Nine
miles further Proctor, a town OF appar-
entity much promise, and evidently built
since the advent of the railroad, is reached.
try is becoming smoother. Tie
train flies through Edey without
stopping, and halts at Comanche for about
ten minutes. This was until Sunday the
terminus of the road, and has grown to be
a b~ustling, thriving little city. Here the
train strikes the new extension Of the
Rio Grande, and from this point
what must eventually be the garden spot of
Texas. Eight miles below Comanche is
Logan's Gap, "a gap In a peculiarly
shaped hill formation that rises
above the surrounding country to
a heighth of possibly fifty or sixty feet,
the remains of some huge wall
that was erected in the long ago.
Tradition says the gap is named
after an Indian chief named
Logan, who was killed at the bluff edge of
the eastern summit of the gap. Passing
Logan's gap the road drops down a lovely
valley into the Justly celebrated P.
~ SSoh SNASo "Ao WV
RADIO country, of which Brown
county is on the eastern border. AT
Blanket, 125 miles from Fort Worth, long
sidings lave been put in, which are now
occupied by the boarding cars of the track
gang and material trains. The gang of tele-
graph linemen has already passed, stringing
a wire. At Delaware, 1874 miles from Fort
Worth, another long siding is passed also
occupied by the boarding cars of the track
gang. Thu linemen were at this point yes
terday morning.
From Delaware into Brentwood, the
line passes through a rich, black loamy
soil, upon which corn and cotton are grow
ing with a strength and vigor that is cal |
culated to make the eyes of the Northern
farmer opena wide with wonder, and to
warm the very cookies of his heart as he
thinks how generous old mother Nature
has been to the jewellers in this section.
A curve in the road is passed and the
beautiful city of Brentwood, with its tall
water tower, elegant courthouse and mag
nifcent college buildings comes into view,
nesting amid empowering trees in the
bosom of the broad valley of Pecan bayou.
The track comes in about northwest of the
town, and with a long sweep circles it to
the west and south.
Handsome depot buildings have been
erected, and the graders and tracklayers
are at work on a yard of exceedingly large
capacity for a new road, showing
the company is preparing ample facilities
for the accommodation of the vast
business that will be given the road when
the country develops.
The farmers in this section are not a lazy
set, the clean corn and cotton attesting that |
fact.
Brownwood already possesses much of the |
city air. She has an ice factory that turns |
out an excellent quality of crystal ice. She |
has waterworks whose pressure is sufi-
Gent to throw n stream over the highest |
building in the city. She has two magnif-
cent college buildings that would be a
credit to any city. She has q handsome |
courthouse that causes the one at Fort |
Worth to appear like a chicken coop in com
parison. She has many handsome reSiden-
ces, all bearing the appearance of being
owned by well-to-do people. She has a ca
pacious fair ground and one of the
best tracks in the state. She
has secured the races, Waiting
in boldly and taking them bodily away from
Dallas. She has advantages altogether too
to enumerate in a newspaper ar
ticle. The press of Brownwood is up with
the town, bright and snappy, but owing 10
the unholy hour at which THE GAZETTE
emissaries were to compelled to leave, they
were unable to roundup any of the gang.
The writer has visited many sections of
the United States, but for a scene of pas
toral beauty none can excel Brentwood
and her lovely valley.
There will be a city OF sc, 200 inhabitants
in that section of the state within the next
q = - e. a- --sIs L.