The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1892-09-07
BILL ARP'S TALK.
Arp Writes Another Letter About the
Lone Star State.
atlanta Constitution.

atlanta Constitution.
My dear old friend Randall, of The
Augusta Herald, chides me for even
limiting that if was young would &c
to Texas. He left his good old State
when he was young, but loves her none
the less, and his heart went back to hel
when he turned his heart and sang, my
Maryland" And 30 it is with the Geor-
gians in Texas, and so it is with those
from every Southern State, who no"
make up the population Of her woods
and plains. State pride is a stronger tie
than we think and the love of our birth
place and the scenes of our childhood
grows stronger with advancing years.
"The Exile of Erin" and "The Old
Oaken Bucket" will never cease to find
an echo in our hearts. A good, motherly
woman who keeps drummers' hotel in
Texas town heard some of the citizens
talking to me about the wonderful State
aud after they had left us, she looked
around cautiously and almost whispered,
"Major, this is indeed great state and
people are coming to it from every where,
but somehow, I have never felt contented
here since my husband died. My heart
is away back in dear old Georgia and if
anybody back there is doing reasonably
we'll would advise them to stay-espe.
cially the married women. Young men
can come and marry these Texas girls
and settle down aud that is all right"
These widows hotels in Texas towns
are almost universal and are the out
growth of the drummers' longings for a
home or something like home. They
are not on the public square, but are
cosy cottages little way out and they
have been built onto as the patronage
increases. The widow is motherly and
her girls are sisteriY and everything is
neat and nice. The drummers come and
20 With every train, and they are q
bright, wellmannered class. I found q
good littls hotel at "Blanket" that had q
very novel sign-"Cooking is not lost
art in this house and bed means rest"
There is no discount on the table fare in
Texas. 1t is good everywhere. The
drummers make it good. They demand
it. When people are away off from
home and feel homesick or have the blues
they attach more importance to nour-
ishing the stomach, for there is the seat
Of the emotions and the affections.
Solomon tells us of bowels of mercy
bowels of compassion. A good dinner
will com fort a lonesome man more than
sermon OF whole book of philosophy.
The mystery to me about Texas is. the
sharp, straight, we'll defined dividing line
between the prairie land and the timber.
Nothing will grow high upon the plains.
The soil is rich and deep; it produces
from sixty to one hundred bushels of
oats and fifty bushels of corn and twenty
five bushels of wheat and 1000 pounds
of cotton to the acre. 1T brings world
of grass without seeding, and yet you
can't make tree grow thirty feet high.
except the peacans in the pecan region.
You can travel 200 miles on stretch and
not see tree twenty feet high. Ever
and anon mesquite orchard comes in
sight and it looks exactly like an abau-
doned peach orchard on poor land, or
you will see on some rising, rocky bill n
scattering growth of black jacks that Look
like an old apple orchard. The trees
spread out, bu. won't grow tall. The
fruit trees all spread out and even tho
LeConte pear, which is naturally a tall
and cone shaped. tree, loses Its shape.
My. friends, the Wright brothers, who
moved from Rome years ago to Ft.
Worth and have gotten rich, are expert
menting with all sorts OF trees for shade
around their beautiful homes They
have got the lombardy poplars, which,
in old Georgia, run up and almost kiss
the sky, but they will never reach thirty
feet in Texas. They sent away off and
got elms and water oaks, but they will
stop stubbornly at their present height.
Nevertheless, there is an abundance OF
one-story shade all around the houses
and the umbrella china spreads wider
and its foliage is more dense than l ever
saw it elsewhere. Texas corn does not
grow higher than mans head. The
ears hang low and heavy. Fodder is
never pulled. Texas cotton is about
waist high and full of fruit. Texas
wheat and oats are short stem, and even
Texas ponies are short.legged. The
tallest grogth I saw Of anything was the
ears of a Texas rabbit saw in the beau
tiful city of Cleburne. A TREND tooS
me out to drive and said he wanted me
to zee splendid grove where they were
going to make park. "Now isn't that
perfectly lovelyf" said he. l bowed
assent, of course, but couldn't help
thinking what a failure it was compared
with the magnificent oaks that adoru the
lawn in front OF my Georgia home. The
country around Cleburne, Waco and
Hillsboro is the richest and most lovely
of any found in my limited travels. II
is gently undulating and the soil some
what waxy. 1t is thickly settled'aud in
high state of cultivation, producing
easily one hundred bushels of oats, 8
bale of cotton and thirty bushels ol
wheat to the acre. Thousands Of tons o
hay are harvested and it sells for Sc &
ton. Wheat is go cents, oats 20 cents
and corn 25 cents a bushel. Of course
the farmers complain of these prices anc
I saw a third party paper which had IL
large type, Goats $1O5 bushel in At
Ionic Ca and only 90 cents here. The