The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1893-06-27
THE LONE STAR STATE.
A Letter From Or. c. c. Woods,
of Neosho College, Tel.
ling Some interest.
ing Things.
NEosHo, Mo-, June %.

and valuable institutions of the west
and peculiarly so to our own state and
the great commonwealth of Texas,
which are thus brought into such in
innate commercial and social relations
as that the intervening miles no
longer constitute an almost impossible
barrier as in the olden days. but only
a few hours of rest and positive en-
jOyment even on the splendid trains
of the great connecting highway And
whoever has not enjoyed the exper-
fence OF passing through the beautiful
Indian Territory ought, by all means.
to make the trip if only for the oppor-
tunity, soon to pass away forever, of
gazing upon the native magnihcence
of the wild prairies of the west. Soon
in the rapid processes Of modern civil
ization, the west as it was will he only
a memory-a theme for the song of
the poet and the pen of the novelist.
Civilization in all its fullness and
meaning will have touched the wilder
ness with its magic wand before the
next generation reaches its maturity,
and continuing its mighty westward
movement, it will leap across the great
Pacific and awakening to light and
life the stagnant and decaying nations
of the east, will begin again its mighty
march around the world. They are
watching and waiting for the Anglo
Saxon to come. Seer and Sibyl have
prophesied new day and the dweliers
in darkness are crying to the sentinel
upon the hill-top-"What of the
night" And he joyfully answers
back: "The morning cometh."
But bless me, my pencil has leaped
over ten thousand miles and a half
century in an Instant of time and in
the endeavor to tell something of
Texas, l find myself mapping out the
great future campaign of humanity.
So much has been said and pub
lished of the magnitude of Texas that
the subject is somewhat worn and yet
those who have read and heard much
can not possibly realize the truth with
out travelling over the state in person.
And even then only the size and
general appearance would be
known and to appreciate its
wonderful resources and great
variety of soil and scenery it would be
necessary to spend months if not years
within its boundry. As large as three
or four average states it has almost as
great a proportion of arabic land, and
that of the finest quality as any state
in the union. and very little of it is
manifestly without the possibility of
being utilized in some way. 1t is per-
haps doubtful if the Panhandle will
ever be an ideal agricultural region
and vet already immense crops of wheat
are being harvested. The rainfall Is
only about half of that of Missouri
say % to 80 inches over most of this
section-yet it generally comes at a
time when needed for small grain. as
to the artesian supply it is not probable
that it can be counted as in that re-
gion although il seems as basin for
gathering a magnificent body of water
from the central and southern portions
Of the state.
And speaking of artesian wells re-
minds me of
WACO,
and the water supply there. They
have two wells which from depth of
1900 feet send up to a height of many
feet above the surface an unfaiiing
supply of water which it is claimed
has so improved the sanitary condi-
lions of the CITY that instead of it he
ing an unhealthy town as formerly, it
is now taking rank as one of the very
healthiest localities in the union. The
water is strongly mineral and having
a temperature of 102 degrees Fahren-
heit is quite warm for drinking vet
some persons use it without ice and
claim for it wonderful curative
properties. OF course its temperature
renders it delightful for bathing.
aside from its other qualities. and in
this connection l am reminded that in
the city of Waco there is
perhaps the very finest bath
ing establishment in America, at
least so far as our knowledge goes, il
far excels any in its appointments.
The proprietor informed us that it
cost about thirty-five thousand dollars,
and after being shown through we
were not particularly skeptical. Suf:
flee it to say that all the arrangements
are first-class and no modern comfort
or convenience was found lacking.
But among the many evidences OF
enterprise in Waco We were really too
surprised to find one business house
(the only one we entered) on a scale