The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1894-10-11
What a Cobb County Man
Writes About.
WIND MILLS BY THE THOUSAND.
Soil and Crops Touched Upon. The
Enforcement Of Law Observed :.
and S0herness Prevails,
BEEvILLE, Tex. Sept. %. 1894.


EDS. JoURNALr-Having been born
and raised near Marietta and having
recently drifted out. into the far
West, l thought l would commune
cate with your permission through
the columns of the JOURNAL some.
thing Of what I have seen and of
what is going on out here in what ia
popularity termed the Wild West.
my first stop was IN Houston, one
OF the largest cities in the state. /
found it live, iourishing city and
filled up with people from all points
Of the union, l might say Of the
globe. But having desire TO ex-
plore thescountry further west I am
now at Beeville, a thriving young
city 2O4 miles south west from
Houston and so miles from the gulf.
find the cotton crop cut here very
promising and farmers talk about
one half to one bale per acre. The
crop around Houston would have
been heavy but for the excessive
rainfall, which has damaged the
crop to o great degree. Ihave only
been at Boeville few days and have
not had the opportunity to make a
full investigation of my surround
ings. This country and in fact all
that section OF country west of the
San Antonio River, coming this way
seems to be high, rolling and pos>
sessed of perfect natural drainage.
| find no ponds, marshes, lagooIas
or stagnant water of any kind. The
people seem to be healthy, robust
and ruddy complexion.
lind the country underlaid with
what seems to be a never falling
1 body OF water which is reached by
boring wells down ABOUT 40 iees:
then a wind mill is erected OF a cost
of about 500, including tower,
troughs for watering stock, &c.
These mills are kept almost con.
stantly going by the steady south.
east guilt breeze which fans one to
sleep as the car speeds along over
the boundless sea of prairie flowers.
There seems to be thousands of these
wind mills out here and l Was told
by an old settler tnat they and the
barb wire had been the salvation of
Texas.
l was struck with the frank and
hearty manner in which strangers
are received out here and the strict
enforcement of the laws. Here on
the streets of town of 5000 people,
with or 4 saloons, / have not seen
an intoxicated man and no disturb
ances OF any nature. learn that
all business houses close here in re-
spect to the Sabbath. This is not
always the case in some other Texas
towns however, this being in my
opinion one of the most detrimental
features of living in the city of
Houston.
This country although sparsely
settled seems to be fast filling up
with thrifty class OF farmers and
business men from other states.
have met several Georgians here,
among them Mr.. A. Fl. Kent, who
came from Marietta, and Mr.. T. J.
Skaggs, who came from Morgan in
Calhoun county. The latter gen
tleman has been here he tells me
some 10 years and remarked to me
that ne was surprised that this
country did not fill up faster.
One coming from the timber lands
OF old Georgia is struck with the
bleak appearance of this country,
that is some sections of it. I find
thousands OF acres here with not a.,
much as riding switch on it. There
is more or less timber along the
streams, little ravines and some Oh
the uplands, but l find no pine tim
Der after leaving Houston little
ways. The timber growth here con-
sists in post oak, live oak, hockberry,
elm, mesquite, and some other varie-
ties with names pronounced with a
Spanish accent which | will not re
peat. will not fail to mention tie
corn and oat crop mere, which the
farmers tell me was cut very short
this year by drouth, but to see the
luxuriant growth Of grass, and other
vegetation | cannot realize that this
country has ever been dry. | saw
a stalk OF cotton this morning hay.
ing something over 10 hollis on it
and. | would judge about that many
squares and forms. There is no
fertilizers kept, sold or used here so
tar as l have been able to learn.
J. B. MURDOCH.