San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-09-08

cific Track in Good Condition.
The stage coach may be thing
of the past in some places, but
there are places In Texas where 1t
is still a necessity as means OF
conveyance.
The writer recently had occasion
to visit Brackettville, a town Of
about fifteen hundred, and situat-
ed about l35 miles west Of San An
tonic. The nearest railroad station
to Brsckettville is Spofford juno
ton on the Southern Pacific, the
distance between the two places be-
ing about ten miles. Besides walk
ing there's only one other way to
reach Brackettville, and that is by
stage.
1t was Sunday afternoon, Sep
TENDER 2, about 2 o'clock, when l
arrived at Spofford. The trip was
merely for pleasure and L went
over to "root" for the San Antonio
baseball team in a game against
the Fort Clark team. Fort Clark,
by the way, is a United States post
adjoining Brackettville. There was
not much show, however, for a
San Antonio rooter, as the Fort
Clark team, which Is composed
entirely OF soldiers, outclassed the
team from San Antonio and won
in a canter. 1t is not necessary to
state that this was not the regular
San Antonio amateur team. Fort
Clark's easy victories had a ten
dency to excite base ball enthusi-
asm in Kinney county, and they
are now after bigger game.
"Here's your hack for Bracket !"
were the first words that met the
visitor on alighting from the train.
Ten miles to Bracket in a three
seated canvas.covered ambulance,
and muddy roads at that, for it
had just rained the day before, the
heaviest of the season. Besides
myself, there were six others, four
soldiers, drummer and the
driver, together with their luggage,
and also a lot Of United States
mail. The ambulance was drawn
by a pair of Texas ponies, and the
way these horses pulled that load
was caution. The drummer's
avoirdupois alone registered 90
pounds, and the others averaged
about $50 apiece. All went well
until about half the trip had been
m ade. Then the roads were bad and
finally the horses became exhaust
ed and could not pull another inch
A rest Of several minutes and
every body got out Of the ambu.
lance to give the horses a start
Bracket was reached about two
hours after leaving the depot. No
complaint was heard about the
mud. On the contrary, the people
seemed to appreciate it, for it had
been long time since that place
had had good rain. Everybody
seemed jubilant.
On arrival at Brackettville, the
visitor beheld that it is a nice little
place. A clear streamlet known as
"Las Moras," flows through the
village. Fort Clark is about a five.
minute walk.
"Why is it that the Southern Pa
cific did not build through Brack.
ett?" the visitor asked of several
of the residents, whose acquaint.
ance he had the pleasure to form
while there.
"Simply because the railroad
company wanted a bonus to build
through here, and the people
thought they would get the road
for nothing" was the reply. Brack.
EFT would today, no doubt, be the
largest city on the Southern Pa
citic, between San Antonio and Ell
'Paso, with the railroad running
through.
A grade extending from the main
line to the town OF Bracket
was built several years ago,
on which it was intended
to construct spur track, but it is
said, that some northern sharks
were behind the scheme, and that
after the people had been bled for
several thousand dollars, the mat
ter was abandoned and has Lever
since been revived. 1t is expected,
however, that the spur will yet be
built within the next few years.
The visitor spent Sunday night
at Brackettville and returned to
San Antonio Monday. That night
was the coolest l experienced the
whole summer, but it seemed to be
nothing unusual with those who
live there. During the day the
weather seemed threatening. AL
though business is conducted on
Sunday almost as on any other
day, Brackettville has her churches
of the various denominations. A
remarkable fact is that the only
Methodist church there is one