The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-09-18
CAN'T VOTE, BUT
NrA King. Of TexaA Controls -
Least One Member OF CONGRESS.


One repeesentative In the next cCn-
greas VII - nominated and elected by
= woman. says the Philadelphia Press.
She Is the widow Of Capt. Richard
King, and abe owns . principality IN
southern Texas. Her landed estate
consists Of about I, e5o, 900 acres-&has 10
to say. nearly 1890 square mica For
taking care Of this vast domain . small
army Of men Is required. Their votes
are controlled by the mistress. who is,
to all intsnts and purposes. q queen.
The records Of the land Office At
Washington reveal some extraordinary
facts with relation to that part Of
southern Texas which seems On the
map to intrude into Mexico. terminat-
ing in q point at the mouth Of the Rio
Grande. This region, nearly as big 90
New England, comprises four great
counties and is owned by four families
the Kings. the Kenne6ys, the Coli
linses and the Armstrong;. Much the
largest Of tho four shares belongs IN
fee simple to Mrs. King.
The ancient road from San Antonio
to Brownsville has been closed BY Mrs
Kings fences, and there are no gates.
There is no road law IN that country.
The only way to get from Brownsville
TO Alice is by . stage route Of forty
miles The stage carries mail for Q
large part of Mexico. Ia the entire dis
tance there is not . ~ingle settlement,
because the territory trsversed belongs
to Mrs. King. The region Is wholly
Wild, being used for cattle grazing.
Mrs King occupies IA area larger than
one Of the eastern ststes-en area that
would in the east snppors stsse capital,
with governor and Legislature and
numerous small towns, with competing
railway systems and rival baseball
mines.
The owner Of this principality u O.
generous and lfberal-ndnded woman
about sixty years OF ago. She does'
much good and takes caro- Of her poo
pie. To each laborer on her estate she
gives . COW. Her ranch Of Santa Ger
trulis is the largest in tho world. It 10
bounded by Corpus Christi bay for .
distance Of 40 miles. and by barbed
wiro fences for 300 miles moro. From
her front door to her front gate is Is
miles, and she can drive In her carriage
65 miles in a straight limo without go
ing OF her own premises Her house
is like q castle ON the Rhine typical
baronial mansion. It is situated on q
slight eminence, surrounded by the
modest dwellings Of her dependents and
by fields of con- Beyond, ON every
side, is . green wilderness Of mesquite
and cactus.
The chateau is as completely fur
nished and as handsomely equipped as
any mansion on Fifth avenue, New
York. No luxury that money can buy
is lacking to the widow, who,
by the way, is the daughter Of the first
missionary to the Rio
Grande.
Corpus Christi Is the terminus of
and from that point a con-
tinuous stream Of wagons carries leo
md other necessaries to the ranch
Mrs. King lives for several mouths OF
each year in palace at Corpus Christi
Her son-in-law, z. ]. Kieberl, is gen.
eral manager Of the ranch, on which
are zoe, coo cattle Of improved breeds.
Long trains Of freight cars are made up
1t Corpus Christi to carry Mrs. Kings
cattle TO the east.
To run the vast estate costs about
F100, 900 a year. For every twenty
niles of barbed fence there is q man to
make repairs and see that no break oc-
,urs. In the old days to cut fence
vas an offense likely TO result in the
leath Of the perpetrators of the act
Three hundred cowboys are regularly |
employed. 1900 ponies being set aside
or their use