San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-04-07
HEARD ABOUT TOWN.


Captain Juan T. Cardenas, who
has just returned from a trip to|
Austin, in speaking OF the CROP
out look along the route says:
"a person who passes through
BeXar and adjacent counties can|
help but notice the increasing
number OF fields year by year.
New ground is constantly being|
cleared and broken, and it will bel
but matter OF few years whenl
all the country north OF San AMI
tonic will consist OF one field adj
joining another. But more strik-l
ing thing than even the new fieldsl
is the departure in what is beingl
planted. For instance out Of about
fifty fields that | counted on myI
side OF the car, there were only two
planted in cotton, all the rest were
in corn. 4 few were hay farms
The grain standing nicely, and a.
this time the outlook is very prom
Using. A few artPsian wells and a
good system OF irrigation would
make Southwest Texas another f
Dorado"
81 thought that | had struck an
entirely different city," said au ole
time San Antoniau, who had JUS
returned home after an absence O
several y,ars. at is true tina
there was the same old city hall
the same old paved streets and tn
same old Alamo plaza. There, too
was the unfinished county cour
house, which | thought would
surely have been completed an
fully occupied a year ago, blu
imagine my surprise when m
family vehicle got caught in tn
usual Commerce street blockade
[ was looking for the stalwar
form OF Officer Springer to step u
and disentangle us, or possibl
Walter Beck TO ride upon his oil
gray, but in his stead a stranger i
blue coat rode up and cleared thl
street, and then at every corner
noticed strange faces in blue coat
brass buttons and police badge
or course | do not pretend to kuO
anything about the merit Of thl
new appointees, but | have su,
picion that in the hurly-burIy d
politics some very good, long tint
servants OF the people got left il
the shuttle"
Col. Dave McGary, a well know
ranchman OF Webb county, was il
the city yesterday. "WelI sir, al
you know" said Col. McGary to
reporter for the LIGHT, that til
real merit Of the mesquite brush
our western counties is not gpneI
ally known, outside of the Wei
Texas ranches. Theorists have i'll
vestigated the possibility of utiliI
ing the shrub for its rosin. That il
they tried to manufacture mucH
age out Of the gummy substan
that eXudes from its bark, but T.
some reasons have decided tn
this was impracticable. OtheI
sought to utilize the beans as
substitute or an adulteration I'll
coffee, and this too has amOuntd
to nothing. Yet the fact remain
that if it were not for the mesqui,
many Of our ranches would hal
been deserted years ago. In placI
the shrubbery is so thick that
proves an etfectual shelter again
the killing nOrther that work sud
havoc on the unprotected prairiI
OF Texas. Then, too, there are
beans which, when the grass givI
out, keeps many an animal ali
the winter. The beau
OF the mesquite is that it beal
most prolific when the seasons a
driest. The spread Of the mesqu
is something marvellous. Why
remember the time when all TIL
covered country betwe
San Antonio and the LeOna w
open prarIe land. And the stod {
man says, 'let her spread"