Bennington semi-weekly banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 1894-1902, 1895-09-13
A TEXAS LAND QUEEN
HER RANCH is THE LARGEST IN THE
WORLD.

| IL comprises a Mlllion ana quarter
Aores-She Can Elect Congressman.
Thirteen Miles From Front Door to
Front Gate.
Ono representative in the next congress
will be nominated and elected by a WON.
an. She is the widow of Captain Richard
King, and she owns n principally in
southern Texas. Her landed estates con-
sist of about 1850, 900 acres-that is to
say, nearly 1000 square miles, which is
bigger than Rhode Island and almost as
big as Delaware. For taking caro- of this
vast domain a small army of men is re-
quired. Their votes are controlled by the
mistress, who is to all intents and pur-
poses queen.
Tho records of the land office at Wash
ington reveal some extraordinary facts
with relation to that part of southern
Texas which seems on the map to intrude
into Mexico, terminating in point at the
mouth of the Rio Grande. This region,
nearly as big as New England, comprises
four great counties and is owned by four
| families-the Kings, the Kennodys, the
| Collinses and the Armstrong;. Much the
simple to Mrs. King.
Few men in this world have ever been
so hated and feared as was Captain King.
He was a character typical Of Texas life 20
years ago Employing the labor of large
| numbers of ignorant MeXicans, he induced
them to acquire homesteads under the
laws of the United States. They were al
ways in debt to him, and eventually their
1,,, Il, IL. Al
gigantic estate was largely built up. 9th
er white men who took up holdings in the
region were shut in with barbed wire
fences by the great proprietor. They found
themselves inClOsed as in mousetraps.
They could not drive out their cattle, and
so sold their property to Captain King.
The region is at present the most shut up
portion of the United States-a voritable
terra inCognita, without railways and in
the earliest stage of development.
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
q stage route of 40 hours. The stage car
RIGS mail for large part of Mexico. In
the entire distance there is not single
belongs to Mrs. King. The region is
wholly wild, being used for cattle grazing.
In 1.-The West From Car Window
Mrs. King is referred to by Richard Hard
ing Davis, who remarks that it is difficult
to imagine a solitary family occupying an
area larger than some of the eastern states
an area that would in the east support
state capital, with governor and legisla-
md ff,Nrr tt-ith
competing railway systems and rival base
ball mines.
The owner of this principality is gen
erous and liberal minded woman, about 60
years of age. She does much good and
takes care Of her people. To each labOrer
on her estates she gives COW. Her ranch
of Santa Gertrudis is the largest in the
world. 1t is bounded by Corpus Christi
bay for a distance of 40 miles and by
barbed wire fences for 300 miles more.
From her front door to her front gate is 10
miles, and she can drive in her carriage TO
miles in u straight line without going off
her own promises.
Her house looks like castle on the
Rhine-a typical baronal mansion. 1t is
situated on slight eminence, surrounded
by the modest dwellings of her dependents
and by fields Of waving corn. Beyond on
every side is Wilderness Of mesquite and
cactus
This out of the way Texas chateau is as
completely furnished and as handsomely
equipped as any mansion on Fifth avenue.
No luxury that money can buy anywhere
is lacking to the widow, who is the daugh-
ter of the first Presbyterian missionary to
tho Rio Grande. Corpus Christi is the
terminus of a railway, and from that point
continuous stream of wagons carries ice
and other necessaries to the ranch. Mrs.
King lives for several months of each year
in palace at Corpus Christi Her son-in-
law, Robert j. Kleberg, is general mana
ger of the ranch, on which are 200, 600 cat
tie of improved breeds. Long trains of
freight cars are made up at Corpus Christi
to carry Mrs. Kings cattle to the east
To run the vast estate costs about $780,
600 year For every 20 miles of barbcd
wire fonce there is man to make repairs
ami sec that no break occurs. In the old
days, to cut fence was an offense likely
to result in the death of the perpetratOr of
the act. Three hundred cowboys are reg
ularly employed l, 200 ponies being set
aside for their use. Every spring all Of
the calves are rounded up for branding.
They are driven into pen through a
wooden chute, and as they leave the chute
each one is caught by tho leg and thrown
upon its side Then one of dozen irons
that are kept redhot in an open fire is
pressed upon the animals nose. All
brands are registered, and sometimes each
member Of a family has one.
Mr.. Davis tells Of a girl who came out
in society in New York three winters ago
and who is known in Texas only as "the
owner of the triangle brand" Nobody can
get water in that country save by good
will of the owners of the great estates, and
no one can travel without their permits
sion, inasmuch as there are no public roads.
The climate is semitropical and water
melons are grown as readily in January as
in July. The soil is rich and very black,
unlike that of the rest Of Texas, but re-
sembling the soil of the bottom lands of
the south in productiveness. Crops grow
almost without water.-New York World.
The COrbett- Fitzsimmons Fight.
Jere Dunn Of New York has heretofore
Iways entertained most decided and in