Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-05-14
LOCALITY
Las Vegas, the Chief City
of New Mexico Some
of Her Resources,
Attractions and
Advantages.

ahby a. no Aoa oot u ebots Aosve
inhabitants.
3 1t has water works, street cars, arc an
incandescent electric light plant, telephon
exchanges, Territorial agricultural exper
ment station, headquarters OF the Atchi
son railway system, New Mexico divisiof
together with railroad machine shops an
tie preserving works, stock yards, and th
largest sheep. shearing and dipping plan
In the United States.
West of the river, the old town has tn
quaint and picturesque Mexican appear
ance = adobe houses, narrow, crooke'
streets, native people and customs, handi
crafts and occupations; but the plaza ant
all OF the new town, east of the river, con
stitute a distinctive American city. Thu
streets are wide and well graded, Will
sidewalks abound. shaded with growing
trees. Three parks, filed with grass ant
trees, add to the beauty and healthfulnes
of the place. Handsome and veil filled
stores, beautiful residences, and innumers
BILE la ms, set in grass ard adorned will
%shrubbery and flowers, combine to pro
claim a cultured community, possessed oil
all modern comforts and conveniences.
A city hall, three public school buildings
court. house, Masonic temple, opera house
Territorial Normal school and Territorial
Insane as, lum are public buildings, con
structed Of red and white cut sandstone,
unsurpassed in beauty by similar edifces
in any town, of equal size, In the States
An Academy, Seminary, Jesuit college,
| Convent school, Presbyterian Mission
| school, Methodist manual training school,
| Christian Brothers, institute, City high
school, three graded public schools, a kin
dergarten, a commercial school and two
music schools, besides several private teach
| ers, are among the educational advantages
| and facilities.
LAS VEGAS ia the natural sanatorium of
the United States, combining more nat
America. Her thermal waters are the
equal OF the Hot Springs Of Arkansas,
while her climate IL infinitely superior.
There is no malaria, no excessive heat or
cold, no gnats, rats or mosquitoes. The
air is pure, dry, rarified, and highly cleo
triied-a certain cure for consumption, il
the disease be taken In tune. The hot
" Ht0Io 4 . SPCSthS ANCls NIL uCu-
matte aud blood disorders. Her Montezu-
ma hotel is the finest hostelry between
Chicago and Califoi mia, and is situated in
a beautiful canyon, five miles from town,
where the Hot Springs. forty in number,
come boiling to the surface.
The latitude Is about the same as that OF
central Tennessee, while the altitude is
nearly $500 feet. This combination gives
a peculiar, but most happy, result. In the
winter, during the day, the thermometer
seldom falls, 10 the shade, below forty de-
grees, while it often runs, In the sunshine,
to sixty-five degrees-or even more. On
the other hand, in the summer the heat Is
never oppressive, In the shade, and no
night is too warm for comfortable sleep,
under one or two blankets. The sun will
shine nine days out of every ten, the year
round, This, with the extreme dryness of
the air, caused by the very slight precipi-
tation of MOISTURE; the %resinous aroma,
rolling down from the pine-clad noun
tains; the large amount of electricity in
the air, and the consequent ozone, result
ing from thealtitude and the location of the
town, land-locked by mountain and mesa
ell conspire to produce an atmos-
pnere which is a balm to all diseases OF tho
respiratory organs. The percentage of
death from consumption Ia lower In New
Mexico than it is anywhere else in the
United States; and no other place in New
Mexico excels Las Vegas in the salubrity
OF it's climate. Asthmatics experience
immediate and permanent relief, in this
altitude.
In the way of health and pleasure re-
sorts, Las Vegas is unrivaled. In q radius
OF twenty miles, In romantic mountain
glens and beside bab6ling mountain brooks,
are the Las Vegas Hot Springs. Hsrvey's,
Ell Porvenir, Ssndoval's Mineral Hill, Ro-
nero Ranch, Blake's, SPARKS, Sapeilo,
Rociada, and other places, too Numerous
10 mention, where health can be recovered,
and life becomes a pleasure to the ennuye,
the invalid, the over-worked business man.
LAS VEGAS has two daily and ive weekly
papers, three banks. two building and loan
associations, three hotels, many boarding
houses, nine churches, . number OF clubs,
aud all the leading civic and social socie-
ties; a roller -four mill, capacity. fifty bar
rels per day two wool-scouring esta blish-
ments, cleaning 1900. 900 pounds of wool
annually; a well-equipped brewery and
bottling establishment; a mandatory OF
mineral and carbonated waters; two wag-
on and carriage factories; a addle and
tric light plant, three planning mills,
aud other enterprises of less Importance.
There are eight large Wholesale houses,
whose trade extends throughout the Ter
ritory, and into the adjoining sections;
while the volume of this trade, inc the
value Of the stocks which they carry, can
not be duplicated west of Kansas City and
south Of Denver. Three merchants brok.
ers nave selected the city as their dIstrib-
utipg center, the amount of their yearly
sales exceeding, in the aggregate, the com.
sales of all other such brokers in
Las Vegas, are more numerous, and carry
larger and better stonks Of goods Ii do
the retail merchants OF any other town in
this Territory or Arizona.
LAS VEGAS is the distributing point for
nearly all New Mexico. By the Atchlson
system. she has connection with Kansas
on the east, Colorado on the north, Arizo-
ma and California on inc west, ana Texas
and Old Mexico IN the south. Besides
these, she has more stage lines, connecting
her with tributary territory, than has any
other own in New Mexico. This territory
includes the entire section east and south
of the mountains, and comprises the coun-
Santa Fe, SocOrr0, Dona Ana, Grant,
Chaves, Lincoln and Eddy, with parts of
Valencia and Bernalillo--a country larger
than all New England. This takes in the
famous Valley ofthe Rio Grande, and the
less famous, but cot less excellent, Valley
of the Pecos-the finest fruit sections of
the west.
This Territory is rich In everything that
constitutes the Wealth Of Nations. Iron,
coal, lead, silver, gold, mica, limestone,
sandstone, marbles, gypsum, soda in end
ess variety and ~exhaustless quantities,
are among the several products of the
country which Las Vegas commands.
Sheep, cattle and lumber abound, SO that
in each OF these prime articles Of commerce
this city Is the best market in New Mexico.
She handles more wool than oil the other
towns in the Territory combined, while
her Ia hides is truly enormous.
10 the same way, she stands pre-eminent
- - = .-.<- - - I =
and other farm products; while her trade
In ice. gathered in the neighboring noun
tain canyons, extends east ipto Kansas,
west iato Arizona, and south into Old