Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-03-23
THIS LOCALITY
Las Vegas, the Chief City
of New Mexico-- Some
of Her Resources,
Attractions and
Advantages.

F'F
and, with Its suburbs, has about lO,Ol
Inhabitants.
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 division
! 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 th
8 quaint and picturesque Mexican appear
ance- adobe houses, narrow, crooke,
streets, native people and customs, handi
crafts and occupations; but the plaza an,
all OF the new town, east Of the river, con
stituteD a distinctive American city. Tn,
, 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 well filled
stores, beautiful residences, and innumera'
BILE lawns, set in grass and adorned with
shrubbery and flowers, combine to pro.
claim a cultured community, possessed Of
all modern comforts and conveniences.
A city hall, three public school buildings,
court house, Masonic temple, opera house,
Territorial Normal school and Territorial
Insane asylum are public buildings, con
structed of red and white cat sandstone,
unsurpassed in beauty by similar ediaces
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, q commercial school and two
music schools, besides several private teach
ers, are among the educational advantages
and facilities.
LAS VEGAS is the natural sanatorium of
the United States, combining more nat
ural advantages than any other place In
America. Her thermal waters are the
equal of the Hot Springs of Arkansas,
while her climate is 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
trified-a certain cure for consumption, IL
the disease be taken In time. The hot
waters are a specific for liver, skin, rheu.
matte and blood disorders. Her Montezu-
ma hotel is the finest hosiery between
Chicago and California;, and is situated in
a beautiful canyon, five miles from town,
where the Hot Springs, forty In number,
come boiling to the surface. 4
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, in the shade, below forty de-
grees, while it often runs, in the sunshine,
to sixty-five degrees-or even more. Oh
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 witt
shine nine days out OF every ten, the year
round. This, with the extreme dryness Of
the air, caused blythe very slight precipi-
tation of moisture; the resinous aroma,
rolling down from the pine-clad noun
tains; the large amount of electricity 10
the air, and the consequent ozone, result
ing from thealtitudes and the location Of the
town, land-locked by mountain and mesa
these all conspire to produce an atmos-
phere which is a balm to all diseases Of the
respiratory organs. The percentage of
death from consumption is lower in New
Mexico than it is anywhere else in the
United States; and no other place In New
Mexico excela. Las Vegas in the salubrIty
OF its climate. Asthmatics experience
immediate and permanent relief, in this
altitude.
In the way of health and pleasure re-
sorts, Las Vegas is unrivaled. In a radius
OF twenty miles, 10 romantic mountain
glens and beside babhling mountain brooks,
are the Las Vegas Hot Springs, Harvey's,
El Porvenir, Sandoval's Mineral Hill, Ro-
nero Ranch, Blake's, Sparks, Sapello,
Rociada, and other places, too Numerous
to mention, where health can be recovered,
and life becomes a pleasure to the ennuye,
the invalid, the over-worked business man. |
LAS VEGAS has daily and Ave weekly |
papers, three banks, two building n loan
associations, three hotels, many boarding
houses, nine churches, q number OF clubs,
and all the leading civic and social socie-
rels per day two wool-scouring establish
ments, cleaning 100000 pounds Of wool
annually; a weli-equipped brewery and
bottling establishments; q mandatory of
mineral and carbonated waters; two wag-
on and carriage factories; a saddle and
harness factory; "a ~foundI.j. cleo
trio light plant. three planning mills,
There are eight large wholesale houses,
whose trade extends throughout the Ter.
ritory, and into the adjoining sections;
while the volume of this trade, and the
value of the stocks which they carry, can
not be duplicated west Of Kansas City and
south of Denver. Three merchants brok-
ers have selected the city as their distrib-
uting center, the amount of their yearly
sales exceeding, in the aggregate, the com
bined sales Of all other such brokers In
New Mexico. The retail merchants, OF
Las Vegas, are more numerous, and carry
larger and better stocks Of goods than do
the retail merchants OF any other town In
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