The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-04-09
Cows Everywhere But no Milk

| serve as type of the frontier town OF to-
/ day and as an example of the prevailing g
| condition in the Texas panhandle than
| this one. II is the county seat of Archer
| county, but today is without store of any
| description; within the week the last mer>
| chant Of the place made an assignment.
| went into bankruptcy and closed his doors
wonderful TO relate. there is not even a
| saloon doing business in Archer City and
| when this can be said OF a Texas town the
superlative of nothing is about reached.
| 1t must not be inferred from these state
| ments that Archer county is sterile or
| desert region. On the contrary, it proba-
bly, has as fertile soil as any country on
earth. Its broad. far-sweeping expanses Of
| level prairie are as well adapted to agricul-
| ture is the valley of the Nile. In 1892
thirty and forty bushels of wheat were rails
ed to the acre all through this county and
| the surrounding counties. In that season
there was an abundance of rain, and Sc
had there been for several seasons before.
| Since then, however, there has been a sue
cession of droughts and it is these which
have changed this whole region from
paradise of greenness and growing beauty
into parched and shriyeled desert. Four
years the wonderful fertility of the soil has
been all in vain on account of the lack of
sufficient rains to develop it. VIII such be
the case again in this, the fifth year?
In the spring of 1893 Archer City had 1000
people; today it has not $50 Then it had
four churches-Methodist, Baptist, Presby-
teriar and Catholic; today the first of these
is the only one that makes any pretense Of
keeping up its organization. Then it had
school employing six teachers and paying
the principal sl25 month: today the school
and the principals salary alike have ap-
preached the merely nominal stage Then
there were twelve business houses IN the
town, at least one of which did a business
of over $4,000 year; all of these have clos
ed their doors. In the election of 1892 Ar
cher county polled over $500 votes; in that
of 1895 it polled barely 500. Many of the
residences of the county seat have been
moved out on the cattle ranches near by.
Others have been torn down and the lum-
Der hauled to other points. Some have
been reduced to firewood and others still
stand, tenantless and forlorn. Some few
are still occupied.
There is one reminder of the former days
still in town, however, and that is the
court house. 1t cost $4,000 and would be
credit TO any prosperous agricultural coun-
ty in the most fertile regions of the eas,.
1t is constructed of gray sandstone and IS
in tasty, graceful style of architecture.
There is a well-proportioned cupola in the
middle of the roof and slender minaret Al
each Of the four corners. The effect of this
capac:ous and truly beautiful structure
upon the approaching traveller as he looks
across the almost intermniable stretch of
level road and sees Il standing there al
most alone upon the bald, open prairie is
rather startling. 1t seems about as much
out of harmony with its surroundings aa
would $1,000 opera cape in the dugout OF a
Mexican iine-rider.
The sandstone of which the building is
constructed is an Archer county product,
Ii was ouarried only few miles from the
town. There Is an unlimited supply of il
and 1t is excellently adapted for use as
building material. One popularity about it
is that when It is first quarried it is so soft
that il can easily be sawed with an ordinary
wood saw into blocks OF any size or shape
desired. After a few days of exposure 10
the atmosphere 1t acquires an almost gran
ite-like hardness. This building stone com
prises only one item of the resources OF this
truly wonderful country.
The court house is practically all of the
town, and the county officeholders and
theA families are practically all of the in
habNants. In spite of the smallness of the
vote of the county full set of county Of
f1cers is maintained. There is a popular
saying in this county that the only two
things that the drouth has not dried up
are the land and the government The or
fcials are paid partially by fee and partial
ly by salary. The sheriff's Office is worth
about $3.50 year and the others rather
less. Taxes are paid with more promptness
than one would expect under the circum-
stances. About the only things taxable are
the land and the cattle and these are gem
orally owned by men we'll able to pay taxes
mostly non-residents.
This suggests a distinctively western fea-
ture in the location of the place. The
town itself IS in the midst Of an immense
cattle pasture and is completely fenced IN
by barbed-wire fence. AS matter OF
TACT the line of fence is not in view on ali
sides of the town. The pasture is too big
for that. 1t comprises 10000 acres, and a
slight mathematical calculation will show
you that tbs much land If placed in the
form Of square would measure nearly |
thirteen miles each way. This Land is |
known as the 20. K" pasture, from the |
brand used in marking the cattle 1t is |
owned by Harold & East of Fort Worth. |
In some countries this would be considered |
a fabulously big pasture, but in Texas, |
where there can be found single pastures |
Of 100000 acres, all owned by one corpora |
ton and surrounded by one fence, it is not |
considered particularly big.
One would naturally suppose that IN a
town in the midst of a cattle pasture beef |
steak and fresh milk would be found IN
plenty. but during the warm season. which |
S nearly all the time, fresh beefsteak Is al |
most thing unknown and the only milk
Used Is OF the condensed variety. There are
lot enough people in town to eat a whole
beef before it would spoil and as It Is diff
icult TO XII a fraction OF a beef ~ time
he supply of steak IS rather less than NOM
nal 1t is true that ice might be used; but
he little ice which reaches the place is
luled overland from Wichita Falls. on the
abroad, forty-five miles away, and costs
cents pound by the time it reaches Ar
her City. AS to the milk. the only thing
o be said about IL is that the cattle here
Ire not of that kind. The man who would |
undertake 10 milk the average COW on a
Texas ranch would take his life in his hand |
n doing So The result IS cattle, cattle |
everywhere and not drop of milk 10 drink
Tor pound OF beef 20 eat. The beef and
mix both come from cans and not from
ows. Everything eaten in this country
omes out OF cans.
Besides the courthouse Archer City has
newspaper. Churches. stores and saloons
ave alike dried up. bat the Archer City
Dispatch refuses 20 dry up. II would puzzle
many an editor of great city daily 10
,now how 10 run a paper in town OF &c
'eople without a single business concern
kept the paper. but at least one man N
he United States knows how 10 90 So AZ
matter OF course. his personal column Is
ome1hat short. His advertisements are
evoIed almost exclusively to patent medi-
ines and the merchats Of WIch.t&FaIis.
iowever. he gets ali the county printing OF