The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1897-11-25
Mrs. Richard King.

A New York paper asserts that Mrs
Richard King of Texas is probably the
richest woman in the United States,
not even excepting Mrs Hetty Green.
Her we1lth was partly inherited from
her father, a pioneer Presbyterian cler-
gyman, the first who ever went, staff
and Bible in hand, to preach the gospel
to the Indians and mixed races that
peopled the vast domain over which his
own little daughter was destined to
hold sway as a landed proprietor. Mrs
King is a widow, and her landed estates
in southern Texas amount to 1880, 600
acres, onAabout 1900 square miles The
ranch on which she resides is the lar
gest in the world. 1t is called the San
ia Gertrudes In the center of it, 8
miles from her front gate, is Mrs
Kings home, central chateau, loom
ing up like baronial castle on slight
eminence. All around it are the pretty
homes of dependents, surrounded by
well titled fields and gardens The
200, 900 cattle, of improved and import
ed breeds, and all sheep within the San
ia Gertrudes ranch belong to Mrs King.
The current expenses of the ranch reach
100000 o year. Three hundred cow
boys are in her employ, for whom she
keeps !, 400 ponies.
Corpus Christi is the terminus of
branch railway built by Mrs. King to
take the place of her wagon trains,
which formerly bore ice and every 9TH
er necessity and luxury to her ranch
from Corpus Christi. Long trains from
that city now carry Mrs. Kings cattle
to the east. The 2,000 square miles OF
Mrs Kings territory are bounded on
the south by Corpus Christi bay. Forty
miles of the coast belong to the Santa
Gertrudes ranch. The barbed wire
fences on the land side of the estate ex-
tend 800 miles For every 20 miles of
fencing superintendent is employed to
see that no break is made, and he has
several assistants. Part of every year
Mrs King lives in Corpus Christi,
where she has built palace in which
is found every modern appliance for
comfort, domestic economy, luxury and
for the qualification of taste in art and
literature.
Women East and West.
That wonderful ard practical, hard
working Denver Woman's club is dis
cussing the subject of clubhouse, and
now that the matter is under consldera-
ton there is no doubt that a clubhouse
will materialize in very short order.
Mrs Plat of the club has recently
returned to Denver after visit to her
former home in the east, and this is
what she says in The Rocky Mountain
News:
ST felt as if 1 could not live there
now. never realized what difference
there is SO much as on this visit. The
| women there are SO timid. They are sc
afraid to take forward step to initiate
anything. They looked at me with won
| der when told them of the things we
women do out here. They said, 'Aren I
you afraid to do such things? They
need big clubs like ours to shake them
up and get them out of their ruts. They
/ have SO much less to talk about thar
we have-that is, SO much less that il
| interesting and worth talking about.
| listened to six women one day discus!
| a certain new patent for belt fastener
"a % cent thing to keep your wa1s
and skirt from coming apart in the
| back They discussed the merits of tina
blessed thing for one hour by the clock
| would rather my waist and belt would
cape open than spend that long talking
over it. And yet the women are begin
ming to realize that our western womel
are ahead of them, more progressive ant
alert, and that they can learn somethin,
from us. The attitude of clubwomel
toward us demonstrates that. I receives
invitations from six different states t.
come at their expense and address meet
ings ON the work of the woman's clu
of Denver. I was amazed-there is n
other word to express it-at the fam
of our club all over the country. Easter
women seem to marvel at it as if
were fairy tale. They are far behin
us in the style and finish Of their yea
books, in their methods, in their prao
tical work. To tell you the truth,
tried to want to stay back there an
live near my six brothers and sisters
but really couldn't The west is to
dear to me and too far ahead of tn
east. -
It is not stated how far east Mrs
Platt's trip extended, but there is n
doubt that the Denver Woman 8 club
q much more practical organizatio
than any club in this part of the cour
try. If it talks of art, it knows some
thing of the subject, for it has collecte
works of art for the schools. If it tall
of philanthropy, it can do so from e.
perience, for it INDUCES in practices
philanthropy, and examples might
multiplied ndefinitely.-New Yor
Times