The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1898-04-03

summer normals at Braxoria the frs
neing set FOR July 5 to 20 Inclusive
/ III 10 the west o. the Braxos RIVER in tn.
coast country are great. tracts of cedar
For several years there has been a larr,
export trace in cedar logs cut far In tn,
intericr. hauled 10 the Brazos and thct
, shipped by Doatlor rail- to Galveston wher,
tney are transhippsd 10 Europe. Immense
quantities OF these logs go to Germany
wnsre. they are made into pencils, into
cigar poxes and into numerous other arti.
cles OF use
AZ Sour Lake, in Hardin county, a lin,
iubrieating oil is being found by com
I pany recently organized. 1t has beer
known for years that thSre was an oil
VEN below the Sour Lake lands and there
nave been some indications Of consider
able flow OF natural gas, but no thorough
ehort was made to develop the field until
within the last year or So Now one con-
Germ Is understood to control nearly all
the oil claims in the reighborhood and
TO have sufficient money behind II 10 refine
the oil, put 1t on the market and work the
heid Tor all II is worth Considerable Gal
weston capital and some Houston money
has been put into this oil company.
I'm HE lNFLUX OF IMMIGRATION and
capital the creation OF new local en-
L terprises, the building of new lines OF
4
waterways for commercial purposes. the
| extension of the. sphere of agriculture and
the making Of new towns and cities will
change the coast country into one OF the
most productive and prosperous sections Of
the whole Southwest. What has been done
thus far is but in embryo improvements
| contemplating vast expenditures are pro.
lected whicn, ii prosecuted to successful
conclusion. vii! do much toward develop
ing the country. New lines OF railroad
that will put hundreds of thousands OF
acres of fine land within easy reach OF
Houston and Galveston are we'll underway.
One road, starting from Fairwood, on the
| line Of the Gulf Colorado and Santa ZEE,
ohout thirty five miles south of Houston,
win pass through Angletou, Brazoria,
Caney ard Big City; another, from Alvin
is TO tap the rich Guadalupe valley. while
extensions of the Columbia Tap and other
railways are likely to be made just rs soon
as conditions warrant the expenditure by
the companies.
The canalization OF the whole interior
waterway route from Galveston TO the Rio
Grande has been the subject of serious con-
sideration Along the whole stretch of the
Texas coast are wide bays which act as
basins for the output of the many rivers
that drain the great State. These bays
are for the most part shallow and only
navigable by vessels of very light draft 1t
is pointed out that by connecting all the
bays and dredging a channel through
the chain the whole vast section fronting
on the bays and the lands on the rivers
that empty into the bays Will he brought
within easy reach by water navigation. A
cut Of less than thirty miles would connect
all these bays from Galveston to the Rio
Grande. The cost OF making and main
tanning a channel would be small in COM
parison with the enhancement in values
CT lands and the stimulus such an under
taking would give TO trade. immigration
and general commercial interchange. As
all the lands within twenty miles or the
bay shores would participate in the ad
vantages of water communication and rail-
road rates would necessarily be based upon
upon the water-carrying charges 1t is be-
lieved that the opening of this canal would |
be Of more direct benefit TO the whole coast
country than almost any other project so
far before the public for consideration.
T ANDS IN THE COAST COUNTRY are
not only cheap. bur the terms of sale |
IL are easy. The school system of TEXAS |
is admirable. taxes are low and lumber |
cheap. To make home in the coast coun-
er, In no other State can a farmer get |
en- the sod From most vegetables two
crops year are assured. \ farmer can
MAINTAIN MIS- family and pay for his land
while his orchard is growing Good prices
are pad for 1--we stock. The building OF a
great packing house at Houston opens
1lai ket to the coast country farmer for his
hogs and beef. The wide prairies give
plenty OF feeding ground for cattle. while,
# farmer is prudent and goes about IL
Systematically, he can falten his live stock
IT small cost. with his surplus sweet po-
atoes. his cotton seed and his corn.
The public road builders have not been
die in the coast country. In Harris and In
Galveston counties fine. wide roads OF shell,
we'll graded aud carefully maintained are
the agitation for good roads
las spread through the other coast country
,ountes and there is reasonable assur-
nco That no public Improvement Will re-
,eiye more earnest attention.
Elsewhere in The Post are given reports
rom many coast country towns. They tell
more 10 the homeseeker than can be told
ere. The great majority of these towns
re but OF recent creation. Many of them
ire not yet on the map. They Will be- how
YER, when the next general map Of South
'eSas is made. As matter of fast the
rapmakers will be kept busy keeping up
With the blOssoming OF new towns in the
cast country. None of these towns have !
u
o boom, no effort at boom, The coast /
cuntTy needs no boom. j stands on It's
merits. An idle farmer has no more /
nance there than he would have else
here but nm intelligent. active tiller OF
tie soil IS sure OF success. The popu-
alton OF the agricultural portion of Harris
nd Galveston counties has increased more I
aridIy. perhaps. than that of other coun- F,
les In the coast country. but that Is mere Q
' By reason Of nearness to the cities OF
Iouston and Galveston. This publication :
not intended for the exclusive announce
rent OF the section nearest the cities, but
Or the bsnefit OF the whole coast country.
The success which has attended some Of !
be pioneer farmers OF the coast country r
,nds read like romances. The Alvin Sun G
authority for the statement that Colonel q
/. NJ. Stringfellow sold thirteen acres OF 4
richard lands on which the trees were !,
caring, thirteen acres with young trees
nd twenty acres OF unimproved land Mt y
itchcock for $4,000. Prof. Linderberg of y
ouston scld eighteen acres Of an orchard