Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1900-04-13
THE HOME or THE TEXANS.
A VIVID AND WITTY DEsoR1P-
TIoN.
Scenes and Sights in Old Mexico
Effects of Silver and Free
Trade.


as, the following very interesting let
ter, which will be perused with pleas
ure by PRESS readers.
The future of any state depends
largely upon the integrity of its peo-
pie. Texas has not only its progress
sive people, but is rich in cotton,
fruit, land, cattle, and in fact most
everything which serves to make
country and climate beautiful. Al
most any tree i'm the world will grow
in Texas. An endless variety of
dainty wild flowers, cover its fields
and surround the numerous mineral
springs. These attractions make the
place desirable health resort.
Much of its population is cOlored,
and Mexicans also bound, but there
is much wealth Of vigor and push
about its people which the other
southern states do not have.
The State is little world in itself.
1t has been stated upon good author
ity that some points in Texas are as
far from each other as its northern
boundery is from the city of st. Paul.
The climate is delightful, though
changeable and uncertain, The fire.
quent northerns are looked upon by
acclimated people as a tonic for the
system. A cold wave here is greeted
in the same way as a sun shower is
in the north. We feel it keenly be-
cause the homes here are not heated
thoroughly as ours. The only inti-
nation of stove l saw in MOnter-
rey, Mex, was standing in a large
sitting room. 1t was two feet
long, one foot high, with the
end of the pipe through the win
doy. When the wind blows
from the side the window is on of
course. You can choose between the
cold and the smoke. The room was
thirty feet long with very high cell
ings. / heard a good local story
which illustrates the weather very
well. "Thele was a man travelling
through the State with a team of OK
en-. The weather was so intensely
hot that one of them died, and while
its owner was skinning it, the other
OK froze to death" Anoth of wet
and dryIweather was told us by a
bright Mexican girl, while chatting
with us on the way from Austin to
San Hntonio. "She knew a gentle
man who persisted in wearing buck
skin trousers. One day it rained and
they stretched out so long that he cut
them off several times. After awhile
the sun appeared and they began to
draw up and up and up, until they
drew the poor gentleman away over
into the next county," We have
been looking out for that man ever
since we came here to prove the au-
thenticity of the story, but have not
been able to meet him yet. We con-
clude, however, that he most have
been drawn over in the western part
of the State instead of the next coun-
ty for there is the cattle growing dis
trict.
In the eastern section about Dallas,
Fort Worth and Austin, the land is
fertile and seems to be well cultivated.
Not only that but it is rich iD oil, gas
and coal. At Corsicana, the Stan
dard Oil Co. have invested between
s4OO, 200 and $500, 600 in oil wells and
tanks and refneries. There were 3s
tanks holding about $4,000 barrels
each and reported as nearly all filed
There were over 500 wells in sight,
giving the appearance Of almost d
forest with their towers.
About one hundred and fifty miles
this side of the southern border O
Texas the land becomes less valuable
and finally fades into one vast wilder
ness of cactus shrubbery with very
little water. This scenery is just tn,
same from the Rio Grande until we
approach Monterrey, styled by some
people the Chicago Of Mexico. Thii
city in no way compares with tn,
City Of Mexico, but affords a very
correct idea of Mexican life. It il
but one days ride from San Antonio
There are wealthy people there, bu
from what we could see, the majority
were poor, half clad and dirty. Many
of their huts were smaller than thei
chicken eOOps. They seemed, how
ever, very contented with their lot
As we were walking along the street.
late in the afternoon, we could se'
them coming from all the street cor
ners with couple pounds of mea
tied with string. Ii looked as i
they had heightened then as mucI
as possible to show to the passers by