The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1901-06-26
Wonders of the West.
IOrkrilic Euuu;rey.

but am glad enough to get back, for,
after sll, South Carolina IS the best
State in the Union and York ;s the
best county in South Carolina"
So said Nj. j. G. Wilborn TO the re-
porter last Monday afternoon. He
had just returned on Saturday from a
trip to San Francisco, California,
where he has been in attendance on
the annual meeting of the railroad
commissioners Of the United States,
June 4, 5, and 6. It was evident that
Mr.. Wilborn had an interesting story
to tell, and the reporter proceeded
forthwith to draw it out of him.
I" 1t would take mc two OF three days
to tell the whole story Of the trip"
MIR. Wilborn commenced, so in order
to make it as brief as possible, 1 guess
had better skip over that portion Of
IL between here and Texas. It did
not begin to grow interesting until We
struck Texas anyway. The first thing
of interest in Texas was the Beaumont
oil regions. You We been seeing a
great deal about Beaumont iu the
papers. Well, when you get to Beau
mont, you don't have to be told about
it. It's just little town on the rail
road; but there is great mob of pco-
pie there from all parts of the coun-
try, and it is the craziest crowd you
ever saw. Everybody is wild on oil,
and you hear but little else than oil
for two or three hundred miles on
either side. J. did not stop at Beau
mont: but could see, hear and smell
oil. The is not large enough to ac-
commodatc the crowd Of fortune hunt
ters, and they have to come in and 90
out daily on special trains Spccula-
tion runs riot everywhere in the neigh
borhood; but practical results are also
noticeable. Oil is selling at 10 cents
barrel, and it is being used for fuel
on the railroads and in the various
manufacturing establishments of the
region for hundreds of miles around.
They were using oil for fuel in the To-
comotivc that pulled us by the place.
] cannot venture to give you many de-
tails; but there is no doubt Of the fact
that the oil strike will have tremen-
dous effect on the future industrial de-
vclopmcnt Of that whole section.
After getting into Southwestern
Texas. | was struck by the absence of
crops. We would pass over hundreds
of miles without seeing stalk of corn
or cotton, and but few blades of grass.
1t was the dryest and most sterile
looking country had ever seen. Upon
inquiry, I was told tLss this was the
great grazing country of Texas; but
could not understand that either until
they told me that cattle fed on the
mesquit grass or bushes. did not
see many cattle though. There had
been no rain for long time and the
cattle were collected at water holes far
away from the railroad.
"As I got further west, the desola-
tion seemed to grow more pronounced
until we entered Arizona, where the
ground appeared to be literally parch-
ed. [ saw cattle there; but they were
dead. The railroads out that way are
fenced in on both sides with wire fen
ces. II is to keep the cattle off the
track. Along on both sides Of the
railroad were to be seen the dead bodies
Of great long horned steers and COWS.
l began to notice them every few hun
dred yards, and it occurred to me that
was passing through country that
had been devastated by some cattle dis
case; but natives on the train told me
different. The cattle I saw had per
ished from thirst, some of them years
before. They had gotten lost from their
herds and wandered out to the places
where they had finally dropped from
exha lstion. Many Of them had lain
there for years, the dry air preventing
nntrefaction, and the carcasses becom-
ing like so much bone. There are no
buzzards out TINT way aud nothing
else to disturb these carcasses. At
one Of the stations beyond Tucson,
Arizona, l asked one Of the men how
long it had been since any rain had
fallen in his section and he told me
something over two years.
Shortly after getting into Califor-
MIA, the prospect began to change
materially. The change was gradual,
of course; but it was like going from
purgatory to Paradise. After awhile