Mexico weekly ledger., 1903-12-31
A LAST LETTER FROM TEXAS,
To the EdIsor Of the Ledger

oAopoS ACooed l0l tAc Ct. LJuio 0uIlc-
tian AdUocate, subject: "yislt Of
Queen OF Sheba TO Solomon Since
writing YOU a few days ago about San
Antonio and the thrilling scenes that
transptred in the early history OF
Texas / have made a short visit to
Austin, the Capital city Of the state.
had heard and read much Of the cap
itol building in this city and deter
mined TO see it with my W eyes.
After a thorough inspection Of 1t from
almost every standpoint inside and
out, can only say, like the Queen OF
Sheba, "the half was not told" Wife
and | had In view but two objects In
going TO Austin: To see the wonder
full marble capitol building and to
visit two friends Of her early child
hood, Mr.. and Mrs Ira Pritchett.
This is the brother Of our own Bro.
j. II. Pritchett, who for many years
has been an honored citizen OF Texas.
In her early childhood Mrs. Pritchett
was the school mate and room mate
OF Mrs Hinde down at the old Pritch-
EFT home in Warren county, Mo. They
are a lovely couple OF old people and
we can never forget the sweet fellow
ship enjoyed in their h~ospitable home.
The most beautiful picture to me In
this world is that OF a loving and de-
voted couple of old married people,
perfectly happy in the enjoyment OF
each other in their own home. Such
a picture was this / saw in Austin,
Texas.
The Texas capitol building is con-
structed Of beautiful red Texas gran
lite obtained from Burnett county. A
railroad was specially constructed to
transport the marble from the quar-
ries to Austin. 1t was commenced in
1882 and completed in 1888. The
length is 56S feet, width 2SS feet,
height 3l3 feet. 1t covers st acres,
and has ] acres Of floor space, with 254
rooms. 1t is lighted by 1000 electric
burners. 1t is four stories above the
basement, The House Of Represen-
tatiyes is located in the second story
Of the right wing; and the Senate
chamber on the same floor OF the left
wing, The Governors reception room
is in the front center Of the second
floor. This is a beautiful room, gor-
geously furnished. Fine portraits OF
the Presidents OF the Republic and
Governors Of the State and other dis
tinguished statesmen, soldiers and
citizens adorn the walls around the
rotunda, both halls and the Cover.
nor's room. A few fine statues and
some fine paintings are found scatter
ed through the building. Busts and
portraits OF Houston and Austin are
found at every turn. The large
painting by Prof. McArdle represent
ing the battle Of San Jaclnto with an
estimated value Of s55, 900 attracts the
attention OF all visitors. In all my
travels ! don't think / have ever seer
a 0 life-like battle picture than
this. Many Of the faces 10 the picture
are true portraits, as that OF Hous-
ton, Santa Anna, Deaf Smith, Col.
Wharton and others / cannot recall.
Another fine painting, by the same
artist, ! think, is that OF the capture
OF Santa Anna described in my last
letter. In this painting, smaller than
the other, the portraits stand out in
bold relief: Santa Anna in disguise
costume, and Gen. Houston lying on
the ground with bandaged limb. One
other painting ought to be In that
building-the finest material for the
| painters brush in all the history OF
Texas: Col. Wharton as be steps be-
fore the guns of his men and orders
them to cease firing on the surrender
ed Mexicans. In the rotunda is a fine
life-size painting Of Davy Crockett In
buckskin suit. We visited the library
and various other OF the state depart
ments which | have not space to de-
scribe.
/ tried to get a fair estimate OF the
cost Of this magnificent building, but
this is impossible. Ii was built with
out a cent of tax money, but from the
proceeds Of 5000, 900 acres of public
land. l have this to say about it. 4
saw many of the finest public build
ings Of Europe. l have told my friends
that the finest government building /
saw was in Brussels, Belgium, a pure
sTfenarhle building COSTING si2eA
/ wHh9 Like It OHS2~fne h~Qste05o..
600. The Austin rapitol building is
much larger, and ] think more beau
tiful: and estimated in dollars, IL
built now, | believe the cost would ap-
proximate the cost Of the Brussels
building. The grounds OF the Austin
Capitol building are large and very
beautifully laid out and adorned. The
marble monument concentrating
the fall OF the Alamo Is a splendid
design, deliberately finished. The
magnificent and beautiful monument
erected by the surviving comrades Of
the fallen soldiers Of the ~Confederacy
is one OF the finest specimens Of stat
uary work 10 be found In any country.
IL is o~yertopped by a fine bronze
statue Of Jefferson Davis and the
carvings and lettefings on the various
faces OF the fine marble tell the whole
story Of the war. There are other
places Of interest In Austin, but after
seeing this marvellous marble palace /
cannot write about them We now
bid Texas good bye and are of for old
Mexico. IL. X. HIHDE.
San Marcos, Dec. 10.
New Idea in Advertising.
49, I'LL