Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1903-03-31
THE MEADOW T
some Things About a Vegas Not
Generally Known to the
Outside World.

Las Vegas, meaning The Meadows"
8 the county seat of San Miguel coun-
y, lies OF both sides OF the Gallinas
liver, ind. with its suburbs, has about
| 5000 inhab itants
It has excellent water works. arc
weiLflled stores. beautiful residences
and i~ncandescent electric light plant,
| telephone exchanges. headquarters of
he Atchison railway system, 1,ew
Mexico division, together with rail
road machine shops and Representing
works, stock yards and large sheep
shearing and dipping plants.
West of the river. the old town has
the quaint and picturesque Mexican
appearance adobe houses. narrow,
crooked streets, native people and
customs, handicrafts and occupations;
hut the plaza and all of the new tow
east of the river, constitute a distinc
tive American city. The streets are
wide and we'll graded, while sidewalks
abound. shaded with growing trees
Three parks. filled with grass and
trees, add to the beauty and healthfui
ness of the place. Handsome ane
and innumerable lawns, set in grass
and adorned with ~shrubbery ana
flowers, combine to proclaim a cultur
ed community. possessed OF all mod
ern comforts and cOnveniences-
Las Vegas is the natural sanato
rum OF the United States, combining
more natural advantages than an
other place in America. Her thermal
waters are the equal of he Hot
Springs Of Arkansas, while her climate
is infinitely superior. There is 40
malaria, no excessive heat or cold. no
gnats, rats or mosquitoes. The air IS
pure, dry, rarified. and highly electri
ied-a certain cure for consumption,
il the disease be taken in time. ~
hot waters are a specific for liver.
skin. rheumatic and blood disorders
Her MOntezuma hotel is the finest hos
telry between Chicago and California
and is situated in a beautiful canyon,
five miles from town, hers the hot
springs, forty in number, come boil
ing to the surface. Besides this.
st. Anthony's Sanitarium. conducted
by the Sisters of Charity. and the
Plaza Sanitarlum, conducted ry DIR.
William Curtiss Bailey. NJ. d.
Las Vegas is the distributing poinI
for nearly all New Mexico BY the
! Atchison system, she has connection
| with Kansas on the east. Colorado on
) the north, Arizona and California or
!, the west, and Texas and Old Mexico
on the south. Besides these. b has
more stage lines. connecting her with
tributary territory, than has any other
town in New Mexico. This territory
includes the entire section east and
south of the mountains. n com
prises the counties of Colfax, Mora
Taos, San Miguel, Santa Fe, Socorro
Dona Ana, Grant, Chaves, Lincoln, and
t Eddy with parts Of Valencia and Der
nalillo-a country larger than all New
q England. This takes in the famous
) valley OF the Rio Grande, and the less
famous, but not less excellent, vale,
Of the Pecos-the finest fruit sections
2 Of the west.
o There are eight large wholesale
! houses, whose trade extends through
! out the Territory, and into the ad
!. joining sections; while the volume 0
: his trade. and the value OF the stocks
which they carry, cannot be duplicat
o ed ives. 81 Kansas City and south Q
e Beaver. Three merchants broker
have selected the city as their dis
lributing center, the amount OF thel
:. yearly sales exceeding, in the aggre
/ gate, the combined sales OF all othe
o such brokers in New Mexico. TIL
se retail merchants, of Las Vegas, ar
# more numerous, and carry larger an
!. better stocks of goods than do the r
tail merchants of any other town II
3 this Territory or Arizona.
If Las Vegas has two daily n si
weekly papers, three banks. thre
building and loan associations, six he
tells, many boarding houses, min
churches, q number Of clubs
49, III - tho LEADING irwin an
social societies: q roller -four mil
capacity. fifty barrels per day
is Ave woll-scouring establishments
d cleaning 5000. 900 pounds of wool ar
Il nually; a ~well-ecuipped brewery ar
bottling establishment; a manufactor.
y OF mineral and carbonated waters
% three g and carriage factories; sa
10 die and harness factory; a foundry
. electric light plant, three planin
q mills, and other enterprises of less I'm
pOrtance.
y A city hall, four public school builc
iugs, courthouse, Masonic temple, OF
r. era house, Territorial Normal schoc
b. and Territorial insane asylum and pull
lie buildings, constructed Of red an
!, white sandstone. unsurpassed in bea,
= ty by similar edi1ces in any town, 9
n equal size. in the states.
e The latitude Is about the same q
that of central Tennessee. while the a
titude is nearly $500 feet. This con
:" binatiOn gives a peculiar, but mos
happy, result. In the winter. durin
= the day, the thermometer seldom fall:
! in the shade, below forty degree.
while it often runs IN the sunshine, t
sixty-f1ve degrees-Or even more. 0
the other hand, in the summer, th
heat is never oppressive, in the shade
and no night is too warm for con
Portable sleep. under me or tw
blankets. The sun will shine min
days out Of every ten. the year rouns
! This, with the extreme dryness OF tn
air, caused by the very slight precil
itatiOn Of moisture; the resinous ar,
ma, rolling down from the pine-cla
mountains; the large amount Of ele'
tricity in the air, and the ~consequeI
ozone resulting from the altitude; an
the location Of the town. land-locke
: by mountain and mesa--thes3 all col
u spire to produce an atmosphere whic
is q balm to all diseases of the resp
ratory organs. The percentage I
death from consumption is lower ]
New Mexico than it Is anywhere els
in the United States; and 70 otht
place in New Mexico excels Las Vega
Il in the ~salubrity of its climate. Asst
mates experience Immediate n Pc
manent relief, In this altitude.
In the way Of health and pleasul
resorts, Las Vegas Is unrivaled. In
radius Of twenty miles, In romant
p mountain glens and beside babblin
r mountain brooks. are the La Vegs
Il hot springs, Harvey's, FL Porveni