The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1903-05-21
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.
Intere sting Letter Descriptive cf"The
Alamo City''-A picturesque Place
With Many Attractions and Advan-
tages Possessed by Few Othsrs-
Ancient Spanish 7issions, &c.
Communicated.

Communicated.
Leaving Henderson at O'Clock A. NJ,
Wednesday, January 18th. arrived in San
Antonio, Texas, Friday morning at O'Clock
a run of over fifteen hundred miles in fifty
one hours This speaks we'll for the Sea board
Air Line and it's connections.
In the following sketch is 81 ven brief out
line OF the many places Of interest In San
Antonio, the alamo City the Mission
City" the city of beautiful parks and plazas,
OF quaint buildings, of unique and beautiful
customs, commercial center of a vast em-
pre- health resort pleasure resort, military
post, etc. What galaxy of stirring histor-
zeal events, noble deeds OF warriors and
priests pluck and perseverance OF traders
and merchants its ancient archives display.
Within it's limits are monuments which
tell the story of the Western continent, the
time w ORR, half ruined missions OF the Span
ish friars the churches of San Jose, San
Juan and Espada, following closely the dis
covery and invasion of the country; the
alamo built in 1913 marking the strug-
giles for Texan independence, where in 1886
one hundred and eighty American soldiers
were driven by a force of Mexicans estimated
al six thousand into the alamo" After a
siege of eleven days fight the Alamo" fell
and the entire garrison was killed and their
bodies burned. Remember the Alamo
was ever afterward the battle cry OF Texas.
In the city there many descendants OF
these heroes but whether descendants or
not, all Texans proud OF the deeds OF
these men. and they never tire OF telling the
story of the alamo" This old church
stands in the center of the city and hundreds
visit it daily and record their names. | left
mine there.
Side by side with this old church stands
the stately public structures fine hotels,
busy stores and Offices, electric railways, and
other features of great and growing
American city. To become fully acquainted
with everything of interest in San Antonio
one should spend a winter there, then you
| become interested i'll the place and people
and learn the vast resources OF Texas. There
is probably city of its size (seventy
thousand) in the United States in which
| there is 50 much to see and any attempt at
| a full description would fall far short of the
| actual conditions so will not make the eff
| fort to go into minute details.
San Antonio is the great live stock center
| of the South and West Texas 1t is the home
| of the cattle kings of that section. Still
standing here and there are the Mexican
| adobe huts, built of sun-dried clay bricks,
| the walls very thick plastered with q mix
| ture OF mud and grass. Ii you go into one
| OF these huts you will see dirt floor, few
| poor articles of furniture, bat the jewellers
| therein appear to be perfectly contented. 1t
| is in these homes You find the beautiful
| Mexican drawn work. The Mexicans are a
| lazy people but they are born musicians and
| the tinke of the guitar and mandolin is
| heard constantly on every hand. Some few
OF the Mexicans have beautiful homes, but
| the majority live in these mud huts.
| You meet here with people from every
! State in the Union in search OF health and
| pleasure. One OF the principal resorts for
health is the hot sulphur wells about a mile
| outside of the city limits. Here you find a
| first class hotel in every respect; also a large
bath house with several pools, say twenty
| feet square each. The water ranges from o.
| to LOG degrees in temperature and is said to
possess wonderful curative properties. 1t
| ought to be good for something, the sulphur
| stencil is awful The water is turned off
| twice daily and the pools swept. The sui
| plur deposit is thick on the bottom of the
pools. saw Il number OF men and women
! laundering in these baths some badly Grip
| pied with rheumatism. No one is allowed to
! battle who has any tendency to lung or
| heart diseases.
There are numerous factories which employ
! from fifty to one thousand men. Another in
| terestng place is the Government post, the
| second largest in the United States. 1t is a
| most beautiful and attractive place. con
| tanning over two hundred acres laid out in
| one large circle. The officers quarters or
| homes are handsome stone buildings on one
| side. 1t is real treat to see the well
| mounted troops, each company having dis
7 tinct cOlored horses all blacks, or all
| bays and on. Is there an American
| heart that does not beat faster and swell
| with pride at the sight OF these soldiers?
| They come on with such steady tramp
| trained so true, as BELTS the body guard of
| fair Columbia
Golf and tennis are the outdoor sports
and almost every day merry crowd can be
seen at the golf links or the tennis courts
| The Mexican suppers. dotted here and there
on the plazas, with their queer lanterns, hot
tomales, chlles concarne and other pepper
dishes must be eaten to be appreciated.
The parks and plazas are things of beauty,
oh -o;t If
able pride. Some are very small but afford
rest and shade for the weary and sick ones
They are beautifully developed with ever
greens, flowers, and the Texas cactus, of
which there are some thirty varieties. from
the five feet high to the small star or pin
cushion top. Among the large parks is the
breckenridge Park, which contains over two
hundred acres, with its beautiful drives,
its springs the river, the big herd of buffaloes,
elk. deer and other animals. Besides there
is a fine geological garden well stocked with
Texas birds, animals. snakes and other curl
Csities
San Pedro Springs, another park almost
in the city, contains forty acres. 1t is one of
the most beautiful places | have ever seen
There drives but the walks wind in
and out between the springs. In fact the
springs small lakes; swans wild geese
and other waterfowl are floating on the
water, the gaily eaaoplied boats full of happy
children determined to have Il good time
the MeXicans with their trays of fruits can
dies and hot tomales: then the big boy with
his girl, the big pecan trees the flowers, the
music. all this presents most animated
scene, not easily described or ever forgotten,
All great cities have their churches schools.
theatres. hospitals and so on, and so has
San Antonio. She is the proud possessor OF
all these characteristics of modern citv
Her public buildings are imposing and of
great architectural beauty. The residences
are spacious and handsome, but to go on
and enumerate or describe them would be a
most difficult task. Another thing San An
tonic boasts OF is her ancient churches