The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-05-07
EVIDEN GEES OF PROSPERITY
VISIBLE ON EVERY HAND
Adjacent Territory Also Shares in
the Growth Which Is Apparent
i to Every Observing Visitor and
Shows No Cessation.
BY HERBERT vANDERHooF.

Ind DeCtef known cities In the East, are +
Indicative Of the wave of prosperity which
s everywhere noticeable in the Lone Star
state. San Antonio city. with a popula-
ton Of approximately $4,000, shows an in
crease Of nearly $4,000, 900 in taxable prop
erty in one year. No stronger or more
convincing evidence of healthy growth
could be given. There are many good
reasons for this advancement. Prominent
among them is the fact that San Antonio ,
has virtually no competitor as CONNER
cial center in this part of the state. Texas,
1t must be remembered, is a land of vast |
distances. While there are numerous
other thriving cities here, none Of them is
close enough to San Antonio to interfere
with the trade which naturally belongs to
the town. The surrounding country is
rich, productive, and fairly well settled
and is improving all the time, with the
result of increasing both the population
and wealth of San Antonio.
City Handsome One.
San Antonio residents are progressive
The stranger who expects to find from
tier town will be disappointed. Signs of
well to do civilization are met with on all
sides. There are, for instance, nearly 500
miles of streets, of which about 100 miles
are we'll paved with asphalt, macadam, or
brick, while the remainder, thanks to the
nature OF the soil, are easily kept in prime
condition. There is an extensive water
works system with $50 miles of mains, gas
works, seven or eight good hotels, ex-
tensive banking facilities, and four great
railway lines by which all parts of the
country may be readily reached.
In one respect at least San Antonio Is
unique-it is a city Of parks. Within it's
municipal limits, or closely adjacent, there
this kind, the largest being Breckenridge
park, a tract of some 200 acres. Another
interesting sight is the government post
of Fort Sam Houston, where Uncle Sam
is expanding $4,000 900 in charging the
quarters and improving the grounds. Here
are located the remnants Of the historic
Alamo and Davy Crockett's home. both
being objects Of great interest to the
thousands of people who visit the city
yearly in search of health and pleasure
In fact, the whole city is rich In historic
interest, as it lies in the very heart of the
country where the great battles which led
to Texan independence were fought.
One Secret OF Prosperity
Four trunk railway lines have exerted q
wonderful influence on the growth of San
Antonio and the development of the sur
everything that can be grown from
| Mother Earth are produced in the terri
| tory traversed by these roads, and the
larger"part of the products finds market
here, a portion for home consumption, but
| the major part for trans shipment to less
favored localities. Train load after tram
load of cotton, grain, fruit, hay, tobacco
vegetables, and live stock roll into the
city daily.
The railways have not been backward
in making known the wonderful fertility
of the SOIL and immigration has assumed
colossal proportions. This has been of an
! unusually desirable. GLASS;. most of the
newcomers being prosperous farmers
from the central and Eastern states.
drawn here by the bonanza of cheap lands
and the ease with which farming opera =
lions may be conducted.
All this, of course, has tended to in
crease the Importance of San Antonio as
a trade center, and to aid in making it
one of the most prosperous cities in the
Southwest. It is one of the wonder points
of the state, a state rich beyond descrip-
| ton in all that serves to make people
happy and contented.
Increase In Land Values.
1t would be impossible to give an ade-
quate idea as to the ratio Of increase In
land values, either in the city Of San An
tonic itself or the adjacent territory. The
most can attempt is to show the causes
for the advance, and this, 1 would like tc
I impress upon my readers, does not rest
upon boom fOundat ton. Nothing Of this
kind has ever been attempted here. The
tactics of the professional boomer are un-
known, and the ."gent" himself is not
s. wanted. Texas people will tolerate no
artificial propagation in this respect-the
natural laws are in themselves sufficient
Walking along the Alamo plaza the Other
day, I got into conversation with an in
telligent resident, about 60 years of age
I'm a Massachusetts man. he said
after 7 admitted (hja9 ic q
PITY people don't know more about Sar
Antoine CHATS what they call it dowr
here. I came here in 1885. For a long
time there wasn't much doing, but I wa:
charmed with the climate, put a little
money into realty, and made the handling
of grains and fruit a businessmen Of
commission man. The country around US
settled up fast, and a few years ago Sar
Antoine felt the impetus of the new popu'
lation, and began to grow like weed.
You can fairly see it jump now M,
holdings have increased in value so 8
small investment has made me rich, ant
good chances here now as when I ar
rived, twenty-one years ago-in fact
much better. In those days San Antoine
was a struggling frontier town; today /
Is, as you can see, handsome city 1t:
character is well defined and a mar
knows exactly what he is buying. In my
pioneer, efforts it was all guess
People Are All Prosperous.
All the people have met, both city ant
country folk have expressed themselves
tn similar manner. A large proportion O
these people came from the East, but the,
are all loyal Texans. They don't hesitat,
to give a good reason for the faith tina
is in them, and in nearly every instanc,
this faith Is founded on the prosperit,
which has attended their efforts.
The stranger who walks through tn
business section Of San Antonio will fin,
: the merchants, both wholesale and retail
i doing rushing business; the mills an,
! factories are running at full blast, an,
there is work at fair wages for all VIII
seek it. In this may be found one of tn
principal reasons for the increase in Ian,
values-the residents Of the city are sat
isfed; they are living in a delightful
place, and are making money. Conse
quently they are buying lots and buildin,
\ permanent homes
The same is true in the farming dis
tricts. AS the land is brought unde
cultivation permanent provements al
I made, and the owners settle down to
3 life Of comfort and plenty and to drear
: occasionally Of the scanty rewards whic
I i attended their efforts in their old homes
wish 1t were within my power to Sc
i forth in figures just what has been don
within the past five years in the way 9
increase in land values in this section bl1
+ 1t would be too difficult a task "A gal
i of $4,000 900 in the assessed valuation {
i taxable property in one year in the cit
IIOf San Antonio alone is q most imfressiy
object lesson In itself. And what is tru
Of this thriving city holds good for
large area OF the surrounding countrv.