The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1908-08-27
FROM THE PANHANDLE.
People in That Section Appear to
BE in Prosperous Condition.

. with H. p Atkinson of Dallas, We
!, left Waxahachie Tuesday, August
II, on a visit to the Panhandle or
Plains county We secured round
, trip tickets at Fort Worth at a rate
: of four cents per mile, good for thir-
: ty days, with stop-over privileges at
any point west of Henrietta Our
! first stop was made at Childress, the
, county seat of the first county in the
; Panhandle on the Denver road. Chill
dress has a population of $500 and
is enjoying rapid growth. Eight
two-story brick buildings are now
under construction, besides many
new residences. The Denver shops
which were destroyed by fire are be-
ing rebuilt and will soon be read for
occupancy. Here we met B. B. Bates
and Dr. Cooper who took the time
to show us the town and introduce
us to citizens. After an auto ride of
three hours to the places of inter
esa we were taken to the new Elks
lodge, on the second floor of one of
the handsomest buildings in the city.
The Elks have been organized here
only since May, but you would think
from the appearance of their home
that they were ''old timers" in this
section. Among the ex-Waxahachians
we met in Childress were T. j. Tin
gle and family and Luther Wither-
spoon. Mr.. Tingle is bookkeeper for
the largest mercantile establishment
in the city, while his daughters Mis-
ses Gladys and Edith are teachers in
the city public schools Miss Lutte
Sims, formerly of Waxahachie,
teaches music in Chidress. Mr..
Witherspoon holds lucrative post.
ton with lumber company and
says he likes the life in the west.
Land in Childress county can be
bought at price ranging from SIS
to $40 per acre Crops are exception
ally good this year, so we learn, due
to the fact that rains have fallen at
the right time Cotton is being ex-
tensively raised in the lower Pan
handle country, particularly along
the Red river section. The yield this
1 year promises about one-third of
bale per acre
We left ChildreSs on the morning
of August 81, arriving at Amarillo
T. about l p. m. The Panhandle proper
contains about 1000 square miles
in the northwestern corner of Tex
as, and is bounded by Oklahoma on
Z the east and north and by New Mex
y leo on the west. Many people have
been investigating this section of
: country the past few years and more
are coming all the time. This coun-
Il try is now in the midst of an evolu-
ton from strictly grazing country
to farming country. The thousands
= of Texas longhorns, the immediate
successor of the buffalo or American
4 bison, have long since been succeed
e ed by the high bred breeds of cattle
and now, the longhorn and the cow
Il boy are almost thing of the past
Already the eyes of thousands of
homeseekers are turned in this di-
rection, already the steady rise in
values has come, and these lands
are coming into great favor with the
investor. The soil in this section is
dark loan. from two to six feet in
depth, and we are told that it will
produce from IS to 40 bushels of
! wheat per acre; from 40 to SO bush
els of milo maize, kafiT corn and
oats; from one to five tons OF sorg-
hum and millet, and from / and one
half to three tons alfalfa. Very little
cotton is grown in the immediate
Vicinity of Amarillo. What little we
have seen is small and not we'll
fruited In fact it is our opinion that
the season is too short for cotton in
the central and northern part Of the
Panhadle. Real estate men tell us
that desirable farming lands can be
purchased at prices ranging from
SIS to $25 per acre. To the writer,
; it all looks the same, being one con-
, tinuous stretch of land as far as you
can see, no matter in which direc-
ton you look. The United States
government weather bureau, located
here, shows for the twelve years
from 1895 to 1906, the average rain
fall has been 24.0S iches.
Amarillo is the county seat of Pot
ter county, is a city of $4,000 peo-
> Pile, has four railroads, an opera
house that cost, so we understand
$6S,000, a Baptist church Gust fin
ished) that cost $50 900 and Meth
odist church that cost S35, 900. Rev,
Ferguson has charge Of the last
named and he is a good preacher
, for he hits straight from the Shout
der. We had the pleasure of hearing
him today. Not long since a local
nt ifr oil hold md