New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-03-29
HUSTLE In HOUSTON
TEXAS CITY THRIPING
Fast Community of Farmers
Teens 5Cith 4ctirity.

Houston. March ea-From this place to
Galveston and southwestws-d, in the whole
coast country, orchards are fourishing and
market gardens are lush with green things
soon 20 he gathered and packed and
shipped. While tho trees in the North are
assuming the neutral tints telling of the
burseoning before the blossom time and
the frost Is leaving the ground. down here
IS the ASPECT o. late spring. And the whole
Of the area under tillaCe within the imme-
date scope of this place. five thousand
square miles. is teemins with activity.
As ever spring comes the reaching out
for more ground Increases and ;nc call for
better means OF communication with the
outside wcrld becomes more insistent.
Along ire railroads the land has been
token up 20 Z large extent. Investors are
breaking into the untapped sections and
opening up great tracts for the settlers.
IN order that the markets OF the far North
cast may be more cheaply and convenient
~ reached. water transportation has the
first call.
For many years there was antagonlsm
between Houston and Galveston. This city
is so near the Gulf waters that its citi-
zens felt that a great canal would make
ports The canal was planned and pushed.
But Galveston continued TO grow TO -four
ism. and steamship lines increased their
tonnage TO take care Of the great crops
and TO prepare for the still greater supply
OF produce from the coast country seeking
a Gulf outlet
Storms shattered the communication with
Galveston. Until the great sea wall was
built there il was felt in this city that the
natural port would always he an uncertain
quantity, an unreliable shipping pors. one
Of the great railroads controlled the one
bridge or trestle leading TO the port after
the devastating storm which nearly wiped
Galveston off the map. The plans for
giant causeway controlled by the cit;.. state
and railroads made Immediately afterward
were held up for years by the interests that
benefited by the one track inlet and outlet
Since the storm of last summer when
that one trestie was damaged there has
been an awakening. with which the farm
ers. manufacturers and merchants had
everything 10 do. The new settlers. who
are coming into this neighborhood by the
hundreds could not understand the inertia
that permitted a great port 10 be hampered
by one interest. The causeway plans re-
Ceived compelling attention and in a COM
with the mainland will he completed
What this will mean To the thousands Of
farmers. new and old in this great terri
tory NAV he understood when " is learned
that II will make them practically indie
pendent Of the railroads. If the latter should
discriminate against them. II has not
been the policy of the railroads 20 do this
but the sauseway into Galveston will do
away with all possibility Of a curtallment
Of the independence Of the jewellers in this
great section.
crops are raised here that must have
their outlet by the Gulf The markets Of
the coast. all the wav from New Orleans
10 Portland Me. are open for all the
onions. cotton, rice and fruit that can be
raised here The onion crops alone are in
CTeasing Ia such an extent thai il is ex-
pected that the coast country will ne able
10 supply the whole nation with the finest
grade of Bermudas. Growers Of fruits are
looking forward 10 successful competition
with Florida and California
While ten acres and A fortune" sounds
like A hrassart proposition. 1t is the basis
of a great inducement held out 10 settlers
in the onion country. OF course. il the
promise Of 500 an acre WELD Is fulfilled
and statistics are furnished 10 prove the
case-it would he difficult To find a more
comfortable way TO earn a substantial liv-
ing. Understanding, industry and thrift
must enter into the cultivation of the Ber-
muda onion. Those who are promoting the
onion lands are aiding those new TO the
cultivation OF the vegetable in the initial
stages OF the crop.
II Is predicted by men who know Condi-
tions of soil. climate and rainfall in the
the market garden of the state. There are
stretches on Long Island. near New York
City. and in New Jersey that resemble the
country between this city and Galveston.
II is az level as floor hut here the area
is vast The soil is ~ lasting richness, and
the rainfall is dependable The climate is
50 mild that several crops may be grown
IN a year
on a Journey 20 Galveston the train If a
local. will stop al many towns that seem
10 have no excuse for being. They are
marked bv a station, a cluster of stores
and the horizon. But each one Of these
stopping places taps a producing section.
From the present onward one day OF the
week at least will see the small towns
toeminE with people. Automobiles car
riages and farm wagons by the score cus-
ter an the streets.
II seems a mystery where all these We
hirles come from As glance around the
country is taken the mystery clears up.
Checking the eye as II sweeps the horizon
are farm buildings There is the farm
house. well built and comfortabl and the
stables clustering well away from the
dwelling. You can count score to the
horizon an one direction. The settlers make
the small station their rendezvous. II IS
their shipping point. the place where their
children are educated and where they all
go to church.
Distances here are still thought little Of.
Ten miles 10 the shipping point does not
seem far away But IL this were iesSened
10 two or three miles much time would he
saved. which would mean a saving of
money There is none Of the Southern
spirit OF Indifference 10 time here. II is
distinctly in all sections OF the state re-
sion Of wide-awake jewellers. men and
women who have the industry Of the North
and the thrift Of that section famous FOR
thrift-New England.
II was this spirit Of the North that wiped
out the rivalry between this city and Gal
weston. To this spirit NAV be attributed the
plan for an electric railway connecting the
two places and the building ~ a clubhouse
almost midway. where the citizens OF the
two places ney foreEather 4 fine roadway
Will connect the TWO places as soon as the
causeway Is completed. for as Il viii be of
concrete. with a wagonWay 10 the heart OF
Galveston. the ufty- miles SeDara.inc the