The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-01-24
BATTLE Of ALAMO
PULLED OFF AGAIN
Rival Factions of Texas Wom-
en- Dispute Over Alamo
Management.
SUPREME COURT DECIDES
IN FAVOR OF PARENT oRGANIzA-
TON OF DAUGHTERS OF RE-
PUBLIC OF TEXAS AND PEACE
is NOW PROBABLE.

is NOW PROBABLE.
San Antonio, Texas. Ian o4-The
question: Who should have charge of
the Alamo. may be regarded as settled
by the decision of the Supreme Court
of Texas. not to grant writ OF error
TO the DeZavala Chapter of the Daugh-
tiers of the Republic of Texas. in its ac-
ton against the parent organization
headed by Mrs. Rebecca J. Fisher.
1t might almost be said tina the bat
tie OF the Alamo could not have been
more bitter than the legal fight just
ended. Miss Adina De Zavala de.
scendant of one of the few Spaniards
who took the part OF the Texans dur
| ing the war OF independence. and
! leader of the faction wishing to secure
| control of the Alamo. had led the bat
tie in the courts with great general
ship. but unconditional surrender was
! the final verdict.
Cause Of the Trouble.
Litigation in the case arose from the
fact that the De Zavala faction insist
| ed upon having a building not forming
part of the Alamo proper. given due
| recognition. The Alamo itself, the
chapel building of the Spanish mis-
sion. San Antonio de Valero, and the
scene of the bloody carnage of March
6, 1895, had been owned by the state
since 1883. and while nominally in the
been in the care OF the Daughters of
the Republic of Texas. To Miss Adj
ma de Zavala and several others it oc-
Cured. in 1904. that it would be well
to acquire and hold for it's historic in
terest. a building adjoining the Ala
mo. which had formerly served as a
barrack for Spanish soldiers and as
granary at other times. The property,
however was held by wholesale gro
Gerry house, which was turning it to
good account by using it as sales and
storage rooms The legislature was
induced to appropriate SG1.OU for the
purchase of the property and in 1898
the Hugo Schneider building. as the
old barracks We're known. was bought
and given into the care of the De
Zavala chapter.
All would have been we'll had they
been contented with the old building
But such was not the case The famous
massacre had not taken place in the
ugo-Schmeltzer building although it
must have figured extensively in the
n,1lt h1 1a,, aI,a, 81
and besides. it had for years been moth
ing else but canned: goods and ''liker"
emporium in which such excellent men
as Horace Grenet and the Hugo
Schneider copany and others had
made an honorable living. To the De
Zavala chapter this was not enough.
After the building lad been closed to
the vulgar inroads of modern CONNER
cialism the De Zavala faction caused 4
marble tablet to be inserted in its
wall on which was set forth the fact
that the old barracks had also figured
in the massacre of the Alamo But
still the Alamo property was the only
place that drew a crowd, metaphoric-
ally speaking.
Was Quite Annoying.
This was very annoying to Miss De
Zavala and her supporters, and claim
ing that they were the only guardians
of the Alamo. they proceeded to take
the matter into court. That honor
able body, however, has filed to take
the De Zavala view of things and with
the possible chance of securing a re-
hearing of the motion for writ of
error, there is nothing that will again
disturb the Daughters of the Republic
in their possession of the only Alamo
there is.
An attempt was made recently by
the city to restore the old barracks to
their original appearance by tearing
down the huge wooden gallery in front
of it that had been erected by its for
mer owners. This. however, has not
been entirely a success, for the long
and severely plain stone facade on
the city's principal plaza is anything
but an attraction. 1t is not at all un-
| likely that in the near future an at
tempt will be made to restore this part
of the Mission San Antonio de Valero
entirely. According to some ancient
authorities the wall of the building
now standing was thanked at one time
| with the conventional mission towers.
sort of Renaissance with strong
Moorish features. The proposal has
been made that these be rebuilt and
that the building after some improve
ments IN its interior be converted into
a museum of early Texas history.
| There is enough material from Indian,
Spanish. Mexican and Texas Republic
times to fill the place and thus have it
serve a very useful purpose. In case
this step is not taken it is not at all
| impossible that sooner or later the
property will be acquired for CONNER
| cial purposes and that another one of
the few landmarks in American his
| tory will vanish.