The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-04-07
Letter from S. Nick. F.
SAN ANTONIA.

Books have been written about
this historic town, and weeks would
be required to see and digest all the
wonders Of the place, so that this
article will be Us rambling as the
quaint old narrow streets through
which we passed. In passing, ]
Will say many of the Texas papers
speak OF the town as Sautonc, which
! imagine will be as vigorously pro-
tested against as the Texans object
to having their great big STATE cut
up into numerous smaller ones.
TO the traveller who arrives mt
night, the city presents the appear.
ance OF carnival night. for the
down town is II blaze Of light and
color from arches ana street lights.
thought that maybe something
special was on hand to induce such
an illumination, but find It is of
nightly occurrence. The great
/ beauty of san Antonia, is that about
/ jlI acres Of very valuable land is
divided mp into y parks and plazas.
making green spots Of beauty every
where. ! take 1t that plaza means
Just little park. | did not have
time to visit any Of the big parks
except san Pedro, where the magic
water is; if you drink Of it, You will
return 10 san Antonia, | am due
for another visit, for | dipped my
hand in the clear water aud nude q
cup ~ It, 81 a. to take a drink. In
many Of the plans the box plant is I.
cut and trimmed i'm many styles. .
ana in all the parks there are the
most gigantic palms. our Yucca
grow, low on the ground with three
cor four flower stalks TINT bear spikes
OF blooms in July, but her" the palm
grows six or eight feet high and the
flower blooms high in the air. And
tn" roses! Words fail to depict the
beauty at these. The Marched Neil
grows as rank rs a weed and clam
'ers JoyfnlIy up to the second story
and trails along on the upper lattice
work, showing Il shower of golden !
-os"s. There is II pink variety that =
mas the same delightful habit, aud J
n" combination makes lovely pie |
are. Then the joy Of it is, that :
h"sc roses are constant boomers .
rom March until late frost. The ;
san Antonio houses are homes evil u
l"utIy built for the comfort OF the
'wn"r, and nearly all Of them hnyr =,
."lv"ty well kept lawns, with many y
'ed> Of pansies, roses, fern, and :,
aims. The lilac that blooms for
Is in late April and May is here in =,
.larch. "
san Antonio dates the history Of e
Is settlement from I7ls, though t
her" w"r" few settlers before TINT e
line, but it was in l7lS that the IA IL
tous Alamo was built for both "
prt and church. This is the first Z"
ONT OF interest to which the visi.
pr Is taken, and it is full of historic II
bJccts, for 1t was here that the I'm. cI
nous and bloody siege was held in r,
$50, in which the little garrison of "
50 opposed General Santa Anna ri
'ith his thousands Of MeXicans. tC
hough every person in the Alamo II
let death, for the few survivors at q
ne surrender We're instantly killed, ql
ne historians date the independence W
I Texas from this event. Dayy 1t
rocket, the famous hunter. was hi
ne OF the survivors who was killed. ca
tier hghtlng ficrCely even after the oC
lrrender. The siege lasted four Oh
zen days, and it is one of the bat bl
es which made history. The Alamo
'iongs, not to San Antonio, but 10 NJ
eXas, aud is sacred ground to all. sa
After the Alamo, came the Mis- hI
ons as points of interest, and they ar
re- several miles out of the city. pr
ii ARE in condition Of decay, the al
'oIs having fallen in, and in many
aces the outside walls have fallen. NJ
h" first Mission was built in 1871 sl
I'd Is called Mission Conception. de
new covering had been put on it
rs to protect the altar, which vi
ands as 1t did in the olden days, al
It'll picture Of the Virgin above 70
'e altar. There are the wooden st
'ndlcstirks, which held the candles Al
'ed IN the celebration of the Mass. I'M
$ ! stood in front Of the altar as
here, two centuries ago, dark -
timed monks had said the solemn
rvices, breathed prayer for the
fety and welfare of those near
ID dear to me mud for tho grantiny