The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-08-04
IN THE PROMISED LAND
Story Of a Suckers Experience in
Southwest Texas

! have lived over three years 1874
miles south of San Antonio, Texas,
in the famous Artesian belt country,
where real estate agents are Undue
ing people from all over the United
States and parts OF Canada to buy
land. The inducements to secure
purchasers are so misleading and the
disappointment so grievous in many
instances, that the actual experience
acquired by over three years resi-
dence in this so-called Land of
Hearts Delight" ought to be of some
interest to anyone contemplating an
investment in this country / was
raised on the frontier of Iowa and
have almost all my life kept on the
outskirts OF civilization, and have
helped to develop the successes and
the failures of several new countries.
At the age of So, being badly afflict-
ed with catarrh, living in high al
titude of New Mexico, where the cold
winds during seven months Of the
year pinched harder and harder as |
grew older and hearing of the heal
ing virtues of the Gulf winds, | de-
cided TO move to a country where
would not be obliged to spend all
made in summer for clothes to wear
and fuel to burn in winter.
My wife and arrived in Starr Co.
TIE, November /, 1907 with 5000 two
fairly good teams, household goods
and some other property. The coun-
try had had fine rain about two
weeks before, and the fields certain
ly looked lovely. A real estate man
very kindly got interested in us, pro
cured a two-seated carriage and pro
ceeded 10 show us around He show
ed us beautiful fields of snap beans
just beginning to yield, large patch
OF ripening tomatoes, fields of cab
bage recently transplanted for winter
cabbage. large seed beds OF the fam
Gus Bermuda onions, to be transplant
ted in November and December, or
ange trees three years from trans
planting with about rs oranges near
ly ripe on each tree, beautiful roses
in bloom and other flowers We Wis
tied the flowing wells, some OF which
were flowing nicely and others were
being pumped by windmllls or by gas
oline engines. Several of these had
fine reservoirs filled with water, some
of which covered about three acres
of ground and had many varieties OF
wild ducks on them. We had read
Of these things, and that the average
! rainfall here vas about SO inches and
after observing the vast amount Of
I p,frlylts aud M n AZ
vegetation growing on most OF the
uncleared land, we concluded that II
must be true. We saw that the soil
seemed very rich and the land lay
nearly level. just sloping enough to
drain. While we were enjoying these
sights the gentleman was telling us
about the famous crops that were
produced here, OF Bermuda onions,
cabbage. beans, watermeons, sor-
ghum, and other crops and especially
/ that il was one OF the finest countries
/ for cotton, in the whole United States
He also told us Of the great advantage
OF the cheap Mexican labor. 10 do the
truck farming and 10 raise and pick
the cotton. He did not forget to tell
US that he had been in California in
the orange and vegetable producing
localities. where land was worth sev'
eral hundred dollars per acre and
that, in his opinion, this country was
far ahead OF that. Well. the sights
that we saw and the talk that we
heard we're enough to deceive "the
very elect
We priced various tracts of land IT
or near town, selected ~ acres il
the suburbs and bargained for 1t a
$500 II was all in the wild state
densely covered with mesquite tim
Der, brush, and prickly pear. so w
could only see three sides OF it. Thu
agent told us that there was Mex
lean buried on one corner of it, bu
when we went TO look at the plac
we found 10 or II graves, and few
months afterward when the land wa
cleared we found two graves on an
other corner. In this case we so
more than we bargained for. TIL
former owner had a written agree
ment to the effect that as soon as tn
cemetery land was cleared and fenC
ed. he would have the bodies removes
but this had been done about yea
! and still they were there. II too
, about IS months TO get this done an
then ! had to attend to il myself bu
J the former owner paid the cash eN
, pense of the removal. We selecte
two 40-acre tracts. on orr first day
inspection, and agreed 10 buy Their
al $3.50 an acre. This land had ha
the timber and the brush cut and pi
ed. the grubbing done, and there wa
about 100 cords of wood on the Ian
that the agent informed us was wort
$3.50 per cord, but in fact was no
worth IS cents per cord We depos
tied $1,000 In the bank 10 be paid a
FIRST payment on this land as 500
as the vender deposited a good It'll
for Us. Int the trade was 20 be cor
sum mated in 80 days. Within tw
weeks from the time of our maxim
this contract. there was a financia
panic OIL. and banks refusing 10 pa
drafts most everywhere. We hat
paid for our ~ acres and on thi
we intended to make our home am
Immediately had the clearing begul
and began TO build a house. We be
gan to be panicky too about the othe
land trade. Like the nigger's pups
we began to get our eyes open. w
found that we could do nothing with
out a we'll, and that would cost abou
$1,000 and Il would be impossible 4
inprove our home prOperty and pa