Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1914-05-15

uleIdBco OF ABOUT SIX DOCKS.
Public improvements now being car
ried on will cost about twenty million
dollars.
A story Of San Antoaio would not
be complete without a short history of
the Alamo. The history was written
aud copyrighted by J.. G. Butter field
of the Book Shop and Is used here
with his permission:
For a visitor to come to San Antonio
and fail to see the Alamo would be
worse than visiting Boston and over
looking Bunker Hill-a thing which
Bostonians would never permit, by the
way. The great Southwest from Lou
isiana to California, Is dotted with
missions Of more pretentions, of which
their present possessors are intensely
proud and jealous-but nobody thinks
of the Alamo as a mission. It is a
monument. The story of the Alamo
is a story of eleven days-of one crown
ing deed. All that goes before or that
follows after, is merely incidental.
You, who are fond of signing for the
good old days Of yore; who declaim on
the courage and heroism Of the an
clients, remember that "Thermopylae
had her messenger of defeat-the Ala
mo had none" You, who bemoan the
passing Of the age of swashbucklers
and of chivalry, reflect that less than
eighty years ago the supreme test Of
chivalry was met by men apparently
the least chivalrous because the least
Observation-Disclosures. For, In the
Alamo, hundred and eighty men
-Americans-deliberately shut them
selves to die that others might be
saved. They disobeyed positive ORDERS,
and interposed themselves as q STUN
bling block to the advance of five
thousand Mexicans in order that the
women and children-their own and
strangers'-might be hurried to safety,
and their comrades have time to pre-
pare to meet the foe. For eleven pre-
cious days they held the mighty Santa
Anna and his hordes at bay-days
that meant the difference between sur
prise and readiness-and then died in
the consciousness of a duty we'll done.
For, each of the one hundred and
eighty accounted for at least three of
the Mexicans. But let Sidney Lanier
tell the story of the Alamo In a more
worthy manner than 1 could hope to
do:
1.-THE poor citizens of San Antonio.
de Bejar do not enjoy the blessings of
life In quiet; those wild soldiers who
have stormed the town cannot remain
long without excitement. Presently
DR.. Grant revives his old Matamoras-
project, and soon departs, carrying
with him most of the troops that had
been left in Bejar for its defense, to-
gether with the greater part Of the gar
rison's winter supply Of clothing, M
munition and provisions, and in adj
dition pressing such of the property
of the citizens as he needs, insomuch
that Colonel Neil at that time In conn.,
mand of Bejar, writes to the Governor
OF Texas that the place Is left destitute
and defenseless. Soon afterward
Colonel Neil is ordered to destroy the
Alamo wallis and other Notifications,
and bring off the artillery, since no.
head a be seen there In the present
crisis against the enemy, who is re-
ported marching in force upon San
Antonio. Having NJ teams Colonel
Neil is unable to obey the order, and
presently r%etires, his unpaid men hav-
ing dropped off until but eighty re-
main, of whom Col. William B. Travis
assumes command. Colonel Travis
promptly calls for more troops, but
gets none as yet, for the Governor and
the Council are at deadly quarrel, and
the soldiers are all pressing toward
Matamoras. Travis has brought thir-
ty men with him; about the middle Of
February he is joined by Colonel Bow
lie with thirty others, and these with
the eighty already In the garrison,
constitute the defenders of San An
tonic de Bejar. On the ed of Febru-
airy appears General Santa Anna at
the head Of a well appointed army of
some five Thousand men, aud marches
straight On into town. The Texans
retire before him slowly, and finally
shut themselves up in the Alamo; here
strightway begins the bloodiest, smok-
lest, grimiest tragedy Of this century.
William B. Travis, James Bowie and
David Crockett, with their one hum
dred and forty-five effective men, are
enclosed within a stone rectangle one
hundred and ninety feet long and one
hundred and twenty-five feet wide,
having the old church of the Alamo in