The Oroville weekly gazette. [volume] (Oroville, Wash.) 1905-19??, 1914-03-20
DOWN ON THE BORDER
Conductor Getsey Writes En-.
tertainingly Of the Great
South Country
Spokane, Wash, March Is, 1914.


Publishers of the Gazette:
AS | promised you in my last com
munication herewith is my third anC
last installment of my ramblings IL
the land of sunshine, fruit, niggers
mules and incidentally a few Mexi
cans.
| waited in Houston for severa
days for my friend Frazier, formerly
agent at Princeton, who was to NEE
me there, but as he did not put in al
appearance l boarded a st. Louis
Brownsville & Mexican train fol
Brownsville, the most southwestern
town in the state of Texas, situated al
the mouth of the Rio Grande river on
the gulf of Mexico. Leaving Houston
we pass through low, flat country
devoid of timber for the first so miles
the soil consisting of what is called
here waxy land, but what we used to
call back in Iowa gumbo. When this
land gets wet person cannot wall;
over it, for the reason that it accumu-
lates on ones feet so fast that he is
soon unable to lift them. 1t is sure
sticky, but when once in cultivation
1t Is very rich, and produces big yields
of cotton and corn, as much as one
and One-half bales of cotton, and from
60 to 100 bushels of corn to the acre.
Next we come to Bay City, a thriv-
ing town of 1000 people, situated in.
and is the county seat of, Matagorda
county, reputed to contain the richest
black land in the state. This county
has from $4,000 to $4,000 acres in
rice, which has to be grown in water,
Large pumps irrigate this rice with
water pumped from the Colorado riv-
er, which runs through the county.
This county, as well as Whorton, the
adjoining county on the west, boasts
the fact that there is not pine tree
growing within their borders, all the
timber being of hard wood, consist
ing OF pecan, ash, elm and oak, the
east portion being we'll timbered. The
value of the pecan trees may be judg-
ed when man told me that from 16O
acres of land he sold nuts to the value
Of $4,000 last year, and those trees
growing wild and increasing in yield
every year. On the gulf side the
oyster and fish industry is taking on
large proportions. Thousands of bar
rels of fish and oysters are shipped
from Bay City yearly, and this in
dustry gives employment to many
men. Think Of getting a dozen nice
oysters on the half shell for 10 cents /:
That is all you are charged at Bay
City. In this county four drainage
districts have been organized, cover
ing 100000 acres. To develop these
districts bonds to the amount of $685.
600 have been issued. Several other
drainage districts are proposed and
plans of organization are being con-
sidered. The good roads question is
being agitated and receiving much at
tention. Bonds for road construction
to the amount of 100000 have been
voted in the Bay City district, and the
roads are being built with oyster shells.
Bay City has three railroads, and
small sail boats and steamboats, come
up the bay, providing good and cheap
transportation. Land here is quoted
at from SIS to $10O per acre. The
climate is delightful, as the gulf
breeze tempers the air in summer
and winter.
Passing on we travel through Jack
son county, nearly the same kind of
country as that we have described
and enter Victoria county, and the
train halts at Placedo, where there is
a junction with branch of the South
ern Pacific running south ten miles
to Point Laraea, a shipping port on
Matagorda bay. Victoria, the county
seat, has a population of about $500,
and the county is about one-fourth
covered with hardwood timber. The
chief industry is truck raising, and
crops are grown and harvested the
year around.
On we go through San Patrico and
Refugio counties, and the next stop
OF consequence is Sinton, in Neuces
county, in which is situated that year
round resort, the rival of Los Angeles
Cal. the beautiful city of Corpus
Christi. Here big palm trees, oranges
lemons. banana trees flourish, and the
weather is ideal the year around. This
city of about 10000 people is only Sec
ond to Galveston in population on the
Texas gulf. Here the fig grows lux
uriously and finds it's natural home
and the white population seems to be
rich, happy and contented. AS we pass
south look out of the car window
and see corn and cotton growing in
the fields six or eight inches high
Land in this county is priced at $1OC
per acre.
On we speed and the next stop is
Kingsville, a division station on the
railway, and get fine supper at the
new railroad eating house erected last