Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-11-21
SPANISH TANG
STICKS TO CITY
San Antonio Is Mixture OF Old
Spain and Mexico. and HuS-
ting America OF Today.
ALAMO, SHRINE OF TEXAS
Scene Of Recent Disastrous Flood
Famed in Story and legend
Once Spanish Town Now Hus-
thing Thriving Metropolis.

Once Spanish Town Now Hus-
thing Thriving Metropolis.
Washington. II. C.-San AntOalo.
Texas. scene OF the latest destructive
Hood in the United States. IS The sub
ject of the following bulletin issued
from the Washington. Il. e.. hsadquar-
tiers of the National Geographic sn-
ciet
san Antonio is en- intimate mixture
of old Spain and Mexico. and the nus
fling America OF today" says the huh
letin. 1t began its life IN lTl6 as =
tiny Spanish military seitlement--'Ei
Preside de san Antonio de- BeXar.
But thar leisurely name officially lost
most of its trimmings when the town
became AN American community, and
1" many who have known it hest iI,-
Guiding -. Henry-it has taken "n the
unofficial coanomen. 'SananTOn'.
Losing It's Foreign Flavor.
y hundred years ago san Antonio
WAS almost entirely Spanish ami Mex
! lean. Fifty ,c1FS ago it could h,. con-
sidered only half American. Then tile
railroads came 10 quicken its life. IN"
! rich cow country round about WAS
| developed. and "a fc,v fai-->iehtcd hJl>i-
| mess men woke up 70 the fact ilitt il
waS situated without competitors in
| The very ccItcr of a territory that
would need unnica>urcd supplies.
| Since that time SAN -Anfoni" has crown
! it, forrest of ~kN-~crap-r> AMI factory
| chinucyS like scores of it, fellow
/ American cities Approaching the 2'n.-
O,p mark and with q greater popula-
! ton than that during the winter tour
| isl season. /; tc;.d. all either cities ia
/ Texas though 10 i closely approached
| by pIllJ> ANA Houston. An observer
sci down suddenly on Commerce or
| TcSaS >trcrT mi-ht easily ini;i@iie
| himself in Syracuse. Atlanta. Mem
! phiS. DAYTON or amy one of dozen
! other cities of similar size.
a. 70 has grown. San Antoui" has
lost most Of i'll exotic flavor: bu:
| touches or OLD Spain and Mexico are
| still ia bc found IL one searches for
them. \ Few of he narrow. viudiu.
| streets OF the old days are left with
| sidewalks on which twn pedestrians
| cam hardly pass. iron-harred win
4 ,!oy~ are. io be- seen behind which coy
! senuTNaS have stood as Spanish CT
| Mexican youths played he behr.
| Grated doors and gates in yard-Ihitk
| walls of tile mission days hint ~
! mystery. Thn>e who like the peppery
| dishes of Latin America may lind them
/ al quality not equaled outside the
! CITY Of Mexico and a few "f the larg-
er cities Of the southern republic
"Aud IL the center OF the town.
strollin@ down ordinary business
streets. one comes suddenly upon the
| historic Alamo. the -Thermopylae Of
! America. There ia Texas war for
J Independence from Mexico. 1T9 Amer
lean rroniierSmeh held OF for ten
| DAYS Mexican army Of COCO until
the last defender was killed. IL is
| q battered old building raised by the
| hands Of franciscan monks 2o3 years
ago as an outpost Of the Christian re-
| li.sion among the Indians. Because OF
| the part il played in their war of in
! dependence IL Is n sacred shrine tn
| all TeXrlS.
"A string of four other missions ex-
tending for fifteen or twenty miles
down the San Antonio river represent
4
and the village Of san Antonio. all
| thar there was of civilization i'm that
| part of Texas 200 years ago Autom"-
| bile buses now whiSk tourists over
the mission loop and they Chamber
over the crumbling walls and halt
! over the liquid Spanish nameS-Puri-
Sica Conception. san Jose. san Fran
| cisco de Ia Espada. and San Juan
| Capistrano.
| River Hidden by Business Buildings
"a visitor 10 San Antonio could
| hardly imagine destruction from the
| san Antonio river. He might even
| maintain that the city has no river at
| ALL only creek In the forest Of
modern business buildings the river
IL as effectively hidden as j. the
| GeneSse IN Rochester. The San An
! tonic rises practically within the city
T, limits. gushing full grown from rocky
fountains. Its narrow bed has been
paved, and II meanders sluagi>hly
through the city for all the world like
a medium-sized irrigation ditch. In q
stroll through the business district one
win cross the little stream half a tloz-
en- times in going less than a score uf
blocks.
"San Antonio's little river has al
ways added a picturesque tonch TO
the city. Throughout the business
district the banks of the wall-conhned
stream have been parked. and groups
pause constantly on the many little
bridges 10 admire the sloping. close.
cropped lawns set with flower beds
and shaded by tall. deep green clurnps