Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-04-28

historical contribution.
The trip Up the Valley was very
interesting. through BROWNSVILLE
San Benito. Mercedes and Mission,
and I noted the change in SOIL and
! the different lines Of development.
Mission Is the beginning of the up
ner valley. A good sized town, pros
nerons and surrounded by citrus
groves and much trucking. A splen-
cid school system IS a feature in this
/ town. The superintendent OF
| schools. Professor Hardin, a most
delightful man, invited me to make
Fan address to the high school STU
dents, and introducing me, he said
that I came from the greatest agri-
cultural college in the country. I
talked on the subject of "Conserva-
ton and was glad I could deliver
this message. Students are always
interested when you mention con-
servation. I was glad to meet here
Miss Esther Clark, who graduated
from the home economics depart
ment, I. S. c., in 1924. She is a very
successful teacher. On Wednesday
evening she drove us to the beautiful
little town of Edinburg, the county
seat of Hidalgo county, a prosperous
county. 1t is a town of fine schools,
and claims to have the largest con-
solidated school district in the world
On the way to Mission we passed
through Pharr and McAllen. At
this point we called on Mr.. and Mrs.
w. T.. Hauser. who were formerly in
the hardware business at AmeS. /
am sorry to report that Mrs. Hauser
is confined to her bed and Mr.
Hauser is unable to do much. Their
daughter is with them. After spend
ing part Of the monring at Mission
we took the bus for Rio Grande
City. This is on the Rio Grande,
part Of it on the flat and some in
the hills, and the country north to
Laredo is hilly with limestone out
crops. The water in the Rio Grande
at Rio Grande City is clear. There
has been very little development in
this vicinity but a company is bring
ing 2 5000 acres under irrigation
which viii change the aspects of this
country entirely. There are Won
derful possibilities. The hills ara
covered with chaparral bush. some
ebony trees, huisache, which is a
species of acacia, buckthorn and
endless quantities of cacti of sew
eral different kinds. There were
some interesting plants coming into
bloom. The range was dry as could
be and we noticed a flock Of goats.
This reminds me that in the res
taurant in Rio Grande City they
serve goats milk which is splendid
in coffee. In order that the cattle
may feed on cacti they are now
using the torch burner to burn the
spines. Rio Grande City was
founded about 100 years ago in 1929,
and many buildings in the town
seem to go back 80 or 90 years. The
principal streets are very narrow
and the houses are mostly of frame
construction, and some of brick.
The city has several churches, the
most important being the Roman
Catholic, presided over by a Ger
man priest who has interested him
self in an interesting grotto with a
little garden. In this garden he had
brought plants and rocks of the
vicinity, and has statues. The town
is nearly 80 per cent of Mexican or
igin and like the other towns in the
Valley, a great deal of Spanish is
spoken on the streets. One needs
to know Spanish to converse freely
with everyone for some Of the
American born MeXicans speak
nothing but Spanish.
Rio Grande City is interesting
from a historical standpoint. Fort
Ringgold was established in 1847.
General Grant was second lieuten-
ant here in 1847 and General Lee
was here in that year. Two squad
ronS of cavalry are located here
now. There is a medical detach-
ment with a fine hospital base.
There is a detachment Of quarter
masters corps. The fort covers 300
acres. The public schools are large
ly attended by people Of Mexican
origin. No separate schools are held
for the Mexican and American chill
dren. AS in some other cities Of
the Valley, there are no negroes.
Rio Grande City is the county seat
of Starr county. There is still much
wild game, as the deer, the jave-
lin hogs, lizards, quail, etc. The
main agricultural crops are corn
and cotton and there is much graz
ing. In order to irrigate the coun-
try the water must be lifted out
of the river. The hotel is rather
poor. We we're able to see the coun-
try through the kindness of Mr..
Scott.
I was very much interested in a
collection Of essays on plants used
in medicine by the MeXicanS. The
vary capable county superintendent,
E. Owen Scott, Rio Grande City,
had school children compete for
prizes. The MeXicanS are quite IA
miliar with plant life Of the coun-
try, and they rely almost entirely
on domestic medicines derived from
the native or introduced plant.
There is a Mexican herbolist in
Brownsville who grows many plants,
and around every Mexican home one
may see such plants as horehound,
minis, sage and others.
In another connection I stated
that the railroads and irrigation
made possible the development Of
the country. There are two fine
railway systems, the Southern Paci-
fic and the Missouri Pacific. They
are paying properties because of
the shipment of fruit, horticultural
and agricultural products.
Another item of interest in this
connection is the valley bus service,
which is very good. Started orig
inally by a Mr.. Nietert and his part
ner with a little jitney, his business
has increased until better service
provided. A short time ago