Year: 1878

TEXAS COMMUNICATION.


Fort Worth, August z, 1878.
EDITOR MEXICO LEDGER: Occa-
sioaaily get copy Of your much
valued paper, which / assure you is q
very welcome visitor,as it g ives me
al the important news. It seems to
me like meeting with an old friend In
strange country, or like "the shad-
ow of great rock in q weary land. "


AS this is, perhaps, nay last day in
the ''Queen city of the Prairie," /
thought would write you o very
short piece, either to publish or burn,
as your fancy might suggest. But q
few short years ago, and here is where
the ''panther lay," the wild Buffalo
RECALLED himself on the sweet, iuxuri-
ant mesouit grass, or slalxed lis thirst
in the bright, dashing water Of the
Trinity, while the "red man" was
following the noble Stag "o'er the
mountain crag," or "ohssing the
bounding boar" as perhaps sending
an.arow through the quivering flesh
of the timid antelope, and occasion
ally raising the scalp of some weary
pilgrim or daring white man (who
might unluckily fall in his way) just
to see how his skull looked. Rpt
very s9on the deal line was dsaNn
farther west, and he with hls Wild
game was asked to stay beyond the
reach of civilization. Then came the
sappers and miners, and saoa were
to he heard in the land :the are, the
saw, the hammer and the trowel, sni
where thirty years ago was nature In
all its rude wildness now stands this
quiet city with its ten thousand IN


habitsnts, and still they come, and
large commodious frame, brick and
stone houses for residences ard busi-
ness, are going up all the time, and
I see from this mornings Democrat
Gin addition to the one already here)
there is large steam cotton com
press and warehouse, with gins at
tsched, to he erected and ready for
use in the next sixty days. tbs
court house and public buildings !;
some of the churches and business
houses are lighted with gas. Three
planning mills ara in active operation
aud perhaps there are twenty-five
wagon yards in the city, where
freighters, who have horse or mule
teams, can remain over night for
twenty cents a wagon, and if any
thing is stolen during the night the
ward is responsible for it. Freight
ers with OK teams always camp on the
prairie in order to Craze their stock.
You can often see them with seven or
eight yoke Of oxen to one wagon ssad
q "trsiler" attached. when they
come to a hig hill they drop the trail
er and take their front wagon to the
top, leave it and go back after the
trail wagon, bring it up, hook it on
and then go on their way rejoicing /;
in that wav one man can haul as much
"a four cords oi wool at time. But
to 90 back little and give the D-l
his due, I think they are little ahead
of their business here. 1 think if they
wonld dispense with the use Of gas
and make more side walks and better
ones, it would be much more pleas
ant for themselves rs well as stran-
gers who come here. There Is more
good sidewalks on the north side Of
Promenade street In Mexico than in
all the great young "Queen City"
put together, and I think In all prob
ability, that some Of the city, will
not, In the near future Improve - it
has In the past: still, Tarrant county
(of which this Ia the county seat) is
good county of land and Of course
that makes a good town. This 10 the
city in which no man makes . track.
for when its dry, the ground 10 too
hard, and when its wet most men
take up spade full to their boots,
and I guess, friend Bob, you would
take about q wheel-barrow load.


Very truly your friend,


hww,an