San Antonio Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 117, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 27, 1913 Page: 44 of 67
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SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS; SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 27, 1913.
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them m rich and •• profitable si th*
»w;lth producing acres of thp first lift
Over the fertile acre* of the second iiu<1
thlnl lift* the water is distributed
through li!l) mill's of laterals ami dlrclne.
snd Mr Conaay U hating construct
forty additional mile* of laterals
MISSION, Tex.. April 38.—A new town
haa been put on the map of Texas, a lit-
tle neighbor to this good city of Mlaaton,
the metropolis of the upper end of the
Lower Rio Grande Valley, and Its name
Is Alton It Is hardly a year old as yet,
but It Is growing, thriving and prosper-
ing. and the day Is not far off when it
will step alongside of Ita sister city if
Mission, keeping pare In every commer-
clsl and agricultural Industry and pur-
■tiit. anl opinion Is even now ventured
that this new town of Alton will outstrip
the pioneer city of the famous Mission
tract In the years to come.
Tt has long been the dream of John J.
Conway, his ambition and his heart'* dc-
dre, to see established In this famous
tract of land which he, by dint of his
wonderful perseverance and untiring en-
ergy, converted from a veritable wil-
derness Into the garden spot of the en-
tire Southwest country, great and wide
aa It Is. one more town built upon this
land, a town which wouM In every way
compare favorably with the first city of
his creative genius Hla dream Is now
unfolding Itself Into a reality, he Is rea.1-
talng hla ambition and gaining his heart's
desire hv the founding, establishment and
upbuilding of Alton.
Alton Is Just five miles north of the
eltjr of Mission and Is In the heart ct
what la probably one of, If not tha rich-
eat, tactions of the entire Mission trn t
«f IT.tM acres. When the writer of thtt
artlcl* mad* hla first trip to thla wonder
ful Mission country In Christmas week of
last year, the town of Alton was a little
better than a paper town. That tt. un-
der John J Conway"* direction, had b»*n
platted and on It were located a few
ai-atterlng dwellings. * store, small and
far from prepoaaeaslng In appearance,
and • few mora scattered ahacks.
No better Idea of the wondefful prog-
ress, and wonderful I* a poor word to
tim, which Alton ha* made *lnc* that
tim* can be had than to atate that re-
cently It* active, prosperous and progrea-
Mva etTlsena voted a bond Ism of flO.mn,
With which they propo** to erect a grate
tad high icbool building.
"Let ii* first con«lder the n«ed« of our
•MDdran," thoy argued, and this they
have done, for It will only be a few
i day* before the bonds are approved
offered for *ale, and work en the
MhMlhonse will *tart aa *oon a*
ara colt. Alton begins Its au*»r
the beet of educational advantage*,
\ It wa* with an e*« to the future that
i c|tl*en* of Alton p*«>*d the *rh»o|.
bond I sens for well did thev know
M* of the flr»t questions asked h?
tadera hom*a*ek*r I* "Haw close 1*
tho nearest irhoolhouse for my children
to attend?"
The day Is paat when the homeaeekera
go into a new country, take up new land
and open it to cultivation without ques-
tion or regard for educational facllltle*
for their children. All of this the people
of Alton realized, and they knew full
well that a first-clas* *chool building for
graded and high school classes would
attract many more homeseekers of their
own claa* and stamp, who, when they
build a community, built It staunch and
sturdy and Imbue It with the spirit of
progreaa and commercial activity.
The new Interurban line which Is being
,built through the Mission tract from
north to aoutb passes through the town-
srte of Alton, and thla tin* lack* little
of being completed. It* connection with
Han Antonio will he mAde very shortly
and thl* road I* destined to be of great
advantage to not only tha cltlaen* of Al-
ton. but to every farmer In tha Mlislnn
tract, a* It give* them a direct outlet to
a *econd market for their good*, a direct
line Into town, and bring* all of the ad-
vantage* of the city to their very door*.
The country surrounding Alton I* rich
beyond all question of doubt a* Ita mer-
its bare stood np under the most severe
tests which were given them in the cold
snap* this spring, and It has the advan-
tage of the splendid Irrigation system
which prevails In every other aeotlnn of
the Mission tract Tt la peopled by sturdy
and thrifty fsrmera, who know how to
make the most out of every opportunity
offered to them, and the opportunities
which ara presented to the farmer ITi
the Mlaelon country are many.
In connection with thl* Irrigation *v».
tew It mar be remarked that a great
work has bean accomplished tha las-
two or three month* In Improving
R, ami when all of the Improvement
plans which are now well along toward*
completion are carried out no tract of
land in the entire Lower Rio Grande
Valley will offer all of,the advantage*
of such a splendid system of Irrigation
as will the Mission tract. These Improve-
ments will cost a no less sum than >180,-
OW, and they call for such great exten-
sions of the system of canals and lateral*
that when they are completed a perpetual
and Inexhaustible supply of water Is as-
sured to every farmer on the Mission
tract, no matter whether he he located
within HiO yards of the bank of tha Hlo
Grande or on the very edge of the tract
farthest away from the river.
The MI**lon tand Improvement Com-
pany. under the direction of Mr. Conway,
who Is Its president, Is Increadng th*
carrying capacity of Ita canals and lat-
eral* *o that, Instead of aupplvlng water
for only 18.000 acras, they will Irrigate
21.060 acres, leaving only 1,000 acres of
the entire tract unwatsred. A new canal
between the pumping atatlon* of th* flrat
and aecond lift* t* being built parallel
to Ih* original canal, and It give* an ad-
ditional 100 feet width to th* water sup-
ply, more than double th* width of th*
present canal.
From tb» first lift pnmplng *tstlon to
th* second lift plant, aa the canal runs,
the distance I* about five mils*, and two
rew 4* Inch centrifugal pumps hire been
Instnlled In the plsat of the second lift,
nklch will enshl* It to fined. If the need
be. the entire tract of 27,lWn *cre* through
the medium of thl* new canal.
Were It not for the pumping slntlon*
of tha *econd and third 11(11. the latter
being aloe atles from the ltl> Omnde,
ca the bauk "f a bleb Is located the pump-
house of the first lift It would liois
Iwen Impossible to reclaim Hie back
•ttetrhe* of the Mission Irsct and make
One of the problems which haa sine*
le opening o( the Hlo Grande Valley
perplexed the promoters, builders aud
opirator* of Irrigation systems Is that of
rinding the rich, brown waters of the
Hlo Grande of the leary silt It curries.
In many of the Irrigating system* In i'»*
In the Valley this silt has been deposited
In the canals, lateral) and ditches, and
great sums of money hare been expended
In ridding tliem of It. Th* problem ha*
Uen successfully solved In the Mission
tract through th* use of the gre,i: settling
lasln or reservoir between the first and
Second lifts. This Is a new project, snd
It covers sn sres of 1311 acre*, and th*
bssln hss sn iverage depth of five feet
of water. Id many rases It Is desirable
to have this silt deposited upon the land
with each Irrigation, hut such Is not tliB
esse on the Mlsalon tract, for this lat'l
has been centnrlaa In I he making by the
overflows of th* Rio Grande
Th* old system of wooden outlet gates
from th# dltrhe* to let t vnter on to
the Isnd Is being repine,* »'lth modern
device* of Iron and concrete Thjr* at*
70<< of then* new gates lielug put In tu
replace the old wooden contraptions and
will b* of greet sdrantsge to the Mission
frrisers for regulating th* flow of water
o»er their crops.
While *11 of these Improvements hav*
been going on In the Mission tract of
farm Isnd it mast not !«■ supposed that
the town of Mission Itself hss not kept
pnr« with the progress which has been
made snd Is not making plans to keep
abreast of the Improvements which are
plsnned for the near future. The city of
Mission, for It la no longer a town, 1s but
a little over four years old, and when
the writer visited it last Peeemlier he
found plans under way for the building
of * aster, light snd Ice plant, nlilch
will be the Isrgest In the entire lllo
Orsnde Vslley Ground hss benn broken
In Mission slid work hss been stsrted on
the construction of this plsnt.
Mlsstm hss a population of ov*r f-TO
people, and It Is growing all th* tlma. It*
fer.ple are end-iwed with the building
•pirlt. rather than the boosting spirit, aud
It Is the former whlrb Is Ih* bacabons
snd foundation of the great city which
Mission Is surely destined to become. Th*
new Interurban line through Mission has
meiint much to Its people. This roed Is
known as the San henlto A Rio Grande
Valley Rsllrosd, snd It Is slresdy ope-nt-
tug two mixed trains dally between Mis-
sion snd Alton. Great ouantltles ,if prod-
uce and farm producls nsre been handled
this sesson snd It Is sppsrent that the
Internrbiin la a paying proposition from
the very outset
The rosd Is ulso operating snother train
out of Mission to Monte ' 'nrlr.o, snd still
snother to l.a Lamlto. The serrlci will
he augmented as soon ** trsfflc condi-
tions warrsnt
In th* pnat two or threa months there
has lieen a decided boom in building
activities In Mission, and al the present
time ther" nre no less thrin six brick
business blocks under course of <on-
structlon. Many new and handsome res-
idences have gone up In the city proper
and surrounding It there has also been
a substantial Increase In tne number of
modern homes
It Is expected that within the next
six months Its broad, well graded and
paved streets will be as well lighted at
night as sny city In the entlr* Stat*
of Tsxas. and *11 of Its homes arlll be
supplied with water The Mission IJght,
Ice and Water Company which was
recently organiaed with a capital of leA.-
tioo. expects to complete th* construction
''Am Auto Trim Alton..
of Its plant and its entire lighting and
water main system within that period.
Its Ice plant will be of great benefit to
the Mlagion farmers, aa It will enable
them to Ice their cars of vegetables and
perishable farm products, this assuring
the buyers that the goods will reach the
Northern and Eastern markets In per-
fect condition.
Extensive Improvements are slao being
made by the Mission Cotton Oil Mill,
which recently Increased Its capltAl
stock to 160,000. I^ast fall It waa offered
business In excess of Its capacity, but
thla year It will be able to handle all
seed that the farmers and planters bring
Into Mission.
Th* Mission farmers are not slow to
appreciste the splendid qualities of Ihelr
lands In growing cotton crops and to
this staple they turn their attention In
the summer months, after they hav*
reaped their golden harvests of farm
snd Ri rden products anil truck. Ther*
are three cotton gins In Mission and
they have had each year, since their
construction, all of Ih* business that
they could handle.
tin* of the most Important Industries
In this metropolis of th* upper *nd of
the Lower Rio Grande Valley Is the
canning factory, which operates to full
capacity all year round. Surplus cab-
bage Is turned Into sauerkraut, and
great quantities of this, snap beans,
sweet potatoes, peas and green corn ar*
put lip every year The tomato growing
Industry Is being rspldl^ devtlopad la
the Mission country
this staple article of food, the canning
factory will be Invaluable
The shipping aeuson has been In prog-
ress In the Mission country for several
weeks punt, snd the spring produce Is
moving out to the Northern and Eastern
markets in carload lota. The yields
have been exceptionally good tills spring
despite the late cold snaps, and th*
onion crop looks to lie a record breaker
It Is estimated that It will show an av-
erage of 300 to 450 crateR to the acre
At the present time there are mor*
than 3.000 farmers In the Mission tract
of 17,000 acres. Of the entire tract ther*
remains but about 3.000 acres yet to b*
•old by the Conway Company.
Th* Conway Company was one of th*
companies which sent th* last two hotn*-
seeker excursions through Han Antonio
and they brought many new famtllea to
the Mission country The new town of
Alton came In for Its share of the new-
comers. as did the tract of t.fflO acre*
owned by Mr. Conway three mile* east
of Mission, and adjoining the McAllen
tract on the west. Its Irrigation system
ha* recently been completed and every
acre of It Is now ready (or clearing and
aurlcultiunl purposes, and to th* home-
seeker Is offered the same assurance
which Is held out tn the Mission farmar*
—a never-railing and unlimited aupplv of
water for every month In th* year,
yenr In and year out.
(Tha (have leading Bitter I* prepare* k? see
rial *ad staff writer* far a marsl oMMlag
sat futtkw Iwitift ef tlu* (aettai mi a*
seek I* ls*ert*d at aa tfoffl**atat~
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San Antonio Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 48, No. 117, Ed. 1 Sunday, April 27, 1913, newspaper, April 27, 1913; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth432432/m1/44/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.