San Antonio Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 49, No. 88, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 29, 1914 Page: 31 of 78
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SUNDAY MORNING, MARCH 29, 1914
SOCIETY AND GENERAL NEWS
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Colossal Cheval de Fries, Tor-
turing to the Touch, Has No
Parallel, and Though Not a
Hanging Garden Like
Ion's It Is One of the Wonders
of the fcarth.
TrtlGHT here in Texas—in the border city of Laredo, to he spec fic as to
location—is one of the strangest gardens in all the world, yet it is com-
paratively buried in obscurity and but little known except among the immediate
neighbors of its mistress and a small number of the most learned botanists of
the United States.
And it is one of the most forbidding gardens imaginable, a colossal cheval-
de-fries, torturing to the touch and embosoming the means of firing the spirit
and crazing the brain of venturesome man.
For uniqueness and marvelous variety, the like of this Texas garden,
square feet of area considered, is not believed to flourish in any land. There
are several botanical gardens of continental renown, and in centuries past
the entrancing Hanging Gardens of Babylon were classed as one of the seven
wonders of the universe. But this mysterious cactus garden, ensconced and
hidden away in the heart of the metropolis of Webb County—passed by and
little noted by those accustome.i to see superficially only its ugliness—surely
is one of the seven wonders of the Lone Star State.
It woulil seem unbelievable thnt a scant of thorus. So zealous has ftlie been in thin
quarter of an acre of earth and growing strange pursuit that today her collection
be coddled Into propagating and growing Is about as complete as could be made,
and forced to provide room for more than
600 separate and distinct species of cacti.
But that Is the astonishing record of this
border garden that proudly and yet silent-
ly lifts Its thorny heads and fantastic
limbs up into the sunlight and braves all
ports of semi tropical weather without a
murmur. And the hotter the sunshine
and the drier the atmosphere the greater i,PStllng In the midst of this wonderland
Barring a few narrow foot paths that are
all but arched over with grotesque shapes
and torturing arms, practically every
square Inch of surface Is utilized to pro-
vide places for the pets to take root. The
trailing varieties ramble with utter aban
done along trellises and fences and cling
to the outer walls of the humble cottage
is Its strange luxuriance.
This marvelous garden not only bears a
crown of thorns many thorny crowns, In
fact—but It Is wholly and essentially a
thorny garden. Spine ornamented and
Some of the treasured plant®. In imitation
of the giants of the forest, tower high
above their fellows, while the humbler
species, some of them not. much larger
than Milady's thimble, scrooge close to
spine-protected cacti nre In almost endless thp hosom „f tlie earth in alm'ost utter
variety ,and though well ordered and han- obscuritv.
died with patient care, the place is al-
most as badly choked as a roadside in the
rtoplcs.
The genius and mistress of this Texas
wonder spot—this place of thorns with
never an opportunity for the intrusion of
a full blown rose diffusing delightful frajz
ranee—is Miss Emma Cummings. a spins-
Some botanists there are who say less
than 700 species of cactaceous plants exist,
others claim there are nearly 1.000 species
and thirteen genera of enctacea, an order
of American polypetalous plants.
In Miss Cummings* garden more than tfOO
species are found catalogued and supplied
with their proper botanical terminology.
&vrro//~
ter, with scientific tastes and predilections but ,hpr „r(1 nnt t0 be ln9tnnt|y called
and possessed of one of the kindliest, yet to mln(1 fln(1 t,|bh pronounced from the
retiring, dispositions In the world. Al- end of the tonRue. Eyf.n thp „Pnlu(, „f
though living continually In an atmosphere t„p gHrdpn p|lnDOt d0 that Th)s marTPl
of thorns and torturing plants, her life
Is sweetly like a benediction. Cacti cul-
ture is with her more than a pastime and
a hobby. It amounts to an obsession. Kvery
one of the 000 odd plants, no matter how
ugly, no matter how it tortures when ap
proached too familiarly, is her pet, there
for# her especial care. Her solicitude for
her thorny i>ets is almost as marked as
the devotion of most parents to their off-
spring. The mistress of this garden of
torture has no other pets, no other daily
companions. The mistress lives alone.
These plants that may be loved, but not
fondled, do her bidding and in reality are
our collection comprises practically all
the important species that could be brought
together In one peaceful family by years of
searching and untold effort.
Several of the species in this garden
are of the medicinal kind and for this pur-
pose are quite valuable. Some are rare
because It was as hazardous to get them
as it is to pick delicate orchids from the
crevices of sheer cliffs. In size they range
from the tiny pale preen knot in the soil
to the symmetrical fluted boles that tower
almost as high
mistress.
who have gazed too often Into Its limpid
depths.
The T'nited States Government places a
price on the head of whoever shall sell
mescal buttons to its Indian wards. The
law was enacted years ago to protect the
red men from the indescribable effects of
An interesting species is named the
the queer children of her painstaking ere of rp.
the cottage of their tbp potent agua caliente" known;
also to prevent their going on the war-
and tender devotion.
For a quarter of a century, from the
days that marked Laredo as a sort of bor-
path precipitately and without reason.
But the Indians have lonu since learned
a wny to "find the button** without caus-
ing governmental action against the
palefaces.
The s|>e«ies of cartu* called colloquial-
ly "mescal button" Is bulbous in confor-
mation, yet the portion growing above
ground much resembles a large thick
button. It is rooted like a turnip or
beet. In size its face is about two thirds
the diameter of an ordinary saucer, and
P f &
semblance to the headdress worn by cer-
tain church dignitaries, and there is the
"old man" species with its thicklv studded
d»r outpost and ferry landing for Mexican rl„„Prs of ,1>nK whltP- sllken „r,n„ thnt
commerce and traffic, Miss Cummings was rP,Pmhlp of ho!irv ,,Pnr(1. In
an effilcent teacher in the public schools flnnthPr ro„. ,, fonnrt , 5tlu MranePr r|Bnt
of the town Three year- ago she save up whl,.h |n propPr pllt, forth
teaching. For several years previous to pofjr^us blossoms. Their sine, their dell-
this step she had Intermittently indulged PatP blIPS an(j tints and their rare beautr
in cacti culture, and even then her .-ollec- Pnrtow thp!M. hi„„OInp wlIh „ lr.
tlcn was elaborate. By many it would have resl.tible Once seen by the stranger they „Irfar, nc ked a, r-gu.ar Inter-
been pronounced wonderful Hut Miss mu,t l(P fondlPli an„ f(lrp„pd hf>r ^ ^ ^
Cummings nurtured the ambition to bring rors! When held to the nostrils the odor fpw ,pln„ „„„ thp fnrth „
together In a single Inclosure the grear „ revolting-almost deadly. No one who blo,som „ thp ,PntPr „f
est collection of cac M. species to be found ba5 „Pr hart th(> e^enc, of miffing ThP hllbitllf „f thP mPSP„
in one garden in all the land. To rea l,e at these delicate petals .ares to pick a ton Is widely scattered in the jungle and
this ambition, this thirst for scientific ^ond one of these mysterious flowers semi arid regions of the Southwest and
exploitation, she set about with system whose odor is their method of protection. in nid Mexico.
and zeal. She either explored in person Probably one of the most noted, if not The Indians in the early days discov-
er caused to he explored all the known so rare, species of this (treat collection ered Its possibilities for producing the
regions in which cactaceous plants flourish, is the mescal button, which should not be most potent Intoxicant extant-a beverage
One by one. rare, strange and grotesque confused with the plant used in the brew- that naralvies the brain and turn, a
specimens and species were removed from ins of the well knows Mexican intoxicant meek {man into . fighting demon The
•lid waste* ud tr.nsptU.M U this tower Mat has ma«e vassal slave, «* thousands battel, we placed in a vessel, crushed
.
Into n pulp, n llttlo water added and the
greenish, foul-¥uaelllng mass allowed to
ferment. The liquid is later poured off,
refined after a crude sort of fashion and
either bottled or *et away in vessels. The
stuff is then ready to do Its worst.
Men who have watched the effects of
the fiery stuff assert that a single glass
quaffed by a fellow not partly deadened
to its influence will be made ready for a
straight jacket or padded tell in
fifteen minutes. And the man who sticks
to the mescal button decoction sooner or
later—usually sooner—becomes a feeble-
minded wreck and a burden on society or
the State.
Following Federal enactment penalizing
the furnishing of ines«al buttons, the In
dians of Oklahoma and Kansas sent mem
bers of their tril»es into the cacti jungle*
of the Southwest, and even a< r«»*s the
Kio Grande, to gather and bring back
bags of this particular species. These
periodic journeys continue to this day.
Following the return of the button pick-
ers there i« a general spree, and not in-
frequently the shadow of a tragedy stalks
over the reservations.
Miss Cummings has for a number of
years furni«hed collection* of rare polype
talous plants from her town lot to the
great botanical gardens of this country
and of Europe as well. Two of her best
customers are Shaw's Botanical Gardens
and the Smithsonian Institute. Of ttt
'
medicinal species, she furnishes quantities
of them to some of the big laboratories
of the world.
"How many plants have you In your
garden*:" Miss Cummiu?s was asked re-
cently.
When she had finished with removing
the newspaper wrapping from a tender
young tree cactus so as to give It the
quickening influence of the spring sun-
shine. the mistress of the mysterious gar
deu looked up at her questioner and re-
plied :
"Not only sco a representative of one
of the big botanical gardens visited my
place and after an insj>ectlon asked me
If I could furnish him .10.000 plants repre
senting about -V)0 varieties he wanted."
"Of course, you told him you <-ould not
fill such a large order,** wa* suggested.
"No, I told him he might have the
plants. The remoral of no.oon plants
would not wholly impoverish my garden.
I should have quite enough left to hare
all the space occupied within a few
months."
"I>o you know the name* of all these
000 odd specie*''" was asked
"Yes, I know them, but they are snob
hard names I can not speak them off-
hand. But I have the names of all my
pet* set down in a Jw>k," was the reply
of the ctctaceons fhlua.
Even in Texas. wt*re cactuses arc more
common than pig tracks, it la not
ecally known that these polypetalous
plants are all true American citizens by
birth and training. None are found truly
iudigeuous to the Old World.
BENJAMIN F. HARPER.
WITH THE COAL ALL GONE.
Modern civilization rests on coal. With-
out coal modern industry could not exist.
What Ik to happen when the coal Is ex
bausted is a problem that has begun to be
extensively discussed. A ticrman <• ientist.
I'rof. (Jcorg von der P.ornc. has done >otno
figuring on the subject lately. He finds
that the coal and oil at present produced
in a year would suffice for about »70,(XK).
000 lior-e power operating continuously
throughout the year. The problem is to
find substitutes that will prodm-e this
amount of power, to say nothing of allow
ing for an increase,] consumption. Water
power is the first substitute suggested.
The professor figures on the amount theo-
retically available, and then takes ."i.^ |*»r
«ent of this as the average amount poli-
tically available. AM the rivers on the
globe would prod »ice 300.000.000-hor««e
|.ower Hut this figure doe* not take into
account the heat required, and he estimates
that they would furuisii only about 40 i>cr
<-ent of the heat effect of all »-oal mined in
a year. The winds and tides he regards as
negligible factors in the problem. The
sun*s heat Is left as the only available sup-
plementary source of energy. He sees no
hope in solar engine*. whi< h are now beinc
tried in Egypt. A more promising method
would be to use radiation to form
chemical compounds rich in latent energy.
A beginning, he says has been made in
the realization of this idea in laboratory
experUMata.~-Ka»aas C1U
aa_
J 1ST HUMAN NATURE.
(By Philander Johnson.>
The word "dialect" signifies the waj
your manner of speech may sound to peo-
ple who are accustomed to something else. |
Grandpa Mintliker neve; shaves him- I
self because the barber shop is the onlyl
place where he gets a chance to look at '
the papers that print phtur.es of bur-
iesque actresses.
A man there was whose vouth was spent
til !»t:;rii<»us endeavor. He hustles to pro-
'luce the rent, though he is wise an#
lever. Another trusted to his feet an#
Joked and called folk, "klddo." and tan-
g°ed with a grace complete and wed t
widow.
1 he man who wants to be the
shon is like a ventriloquist. He
work mighty hard, and it isn't
such n good show, at that.
The declaration of a scientist that «
ninn is as old as his arteries is not as lm-
portant a^ Ihe theory that a woman is as
young a . her clothes.
The; s.n experience will prove the
te.ic i-r le-t of all. our minds to loftier
moods twill move. h»r lesson, to retail.
And y it experience tiiat pla.^d
w I "re li'l might se» that word of warn-
ing SO Immense, spelled r A I N T. We
-mcll the perfum. and we "That is
the -sme old stuff And then our fingers
oer it stray to prove It is no blufT Ex-
perience. got second hand, we always find
n. g. We must get smudged to understand
lt'c TAIN T It's useless to relate the
woe of card' or dice or rem. Tbongh vic-
tims oiii their perils show.
for-vsrd '»mt. We «mrn
that frame so thonghtl
We treat all sifmals Jaat
•t-W-M"
who%
has t«
alwayi
the
victims
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San Antonio Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 49, No. 88, Ed. 1 Sunday, March 29, 1914, newspaper, March 29, 1914; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth432517/m1/31/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.