The Daily Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 64, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 5, 1907 Page: 4 of 14
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THE SAN ANTONIO DAILY EXPRESS: TUESDAY MORNING, MARCH 5, 1907.
%\xt jpbiUj
Entered at the Postoffice at San An-
tonio, Teias, as Second-Class Matter.
TELEPHONES:
Editorial I>oom, Both 120
Business Office, Both 621
Socletv Editor Old 216; New 128
/-Special
corre
AGENTS AND
SPON DENTS:
New York Office. Room 628, 160 Nassau
Btreet—John P. Smart, Manager.
Washington, D. C.—Otto Praeger, law
rence Building.
Austin, Tex.—W. D. Homaday.
C. V, Holland, General Traveling
Agent.
August F. Seny, Traveling Agent.
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POPULATION
of texas cities
of the seven largest
The population
cities of Texas on June 1, 1904, as esti-
mated by the United States Census Bu
reau, Is as follows:
san antonio 59,531
Houston 54,465
Dallas 4J.573
Galveston 32,613
Fort Worth 26,960
Austin 24,148
Waco 23,162
The Outbreak at lil Paso.
The action of certain citizens of El
Paso in starting a riot in an opera
house thore because a theatrical com
pany did not render the complete
score of an opera, is a case of bad
manners which the good people of
that town will no doubt repudiate.
What especially aggravates the af-
lair is that the demonstration was
not directed solely at the manager of
the opera company who ordered and
■was responsible for the performance,
but spent much of Its fury on little
Miss Alice Nielsen, the prima donna.
A woman is a woman and is deserv-
ing of courteous treatment for that
reason alone, no matter whether she
Is a lady of fashion or an opera singer.
Certainly the part Miss Nielsen took
in leaving out parts of the opera
did not warrant mistreatment such
as was accorded her. It was a dis-
graceful scene which reflects no
credit upon El Paso.
Generally in America, the audience
rarely expresses its disapproval of tho
play or the actor by overt acts of
rudeness. The practice of "boo-ing"
a play still in vogue in England has
lie analogue here. Occasional hisses
pre heard, but they are generally di-
rected at the wicked villain and con-
stitutes a substle praise of his skill
as an actor. If a play is poor, the
audience generally sits unresponsive,
cr gets up and goes away and never
comes back.
Players who seek to amuse are pub-
lic servants and generally anxious to
please. Although managers some-
times give short measure and slack
the quality also, the proper recourse
is at the box office and not by throw-
ing missiles or bad language at the
heads of the actors. If the concert
at El Paso did not please the audi-
ence, the same concert of action that
Ir.sulted Miss Nielsen would first, in-
stead of at last have secured return
ol their money, and saved both the
leciy's feelings and their city's reputa-
tion for courtesy.
dation outside the jails. But there is
a still greater and higher motive for
providing asylums where the lunatics
can have the proper care and treat-
ment than tho sordid consideration of
expense. Within the asylum the pa-
tient may be restored to mental and
physical health and that is a consid-
eration that should outweigh all
others.
A separate asylum for negro luna-
tics would be in line with public
policy as to other institutions and
would meet the views of the people
of the State as well as the demand
for increased facilities for tho care
of the insane. The sum proposed to
be appropriated for the negro asylum
is a mere bagatelle to the great State
of Texas and the Legislature should
not haggle over it for a moment.
The Anti-Cotton Exchange Movement.
For Negro Lunatics.
J
v
The Senate Committee on Appro-
priations will recommend to tho Leg-
islature the building of an asylum for
negroes who are insane.
There are said to be more thau
three hundred insane negroes in the
Jails of the State and it is realized
that there should be some provision
for their care and treatment.
The committee suggests tho pur-
chase of a tract of land contiguous to
the insane asylum at Austin and the
erection thereon of a building to cost
about $25,000 and it is assumed that
by working the negro lunatics on the
land the institution could be made
nearly self-sustaining.
This recommendation of tho Appro-
priations Committee should meet with
prompt acceptance and no time should
be lost in providing for the accommo-
dation of negro lunatics in an institu-
tion specially designed and equipped
for their treatment. The county jail
is not the proper place for lunatics,
white or black, and none should be
confined therein longer than is abso-
lutely necessary pending the proper
transfer. Texas has been remiss in
its care and treatment of lunatics too
long already in tho matter of provid-
ing sufficient asylum for them. All
the State institutions havo been over-
crowded and in consequence the
county jails have been taxed with
their keeping.
Senator Green some time ago pre-
sented figures tbet plainly showed
how much greater is the cost of car-
ing for lunatics in the jails than in
the asylums and that it would there-
fore be economy for the State to make
proper provision for their accommo-
Harvio Jordan says that "so far as
the evil of speculation is concerned
and its far reaching and demoralizing
effect upon the morals of the people
and the bad effect upon the legitimate
cotton trade and general business of
the South, the Cotton Growers' Asso-
ciation does not recognize any differ-
ence or distinction between the bucket
shop and the local cotton exchange."
Mr. Jordan might have added that
sc far as the evil of speculation is
concerned there is no distinction be-
tween the dealings between the specu-
lator and the exchange and the deal-
ings between the speculators outside
of any established exchange or head-
quarters.
Perhaps there is no greater evil of
speculation than that which is prac-
ticed by the producer who holds his
product for a higher price than the
market offers, thus taking the chance
of heavy losses liable to be incurred
through his inability to obtain as good
prices for his product later in the
season as were offered when his
pioduct was first ready to be put on
the market. There is no less of the
evil of speculation when the merchant
or banker advances the money to ena-
ble the producer to hold his product
for higher prices when his judgment
may be at fault as to the probable
size of the crop and the probable de-
mand for consumption. This sort of
speculation Mr. Jordan advises, while
condemning the speculation in the
exchanges.
Twenty years ago the world's an-
nual consumption of cotton was
about 8,000,000 bales. Last year it
was about 10,000,000 bales, according
to the best estimate. Upon the size
of the crop and the demand for con-
sumption depend the market price of
the staple and statistics show that a
comparatively small crop brought
more money to the producers than did
the larger crop because of the differ-
ence in the average price paid. Thus,
for example, the total crop of (1890-91
aggregating 8,652,597 bales, brought
§430,380,174, while the succeeding
crop of 9,035,379 bales brought only
$395,478,538. Similarly the smaller
crop of 1895-90 brought more money
than did the crop of 1894-95. The cot-
ton crop of 1898-99, aggregating 11,-
274,840 bales, sold for $282,772,974,
while the succeeding crop, nearly two
million bales less, brought $363,773,-
874. These facts led to the agitation
for decrease in the acreage planted
to cotton and for crop diversification
yet notwithstanding this agitation the
crop of 1904-05 reached the enormous
total of 13,565,885 bales and sold for
$628,195,359, while tho succeeding
crop, lesser by more than two million
bales, brought $641,720,435.
The study of these figures affords
an interesting lesson of supply and
demand, especially when taken in con
nection with the statistics of con
sumption of the raw material. The
cotton exchanges compile and mako
public these statistics for the bene-
fit of the cotton grower and the cot-
ton manufacturer und broker as much
as for tlie speculator. If tho ex-
changes were closed and not per-
mitted to transact business, as seoms
to be the purpose of the anti-ex-
thange agitation, the speculators and
the spinners would still gather these
statistics for their own guidance and
profit and the farmers and small op-
erators would be denied the use and
benent of the information which is
now so freely accorded them.
Legislatures cannot prevent specu-
lation in cotton or other products or
in anything else, however stringent
may be the laws enacted in that be-
half. Neither can they prevent the
"hedging" which is a part o£ the sys-
tem of dealing in cotton futures. They
can abolish the bucket shops and the
pernicious system of gambling con-
nected therowith and regulate without
destroying the exchanges,
Mr. Jordan says it is not desired
that legitimate business Interests
should be denied the right to hedge
their future transactions by using the
telegraph wires direct to the great
cotton exchanges in this country and
Liverpool, but why should the
branch exchanges be shut out of the
cotton growing Stales and the cotton
men of the South forced to transfer
►heir future dealings to New York and
Liverpool? Would that be in the in>
terest of the Southern cotton men or
of the foreign monopolies?
Governor Davidson of Wisconsin
will not have the appointment of Sen-
ator Spooner's successor, the Legis-
lature being in session, and that cir-
cumstance may be to his advantage.
Governor Davidson could not with
propriety appoint himself to fill the
vacancy.
The Democratic minority in the
Senate has apparently again suc-
ceeded in defeating the ship subven-
tion bill. As Senator Carmack wit-
tily pointed out, a subsidy by any
other name smells as bad.
WHAT THE STATE PAPERS SAY
Congress has passed a resolution
authorizing an edition of twenty-five
thousand of a book telling of diseases
ct the horse. It will take more than
25,000 to tell what is the matter with
tho Democratic donkey.
Tho Legislature at Austin will need
to hustle if it has any idea of com-
pleting the work before it before the
date set for sine die adjournment in
a resolution which is lying comforta
bly on the table.
Speaker Cannon says tho House
could pass an elephant under suspen-
sion if it wanted to, so the Democrat
that wanted the Republican majority
to strain at a gnat found himself ridi-
culous.
If Falfurrias County be created it
will gratify the heart's desire of many
good people in the flourishing town
cf that name, who object to travel-
ing sixty miles to the county seat.
In Senator Spooner's retirement is
again illustrated the fact that tho
honest and conscientious public serv-
ant generally leaves his office poorer
than he entered it.
Women bullfighters stabbing the
iifuriated animals is a novel and re-
volting spectacle. Generally women's
cruelty does not run to blood letting.
After awhile we may cease to read
or even talk about the Bailey investi-
gation and the Thaw trial. Some-
thing else will soon take their place.
Congress is rather more punctillious
about the observance of Sunday when
it come in the beginning of the ses-
sion than when it comes at the end.
Next Wednesday will be tho anni-
versary of the fall of tho Alamo and
San Antonio will have patriotic exer-
cises appropriate to the day.
Congress has adjourned sino die
and the members can now go home
and take a rest until the opening of
the next session.
Where was the police force when
the mob took possession of the El
Paso playhouso and behaved so dis-
gracefully?
Tho law now allows beekeepers to
incorporate but so long as Spring and
youth remain, no trust can get a cor-
ner in honey.
The Fifty-ninth Congress Is passing
into history with a record of doing
some things and leaving some things
undone.
Calls Them Grafters.
. mileage and per diem bill, passed
by the Thirtieth legislature, gives our
lawmakers 20 cents a mile to pay their
way going to and from Austin on the
railroads. Why, in the nanus of justice
and common honesty, should a member
of the Legislature be paid 20 cents for
a thing that only costs hiin 3 cents?
beat, you grafters!—Gonzales Inquirer.
Hush, Brother Inquirer! Be silent just
now! If you irritate that bunch at Aus-
tin there is no telling what it will do
next.
♦ ♦ ♦
The News and Politicians.
Some of the wild-eyed politicians aro
eternally hauling off and knocking the
Galveston-Dallas News into a cocked
hat with ugly charges, but year in and
year out tho News is worth more to
■Texas and her material development than
all of the said wild-eyed politicians ever
will be in a lifetime, and then some, in
fact, the News is one of the very best
advertisements Texas ever had, and the
only pity is that the State has not more
papers of the same high character and
abllity.--Palest.ine Herald.
The Galveston-Dallas News cares as
much for the charges brought against
it by wild-eyod politicians as a leviathan
would for the patter of rain drops. All
you say about the News in tho way of
laudation Is absolutely the truth, arid
then somo more.
♦ ♦ ♦
The Beauty of Skidmore.
Mr. Homeseeker, when you start tills
way on your prospecting tour just keep
your eyes open and the first town you
see on the "Sap" out of Bantono that's
level—not a hill in sight, but with a
high elevation and fanned by the delight-
ful sea breezes—on the square—with new
buildings on every hand; dato palms in
bloom, orange, lemon arid banana trees
in bloom and bearing fruit—green and
ripe; gardens growing luxuriantly and
roses and other flowers beautifying the
yards of homes In midwinter, that's
Skidmore, and that's Skidmore's ear-
mark. If you are really looking for a
home you'a make a mistake to pass us
up.—Skidmore Signal.
This picture of Skidmore is very pret-
tily drawn. It is not in the least exag-
gerated either.
Things Unequally Divided.
While tho legislators are wrangling
over the 2-cent rate for passenger trains
and bleeding themselves to death about
the anti-free pass bill, we poor devils
down here in Atascosa and McMullen
counties are figuring on giving one-tenth
of the value of our property to a rail-
road built through this section of the
country and the 3-cent a mile rate would
be a barbecue to us. What a pity tho
good things of this world are ho un-
equally divided.—Pleasanton Monitor.
44 'Tis true and pity 'tis, 'tis true."
"Potato Bug Killer."
A gentleman of our town sent a dollar
for a "potato bug killer." and received
two blocks of wood with the following
directions: "Take the block which is No.
1 in the right hand, place the bug on No.
2 and press them together. Remove the
unfortunate and proceed as before."—
Ilutto Enterprise.
It was a dollar well spent. There is no
surer way to kill a potato bug, we imag-
ine, unless you were to blow its brains
out with a shotgun.
♦ ♦ ♦
No Comment to Make.
A citizen of Lampasas says that the
only question for tho investigating com-
mittee to determine before making its
labors complete, is to settle tin.- dispute
I'* t° whether God made Joseph W.
Hal ley or Bailey made God.—Lampasas
Leader.
♦ ♦ ♦
But That's Different, You Know.
There are many men who expect an
editor to slave in defense of their pet
notions and hobbies, advocate their
views against the strongest opposition
and then coolly withhold the business
support by which alone a small news-
paper can live.—Ganado Graphic.
That Is all very true. The men Who
contribute least to the support of a
paper have tho greatest number of sug-
gestions how it ought to ho conducted.
They are the first to roast it, and the
last to praise it. Not only are they de-
linquent in advertising, if they are busi-
ness men, but they frequently borrow
their neighbor's paper, instead of sub-
scribing for it.
♦ ♦
On the Wrong Tack.
Tho San Antonio Express Is not placing
San Antonio in a very good light before
the outside world. In an effort to manu-
facture public sentiment against the
Callaghan administration he announces
to the world that San Antonio is full
of thieves and thugs that the Chief of
Police and his officers cannot control.—
San Marcos Texas Democrat.
You are on the wrong tack! The San
Antonio Express is publishing the news.
If the publication of all the legitimate
news of the Alamo City is manufactur-
ing sentiment against the Callaghan ad-
ministration, then don't you think that
such a sentiment should be manufac-
tured? If you discovered a house filled
with yellow fever patients in San Mar-
cos, would it be your duty as a news-
paper to publish this fact so that the
health officers might take steps to stamp
out the plague, or would you suppress
the publication lest you be accused of
manufacturing sentiment against your
city administration? Tho parallel is not
overdrawn. There have been numerous
robberies in San Antonio, the publica-
tion of which the police havo endeavored
to suppress by not giving out tho facts.
This was not done because tho police
loved San Antonio more, but that they
loved tho fact of their inability to catch
the thieves being made known, less. The
Express desires to see San Antonio prop-
erly policed, so that you, Mr. Democrat,
or any other visitor may come hero and
enjoy tho legitimato pleasures of the
city, and possession of your personal
property, without being held up, even
within the shadow of police headquar-
ters, by some thug who will not only
take your all, but may mar your per-
sonal beauty, if you tlave any, as well.
The Express will continue to publish
the news whether it hits Mr. Callaghan
or his successor as Mayor1 of San An-
tonio.
♦
Nay! She Resides in San Antonio.
If it's a real female beauty contest
Chicago is after, El Paso will accommo-
date her. The prettiest woman in Amer-
ica resides in El Paso.—El Paso Times.
Sorry for you, my son, but tho pret-
tiest woman not only in America, but in
"Eropo, Eirope, Orope," or Japan, iri
fact in the whole world, lives right hero
in San Antonio. Wo called on her last
Sunday.
Baking Powder
Superior to all otkers
Unsurpassed and unsurpassable
MADE OF PURE CREAM OF TARTAR. NO ALUM.
ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., YORK.
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
v? TOPICS OF THE TIMES X' X'
Senator Spooner's retirement from
the United States Senate eliminates
him from the Presidential lists.
Who Is Molly Coddle?
Pray, who is Mollio Coddle,
Whom the President dislikes,
And at whose harmless weakness
He so vigorously strikes?
Is sho kin to Mamie Taylor,
That maiden of renown
Who is known and somewhat courted
At every bar in town?
Is she kin to Helen Blazes,
Another lassie who
Has got a reputation
That is warm enough for two?
Is she any kin to Kitty-
Kitty What's-Her-Other-Name,
Who always gets the rake-off
In the great American game?
Is she kin to Sara Toga,
Who's an angel without wings,
A most attractive spinster
Of fifty-seven springs?
Is she any kin to Sallie,
Sweet Sallie Lain, you know.
Who always takes the bakery
At every cake-walk show?
Is sho any kfn to Charlotte,
Charlotte Husse, the fluffy maid,
Whot is in desert places
Appetizingly displayed?
Is sho any kin to HIttle,
The maid who knocks to win,
The belle of the solar plexus,
The lovely Hittie Magin?
No?
So?
Then who is Mollie Coddle,
Of so much college fame?
Is she Miss Nancy Harvard
Under another name?
—W. J. Lampton.
^
Reflections of a Bachelor.
The less money a man makes, the more
he has, if he isn't married.
What a girl likes about being engaged
the way her mother doesn't insist on
reading her letters any more.
The woman who wants to wear a three-
story hat in the theater wants to go
bareheaded in a snow storm.
The first thing a woman thinks she
has to do when she is getting into society
is to go away somewhere for her health.
A man tells you all the smart things he
thinks his children say, so you'll imagine
it's because they have brains.~-New York
Press.
Senator Bailey.
Senator Bailey may bo able to fool or
bulldoze the people and Legislature of
Texas, but the country generally is "on
to him." Yesterday, by a voto of TO to
40, the Texas House of Representatives
exonerated Bailey without waiting for
the report of the committee that had
been considering Bailey's case. Monday
last the Senate took the same action by
a vote of 15 to 11. Bailey has the satis-
faction of knowing that eleven Senators
out of twenty-six think that he is not
fit to represent the State at Washington,
find that forty Representatives out or 110
voting are of tho saino opinion. This is
a pretty poor sort of a vindication. Nor
should it bo forgotten that Bailey and
his friends insisted that the voto should
be taken in advanco of the submission
of tho evidence. Even in Texas, it seems
to us, that Bailey has met with a moral
defeat. He holds his job, of course,
which is no doubt the main thing with
But, as wo have said, tho country,
which has been doubtful oi him for a
long time, is now convinced that lie be-
longs on the side of the "interests, (iand
that he is a part of tho "system. It
was shown that at the very time Texris
was engaged in a desperate struggle with
tho Standard Oil Company, Bailey, a
Senator from that State and trusted by
it, was borrowing largo sunis of money
from representatives of the Standard <)ii
Company; that he was tho intermediary
in at least one case for the transmission
of Standard money, and that generally
his intimacy with the interests that his
own State was fighting wts suspiciously
close. So far an we knov, no one has
charged Bailey with actual misdoing.
The whole point to the inquiry lay in the
question of his relationships to the ene-
mies of his State. On 'hat point the
evidence was very strong. Practically .ill
tho answer that Bailey made was that
his enemies were liars, and that tlie
documents wero forged. So we are to
have Bailey again in thi Senate.
But we venture to .say
that he will
not be the Democratic 1'afler, and that
when men talk of some "good Southern
man" tor a place on the National Demo-
cratic ticket,Pno one will think of Bailey
of Texas. Ho belongs in the other crowd.
He will rank with Aldiich and his fol-
lowers. Th0 people wil not be fooled
bv his ereat Constitutlmal speeches, or
hv his protestations of regard for them
and devotion to them. They have alto-
gether too much of his dealings with the
Standard Oil people, ant they will judge
him bv his actions and lis friends rather
than by his words. Wcrds after all. are
very cheap. Senator Bailey, when he
gets back to Washington, will .perhaps
realize that such a "vindication as he
has just had—and it if pretty poor—will
not impress the Amer.can people.—Indi-
anapolis News.
Senator Bailey's Opportunity.
By a vote of ir> to 11 in the Senate and
of 70 to 40 In the Hoiso, Texas has ex-
pressed confidence in Senator Joseph .
Bailey. In view of tie fact that Bailey
was indorsed by a. practically unanimous
vote of the people ii the primary last
July before charges had been brought
against him, the action of the legis-
lature can hardly bf considered as giv-
ing him a clean bil of health. it is
rather an expression of personal admira-
tion and confidence ii a man of brilliant
ability who has fni'ed to show regard
for the highest standards of honor that
Texas has required o its public men.
Briefly it may be recalled that Bailey
was largely instrumental through per-
sonal and political influence in obtaining
permission for the Waters-Pierce Oil
Company to resumt business in lexas
after it had been ousted under the
State's anti-trust hws. Incidental^ it
developed that he lad been wrong- de-
ceived, presumably—in his assurances
that the company vas not a part or a
trust. The Senator always contended
that his act was ore of friendship and
that he had never received a fee for his
services. loiter, it was proved that he
had borruwtal various sums aggregating
$15,000 from IT. Clay Pierce of the Waters-
Pierce Company. He insisted that the
loans were personal favors from Pierce,
who was a friend, and that ail had been
repaid.
Other transactions of somewhat similar
character were alleged against him, all
of which he denied. When these charges
became public there was a widespread
feeling in Texas that the Senator had
not dealt fairly by his constituents and
that he had shown a surprising lack of
delicacy of feeling in accepting favors
from an official in a corporation in be-
half of which lie had used his influence
and which might need further legislative
favors. It is quite possible, however,
that a majority of tho Legislators were
willing to overlook the incident in view
of the fact that in the United Stat
Senate Bailey has usually been found
fighting for the commercial freedom of
the people.
The Texas Senator will return to
Washington with impaired prestige. But
it will bo possible for him by his course
at the Capital to restore the public eon-
fldenee in his good faith. There will b»
opportunities in plenty lor him to demon-
strate by his voto that he owes no al-
legiance to special interests.—Kansas
City Star.
Texas Has Spoken.
We believo it was Balzac who makes
one of his characters give this advice:
"Throw mud, a plenty of it; some of it
will stick." Joseph W. Bailey has been
a target for the mud-throwers and muck-
rakers for some years, and it is unfor-
tunate that some of it will stick, for
how long only time will tell. Mud thrown
at him cost Henry Clay the presidency,
and mud thrown at him hastened
Michael C. Kerr's death. The unthink-
ing are too prcne to confound accusation
and conviction.
Texas is the best Judge of Joseph W.
Bailey. He is a strong man In every re-
spect, of marked individuality, and great
force of character, a good friend and a
good hater. It is as natural for such a
man to have devoted friends as for the
sparks to fly upward. It in likewise as
Inevitable that such a man should have
implacable enemies as it is for water to
fall downward. Added to these, a gigan-
tic intellect and unbroken success in pol-
itics, and where can there he found in all
the land a belter mark for envy and for
hate?
Mr. Bailey has some unfortunate faults
of temper that have worked hi in more
injury than all his enemies. It would
have been better for him had he met
contumely with tho indifferent and
serene contempt with which the late
John Sherman confronted it. Had he
pursued that course the mud-throwing
would have been mueh less considerable
and far less furious; but dignify slander
with heated, indignant, and intemperate
denial, and defiance is your slanderer's
opportunity.
Texas has spoken in the only way a
State can speak between elections, and
Texas, by her Legislature, has pro-
nounced the charges of Bailey's enemies
groundless and false. Perhaps an appeal
will be had to the people of Texas, and
it is understood that Senator Bailey will
Insist on such appeal. Then if his fallow-
citizens shall affirm tho Legislature his
enemies will have to shut up.
B.iiley has been in Congress sixteen
years—House and Senate—and there is no
pretense that any act of his in t either
body ever belied his tongue, anus there
was absolutely no animadversion toy his
bitterest enemy upon his public \tter-
ances.
That was a tribute to the man, to his
honor, and his honesty.—Washington
Post.
THE ALAMO CONTROVERSY.
A Suggestion for a Public Park and
Monument In Place of Building.
Editor Express: The newness of most
American cities, the fierce devotion to
business and the scramble for wealth, has
prevented in many of them the adequate
growth of local pride and public spirit.
San Antonio in this respect is more for-
tunate than most of her sisters. Unlike
them, she is peculiarly rich in structures
and memorials which educato true civic
pride through the awakened conscious-
ness of a historic past.
The old mission churches and the
sacred Alamo, In which <our children may
read inscriptions to the heroic dead of
Texas as the Florentine bov reads them
in Santa Croce, or the English child in
Westminster Abbey—these are a real and
priceless heritage. We love the very
walls of the Alamo chapel, inanimate
though they be, because they enshrine
tho most thrilling of our memories. And
this feeling is most natural, for rever-
ence for tho form presupposes reverence
for the spirit.
We linger long over the dead after the
soul has departed. We deck with flowers
their cold and silent tombs. In this spirit
then, we love the Alamo—not because
of any artistic merit it may possess, nor
for the glorious tints which the rising or
the setting sun casts upon its gray old
walls; nor yet for the weird effect of
light or shado which the moon displays
when she pours her silver flood through
the deep windows, but our love refers
solely- let us confess it—to the great d«•« d
enacted there, and wo cannot imagine
a time when any son of Texas could
stand idly and unprotestingly by should
an attempt be made to destroy the old
structure.
All this is very laudable sentiment, but
there is a point after which sentiment
may become folly, just as pathos often
degenerates into bathos. Such would
seem to be the case, 1 should think, were
we to reverence as a memento of the
great siege, the low-browed, dingy, un-
sightly Hugo Schmeltzer Building
when the best authorities contend that
little, if any, portion of its present walls
identical with those of the ancient
convent that formerly adjoined the Al-
amo chapel.
if any judicial decision could possibly
be obtained that might so construe the
terms of the deed conveying the property
to the Daughters of the Republic for the
stipulated purpose of a par kas to permit
them to remodel the Hugo & Schmeltzer
structure, it could have no other hold
upon our affections than that of resem-
blance to the original convent.
On the other hand, the project of a
public, park where beautiful trees and
bright green foliage, types of hope and
resurrection, might cast their pleasant
shadows on the historic Alamo, and
wh< re cool fountains and other suitable
embellishments, guarded by a collossal
statue with the names of Travis and his
men deeply engraven into the face of the
imperishable granite, might delight the
eye of the spectator, would seem to de-
serve far more favor. Certainly such
a park would possess a charm held by
few others in the land; it would be holy
ground, beautified to entrance the thou-
sands of visitors who would yearly throng
its promenades.
In advocating the park view of the
present controversy ami the removal of
the ungainly building that now defaces
the plaza and well-nigh hides the Alamo,
I do so as one bor n under its very shadow
and with no commercial or property in-
terest to subserve by the proposed
change. RICHARD BUCKLEY.
another soil that is a very dark red.
These soils usually contain considerable
sand, and are considered the best by a
good many people who are experienced
in working them. However, there are
others in Texas who prefer the black
waxy soil, regarding It of greater value
than the other kind. In my journeyings
1 didi considerable digging to examine
the different soils, and always found a
good clay subsoil. I saw a great deal of
farming that was done in a crude way,
but modern methods are being rapidly In-
troduced and many of the farmers of
Texas are using modern tools andi imple-
ments, and are pursuing the business as
intelligently and as successfully as those
of the North.
"To illustrate how some of them proceed
I saw farmers plowing their ground with-
out first clearing off all the trash and
burning it, as they should do. Of course,
it would have been far better had they
cleared and plowed the ground last fall.
J saw ample evidence of the advantage
of fall plowing by digging into soil that
had been treated in that way, finding
that there was plenty of moisture, where
in adjacent fields that had not been
cleared and plowed until spring, it was
quite dry.
"I made two trips to Cotulla and spent
considerable time on the tract ol ground
owned by W. II. Binder of this city and
his associates, a tract of some 23,000
acres. 1 visited with John li. Black, who
is in charge of the big ranch. Mr. Black
is certainly doing great work and has
accomplished a great deal In the short
space of time he has been there. He has
just completed a fine home modern in
every respect and it make a traveler feel
good to enter such a house and see such
premises in a new country. The com-
pany with whieh Mr. Black is associated
has a fine tract of landi and 1 think tho
people of Southwest Texas and the par-
ties connected with Mr. Black should feel
proud ol' securing a man who can take
such an immediate grasp of a big proposi-
tion and give such an impressive object
lesson in modern farming and home build-
ing as Mr. Black has done. As I havo
said, I spent several days at Cotulla,
fcflnn Antonio and other points. At tho
points I visited the average moisture is
sufficient for the crops that are raised
there, but in case of a dry spell, a good
portion of the land owned by Mr. Binder
and his people could be irrigated by the
Nueces Rivi
tract."
which runs through tho
Cause Enough.
Carsone—I hear your typewritist left
you in a huff.
Gebhart- Yes. i put my foot in it.
C arsone—What did you do?
Gebhart—I had dinner with my wife one
day last week,—From the March Bohe-
lu n.
SEES GREAT FUTURE.
Council Bluffs Man Tells of the Texas
Proposition.
J. F. Wilcox, the well-known florist of
this city, has just returned' from a three
weeks' tour through Texas, and as his
knowledge of land values, climate, chem-
ical qualities of the soil, moisture, rain-
fall, etc., is that of an expert on sub-
jects of that sort, his opinion of Texas,
or at least those portions of it he visited,
are of more than ordinary interest and
value.
When Mr. Wilcox was seen at his office
Tuesday he had just come in from a ride
in a zero temperature and hadi not yet
fully adjusted himself to local climatic
conditions, as the temperature of the
country in which he has spent upwards
of two weeks had at times reached
degrees.
"I spejit some time at San Antonio,'
said Mr. Wilcox, "made two visits at
Cotulla. went west as far as Eagle Pass
and eastward sis far as Corpus Chrlstl
on the gulf coast. Texas is a State of
great variety of soils, and soils that aro
of variable value and adapted to a great
range of vegetation. This fact Is develop
ing more and more every day as the State
is becoming more thickly settled and a
real scientific knowledge is being ob-
tained of its agricultural possibilities. Jt
must he remembered that a great portion
of Southwestern Texas has lain dormant
only awaiting the touch of skilled hus-
bandry to develop it.
"While the soil is adapted to a large
variety of crops, it is my opinion that
cotton is to Southwestern Texas what
corn is to Iowa. It is the crop tho farm-
can safely grow and be quite certain
of good returns for his labor. However,
there are oth?r crops that will net the
farmer much larger returns provided he
is successful in marketing his products.
The successful cultivation of watermelons
and Bermuda cnions is assured. Water-
melons can be raised at very little ex-
pense and without irrigation nnd if the
grower is successful in getting his crop
on the market early it will net him a
handsome profit. The Bermuda onions
require irrigation, which means of course
that the land on which they are raised
must be so located that it can be ad-
vantageously irrigated. This means a
large initial investment, but in my opin-
ion. under irrigation the returns to the
grower are much more profitable as the
demand seems almost unlimited. The
onion growers are getting organized much
on the same plan that has been adopted
by the grape growers of Council Bluffs,
and with such an organization they will
be able to command higher prices in tho
future than they have been getting."
When Mr. Wilcox goes out on a land-
hunting expedition, he goes equipped for
business. His is no superficial survey.
Ho consults Government weather reports
for statistics on wind and rainfall, etc.,
carries a spade and an auger with which
to test the soils, and he is an inter-
viewer, gathering information from every
source possible as he proceeds.
"There are a great, many different kinds
of top soil," continued Mr. Wilcox. "Some
of it is black and waxy, very heavy,
about tho same as the heavy black soil
along the Missouri River. There is also
a dark soil with considerable sand' in it,
ltlva iinila of a chocolate color, and still
What do you think of Texas land as
an investment?'' was asked' Mr. Wilcox.
"Carefully selected Texas land," re-
plied Mr. Wilcox, "cannot but bo an ex-
cellent investment. Any good land In tho
State that is located within a reasonable
distance of a market will be worth $20
to $2f> an acre In another year. But land
is not the only thing in whieh invest-
ments can be profitably made In that
State. At Corpus Chrlstl there are hun-
dreds of acres of cabbage, cauliflower
and cucumbers that are grown for tho
Northern markets and arc netting the
growers a handsome profit. While thero
1 saw orange trees loaded with fruit. At
San Antonio the parks are beautiful and
lie m bloom now, and when I Wftl
there we enjoyed real summer weather.
"We bought our newspapers on the streets
from barefooted boys and read them on
tho hotel veranda. It was my first trip
South and it was certainly an interesting
one to me."—Council Bluffs Nonparlel.
SPINNER OF GOLDEN WEBS.
Harriman Has Achieved Enormous
Railroad Power In Nine Years.
Less than nine years ago, E. M. Harri-
man, the master spinner, began to weavo
a web of railroad power. In the sweep
of tho first few concentric rings lay tho
old Union Pacific—not so very glorious a
prey. On it the spinner fattened and
grew strong to spin yet other circles. A
little, labor, and lo! within the still nar-
row sweep of the web lay the Oregon
system, the Chicago Alton, the Kansas
City Southern. The corner grew cramped.
The great mechanic stretched far out
across the continent and! fastened upon
San K1 ran cisco a single arm of tho woof
of tho web. The circles grew greater.
By the end of llmG they held the whole of
the Union Pacific and tho Southern Pa-
cific, the Oregon lines, tho Pan Pedro,
safe against assault from without or
struggle from within. The first few filmy
threads had wound about the Santa Fe.
Only the mighty hands of Hill and Mor-
gan had saved the Burlington and tho
Northern Pacific.
If this was a mighty web, think of the
web that he spins today! Far down to
the Gulf, threading the Mississippi Val-
ley. lie the thick meshes. Within their
fohlis struggles the Illinois Central, great,
powerful, rich. And all its greatness,
power, riches, servo but to make tho
hunter keener, and avail not one iota for
defense against tho spinner of the web.
Yet other arms stretch out to grasp the
sates ot New York, the harbors of Phila-
delphia and Norfolk. The coils He en-
twined about the Baltimore & Ohio, tho
Delaware & Hudson, the Reading, tho
Norfolk & V\estern, the St. Paul, tho
New York Central, the Santa Fe, the
Pennsylvania Railroad. How long will it
be bet ore the.v tighten?
Tliis is the; web that llarrlman has spun
openly and) in the sight of all men. Yet
others lie in the dark corners. Down in
Wall Street he has made a gossamer trap
unlike any other that has ever been
known, even in that strange canyon
where men are suoposed to know all tho
financial tricks of all the ages. In other
days, when men would rear great struc-
tures, thev bought banks, gathered In
trust, companies made affiliations with
rich private bankers. But Harriman has
spun a web all of his own designing. He
has a bank that knows no banking law.
No bank inspector can call upon it for a
statement as to its business. No "call for
condition" can force it to reveal Its do-
ings as of any certain date. It has no
troublesome reserve regulation. The last
time it made a full report it showed that
it had loaned money in Wall Street and!
elsewhere to the' extent of $35,000,000. At
the present time It is supposed to hnvo
in Its possession funds and stocks that
can be used as collateral amounting to
well over $17),000,000,
The examination before the Interstate
Commerce Commission revealed the fact
that in the autumn of 1906 this company
had put much of its cash into stocks. No
man may say at what time nor in what
manner it may sell them again. The
president-chairman, Mr. Harriman, has
powers absolutely autocratic on this
point. He may pledge the credit of tho
companv at whatever time he pleases for
the raising of money. Never before has
so gigantic a machine lain in the hands
of a single man in Wall Street.
Once more—it is the Union Pacific Rall-
road. About its bursting treasury cluster
still other treasuries, the Wells-Fargo
Express Companv and bank, the treasury
of the Illinois Central, of tbe Southern
Pacific, and of other corporations it were
better not to name. The stranrlh of this
web aro strands of gold, tjvoven upon a
woof of credit—the strangest and the
most marvelous credit In the corporation
world of the United States. The circle TTf
tlie web lies around about the whoK
financial world. Men tremble when they
contemplate the results that would follow
in Wall street were the president of th<*
Union Pacific to decide to call all the
loans on one particular day. In the hands
of the spinner of this web lies the power
to create panic, to bring upon Wall Street
the tempest of destruction. — World's
Work for March.
$
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The Daily Express. (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 42, No. 64, Ed. 1 Tuesday, March 5, 1907, newspaper, March 5, 1907; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth442324/m1/4/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Library Consortium.