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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 17, 1909)
B PARTY OF NEBRASKANS VISITS THE GULF COAST COUNTRY Inspects Lands of the Valley Fruit Farm and Garden . Company in the Fruit and Winter Vegetable Belt THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: OCTOBER 17 man vmj v Hit i H ' Vll I V 1 1 U II In Texas li over. Where yester day the big cattle, man held sway, today th small farmer has control. Where yesterday the country produced enough eti m hundreds, today the small far-' mer Is feeding thousands. And In this great development of a new empire Ne braska Is taking very prominent part. From Nebraska to Texas Is a lone; Jump, but the pioneers who carved an empire out of a desert have produced a fenera tion of young men of the same blood and It Is such as these that will make Texas one of the greatest producing states In the union. An advance guard of Nebraskans has already reached the new empire and a visit to the Gulf Coast Country now Is like a vlflt to near neighbors. A number of Nebraskans just returned from the Gulf Coast Country where they went to Inspect some land recently bought by the Valley Fruit Farm and Garden company of Lincoln, and every member of the delegation returned thoroughly con vinced that Texas Is the coming state of the union, for climate, health and pro ductiveness and that the possibilities of the new country are unlimited. This delegation saw orange trees sup porting 3.600 oranges each. They saw famil ies making a living and doing well on five acres of land, which had been set to oranges, figs, peanuts and vegetables. They saw larger tracts planted to cotton, rice and corn. They aaw banana plants with bananas growing; they saw lemon trees growing fruit twice as big as the average else oranges sold In Nebraska. They saw dates growing; they saw cam phor trees growing and they saw tea grow ing. They taught oysters out of Palaclos Hay and they ate fish caught In the same bay. They saw artesian wells flowing on the open prairie and they saw Nebras kans at every stopping place. And every Nebraskans they saw was prospering. Th Nebraskans also discovered that Is Is not necessary for a man to sit around and lo nuthlng while waiting a year or two 'for hi figs and oranges to bear. Be tween the rows of trees the farmers were growing vegetables of, all kinds and some thing ripens every month in the year. The Bermuda onion la one of the staple cropn and It was claimed In Texas that the Bermuda onion there out "Bermudas, Bermuda." Thousands of dollars are made each year off of these onions. Labor Is cheap and the "boss" simply rides around and sees that the work is done properly. It took a very short time for the Ne braskans tlo discover why the country has nut been developed like the states of the north and a little Incident that occurred at Houston tells the story. Prefers to Walt for Rain. The Nebraskans boarded a street car to visit an orange grove In the city which one of the party knew about. En route there a prosperous looking Texan sug gested to the visitors that If they were sight-seeing they should have taken a car to another part of the city. . When In formed they were going to view an orange grove the Texan smiled: ' . - "I have been here for a long time," he said, "and this is the first I ever heard of oranges growing in Houston. I guess some real estate dealer has been stringing you." In a ride of fifteen minutes the Ne braskans reached the home of G. Marti, where for years he has been cultivating orange trees. He had more than an acre planted In oranges and figs. Mrs. Marti escorted the visitors over the place, and. when asked why the oranges t looked so small she said: "Wo have had no rain for three months and the ground Is just baked to a cr.sp." Then Mrs. Marti took her visitors across a 200-foot space and showed them an ar tesian well of which she was very proud. It had never occurred to the owners to pump water to the grove and neither had the ground been plowed or cultivated for years. In Houston the Nebraskans found a beau . tlful city which evidently had grown In spite of Itself but it is awake now. The streets are narrow and across from one of the prominent hotels was the station. Around the fence enclosing the station were a score of negroes- loafing or sleep ing. Transportation off baggage was done mainly on two-wheeled carts with a bot torn, but no end, drawn by hv(ry-)ooklng mules and driven by negroes vthat looked like the mules. And they never hurried but they charged by the Job and Jiot the hour which helped some. And then the Ice wagon came along. The name "Houston Ice company" was painted on the side. The wagon was a little frame box with a top set on wheels and three ne groes rode In a doorway which opened toward the horses. In the wagon was a little chunk of Ice but the sign read "Ice 80O a hundred." Japanese Making; Uood. , At Alvln the Nebraskans got their first glimpse of real fruit growing. There a Japanese has 400 acres of land of which 100 acres is under cultivation. He employs twenty-one Japanese helpers. Seven acres this man has planted to orange buds which lie has graftfd to the trlfollata plant. His entire crop has been sold, ths price rang ing from 36 cents to 76 cents for each tree. Ills Income from this Seven acres was about fc,000 fur the year. In addition to the oranges, Mr. Aral was growing figs, tea, onions, camphor trees, beans and eucalpytua trees. Tea, ha said, grew better in Texas than In Japan. Mr. Aral Imported his orange trees from Japan as he did his figs, and the other fruit he was growing. It was at this same place that the dele gation met up with James Reese who owns a farm near Lincoln. Mr. Reese, has been in Texas fur several years: "No, I will never leave," he said In an swer to the Inquiry when he expected to come back home. My health la too good here for me to even think of leaving." Mr. Reese Is the owner of a fruit farm. Hospitality Imported from Nebraska. From Alvln the delegation went to Bless ing, a brand new town with cement walks aid several new buildings, some con f4 1 1 nwr. i AN EARLY MORNING structed of cement. Here, at a great big hotel with an immense porch across front, which would be the envy of many hotel men In large cities, the visitors were treated with so much consideration and served with such a dinner that one of the visitors remarked, "This Is a sample of a southern hospitality. It Is the only place place In the world where you get such trea iinent.' , Then they met the landlady wly Intro duced herself as Mrs. Parker of Omaha. Neb., who had been In Blessing one year. Mrs. Parker Is the aunt of Mrs. Water house, wife of the former principal, of the Omaha High school, but now of Fremont. The southern hospitality had been imported from Nebraska. At Palarloe, "Palaclps on the Bay, by the Sea." which Is only about twelve miles from Blessing, the Nebraskans got; another real shock. One cf them had the Idea he NEBRASKANS TAKING ANNUAL BATH AT PALACIOS. wanted a piece of Palaclos real estate upon which there was an orange grove. "What will you take for this land?" he inquired with his hand on his pocketbook. "It is not for sale," replied Dr. Stevens, the owner; who is somewhat of an orange and fruit wlsard. "What do you think it is worth?" per sisted the Nebraskans. "Father has refused an offer of $1,000 an acre, the younger ' Stevens said, as t;he father left the crowd. Nebraskans Take Annua! Bath. At Palaclos,. the Nebraskans Indulged in their annual bath In the bay and got so expert they could catch Jellyfish In their hands and not faint. A boat ride on the bay, at night concluded the inspection of this coming, little city, where oysters con stitute a big Industry, last year there hav ing been shipped out t460,000 worth from Port Lavaca across the bay. The early rising members of the party witnessed a young boy catch trout at the end ot the pavilion just as fast as h tossed his. hook Into the water. The land the delegation went down to In spect is seven miles from Palaclos and nine ft A TEXAS VINEYARD DOlo DOUBLE THE ROWS OF GRAPE VINES. miles from Blessing. It has been bought by Lincoln people and the tract contains nearly 30.000 acres. It Is drained naturally and Is covered now with wild hay, and Is ready for the plow, no clearing being neces sary. The toll is especially adapted for the production of all sorts of citrus fruits and vegetables, and in advanced and scieiv tlflc agriculture. Th soli Is a chocolate sandy loam with clay sub soil. , Franrlta m Coming; Town. v In the exact center of the tract a station house has been erected on the St. Louis, Brownsville St Mexican railway, and th town has been named Francltas. The furtherest point of the land Is 2i miles from this station. It is bordered on one side by the Carauchau liver. On the .side of the river adjoining the land a park has been reserved for the benefit of the ii.' ' .. t hp Jim GULF COAST CATCH. public. From Francltas to Pslscles which Is a summer and winter resort, the trip can either be made by boat down the river or by railroad. On a tract of five acres near Alvln the Nebraskans were introduced to one of the most satisfied women they met on the entire trip. "I have been living on this farm for seventeen years." she said. "I came here a bride from New York state. We have been growing oranges and figs for a number of years." "What will you take for the farm?" she was asked. "It Is not for sane." "What do you think It is worth?" said the Nebraskan. "It is not for sale and I don't care to put a prloe on It. I am satisfied here. You see back In New York, when It freezes -us out, we can do nothing for a year. Here if there should come a freese, V .v mm we simply plant something th next morn ing." That seemed to be the reason no land was for sale around that place by ' the small farmer. Nebraskans Visit at Taft Ranch. Slnton was Included In the Itinerary of the Nebraskans. This town is a part or was a part until recently, of the Charles P., Taft ranch of some 350.000 acres. A brother of Representative Hadsell, a mem ber of the last session met the delegation here as did Mr. . Marget, who is running a bakery and confectionery Btore there. Mr. Hadsell, sr., has bought a cotton farm near Slnton and Is is being run by young Hadsell who seemed well pleased with his removal from Wesleyan univer sity to the cotton field. ''My husband paid $30.00 an acre for our farm last year," said a Mrs. Smith, who answered inquiries at a store in Slnton, but he has -refused 366.00 an acre for it. Incidentally the people of this territory set if eat store by Mr. Greene the manager of the Taft ranch. "Mr. Greene was greatly misunderstood when he first came in these parts," said Mr. . J. D. Cook of Slnton, "but he Is recognized now as the best friend Texas DUTY BEANS GROWING BETWEEN has around here. He started things on a business basis. H made his men work and he drove other men's cattle off his ranch. His plan has proven a good thing and now he is on of the most respected men here." In addition to the government work In th gulf near there, the Taft people are spending $1,000,000 cutting a deep water way along their seven-mil coast. This will enable th big ship to come right up to th ranch. The Nebraskan were In formed that this ranch has a contract to furnish the government 400 heud of beef dally for use in the Panama country. At BeevlUe the Nebraskan were both disappointed and pleased. They expected to learn much of th value of Texas soil as a fruit grower at the experimental sta tion. Instead they found at the station that practically nothing waa being done. The old superintendent had been dis charged th week before and a new man placed In charge, who a yet is not onto the ropes. The legislature appropriates only $3,000 for the support of the lnmltutlon for the bleunlum and it is not equipped to do the work. Th orange and lemon crops thei were very poor, though the grapes and cotton looked good, But across th town a few miles out, where th farmer himself looked after his fruit, th visitor had all their doubts re moved and left the place with a guod taste in their mouths. Here Mr. Link ha sev eral acres planted to oranges, lemons and tigs. Sum of the orange trees are 13 year old. All were loaded down, the branches In some Instances bolng prac tically bent to the ground. On on of these trees there were $.600 oranges. Last year the owner said there had been sold from this asm tree 4,000 orange. Th price paid to the owner was from 36 cent to 40 cents a dusen. This year th yield from this particular tree was bought by the Commercial dub of Beevllie to be wsed as v. r. ONE OF TUB 4 s n t :- V ! : ' e :. : it: A 1 - S V ' , "XT ( .,. ,'(. . .......... ... . Vi:L? -rt- !iiiv:: .'r -.t ' "I 1 n eijlou at the state fair. Lemons war shown here that were larger than a man' two fiHtS. On Trail of R. L. Metcalfe. At Deevtlle it was again proven that one must leave home to find out the news. The news was Imparted by W. E. Lacks, who, by thetvsy, la a Mlssourlan, who is making good n Texas. He heaj-d there wero Ntbrstkans in town and It waa not strange that he heard It. "How is my old friend Richard L. Met calfe?" he inquired as he Introduced him self. "Meualfe was county clerk of Greene - , '. - . .- -..-- ".-'.?, ' 4. j r' -.' ' ; f ' !-.. V ' , " , A - " : : . I : " . . ' .--, .--- .-- -."- "-.- . v. i-t.v "ki -r- . ".- '---'- HANDSOME HOUSES IN THE NEW f county when my fathr was county Judge. , Metcalfe lived at Springfield. I was young ' then, but I remember him well. He wrote a book while he lived In Springfield.. We called htm tilck, or at least the men folks did." This information may explain why Mr. Metcalfe Insists that he will not accept the office of senator or governor or any other old office. BeevlUe, as Its name Indicates, Is a hustling little place of about' G.000 and while its people set great store by the good honey ' their bees produce, It was uamed 'after General Bee. lie fuse to Sell for fl.OOO an Acre. After the Dr. Stevens orange orchard at Palaclos the Nebraskans saw a boy, Clif ton Payne, 13 years old, doing a stunt that no 12-year-old boy in the state of i Nebraska will ever be able to do. Be cause first th child laoor law would prevent the Nebraska boy working as this boy was doing, and second, becauae he would not have the orange trees to work on. The boy was grafting the orange buds onto the trlfollata plant, which is hardier than the orange and on which all the orange trees in Texas or at least In the Gulf Coast country are grafted. Farmers In the delegation who had grafted trees, legislators who had never grafted gaped in open eyed amaxement at the clever little worker. He received one cent for each bud grafted and hi dally income was an a: ft ,v I 'Si . ORANGES GROWING ON THE STATE GULF COAST' COUNTRY. average of $3.50. He had been at work for Dr. Stevens for only one year and was considered the best "grafter" In that section of the state. He explained to the visitors in detail the cultivation of oranges, figs, the umbrella tree, which Is the one tree in Texas that every one has for ornamental purposes. He gave instructions in the cultivation of the beautiful palms which are in every front yard, the banana plant and the flowers and bushes. He worked on the place where the owner re fused $1,000.00 an acre for his farm. Nebraskans in Texas are by no means 1 slow, though they do say that persons liv ing Ihere a few years pet the laiy habit of sitting in the shade and let the. others do the work. The train wss flagged one day out on the prairie and A. N. Holllr.s head, a Platte county bey, got aboard and ' recognized some of the Nebraskans. Ije ; was doing tolerably .well. Piatt Boy Dolus; Well. He has a contract with the government ' to furnish hay at $9 a ton. Mr. Holllns- head bought the hay at 25 cents a ton and was baling it himself. He Informed the WHERE THE WHITE BERMUDA ONION REACHES ITS Nebraskans for several years he had been Insisting on his relatives and his wife's relatives moving to Texas, but S3 far he had been unsuccessful. Ths Nebraskans formed ths opinion that a flrst-claES paint dealer, with an expert outside man, could make a fortune selling paint to the natives. For miles and miles and hour and houra scores of bouses were passed which had not been touched wltt paint. Occasionally a bouse would pan in review nicely painted. "There's a new-eoraer over there," usually the comment from the native) when these houses were een. i . . - - - I , :: TEXAS COUNTRY. FIFTT-YEAR-OLD FIG TREE ON LAND OF THE VALLEY FRUIT FARM AND GARDEN COMPANY. ,i.;i ,i.f .): ;': V. V 5. v EXPERIMENTAL FARM IN THE TEXAS At San Antonio the Nebraskans found a sure enough city, where hundreds of per. sons of the north spend their winter and have invested their money. Everything there was on the hustle. A number of "Seeing San Antonio" cars were running all the time and they ware always filled. The historical points of Interest there was the Alamo, where David Crockett, Colonel Bowie,. Colonel Travis and other charac ters of early days were killed In th at tack on the fort by President Santa Anna of Mexico. Out from the city three miles are located the old missions, built over 200 years ago, in a good state of preservation. Services are held In one of these missions once eash month by th Catholics. Boosting; for International Fair. San Antonio Is Just now getting ready for the International fair and every man Is boosting for this fair. Judge Winches-, ter Kelso Js president of the International club of San Antonio, and while he la one of the leading lawyer of th southwest, he find time to boost for the fair, Through the Nebraskan he sent an Invitation for - . . . .- ' . .? . . w-i'?r,--y-wi'U 4.r . . ?y. 'Ve- Vrf .v-'- ,4' HIGHEST PERFECTION. th entire state to come to San Antonlu In November and attend the exhibition. In asmuch as there are so many Nebraskans already there, he assured the visitors from th north that they would not get lone some for home folks. The fair grounds, which are located at San Antonio, are well supplied with ex tensive buildings, and both Texaa and Mexico contribute of their cattle and loraes and agriculture and fralt for ex llbltlon purposes. Texas Is Just now plan ning on having a World's fair in 1911. In their trip across country th N raskan traveled over exceptionally good rosds. In the smaller cities and towns the toads were made of oyster shells and as hard as a brick pavement, whtlei't In the pfinni -v ftlntt-lft the roads 'terre t graded ar.d "ell drained. Thec made a great nit with the Nebi Six farmers f.otn Custer count boutiht between ihein of the ValU Farm and Garden company of L Neb., sixty-one orar.se firms. f pmrd lar ttm Ike Cattlemen The small farmer In Texas has nd a hard time of It to get the big cattlemen to sell out, but Is succeeding, and the day la at hand when the big cattle man will be In history. Modern and most approved, methods have been brought to hear to bring these results. It Is being done by the ballot. The small farmer has m vote, and the fight In the Texss countle now Is over t he election of county boards. ! The proposal Is to elect commissioner t . ... . - I . I mr.A 1 .- . 4 w wno win piace ubih , I iS n li II m ' mi ' uponlandwhlch will force the bli-Jwrs to sell or pay,, tax on iana vaiueu m mm same pilce as the small Improved farms are valued. , Heretofore the land of the big cattle men have ben assessed and taxed only nominally. But the small farmer Is getting metre numerous and now taxes are levied for the construction of roads, and th man with: the K,000-aore ranch is going to be hit for enough money to force him to cul tivate his lands or sell out to pay ex pense. Land which is not producing can not stand such a tax. So the big tracts are being opened to the public and the maJl farmer ha got hi foothold. The, trip to) Texas waa.a, Host pleasant one. The - Nebraskan traveled over th Missouri, Kansas dc Texas railroad, the Bt Louis, Brownvllle Mexican, the Iron Mountain and the Southern Pacific. Never once did the delegation have to wait for a late train, for never was a train late. Separate coaches were furnished for whites and blacks, and the most oareful consid eration was given the travelers by every trainman, rom the traveling passenger agent down to th porters. x ' . H. H. PHILPOTT. NEW TRIBE IN ARCTIC CIRCLE Discovery of Strang People on Island Off Coast of Alaska. Front a land of Ice and snow, where the native drop their bow and arrow and fie at h sight of white men, and where spiders are half a foot long and over, W. J. power, well known to Arctic whalemen, arrived in San Francisco from Point Barrow, the most northerly .habi tation of whites In the Arctlo clrcls, by Captain Foley's steam brig, th Jean nette. ' Bower, with others on the gasoline chooner Olga of San Francisco, pene trated into a part of Prince Albert Land where white men had never been before, and he has something to remember his visit by. The sight of hi left eye was destroyed by the sting of a gigantic spider, and he comes here in the hope that it may be restored by treatment. Nearly three years ago Bower left San Franclsoo to Join th Olga at Point Bar row a steward and trading agent. The OTga shaped Its. course for Prince Albert Land and reached a point etlmat. Jj'o be about 1.800 miles to the eastward' of Point Barrow. Here the people of the Olga found ' a colony of natlvea of a different type' than they had ever seen, and apparently there was something strange about the white men from the natives' point of view, for they were very timorous .when approached. "The morning we came near their habi tation," said Bower, "four natives up proached the vessel In wonderment. They carried bows and arrows and each had a little dog trailing along behind him attached to a cord of walrus skin. We sent some of the. lower-circl natives in our crew out to ( meet them, but they were frightened at first. Seeing this, the visitors, after iiome time, laid down their weapons and stretched out their hands, symbolizing friendship. They spoke a different tongue than any of the people of the north I had encountered before, but w managed to make our selves understood. They lived In sbodes made of rocks In winter ami snow houses In summer. Their utensils were of stone, the knives of copper and deer horn, the spoon of musk ox horn and their only implement of sewing wa a trang four-cornered needle made of copper, with which they made very deft strokes. "The entire village was In terror at . first at our approach, but we finally con vinced them that we were not hostile. Some of their older men said that they had once seen a party of white men, but It was back many years, mayb half a century. The men tfcey saw wer prob ably of McClure's party, which went on an expedition to Prince Albert Land In 1S&3. "Never before had any of us seen such, enonnous spiders anywhere In the Arctic. Some of them were six Inches long and others still lariter. We spent a long time at the place and the spider ap peared when it began to thaw. They were frightful looking things, but the natives did not seem to mind them. "The country Is mountainous and even ( th native never attempt to penetrate It vast reaches of snow and ice. Part of the route we took with the drift was that covered by Roald Amundsen, the explorer and discoverer of the Northwest passage. On our return to point Bur row th Olga got caught in tha tee 130 miles north of there and w were com pelled to abandon It for th winter, mak ing our wuv to Point Harrow over ice desert as best w could- The o member of th crew returned ta the schooner In June, but I decided to come back to civilization and try to gut back th sight of my left ry, which waa de stroyed In such a horrlMs manner that I shudder at recalling the vut.' Francisco Chronicle. l oaos vns. f alone 1 Fruit coin. i ! I i ! ii I 1 j H i 'i