The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 70, July 1966 - April, 1967 Page: 398

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

the proposed park. Repeating that the DRT favored removal
of the building and parking the grounds, the Post observed that
"business men of the Alamo City . . . . are actively in accord
with this view and a campaign has been started in behalf of
same."" The San Antonio Express had previously announced
on February 15 that a petition to the legislature from business
and professional people in San Antonio advocating destruction
of the walls was to be circulated at once and stated that "the
proposition was the chief topic of discussion on the streets yes-
terday . . . . and when representatives of the two sides met an
argument ensued at once."99
Miss De Zavala immediately called a mass meeting of her ad-
herents and used columns of the press to explain her version
of differences within the DRT and the history of the Alamo,100
which may have prompted the Express to comment that demand
existed for "every drop of history" and "the oldest resident has
about lost his voice in telling of the situation."o1 The same
article quoted businessman T. L. Conroy, who was prominent
in the dispute:
The idea of making the Alamo more conspicuous by removing
the unsightly bulletin board known as the Hugo Schmeltzer Building
is not new with us. The idea of Miss Driscoll and the Daughters
. . . was to remove the old . . . walls and to beautify the grounds
adjacent to the Alamo. In fact ... [Miss Driscoll] stated to me
when she was here recently that her idea was to act as I have said,
and she authorized me to give public expression to her sentiments.102
Publicity accorded "negotiations" with hotel interests stirred
the tempest, and Mrs. Anson Jones in March published a letter
in which she revealed that Reeves' last communication of Feb-
ruary 25 refused "our counterproposition of February 14,
1907."108 With St. Louis interests out of the picture, at least for
the moment, the time for concrete local action had arrived.1'0
*'Houston Post, February 17, 19o7.
**San Antonio Express, February 15, 19o7.
00lbid., February ig, 19o7.
101Ibid., February 22, 19o7.
'O0Ibid.
108Houston Post, March 4, 19o7.
10'DRT Report, 19o7, p. 28.

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