The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003 Page: 562
675 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
basically held that Wilde was a dreamer who believed there were no fixed
rules to define the teaching and depiction of beauty. Because Wilde
sought to bend the world to rules of certain ideals, he would be appreci-
ated only by a few idealists like himself. Yet, the Great German remedy
would go on revealing itself to mankind through the virtues of faith and
hope and the tangible realizations of its effectiveness. The result all of this
had on St. Jacobs Oil sales is unknown.25
Shortly after leaving the city, the resilient Irishman paid "a high com-
pliment to Galvestonians and generally complimented the people he had
met with upon their advancement and civilization." According to Wilde,
it was in Galveston that he became a "colonel," apparently in the Texas
Rangers. Later, he told a reporter in New Orleans, "I am a colonel by all
the rules and regulations of a Texas brevet. I was dubbed 'Colonel' in
Galveston and was fully invested with the title by the time I got to Hous-
ton. I shall write home to my friends of this new rank and promotion." He
would remember later that "Galveston, set like a jewel in a crystal sea, was
beautiful. Its fine beach, its shady avenues of oleander, and its delightful
sea breezes were something to be enjoyed."26
Wilde and his small entourage left Galveston for the hot 247-mile trip
to San Antonio (he never complained about the heat) on the previously
mentioned Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad. Chartered
in 1870, the line replaced the wonderfully named Buffalo Bayou, Brazos
& Colorado (1850). When the railroad reached San Antonio in 1877, the
city celebrated in grand style. On the way to San Antonio, Wilde somehow
managed to have his hat blown off, and the train was stopped for him to
retrieve it. Wilde's arrival in San Antonio, like his appearance at Galve-
ston, had been covered for days by stories in the local newspapers (many
of the accounts taken from exchanges), by word of mouth, and even in
the popularity of "The Oscar Wilde Gallop." The "Gallop's" sheet music
and the dance itself were declared "all the rage," and could be purchased
at Ithodlu & Tempsky's music store. A paid advertisement in the local pa-
pers announced the time and place of his lecture, and, as usual during
the tour, had a sketched left-profile view of Wilde with a scrawled signa-
ture beneath it. Admission was one dollar (fifty cents for the gallery) and
tickets could be purchased before the performance at F. Rische & Son op-
posite the post office.27
5 Dallas Weekly Herald, Apr. 6, 1882, citing an unnamed Galveston newspaper
" San Antonzo EvenzngLeght, June 21, 1882 (1st quotation). See interview with Wilde m New Or-
leans Tzmes-Picayune,June 25, 1882 (2nd and 3rd quotations).
7' See San Antonio Express, Feb. 5, 1877; San Antonio Evening Light, June 19, 1882 (quotations);
HoustonDazly Post,June 25, 1882. Oddly enough, another account of the wayward hat repeated the
story but claimed that the train was not stopped. See San Antonio Evening Light, June 22, 1882.562
April
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 106, July 2002 - April, 2003, periodical, 2003; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101223/m1/640/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.