The Lampasas Dispatch (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 23, 1878 Page: 1 of 4
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mf
r, (in ad vanee)
ma.
6 moa $ 8
i 6 mos. 13
i $mo*. 16
«fadrám*. 26
5 iiKh 6 BK . 29
14 col« moa. 35
1-2 col C mos. 55
1 col 6 mos. 100
/ '• '
ROBT.
E. OWEN, Proprietor.
The Progress; off the Frontier.
$2 PER ANNUAL
iwk Advance.
VOL.
VII.
LAMPASAS, TEXAS, THURSDAY MORNING, MAT
23, 1878.
NO. 51.
THE DISPATCH,
pu15ltshed
LAMPASAS,
weekly.
TEXAS
Wf
■f
**• _
Poblinhrr
M*
A. g. mutt.
WALKER
COUNTY DIBECTOBY.
COUNTY OFFICERS.
Connty Judge—W. P. Beall.
County Attorney — W. H.
Browning.
Justices of the Peace—J. S.
Brown, precinct 1; S. T. Bright,
>recinct 2; J. J. Barrett "precinct 3;
T. R. Townsen, precinct 4; Mat-
thew Roach, precinct 5. *
Sheriff—Albertus Sweet. Dis-
trict Clerk — M. V. B. Sparks.
Connty Clerk, D. C. Thomas, Cor-
oner—Tillman Weaver. Snirveyor
Harrison Miller. School
Commissioner ~ W. P. Beall.
Treasurer—J. H. Landriim.
Assessor—A. G. Rice.
Hide and cattle inspector—
J. M. Brown.
PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY
on north aide of the
6:46.
ACKÉK.
Ají of Paulding- Miss-)
" .r G
TEXAS.
Coarta «f the
W.H
BBO\
. at Law.
S, TEXAS.
fl( Vi w
mt
•a#
flae
"legmnt farming land,
settlement, and
t, and near *
Me«t at the College Building on
the second and fourth Saturdays in
each mouth at 9 o'plok a. m. -
SCHOOL CREEK GRANGE
Meets on the. third Satur-
days in each month, at 9, a m.
I. O. O. F.
[ Lodge, No. 193. I. O. O.F.,
fidariy av rj Taeadajr even-
inc ** 6 o'clock, r. u.. at tlieir Ixklge
room in tUft citjrwf UmpamR. Visiting
brothers aro cordially invited to attend.
Bf order at
R. E. OWEN, N. G.
Tuno. BKaomniMD, Soc't.
?Hwen*on Building, two
; of the Postoffice.
. Austix, Texas. ii24-ly
.. .. v.- •
tR. VTu. t. johnson,
l^as Ihs Professional
to the ekisens of Lam-
I surrounding country.—
" with the great*
n41-ly
a. p. commwuAM.
Met mí tari Agency
OF
jam
Buun, Texas.
special attention of
nrners is called to the
title in fee on tax sain*.
i at unimproved
Lampará* and
which we offer at
tea and on most
the list of real
■Pfsad the following;
rue IV BUHHET.
raatee, A. B. Bpeare, sub-
, three hand red and
.with good cedar
i welling house,
on main rood
City. ▲ good
I a achoal near.
m&t
Mow
m South
Ltnaa Barnet town.
grantee, Sarah Woodruff,
Ihad twenty acre cituated
i Gabriel, ten miles north-
ENCAMPMENT.
„„ Encampment No. 81,
ttie first and thicd Thura-
in each month. Visiting
patriarchs are cordially invited to
attend.
C. 1^. WlTCHBK, O. P.
R. E*Owejí, Scribe.
CHURCH DIRECTORY.
Elder Abram Wearer (Baptist)
will preach at the Bapt ist Church,
on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sundays
in each month.
Rev. Mr. Lewis (Cumberland
Presbyterian) will preach at the
Baptist CUnrch ou the 1st Sunday
in each month.
—Father Fleury will hold Catho-
lic services ou the third Sunday in
every other month at the Wiugren
Hall.
—Thos. S. Denny, Episcopal,
will conduct service at Capt. Pratt's
office every Sunday 10:30 a. at.
llano county.
Wilhelm Wicks,
BBty acres on Colo-
ca under good cedar
la cultivation, good tenement
houao with three rooms, one mile distant
from the towa of Blafiton ¡"mill and
achool.
t Jonas Dorcer. Lit-'
i Bedford surveys.
Honey Crook, a
astiag water. "
laga on the tract,
r.only half-interest
sold with thifc tract, at present running
• mill. One atone dwelling boose, three
rooms, fronting forty feet: one concrete
houaa.90 * 20. Seventy-ftve neres un-
fence, in cultivation
r-ffve are irrigated. ttaperb
> cattle aad hogs, making one of
1 * i and ranches in
)n county.
M S 1-2 miles west of the
(town, the county seal.
tsesmynnH house, Ave rooms, ten
ocean tb estivation, moat of It irrigable.
A ■—!■■■ of fine, everlasting springs.
of post oak timber, good
s or cattle. One of tlie
for dairy and vegetable
Texas
ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE OF MAILS
Round Rock mail departs every dny
except Sunday at 7 a. m., and arrives
same day at 5 A. m.
San Saba mail arrives Tuesday,
Thursday and Sunday at 7 p. m., and
departa Wednesday, Friday and Monday
at 6 A. M.
Bel ton mail arrives Saturday at 9
p. sc.. and departs Monday at (5 A M.
Hamilton mail arrives Wednesday a1
6 P. M., and departs Monday at 8 a. m.
Gatesville mail arrives Friday at (
p. m., and departs Saturday at C a. m.
Burnet mail arrives Wednesday at
4 p. k., and departs Tuesday at tí a. m.
Comanche mail arrives Tuesday at 6
p. M.« and departs Wednesday at 6 a. m.
1. N. HAMON,
Postmaster!
D. W. PHILLIPS, Assistant.
SNAP BEAN'S
,•« JL
° I
Mark and Brand.
Maths-
Old Stock in other
Lampasas, Texas.
Miugi Hotel.
Corner Tremont and Mechanic
Sts., galveston.
JOHN BUMMERS, Prop.lcor.
I have removed the favorite Old Wash-
ington to the commodious brick build-
ing recently occupied as tli« Cosmopo-
litan Hotel. The house has been renova-
vated and refurnished; is centrally loca-
ted with ample and comfortable accom-
modntiona for the traveling public; con-
venient to buainees, and but two squares
from Morgnn Line of steamers and one
block from the Union Depot; table un-
surpassed by any house in the city.
This house lias an Annunciator.
AVIKttlNIA HOKKOH.
Cincinnati Enquirer.
Richmond, Virginia, May 9.—
News has just reached this city of
a horrible and fatal case of whole-
sale poisoniug at Elk Garden,
llussell county, in the Southern
part ot the State. It appears that
Mrs. Martha Micalitor, a well-
known farmer's wife, keeps a dairy
establishment in the locality re-
ferred to. She had been much an-
noyed of late by thieves stealing
large quantities of butter. She be-
thought herself of a plan to stop
the repeated thefts, and it was this:
She put strychnine in all the rolls
of a certain firkin, and placed the
firkin in a convenient place for the
robbers night before last, j The fir-
kin was promptly stolen, and Mrs.
Micalitor was satisfied that the
thieves would die. But oh, horror!
instead ot the thieves eating the
butttr they sold it! It went
broadcast through the country.
Mr. Jackson, a prominent planter,
purchased several pounds of it yes-
terday, and supposing it all right,
the servant placed it on the supper
table, where there ware twelve per-
sons at the repast, of whom four
died in a few hours after eating the
butter. They were Andrew, Joseph
and James Jackson, three brothers,
and Miss Alice Gatewood, a young
country belle, wlfo happened to be
a guest of the Misses Jackson; be-
sides, three other persous at the
table were taken dan
among them a young lawyer,
was paying devoted attention. to
Miss Gatewood. The night previ-
ous the Jackson mansion was the
scene of mirth and revelry. Last
nighc the whole community was
shrouded in mourning. The great-
est excitement prevails in the conn-
ty, bat thu8iar ifothing serious has
been developed. The thieves who
stole and sold the poisoned butter,
nor the lady who used such a dan-
gerous trick, have been arrested,
but doubtless exertions will be
aiads to lynch the meu who told
it.
gerously ill,
lawyer, who
A Case oí Lcpiwr l" ««Illmore.
THE DISEASE AND ITS EFFECTS ON
ABRAHAM BltOWN—NO HOPES
FOR THE man'S LIFE.
Baltimore, April 27.—There is
a patient at present in the City
Hospital here who, according to
the opinion of the medical faculty,
is undoubtedly suffering from
elephantiasis graecorum, or true
1< prosy. His name is Abraham
Brown, and he is a native ol New
York City, 45 years of age, nuda
bricklayer by trade. He is a wid-
ower with four children, and after
the death of his wife went to Cuba
and South America, in either oí
which it is supposed he contracted
the disease. About two years «go,
while in this city, the disease tirst
showed itself, the symptoms being
a numbness of the muscles of the
face, and numerous tubercles ap-
pearing over the body. Ou the 4th
of March last hb went iuto the
City Hospital, and the physicians,
after examination, decided it a case
of genuine leprosy. The condition
of the inau is really pitiable. The
disease has attacked the neck and
hauds and feet, aud these portions
of the body are scaly and shriveled,
having the appearance of a yellow
aud faded parchment. Since his
admissiou to the hospital his
tongue has become lacerated. It is
difficult for him to swallow food,
and the tubercles on his body have
.become hard, while the flesh on
the affected parts is gradually
sloughing off. The attendant phy-
Bicians say there is no hope of sav-
ing his life, but they are divided in
opinion as to whether or not the
disease is contagious cr infectious.
mam
W. 0. SPENCER, Prop'r.,
LIBERTY HILL,
TEXAS.
Traveler's will always find this a oyer the M of tho 0(mvicfc
pleasant stopping place—the table , ,, ¿ . , Wednesday
VAKHBM' skk1kfast.
The Agriculturist comments ju-
diciously on theimpioper breakfast
habits of farmers thus :
"A bad custom is prevalent iu
many families, especially among
frmers, of working an hour before
breakfast, attending to 'chores,'
hoeing the garden, cuting wood,
mowing and etc. This is convei-
ent on many accounts, but is not
conducive to healthy The preva-
lent opinion is tha™the morniug
air is thfc purest and the most
healthful and bracing; but the con-
trary is the fact. At no hour of
the (lay is the air more filled with
dampness, fogs, and miasma than
about sunrise. The heat of the sun
gradually dissipates these miasmic
emanations as the day advances.
An early meal braces up the sys-
tem against these influences.
Every oue knows the languor and
faiutness often experienced for the
first hour in the morning, and this
is increased by exercise and want of
food. We do not agree with the
boarding-6chool regime, which pre-
scribed a long walk before break-
last as a means of promoting
health."
The verdict of the Coroner's jury
UliACKAlAIL.
will be well supplied, and horses ta-
ken care of in the best manner.—
Stop and be refreshed. n^0
by tli" guard here last Wednesday
for attempting to escape, was, "lie i¡¿
SOME WHO THRIVE 15Y THE AliT-
VARIETIES OF BLACKMAIL.
Mew York Star. •
The advantage sought by tho
blackmailer is not always pecu-
niary. There is one very success*
ful blackmailer who boasts that he
uever takes a dollar, and he does
not. He demands local political
oilices, and he has been, until
lately, in the habit of getting them.
There is not so much of this politi-
cal blackmailing now as there_used
to be, but, iu the old days of " tile
Ring," it was carried to the height
of a tine art, and some of the best
offices were occupied either by
blackmailers or their representa-
tives, who mounted into power on
their trade in disreputable pol^cal
secrets. *
There are other varieties of
blackmailers who did not directly
extort money. There is a "man
about town" who is welcome or at
least received by several families
moving hi the best society, and-who
passes for a " society lhan " simpiv
aud solely on the strength of the
secrets he possesses concerning this
very " best society."
He has made himself acquaineed
with the precise character of vari-
ous family skeletons which arodcept
iu the dark closets of "fashion-
able " families, and the unfortunate
owners of these closet skeletons are
only too glad to purchase his si-
lence, by extending to him the so-
cial courtesies due only to " a gen-
tleman." This social blackmailing
is much more prevalent than would
be imagined a priori. Not j very
oue knows how much of this bad
element there is in society.
Not long ago, a man without
wealth, witnouc education, without
family connections, and without
character, became, to the astonish-
ment of everybody, allied by mar-
riage with one of our best families.
Tne affair created some natural
gossip, at the time, and yet nothing
was more simple. This man, with
everything else, was, also, without
scruples of con science, and having
detected his would-be-father ik-law
(who bore an almost Immaculate
reputation, aud whose success In
life depended upon this very reptv
take the form of a written or verbal
threat. It cannot be coped with or
overcome by any law, because it
does not appear in such shapes aa
to violate anv law.
KATE SGTHERiV'S CRIME.
TIIE MURDER OS A RIVAL by A
JEALOUS BRIDE DURING
THE HONEY-moon.
SENTENCED TO THE GALLOWS.
Atlanta Constitution.
One calm night in the fall of the
year 1876, the hitherto quiet repose
of the citizens of Pickens county,
in North Georgia, was thrown into
consternation by the murder of a
beautiful young woman named
Narc¡8sa Co wart, at a ball
Iv .it • Sonera—
An account of the killing,
romantic escape and capture of the
parties a year afterwards, was pub-
lished in the Constitution on the
14th of February last. A synopsis
of the terrible affair is about as fol-
lows : Soon after the marriage of
Mr. Robert Sothern, a handsome
but wild young fellow, to Miss
Kate Ham brick, one of the most
beautiful and fascinating young la-
dies in North Georgia, a ball or
party was given at the dwelling of
her father, Mr. Ham brick. All
the belles and beaux of the neigh-
borhood were invited and attended.
Among the number was a beauti-
ful young lady by the name of
Narcissa Cowart. She, it seems,
was one of those handsome coun-
try girls who, knowing her charms,
delighted in making conquests of
men, but never dreaming that harm
would in any way result. Gay and
light-hearted, she pursued the mer-
ry dance from early evening until
near the hour of midnight. At
that fatal hour she danced her last
time with Mr. Sothern. Kate, his
wife, it appears, had become jealous
of the beautiful Narcissa, and early
in the el^ning informed her hus-
band that he muet not dance with
Miss Cowart or epeak to her dur-
ing the night. To this it seems he*
assented, and contented himself by
dancing with other ladies. The
culminated storm of jealousy was
wrought from the fact that the
fair Naroissa had formerly been a
of Bob's. llJnce toe
admonition. As intimated, how-
ever, at about 12 o'clock, to (the as-
tonishment Ot Mrsr Knfco-Sothorn,
the fair young bride, 6he beheld
Miss Narcissa Cowart upon the
floor dancing with her husband for
a partner. Seized with jealous
rage, but without any exhibition of
an evil design, she calmly walked
up to her husband and informed
bhng aad immorality, he osfd his
diseovery, without mereyy&éiíiflid-
ed from the tortured parent per-
mission to "pay his addresses'' to
his daughter, and when these odi-
ous addresses were repelled by the
young lady herself, he forced the
father into compliance. Th« latter
then insisted upon his daughter's
compliance, and a loathsome union
was the result of youth, beauty and
virtue,' with age and inglorious
vice. ,
Many of this class of blackmail-
ers, those society pests, are women,
aud a case is now tolerably well
known in social circles, which de-
monstrates how these women
" work."
A prominent and wealthy widow
of this city is accompanied to balls,
parties and receptions, to Saratoga
and to Europe, by a young lady ol
tolerable personal attractions and
accomplishments, to whom the
widow seems devotedly -attachrd,
and to whose pleasure, happiness
and success she is never wearied of
contributing.
Une would think while witness-
ing the pair that they are near rel-
atives, but they are not; or per-
haps the dearest of friends; they
are not. The only tie between
them is that of blackmail on the
part of the younger woman.
Shé found out a secret involving
the wealthy widow's reputation,
and has traded on the discovery in
her own peculiar way. It is a safe
way, for it violates no law. The
lady makes no threats. She asks
for no particular sum of money.
She only trusts to the widow's
dread of social opinion, and she
only demands merely social and
personal recognition-i-aboon which
includes, in her case, all others.
Occasionally, though rare, there
are instances of what, for lack of a
better title, may be called business
blackmailing. In cases of this kind
advantage is taken by oue party of
certain secrets to force trade or
business dealings with the other
party.
Thus, the writer knows of one
case in point, in which a boot and
shoe manufacturing house pur-
chases all its leather of auother
house—not on account of the
quality or price of the leather fur-
nished by the second house, but by
force of certain knolwcdge gained
by a clerk of this latter lirm con-
cerning the habits aud domestic re-
lations of the head of the boot aud
shoe establishment.
Though comparatively rare, this
sort of blackmailing is not, posi-
tively, uncommon, and it exists to
a sufficient degree, tobe included
among tn-- prevalent system oí
blackmail.
It can bül n Mi at. this sort of j
blackmaih!i is something which is ¡
understood * between the parties ¡
and giving themselves over to the
law when arrested. At the time of
her capture, in January last, Mrs.
Sothern bore in her arms a small
infant. The whole family were
placed in the Pickens jail, together
with two or three others engaged
in the affair. Last week at Pick-
en?, Superior couuty, the case
"against Kate Sothern was takeu up
foi trial, Judge George N. Lester,
presiding. The case occupied four
days in trial. Every particle of
evidence possible on either side was
brought out, and every legal point
was hotly contested. After an ex-
haustive trial, on Saturday, the
27th, she was found guilty of mur-
der, and was sentenced to be hang-
ed on the 21st of June. Solicitor
General Greer was ably assisted by
il. bV Mrs. S. A. Darnell, of this city, and
Mr. J. % AHéliy of «Hiiay. S2
illing, the nnfortnnate was defended by Con-
gressman H. P. Bell, R. P Lester,
W. H. Simmons, W. T. Day and
Colonel Carey W. Styles. m
The trial was v<ry exciting, peo-
ple having come iu to the Court
from all parts of the country. The
poor woman held her child in her
arms nearly all the time. When
sentence was pronounced, it is said
she was completely overcome. A
very unusual thing in the trial of a
case in Georgia is found in the fact
that all of the attorneys on both
sides, seven in all, made speeches,
and were unlimited in time. A
motion for a new trial wm made,
and will be heard on Monday, the I
13th instant. It is more than
probable that the case will reach
the Supreme Conrt. Shonld she
be hung she will be the second wo-
man ever hung in Georgia. And
in view of the seven censure meted
ont to Governor Smith for permit-
ting Miss Susan Eberhardt to be
hung, it is reasonable to suppose
that Governor Colquitt will h¿ve to
be thoroughly convinced of the
justice of the sentence before he
will allow her to hang.
rather than
ivuuccO
. it is never
of ¡i demand
u'S not
him that he had promised to dance
that set with her. He remonstra-
ted, but she persisted. At length
finding that the two were deter-
mined to dance through the set,
the jealous young wife turned, and
quietly walked outside to her fath-
er and demanded the loan of his
knife. Hesitating to comply, her
father inquired for what purpose
she wanted it. She replied, "To
cut a tooth-brush." Reminding
her that it was rather late to be
cutting tooth-brushes, her father
reluctantly handed her his large
pocket-kuife. Returning to the
dance-room she found that the
dance was over. Watching with
frenzied eye, she soon espied the
object of her jealous raga alone,
dancing across the room. With
the littleness of a tiger she was be-
side the apparently happy but
doomed woman. Seizing her by the
shoulder with one hand she ex-
claimed : "You have danced
enough !" Brandishing the knife
but a moment over her own shoul-
der m order to give force to the
fatal blow, she plunged it deep into
the neck of her victim. The warm
blood shot from the wound to a
wall five feet distant. Still anoth-
er blow was dealt, and the sharp
knife penetrated deep into the left
breast. As the victim sank in the
last throes of death to tho floor,
still auother stab was made with
the fatal weapon, which made its
way into her body through her
belt aud clothes, liy the time the
unfortunate young lady fell she was
dead. Confusion and amazement
was never greater. Seme oue asked
to know who was the man
struck the woman. Mrs. Kate
Sothern exclaimed, firmly, "I am
the man that did it!" The excit-
ed people rushed to the doors and
said that no one ehould pass. Bob
Sothern at once took his wife by
the arm aud |aaid, "Gentlemen, I
am going to leave this house, and
take my wife." His remark was
made emphatic by the exhibition
of a dangerous looking pistol in his
hand. The people allowed him to
pass before they had time to realize
what had taken place. Sothern and
his wife made good their escape.
{ Miss Cowart'a family offered a re-
I w.ird of and the tiovi rnor
j added $ii>M.
I A year elapsed before any tidings
were made public of the fugitives.
Then they were found in Franklin
county. North Carolina. The his-
tory of th> ir escape aud cantil re is
very romantic '1 hey wore coiic'.d-
er¡o<í the tovi'! :et v lei ¡¡mm:;
T hrotkmerton'i Canncttloa With
T txM and PMlfle Ratlnatf.
Weathekford, Texas, > '
April 11,1878. J
Colonel K. %V. Loughery, Marshall
Texas •
Dear Sir—In reply to yonrs of
the fourth, permit me to say that I
was a member of the sab-commit-
tee in the Legislature is 18?&, that
made the compromise lietweeii the
State and the Texas and Pacific
Railway Company. Judge G. W-
Smith. Judge John Ireland, and
myself were first appointed After-
wards Major John Henry Brown,
Judge Á. J. Booty, and Bon. John
Adriance were adifced to flu* com-
mittee. Judge Smith and I did all
the work. After a careful exami-
nation of th« various acts with ref-
trence to the Southern- Piicificr
Traus-Coutinental. and Memphis
and El Paso Railways, we found
that the Texas and Pacific was en-,
titled to sixteen sections of land
per mile each on both the upper
and lower lines from then eastern
terminus to the point of Junction#,
and sixteen sections per mile thence
to El Paso. The company had a
claim under the forms of law, by
virtue of an act passed May 24r
1*71, for the bonds of the State
amounting to $10,000 per mile for
K
/#¿£
■y
..
' :-%r ,.-.V 1
' , ■ «v¡
, V
Pay Toar Debt*.
/
Clean hands in matters of money
among the young certainly ought
to be the indispensable condition of
gentlemanliness. No man who
borrows and does not pay, and does
not care whether he payB or not,
is a gentleman, no matter how
witty, or gay, or fine he may be.
To speak in good plain English,
the lilait wlf6 'Iresaea faim3©l£ftt~*ul
others' expense, mnrtnowíñg how
to pay, uot caring whether he pays,
is a genteel scoundrel! and yet such
things are done by good-natured
folks, by kind-hearted people, by
persons who never probe them mor-
ally to ascertain what their tenden-
cy is, and what they lead to.
From the San Marcos Free Press
we learn that Mr. Robinson and his
good wife, of Mountain City, Hays
connty, are probably the oldest
couple in Texas. One is 103 and
the other 102 years old. They are
Kentuckians, and were married 82
years ago. Mr. Robinson says he
never swore but one oath, nor bor-
rowed but fifty cents, and never
gave a note. He is the same man
to whom Major Burleson present-
ed a homestead not loug before he
died. He and.his wife play togeth-
er like children, and after any
short separation shed tears on meet-
ing.
Texas wheat is said to have more
gluten and less water than North -
em varieties, and flour made from
it is uot liable to become sour when
shipped to tropical countries. This
is a well-known characteristic of
several varieties of Southern wheat,
and we do not see why it mav uot
be true of wheat raised in Texas.
The State has a diversified climate,
and soil which, in many respects,
resembled that of the bottom landi
of the Nile, in Egypt, which has
been noted from the earliest times
as a great wheat producing couu-
try.
The Goliad Guard says King
Fisher has been offered release from
jail upon his furnishing a $40,000
boud. There are five murders in
the count against the notorious
villian, besides a large list ot crimes
of lesser note. It is thought he
t;hat\wlll give the bail.
The phonograph may bottle up
the voice and pass it down to fu-
ture ages; but the smile that twists
the face of a man as ha seeks soli-
tude and gazes upon his name in
print for the first time, will always
nave to be guessed at
Wise aud Young counties have
held their conventions, and in-
structed unanimously for Throckí
mortou. They but .lead the way.
Every county in northern Texas
will do the same thing. There can
be no question that Throckmorton
will enter the convention with
more positive strength than any
one man in the State.—Sherman
Register.
Itetwpen seven and nine hun-
«1 re .1 i lead ol cattle were stolen in
Wise county last week, from Itidlin.
arpen ter >.V C u
act of the
allowed, whrt-e
i zed by the Constitution, to sub-
stitute lands for the bonds at the
rate of 24 sections per mile. These
were the claims of the company, as
appeared from the acts of the Leg-
islature. J. W. Throckmorton-
one of the then attorneys of the
company, stated to tire committee
that an adjustment and compro-
mise of the matter was desired by
the company, and that they wonld
meet us with this spirit. After
consultation the committee agreed
to offer 20 sections of land per mile
in lie* ol all claims to land and
m
..., . %
Smith sngfNtsd that if
to select its land from
mass of the
company would secure all the good
lauds, and therefore suggested a
reservation. The commit**, with
the exception of Judge Ireland
who contended that the Legisla-
ture had no power to create a res-
ervation, agreed with Judge Smith.
An estimate from the Land Office
showed that it would t
100 miles wide, front
to the Rio Grande, to supply the
lands going to the company. Wo
then made the proposition to Gov-
ernor Throckmorton to give the
company twenty sections of Hud
ptr mile and confine them to the
proposed reservation. He prompt-
ly accepted the 20 section per
mile, but asked us to reduce the
reservation to 40 miles in width,
Taking táút he fearedthe oompauy
would uot Accept the bill mm the—
reservation proposed. We finally
agreed to reduce the same to 80
miles in width and allow the com-
pany to locate 1000 sections outside
of the belt. This was accepted by
him, and upon this basis Judge
Smith and 1, aided by the sugges-
tions of Colonel E. B" Pickett, pre-
pared the bill. During the time
Governor Throckmorton made
many suggestions that were incor-
porated in the bill, and afterwards
iu all the railroad acts passed by
that Legislature. One I now re-
member was to the effect that in no
case should the State be liable for
deficiency of vacant domain. An-
other provided for nuiformity of
freight and passage on connecting
lines, and against consolidating
lines. He asked the committee to
do simple justice between the par-
ties; he did not any timé ask for
anything that did not seem to me
just and right. Until this meeting
in Austin, in 1873,1 was prejudiced
against Throckmorton on account
of his uonuectfou with the Texas
and Pacific Railway Company, and
what I afterwards found to lie mis-
representations of the press. I
thought that he had favored and
aided in procuring the bond sub-
sidy from the Twelfth Legislature.
Now, the truth is, that he had op-
posed the measure, and when he
found that it would pass^ he se-
cured the proviso that lands Might
be substituted for the banda I
regard him as the most practical,
far-seeing, honest statesman of this
age, and us the guardian of Texas
tud her interests. In my humble
dguient he is without a peer,
o secure prosperity and happi-
arnong the people, I consider
things absolutely essential,
sc are the reduction of our
St^ite debt, which should never have
had any existence, and the reduc-
tion of our unnecessarily heavy
State tax, which should never have
exceeded fifteen cents on every one
hundred dollars' worth of property.
Notwithstanding the disjointed
condition of our State finance^ it
seems to me that a tax of ten canto
on each hundred dollars' worth of
property ought to pay the interest
on the State debt, and a tax of
twenty cents on the hundred dol-
lars ought to defray the expenses of
the State government. Governor
Throckmorton fully appreciates the
necessities for reform in theae par-
ticulars. and if elected Governor 1
believe his administration will ac-
complish much for the good of th«
péople. Hence, I am in faVor of
his nomination, and in view of
what has been said by the press of
his supporters in this District, Í
will say that I will not be an as-
pirant for Congressional honors.
Respectfully. A. T. Watts.
f \ m
' T ,y-
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Beall, W. P. The Lampasas Dispatch (Lampasas, Tex.), Vol. 7, No. 51, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 23, 1878, newspaper, May 23, 1878; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth179088/m1/1/: accessed April 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History.