Dallas County, Texas - The whole text, 1892 (part 7 of 32)

But agriculture alone, no matter how rich or varied its resources, cannot establish or maintain a people's prosperity. There is a lesson in this that Texas, even with her amazing total of $137,000,000 of farm products, may learn with profit. No commonwealth ever came to greatness by producing raw material. Less can this be possible in the future than in the past. The Cotnstock lode is the richest spot on earth, and yet the miners, gasping for breath fifteen hundred feet below the earth's surface, get bare existence out of the splendor they dig from the earth. It goes to carry the commerce and uphold the industry of distant lands, of which the men who produce it get but a dim report. Hardly more is the South profited when, atripping the harvest of her cotton fields or stripping her teeming hills, or leveling her superb forests, she sends the raw material to augment the wealth and power of distant communities. (Applause.) Texas produces a million and a half bales of cotton, which yield her $60,000,000. That cotton woven into common goods would add $75,000,000 to Texas' income from this crop, employ 220,- 000 operatives, who would draw and spend within her borders more than $30,000,000 in wages. Massachusetts manufactures 575,000 bales of cotton, for which she pays 31,000,- 000 and sells for $72,000,000, adding a value nearly equal to Texas' gross revenue from cotton, and yet Texas has a clean advantage for manufacturing this cotton of 1 per cent, a pound over Massachusetts. Tlie little village of Grand Ilapids began manufacturing furniture, simply because it was set in timber districts. It is now a great city, and sells $10,000,000 worth of furniture every year, in making which 12,000 men are employed and a population of 40,000 people supported. The best pine districts of the world are in eastern Texas. With less competiton and wider markets than Grand Rapids has, will she ship her forests at prices that barely support the wood-chopper and sawyer, to be returned, in the making of which great cities are built or maintained? When her farmers and herdsmen draw from her cities $136,000,000 as the price of their annual produce, shall this enormous wealth be scattered through distant shops and factories, leaving in the hands of Texans no more than the husbandman's support and the narrow brokerage between buyer and seller? As one-crop farming cannot support the country, neither can a single resemrce of commercial exchange support a city. Texas wants immigrants. She needs them, for if every human being in Texas were placed at equidistant points throughout the State no Texan could hear the sound of a human voice in all your borders. How can you best attract immigration ? By furnishing work for the artisan and mechanic. If you meet tlie demand of your population for cheaper and essential manufactured articles, one half a million workers would be needed for this, and with their families would double the population of your State. In these mechanics and their dependents, farmers would find a near and growing market for not only their staple crops, but for truck that they now despise to raise or sell, but that is at last the cream of the farm. Worcester county, Massachusetts, takes $52,000,000 of our material, and turns out $87,000,000 of products every year, paying $20,000,000 in wages. The most prosperous section of this world is that known as the Middle States of this Republic. Their agriculture and manufactures are in the balance. Their shops and factories are set amid rich and ample acres, and the result is such deep and diffused prosperity as no other section can bIiow. Suppose those States had a monopoly ot" cotton, iron and coal, so disposed as to command the world's markets and the treasury of the world's timber supply, the mind is staggered in contemplating the majesty of the wealth and power they would attain. "What have they that the South lacks ? And to her these things are added, and to these things a kinder climate, ampler acres and richer soil. It is a curious fact that three-fourths of the population, manufacturing and wealth of this country is compacted in a narrow strip between Iowa and Massachusetts, comprising less than onesixth of our territory, and that this strip is distant from the scource of raw materials on which its growth is mostly based, of hard climate and in large part of sterile soil. Much of this forced and unnatural development is due to slavery, which for a century fenced enterprise and capital out of the South. Mr. Thomas, who in the Lehigh valley erected furnaces in 1850, set the pattern for iron-making in America, and had before that time bouurht mines and lorests where Birmingham now stands. Slavery forced him away. He settled in Pennsylvania. I have wondered what would have happened if that one man had opened his iron mines in Alabama and set his furnaces there at that time. I know what is going to happen since he has been forced to come to Birmingham and put up two furnaces nearly forty years after his first survey. Another cause that has prospered New England and the Middle States while the South languished, is the system of tariff taxes levied on the unmixed agriculture of these States for the j)rotection of industries of our neighbors to the north - a system on which the Honorable Roger Q. Mills, that lion of the tribe of Judah, has at last laid his mighty paw, and under the indignant touch of which it trembles to its center. That system is to be revised and its duties reduced, as we all agree it should be, though I should say in perfect frankness I do not agree with Mr. Mills in detail. Let us hope this will be done with care and injudicious patience. But whether it stands or falls, the South has entered the industrial lists to partake of its bounty if it stands, and if it falls to rely on the favor with which nature has endowed her, and from this immutable advantage to till her own markets first and then have a talk with the world at large. (Applause.)

With amazing rapidity she has moved away from the one-crop idea that was once her curse. In 1880 she was deemed prosperous. Since that time she has added 398,000,000 bushels to her grain crops and 182,000,000 head to her live stock. This has not lost one bale of her cotton crop, which, on the contrary, has increased nearly 2,000,000 bales. With equal swiftness has she moved away from the folly of shipping out her ore at S2 a ton and buying it back in implements at from $20 to $1,000 a ton; her cotton at 10 cents a pound and buying it back in cloth at 20 to to 80 cents a pound; her timber at $8 per thousand and buying it back in furniture at ten to twenty times as much. In the past eight years $250,000,000 have been invested in new shops and factories in her States; 225,000 artisans are now working here that eight years ago were idle or at work elsewhere; and these have added $270,000,000 to the value of her raw material, more than onehalf the value of her cotton crop. Add to this the value of her increased grain crops and stock, and in the past eight years she has grown in her fields or created in her shops increased food and manufactures more than the value of her cotton crop. The kingly revenue slie then sent away for these articles she now keeps at home. What surpassing glory and prosperity may not be justified from this formula? The incoming tide has just begun to rise.

Every train brings manufacturers from East and West seeking to establish themselves or their sons near the raw material and in this growing market. Let the fullness of this tide roll in. We shall not exhaust our materials nor shall we glut our markets. When the growing demand of our Southern market, feeding on its own growth, is met we shall find new markets for the South. Under our new conditions many indirect ways of commerce shall be straightened. We buy from Brazil $50,000,000 worth of products, and sell her $8,000,000. England buys only $29,000,000 and sells her $35,000,000. Of $65,000,000 in cotton goods bought by Central and South America over $50,000,000 went to England. Of $331,000,000 sent abroad by the southern half of our hemisphere England secured over half, although we buy from tliat section nearly twice as much as England buys. Our neighbors to the south need nearly every article we make. We need nearly everything they produce. Less than 2,500 miles of road must be built to bind by rail the two American continents. When this is done, and even before, we shall find exhaustless markets to the south. Texas, shall command, as she stands in the van of this new movement, its richest rewards. (Applause.) The South, under the rapid diversification of crops and diversification of industries, is thrilling with new life. As this new prosperity comes to us it brings no sweeter thought to me and to you, my countrymen, I am sure, than that it adds not only to the comfort and happiness of our neighbors, but that it makes broader the glory, and deeper the majesty, and more enduring the strength of the Union which reigns supreme in our hearts. In this Republic of ours is lodged the hope of free government on earth. Here God has rested the ark of his covenant with the sons of men. Let us - once estranged and thereby closer bound - let us soar above all provincial pride and lind our deeper inspiration in gathering the fullest sheaves into the harvest and standing stanchest and most devoted of its sons as it lights the path and makes clear the way through which all the people of this earth shall come in God's appointed time. (Applause.)

1 have a few words for the young men of Texas, lam glad that 1 can speak to them. All men, and especially young men, look back for their inspiration to what is best in their traditions. Thermopylae cast Spartan sentiment in heroic mould and sustained Spartan arms for more than a century. Thermopylae had survivors to tell the story of its defeat. The Alamo had none. Thoucrh voiceless, it shall speak. From its dumb walls Liberty cried out to Texas, as God called from the cloud unto Moses. Bowie and Fannin, though dead, still live! Their voices rang abave the din of Goliad and the glory of San Jacinto, and they marched with the Texas veterans who rejoiced at the birtli of Texas independence. It is the spirit of the Alamo that moved above the Texas soldiers as they charged like demigods through a thousand battlefields; and it is the spirit of the Alamo that whispers from their graves, held in every State of the Union, ennobling with their dust the soil that was crimsoned with their blood. In the spirit of this inspiration, and in the thrill of the amazing growth that surrounds you, my young friends, it will be strange if the young men of Texas do not carry the Lone Star into the heart of the

Struggle in wliicli tlie South is engaged. The South needs iier sons to-ilay more tlian when siie summoned them to the forum to maintain lier political supremacy; more than when the buele called them to the field to defend issues put to the arbitrament of the sword. Her old body is instinct with appeal - calling on us to come and give her fuller independence than she has ever sought in field or forum. It is ours to show that, as she prospei'ed with slaves, she shall prosper still more witli freemen; ours to see that from the lists she entered in poverty, she shall emerge in prosperity; ours to carry the transcending traditions of the old South, from which none of us can in honor or reverence depart, unstained and unbroken into the new. Shall we fail? Shall the l)lood of the old South, the best strain that ever uplifted human endeavor, that ran like water at duty's call and never stained where it touched, - shall this blood that pours into our veins through a century luminous with achievement for the first time falter and be driven back from irresolute hearts? Shall we fail when the South, that left us better in manliness and courage than in broad and rich acres, calls us to settle the problems that beset her?

A soldier lay wounded on a hard-fought field. The roar of the battle had died away, and he rested in the deadly stillness of its aftermath. Not a sound was heard as he lay there sorely smitten and speechless but the shriek of the wounded and the sisrh of the dying soul as it escaped from the tumult of earth unto the unspeakable bliss of the stars. Off over the field flickered the lanterns of the surgeons with the litter-bearers, searching that they might take away those whose lives could be saved, and leave in sorrow those who were doomed to die. With pleading eyes through the darkness this poor soldier watched, unable to turn or to speak, as the lanterns drew near. At last the light flashed in his face, the surgeon with kindly intent bent over him, hesitated a moment, shook his head and was gone, leaving the poor fellow alone with death. He watched in patient agony as they went on from one part of the field to tlie other. As they came back the surgeon bended over him again. "I believe if this poor fellow lives till sundown to-morrow he will get well." And off again, leaving him, not to death, but with hope. For all night long these words fell into his heart as the dews fell from the stars on his his lips. " If he but lives till sundown he will get well! " He turned his weary head to the East and watched for the coMiinjT sun. At last the stars went out, the East trembled with radiance and the sun slowly lifting above the horizon, tinged his pallid face with flame. He watched it inch by inch, as it climbed slowly up the heavens. He thought of life, its hopes and ambitions and its sweetness and its raptures; and he fortified his soul against despair until the sun had reached high noon. It sloped down its slow descent and his life was ebbing away and his heart was faltering and he needed stronger stimulus to make him stand the struggle until tiie end of the day had come. He tiiought of his far-off home, the blessed house resting in tranquil peace with the roses climbing its door and the trees whispering to its windows and dozing in the sunshine, the orchard and the little brook running like a silver thread through the forest. " If I live till sundown I will see it again; I will w^lk down the shady lane; I will open the battered gate and the mocking-bird shall call to me from the orchard, and I will drink again from the old mossy spring." And he thought of the wife who had come from the neigliboring farmhouse and put her hand shyly in his and lirovight sweetness to his life and light to his home. " If I live till sundown I shall look once more into her deep and loving eyes, and press her brown head once more to my aching breast."

And he thought of the old father, patient in prayer, bending lower and lower every day under his load of sorrow and of age. " If I but live till sundown I shall see him again, and wind my strong arm about his feeble body, and his hands shall rest upon my head, while the unspeakable healing of his blessing falls into my heart! " And he thought of the little children that clambered on his knees and tangled their little hands in his heartstrings, waking to them such music as earth shall not equal or heaven surpass. " If I live till sundown they shall find my parched lips with their warm mouths, and their little fingers shall run once more over my face."

And he thought of his old mother, who gathered these children about her and bathed her old heart afresh in their brightness and attuned her old lips anew to their prattle, that she might live till her big boy came home. " If I live till sundown, I will see her again, and I will rest my head at my old place on her knees and weep away all, all the memory of this desolate night."

And the son of God, who had died for men bending from the skies, put the hand that had been nailed to the cross on the ebbing life and held it stanch until the sun went down and the stars came out and shone down into the brave man's heart and were blurred in his glistening eyes. And the lanterns of the surgeons came and he was led from death unto life. The world is a battle field strewn with the wrecks of governments and institutions; of theories and of faiths that have gone down in the ravage of years. On this field lies the South smitten with her problems. Above the field swine; the lanterns of God. Amid the carnage walks the great physician. Over the South he bends - " If ye but live till to-morrow's sundown ye shall endure."

My countrymen, let us for her sake turn our faces to the east and watch as the soldier watched for the coming sun. Let us stanch her wounds and hold her steadfast, as the sun mounts the skies. As it descends let us minister to her and stand constant at her side for the sake of our children, and of generations unborn that shall sufier if she fails. And when the sun has gone down, and the day of her probation has ended, and the stars have filled her heart, the lanterns shall be swung over the field again and the Great Physician shall lead her up from trouble into content - from suffering into peace - from death unto life !

Let everj' man here pledge himself in this high and ardent hour, as I pledge myself and the boy that shall follow me - every man himself and his son - here hand to hand and heart to heart - that in deep and earnest loyalty, in patient painstaking and care, he shall watch her interest, advance her fortune, defend her fame, and guard her honor as long as life shall last.

If every man in the sound of my voice under the deep consecration he owes to the Union will consecrate himself to the South; have no ambition, but to be first at her feet and last in her service; no hope but after along life of devotion to sink to sleep in her bosom, even as a little child sleeps at its mother's breast, and rest untroubled in the light of her smile, - with such consecrated service, what could we not accomplish? What riches we should gather for her! what glory

As I think of it a vision of surprising beauty unfolds to my eyes. (Applause.) I see a South, the home of iifty millions of people, who rise up every day to call her blessed. Her cities vast hives of industry and of thrift, her country hides the treasures from which their sources are drawn; her streams vocal with whirring spindles; her valleys tranquil in the white and gold of harvest; her mountains showering down the music of bells, as her slow-moving tlocks and herds go forth from their folds; her rulers honest and her people loving; her homes happy and their hearthstones bright; her waters still and her pastures green ; her conscience clear and her suifrage pure; her prisons and poorhouses empty; her churches earnest and all creeds lost in the gospel; peace and sobriety walk hand in hand through her borders, honor in her homes, uprightness in her hearts, plenty in her fields, straight and simple faith in the hearts of her sons and daucrliters, her two races walking together in peace and contentment; sunshine everywhere and all the time, and night falling on her gently, as from the wings of the unseen dove.

All this, my countrymen, and more can we do; for as I look the vision grows, the splendor deepens, the horizon falls back, the skies open their everlasting gates and the glory of the Almighty God streams through as he looks down on this people who have given themselves unto him and lead them from one triumph to another until they have reached a glory unspeakable, and the whirling stars in their courses, though from Arcturus they run to the milky way, shall not look down on a better people or a happier land.

County Schools

The following are the statistics forwarded this year by Prof. J. K. Palmer, superintendent of public schools of Dallas county, to the State Department of Education at Austin:

Number of white children eight and under sixteen years of age in Dallas county - males 2,982, females 2,900; total number 5,882. Number of colored children in Dallas county - males 500, females 559; total 1,059.

Total number of children in Dallas county eight and under sixteen years of age, 6,941, exclusive of the city of Dallas, which has the management of its own schools.

Number of white children eight and under sixteen years of age unable to read, 52 males and 48 females; total 100. Number of colored children eight and under sixteen years of age unable to read, 40 males and 39 females; total 79.

The history of Dallas is not wrapt in obscurity like that of the ancient Britons. It is too modern to have evolved any questions or doubts about its beginning. It commenced in 1841, when John Neely Bryan, a Tennessean by birth, had pitched his tent not far from the spot now occupied by the palatial stone courthouse, in a wilderness. With no companion, no friend, but all alone, he communed with nature and nature's God, surrounded as he was with sceneries and landscapes which were a panorama of beauty in themselves. Added to these surroundings was that inexpressible loneliness that even gave the dying sunset an intenser glow.

loneliness which Mr. Bryan had endured for several months, and shed sunshine on his weary and lonesome life. This young Bryan received these new comers with open arms of hospitality and gave them of all he had to eat, chiefly bear-meat and honey.

Shortly after the arrival of these families occurred the first society event in the history of Dallas county. This brave young Tennessean, John Neely Bryan, led Margaret, the daughter of John Beeman, to the matrimonial altar. Abandoning his bachelor quarters in his crude tent, he built himself a house. These three families, each in their crude little homes, built here in this wilderness, first began the great city of Dallas, which might be appropriately said to have been founded in " hospitality and matrimony." This little village grew steadily by the arrival of new comers from the old States, noble, true-hearted people, who had come to seek their own homes, and of course cherished the fondest and kindest feelings toward each other, and with whom mutual action and mutual aid became their order of progression.

Among the first families that came and joined the three mentioned, and aided in establishing this town of Dallas, were those of McComas, Rawlins, Cochran, Bledsoe, Hord, Crockett, Haught, Parker, Bnrford, Thomas, Collins, Carter, Hall, Taylor, Sloan, Hart, Horton, Cole, Weatherford, Cockrell, Jenkins, Cameron, Witt, Perry, Marsh, Coombe, Griftiu, Mountz, Crutchfield, Harwood, Brander, Smith, Traughber, Brutow

Bennett, Webb, Byrd, Armstrong, West, Cox, Lee, Atterbury, Brandenburg, Brotherton, Moss, Keenan, Vale, Chenowith, Meyers, Coates, Cooke, Leake, Vance, Willburn, Stout, Mooneyhani, Merrill, Leonard, Keen, Lanier, Miller, Wright, McCracken, Nix, Newton, Howell, Narboe, Bopplewell, Bullion, Prigam, Jackson, Prewett, Phillip, Shahan. Snow, Valentine, Patterson, Walker and Eakins, and John M. Crockett, who was Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1861.

It has been the pleasure of a few of these pioneers to behold their little village nestling on the east banks of the Trinity transformed into a most magnificient city, and they are beloved, respected and honored for their public and private fame as well as for being the founders of the metropolis of the Southwest. While with these first settlers the conditions of existence were rudimentary and very crude, they were favorable for the future, and with strong hopes for better conditions they endured privation and struggles with much patience.

The nearest shipping point was Jefferson, 150 miles east, to which place steamboats brought all domestic commodities, such as sugar, coffee, molasses, flour, and so forth, and all kinds of farming implements. A trip from Dallas to this market was one of the greatest undertakings.

Dallas was named in honor of Vice-President George M. Dallas, who was Vice-President of the United States when James K. Polk was President, 1845-1849. The town was incorporated on the 22d of February,

1856, the charter having been drawn by Nat. M. Burford, who is still living in Dallas, and has always been regarded as an able and superior man, and as one of the best known judges in tlie State, and who was colonel of a Confederate cavalry regiment and speaker of the House of Representatives in the Eleventh Legislature.

Climate

In addition to the advantages of location, Dallas can boast of possessing one of the most delightful climates anywhere to be found. The city has never been visited by an epidemic. People have been known to resort here afflicted with the most dangerous diseases from epidemic regions, even the yellow fever, and have died within her limits, but without spreading the disease. In fact, the climate in Dallas is unexcelled. The mercury scarcely ever falls below freezing point and seldom remains in the nineties during the summer seasons. The citizens are seldom kept from their business by extreme weather of any kind, but are permitted to work almost every day of the year.

Dallas' Peculiar Advantages

Colonel John F. Elliott, one of the substantial and influential citizens of the city, and one of the most fluent writers in the State, not long since, in writing of Dallas and her many superior advantages, said: center. Eight national and four private banks are located bere, with a capital and surplus of $3,600,000 and with an average deposit line of $5,500,000. Besides these, live home and over twenty European and American investment companies make it the headquarters for their branches, which loan on farm, ranch and city properties over $10,- 000,000, annually. There are also eight local building societies and four strong national associations, with an authorized capital of $500,000,000. The clearing house shows clearings for six months in 1890, $62,602,917; 1889, $57,828,000, - against $43,967,000 for 1888, and $13,161,000 for 1887. The banks of Dallas are as solid as the soils that support them.

"The wholesale and jobbing trade of Dallas has assumed proportions in its steady and healthy growth far exceeding the most san guine hopes of even those citizens who fully recognized the supremacy of Dallas, long since established as a railway and financial center, and every day discloses that she will soon be the peer of New Orleans and St. Louis.

"These facts, combined with the financial, the railway and other facilities for the transaction of all manner of business, have for several years past stamped Dallas as the great centropolis, the very gateway of its surrounding empire of wealth and power. No longer seeking, she is sought. Wheat, corn, cotton and cattle and the other products of the prairies and pineries thus naturally drift to Dallas for storage, sale or distribution, as its location makes it the intermediate depot for them all.

"Most advantageously located as to the raw material supply, cheap fuel, climatic conditions and cheap homes for employes, while fully equipped with all the facilities of capital, transportation, etc., for distributing purposes, Dallas has now earnestly and enthusiastically entered upon the manufacturing era, and diversified industries, large and small, are springing into existence under the incentives and inducements offered to capital and labor by the enterprise and liberality of these citizens. The city now counts 125 factories, with $4,000,000 invested, employing 3,000 hands, with a yearly product of $8,200,000. The Dallas Cotton and Woolen Mills have a capacity of some 14,000 yards daily production, its capital stock $250,000 ; a 1,000,000-bushel elevator costing $175,000; flouring mills, four in number, with a capital of nearly $350,000, will turn out some 2,000 barrels daily. Besides these, there are a clothing manufactory, capitalized at $500,- OOO, several implement, machine and hardware companies, with $500,000 capital stock, also a number of lumber and planing mills, brick, ice, soap, di'ugs, tinware, canning, jellies, preserves, pickles, vehicle, patent medicine, etc., ofiice fixtures, sash and door and other factories. A packery has been recently organized with a capital stock of $250,000. Located in the heart of the corn- growing region, the future of the beef and pork packery business is practically limitless, and yet there are scores of other industries, such as fur- niture, paper and rope factories, etc., that would tlirive here and yiehl line returns. The institutions already under way have come like Chicago's in proportion to collateral, enterprise and conomercial transactions, and must gradually expand into more mammoth proportions. Not simply as a distributor has Dallas this great empire to supply with all manner of products and material, but the Territories and States to the north and northwest of us, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Indian Territory, etc., and tlie imperial domain of Mexico will look to this point for raw materials and manufactured products as well, thus making it a veritable New York for all this portion of the continent."

The Future Foe Dallas

ii8 a great city in the Southwest first dawned upon the citizens when the two great railroad lines, the Missouri Pacific and the Houston & Texas Central arrived and intersected each other in the then small town of Dallas, in 1872. This was the beginning of that most marvelous growth which led this small town up from 800 population in 1870, to 8,000 in 1875, to 10,000 in 1880, 31,000 in 1885, and, including all the suburbs, 61,855 in 1889, and 71,225 in 1892. These figures were taken from the city directory, compiled by Morrison & Fourmy, of (ialveston, most careful and experienced compilers of city directories. The United States census gives the population of Dallas in 1890 as being 38,140, but this does not include the various thickly populated snburbs wliich tlie directories included. In giving the population of the city we think it would be fairer to go by the city directory, as it gives all the suburbs - the names of all who make their living in the city. The following table will show the increase of population of this thriving business city of the Southwest since 1878-'79, issuance of the first city directory. We quote from the compilers of the directory of Dallas, year 1891-'92, in which they say, regarding the population of the city, that, "As we have done in the past, we give the population upon a basis of three and one-half times the number of names appearing in the directory, finding this calculation to be as nearly correct as it is possible to get at without an actnal count, all firm names, corporations, institutions, etc., having been deducted from the total number of names:"

The situation of Dallas has been a great advantage to its rapid development, viewed from a commercial standj)oint, being 315 miles from Galveston, 492 miles from Kansas City, 082 miles from St. Louis and 515 miles from New Orleans. Being centrally situated as it is, without any strong commercial competitors near by, and in one of the most fertile sections of the country in America, and being the commercial, manufacturing and distributing center of Texas, - and Texas, be it remembered, is larger than England, Ireland, Scotland, Belgium, Holland, Greece, Switzerland, Denmark and half of Italy combined, it is but natural for it to attract attention, especially from the commercial world and from capitalists. It seems to have been a custom with all who have compiled a sketch of Dallas, to quote the saying of Jay Gould, regarding the future of Dallas; and I suppose it would be unpardonable were the writer of these paragraphs to leave it out. Mr. Gould Baid some years ago, " I expect to see Dallas a city of 250,000 people. It has behind it all the products to which Kansas City owes its prosperity, and it has cotton, which Kansas City has not." The observation of this great railroad magnate has been so extensive in regard to the future development of diiferent thriving western cities, especially along his various lines of railroads, is why we suppose his prophecy has become rather famous with the citizens of Dallas.

The advantages in the situation of this city are so strikingly superior that the United States Bureau of Statistics says concerning the same, that a circle drawn around Dallas, using a radius of 100 miles, discloses that there are thirty-four counties within such limits. By reference to the footings of the columns it will be seen that nearly half the cotton in Texas is raised within that radius, that more than half the oats and wheat is raised within it, and nearly half of the corn. So the reader can well see that the prophecy of Mr. Gould may be fulfilled even without his living to a very old age.

The Dallas Post Office

The following is an official statement, which was furnished the Neios by Postmaster Witwer, of the business transacted at the Dallas postofiice for the year ending on the 30th of last June:

Registry division: Letters registered 7,- 402, parcels registered 1,687, letters received for delivery 34,292, parcels received for delivery 1,793, received for diatribution 623, packages received 35,107, packages in transit 25,336, packages made up and dispatched 9,549, through registered pouches and inner sacks received 1,869, through registered pouches and inner sacks dispatched 1,869, official free 410, total pieces handled 119,937. Registered letters delivered by carriers 13,100.

pounds of second-class matter sent outside the county, postage paid on same, 732,488, number of pouches dispatched daily 53, number of sacks disjjatched daily 203, number of pouches received daily 53, number of sacks received daily 113, number of mails received daily 29, number of mails dispatched daily 29, number of closed pouches dispatched daily 32, number of pouches for railroad postoffice dispatched 25, number of star routes 3.

Letters and packages sent to the dead-letter office, etc. - Letters advertised 24,995, delivered 6,471, sent to the dead-letter office 18,524, packages advertised 154, delivered 44, sent to the dead- letter office 110, postal cards sent to the dead-letter office 4,388, letters returned to writers 24,657.

Inquiry division: Number letters dropped in without stamps (domestic) 1,296, number of above supplied with stamps by notifying addressee 789, number of above not supplied with stamps and sent to the dead-letter office 507, number of letters sent to the dead-letter office as misdirected 826, number of letters sent to the dead-letter office as illegible and without address 180, number of valuable dead letters received from department 92, number of valuable dead letters delivered 57, number of valuable dead letters returned to department 35.

City Officers. First Election 1856-'57 April, 1858, To August, 1858

Isaac C. Naylor elected Mayor and Andrew M. Moore Marshal. About the third day after Moore was elected Alexander Cockreil killed him, in a difficulty. Duringthei'oUowingJune the citizens voted to adopt the general act for municipal corporations, which had but a short time previouly been passed by the Legislature, and under this act the following officers were elected, August 2:

August, 1862, To June, 1866

Governor Throckmorton, having selected Lane as his private secretary, the latter resigned as mayor, and George W. Guess was elected by the city council to fill out the term.

In 1867 no records appear of any election dnring this year, and there appears to have been no mayor from August, 1867, till September, 1868, when the following officers were appointed by the Federal authorities at Austin, under Governor Davis' rule:

Seitember, 1868, To November, 1872

" Mr. Bole refused to serve, and Mr. Tenison soon resigned. Samuel S. Jones and J. C. Seydel were appointed in their stead; then Jones resigned, and John lioufot was sulistituted. Long resigned (to visit Europe) April 1, 1870, when Henry S. Ervay was appointed by the newly installed Governor Davis, and held the office till the four days November 5, 6, 7 and 8, 1872, under the charter granted in May, 1871. Under Ervay's administration, John M. McCoy was attorney, K. S. Druley, secretary, and G. W. Campbell marshal. The aldermen at different times (some resigning) were F. L. AYillemet, IraB. Conklin, Samuel Crosley, E. H. Kendall, J. C. Seydel, Z. E. Coombes, Dr. E. W. Tucker, and Edwin Taylor.

" In 1872, Governor Davis, who had been ' counted in' by General J. J. Eeynolds, of the United States Army, headquarters at Austin, concluded that Mr. Ervay was not sufficiently loyal, and issued an order removing him and appointing another in his place; but the civil government had reorganized, and both, under legal advice, and a sense of duty to the people, refused to yield. District Judge Hardin Hart issued a mandate commanding him to surrender the office, but Mr. Ervay positively refused to comply, and thereupon he was committed to jail. It so happened, however, just at that crisis, that a decision arrived here made by Davis' own supreme court, in a precisely similar case, ruling that the Governor did not possess the power of removal; whereupon Judge Hart hastened to unlock the prison door, and Mr. Ervay stepped out a free man, to resume his duties as mayor, and enjoy an increased respect of the people. His conduct throughout the affair deserved and received tlie warmest approval of the people. "

November, 1872, to April, 1874. Mayor, Benjamin Long, Eepnblican, received 348 votes, and Edw. H. Hunt, Democrat, 246- Thomas Flynn was elected marshal. Dr. David King, assessor and collector.

The aldermen were Ellen P. Brjan, Sr., C. Cafy, George M. Swink, Frank Austin, "William H. Gaston, Michel Thevenet, John W. Lane, Dr. Archelaus and M. Cochran. The council elected Henry Boll treasurer, James H. Field, attorney, and C. S. Mitchell secretary. This election was held, and charter granted. May 22, 1871.

On the 24th of April, 1873, all of the above named aldermen resigned, and the following were elected in their stead: Henry S. Ervay, Qickerson Barksdale, Alex. Sanger, John H. Bryan, William H. Scales, John Owens, William G. Sterett, James Greer.

These held their offices until the first Tuesday in 1874, at which time the following were elected: Mayor, W. L. Cabell. Marshal, June Peak. Assessor and Collector, T. J. Keaton. Attorney, Wm. M. Edwards. Treasurer, Robert H. West. Engineer, Wm. M. Johnson. Secretary, W. H. Prather.

The Aldermen were: Henry S. Ervay, R. E. Burke, Jos. A. Leonard, R. D. Coughanour, J. S. Howell, A. T. Hensley, John Owens, Joseph C. McConnell, Wm. C. Young, H. B. McConnell.

Elected Apeil, 1875

On the 27th day of April, 1875, this council adopted the general incorporation law of the State, and all the officers under this change were elected every two years, except the mayor, one-half to be elected to serve one year, the other half two years. So it followed, after this election, that one-half would be elected annually, each holding his office for two years.

Mayor - John D. Kerfoot, for one year. Marshal, W. F. Morton. Assessor and Collector, J. N. Ogdeu. Attorney, Barnett Gibbs, for two years. Engineer, Wm. M. Johnson, also for two that of the mayor and also an amendment afterward adopted so as to allow the council to elect the engineer, treasurer and attorney, instead of tlie people electing them.

For Mayor, John Stone was elected by a majority of thirty-seven votes, but he was declared ineligible because he did not reside in the incorporated limits of the city, as the charter provided, and on the 17th day of May, Dr. J. W. Crowdus was elected. J. B. Hereford resigned as secretary April 30, and G. M. Swink was elected to fill out the unexpired term.

Alderman - D. A. Williams, H. S. Ervay, W. J. Clark, J. S. Ballard, J. D. Carter, Zimri Hunt, Frank G. Moore, E. M. Tillman. Hunt resigned before his term expired and Dr. J. V. Childers was elected. Marshal, James C. Arnold. Assessor and Collector, J. C. Bogel. Treasurer, N. W. Godbold. Attorney, Frank Field. Secretary, G. M. Swink. Engineer, William M. Johnson.

Bistort Of Dallas Count 7

In March, 1883, an amendment was adopted dividing the city into six instead of four wards, and providing for two aldermen to be elected from each ward.

(Held over for this term). Marshal, J. C. Arnold. Attorney, W. H. Johnson. Assessor and Collector, John F. House. Engineer, J. S. Thatcher. Water Superintendent, Dave Tichenor. Secretary, W. E. Parry. Health Officer, Dr. J. L. Carter.

Polick Department

Of the various departments of the city of Dallas none of them are more perfectly organized and more harmoniously regulated than the police department, and the excellence attained in the regulating of this department is due in a large measure to the ef^cient services of the chief of the department, J. C. Arnold. He has held this office of chief of police since 188^, and is thereby familiar with every locality of the city and its demands. He, with his able and congenial assistant, G. E. Cornwell, who has been in service in this department since 1884, has a force of policemen superior in every respect.

This department of the city is required to hold court every morning. Kenneth Foree, the city judge, a gifted young man, was elected by a vote of the people, having been nominated by a convention in April, 1891, and is exceedingly popular as judge of this court. John T.Carter is clerk, appointed. The charter gives to this court concurrent jurisdiction of misdemeanor with tiiat of the county court; and Judge Foree, being an able, active and talented judge, dispatches husinoss rapidly by holding court daily, thereby giving all prisoners a speedy trial.

As an evidence of what the cosmopolitan city of Dallas can do, and also to show receipts of this department and expenses, we give the following statement from the chief of police in report of the liscal year ending April, 189^, taken in connection with that of the city judge: Number of arrests and cases docketed 5,374, convictions 3,547, cases transferred 328, amount of fines assessed $21,384.

List Of Officers Fiee Depaktment

In June, 1873, a call was made in the Dallas Herald, then the daily paper of the city, for the citizens of the city of Dallas to come together and organize a volunteer iire company, as the city was not sufficiently large to support a company on salaries.

A number of the most influential citizens responded, and an organization was effected; and T. J. Frank, now deceased, was elected chief and W. C. Connor, now mayor of the city, first assistant.

man for this position, W. C. Connor was elected chief and P. W. Linskie assistant. Mr. Connor served as chief for seven years. Under him the volunteer companies gained a most remarkable reputation for their enterprise and superior excellence in work as tiremen. It is said his superior as a fireman, chief and executor could not be fonnd in the South. After his service of these companies as chief for seven years he resigned, much to the regret of all the citizens; but his excellent qualities as a leader were so impressed upon the public that they immediately promoted him to the position of major of the city, which he has held since 1887, and during which period Dallas has .made her greatest improvements and the most rapid strides to the proportions of a great city, the metropolis of the Statp.

Mr. Conrjor was succeeded by Chas. Kahn, who ie ^t present a member of the city council, 3Ud during his term the department was converted into a paid department.

After this was done, Thomas Wilkinson, through the influence and persuasion of P. W. Linskie, became a candidate for the position of chief, and was elected October 1, 1887. He has held this position ever since. Through him this department has attained a degree of excellence unsurpassed by any tire company in the United States. He is a gentleman of rare ability for the business. His father having been chief engineer in the voluntary tire department in Baltimore, Maryland, when he was a young man, and instructed him in the work; also having served the volunteer depart-

Hook And Ladder Compant No. 1 List Of Engine Company No. 1

The condition of the lire department at present is first-class. It consists of a force of 44 members, inclusive of the officers. It has several handsome buildings in different portion of the city. The apparatus of the department consists at present of three second-size Ahrens steamers, two of them new, and one in good condition; two new and three old hose carriages; 3,000 feet of new, 3,700 feet of good, 2,200 feet of ordinary, and 1,700 feet of common, 2^-inch rubber hose; one double sixty-gallon chemical engine, new; one hook and ladder truck, not in service at present; one supply wagon; one cart; one buggy for chief; and twenty- two horses.

Valuation Op Pirk Department Property Members Of Ditfekent Companies

Engine Company No. 1, at the corner Carondalet and Market streets: Chas. Zumbrun, captain; Geo. Burger, engineer; D. Rainey, assistant engineer; H. Rawlins, engine driver; W. Jarvis, reel driver; B. Franklin, supply driver; E. . Reeves, hoseman; H. Millican hoseman.

Engine Company No. 3, corner Gaston and College avenues: Ralph Jackson, captain; J. 0. Rahn, engineer; A. Lott, assistant engineer; J. Clifford, engine driver; L. Paxton, reel driver; A. Cooper, hoseman; R. Wilson, hoseman.

Hose Company No. 1, on Bryan street, near Crockett street: A. E. Walbridge, captain; R. Brady, reel driver; J. Kivlen, supply-cart driver; J. Houston, hoseman; W. Brice, hoseman.

Chemical EJngine No. 1, at the corner of Elm and Olivet streets: C. D. Swan, captain; J. D. Cook, driver; T. Hurley, hoseman; T. Miles, hoseman.

Hook and Ladder Company No. 1, Central Station: J. L. Marder, captain; Dennis Canty (the oldest firemen in the city), driver; O. Crowder, tillerman; J. Ryan, ladderman;

John M. Oram, city electrician, is said to be one of the most talented electricians to be found in any country. He has a system of electric communications to all the handsome buildings of the tire department, of which there are several, also to almost all the other departments, that works with perfect symmetry and harmony. His success in this department as an electrician is praised extensively, and very justly so.

Burning Of Dallas In 1860

One of the most exciting events in the early history of Dallas county was that of the burning of the town of Dallas in July, 1860. Some of the citizens at that time differed in their opinions as to the origin of the fire. Below we give interviews of three pioneer citizens now living in Dallas, which appeared in the Dallas Daily News of July 10, 1892. These do not agree in their opinions of the origin of the fire, but a full account of the destruction is given. Uncle Billy Miller: "1 am eighty-five years old," the venerable narrator began, "and my memory is somewhat defective; but those scenes and the startling revelations of an uprising among the blacks created such an impression on my mind that lean never forget it. Grill Miller, now dead, who was a son of \V. IJ. Miller of Dallas, who then lived west of the river five miles from town, took the part of a detective and worked up the case. It is said tiiat he had some Indian blood in his veins, and he kept his own counsel, saying but little, but he discovered the plot to burn, rob and murder. There had been a great deal of burning going on in the country: farmers' homes, their feed stacks and cribs were burned, and no one knew how.

"One day as Grill was at his father's a little negro boy, whom he called Bruce, came running in crying and saying: 'O, Mars Grill, three white men came and made me fetch them some water, and then they sot fire to the barn and the house ' Grill could see the smoke issuing from his place, but he said nothing then. After he had worked on a few clews and put this and that together he one day took Bruce from the house and in the presence of a committee of white men told him that he would have to tell them who had burned his house else they would kill him, and he informed him that if he died lying the devil would get him sure. Bruce confessed that he himself fired the place, and that ho had been put up to it by another negro. This led to the revelation of a plot, which included every negro in the county except three, and one of the three was old Uncle Clayton Miller, Henry Miller's father, who belonged to Uncle W. B. Miller. He knew about the plot, but under threatened penalty of death lie dared not reveal it. A part of the plan was to poison Uncle Billy (W. B.) Miller and his wife and divide their property among the blacks.

"When the scheme was fully disclosed it was shown to have been instigated by two white preachers from Iowa. They were in the county about two years prior to the outbreak, but they left and returned again, it was charged, to fully develop their plans, which were evidently laid during their first visit to the county. As soon as their connection with the scheme became known a committee composed of Judge Hord, Uncle Billy Miller and Mr. Knight, Judge Burford's father-in-law, started to wait on them. One of them was seen. When the committee approached the negro quarter where he was stopping, Uncle Billy Miller called him out to acquaint him with the committee's mission. He was eating breakfast and he reached back to get a gun which was standing against the wall near him. At that moment a shot was tired fi'om the outside. The preacher then commenced crying and asked me to keep the men from shooting him. He promised to get out of the State in five hours, and the committee left, but before he could get away he was captured somewhere on Farmers' branch, brought to town and put in jail. The other preacher was captured and that night they were both taken out, whipped and told to get out of the State instanter. They left, but we heard of them during the war circulating stories in the North about us.

"After the burning of the town, which occurred on July 10, 1860, when the mercury stood 110 degrees in the shade, we whipped every negro in the county one by one. One of the negroes whipped became very sick afterward, and, thinking that he was going to die, he made a confession to his old mistress, telling her all about the plot, which contemplated the murder of herself and her husband. He confirmed the statement of other negroes that the two Iowa preachers had instigated the entire plot. Upon his confession he with two other negroes, one of whom was a preacher, was taken out and hanged on the bluff just above where the Commerce street bridge now stands. Clayton Miller, Henry's father, was a good old negro. Henry was freed when he was a child. He was in no way related to Commodore Miller, or to Charlie Miller, who was sent to the penitentiary some time ago."

In his search for additional particulars concerning the burning of the town and the trouble with the negroes, the News reporter yesterday called on Judge Nat M. Burford at his home on Akard street. If Judge Burford lives until the 8th of next October he will have been a resident of Dallas forty-four years. Although one of the oldest settlers and one among the patriarchs of the city, he is young in step and memory. The reporter found him mowing grass in the back yard. Showing the interviewer to his room he said that he could not recall dates with accuracy, but he had a vivid recollection of the scenes transpiring about thirty-two years ago in Dallas.

I adjourned court there Saturday and started to my home in Dallas, but I did not "et here until Monday, the day after tiie town was burned. There were no railroads in those days, you know, and travel was slow. I then lived on Main street, where the St. George hotel now stands. When I got home I found the largest portion of the town in smoking ruins. Nearly all the buildings on the square, about fifteen business houses, were burned. One two-story brick house was left standing on the southeast corner of the square. It was a saloon and I believe a saloon is kept in the same building to-day. Residences as far as my house had been burned. I remember that when I got to town everything was very quiet. It was almost a death-like stillness. People talked in whispers, but they were determined-looking. They were desperate. They gathered in groups and they were sure that nothing was said in the presence of anybody who was not known to be with them. A little after dinner T. C. Hawpe, the sheriff, came to my house and told me that a meeting was being held in the courthouse. lie was afraid they were going to hang all the negroes in the county and so entail a great loss of property. He said that three were known to be guilty and he did not think that any more should hang. He asked me to go down and address the crowd and do what 1 could to hold violence in check. I went and when I got to the courthouse door - it was a brick courthouse, the second built on the spot wiiere the new one is being erected - I encountered a doorkeeper. The guards were admitting only those whom they knew to be all right. The doorkeeper asked me if I would abide the action of the people's meeting. I replied that I would and 1 went in. The first man I found inside said: 'Now, we must vote to hang tliem three negroes, but it won't do to hang too many. Wo can't afford it. After we get the tiiree let's call up some rich man's negro and make a fight to save him. If we save the rich man's negro the meeting will not then turn around and vote to hang the poor man's negro.' I saw that he had an eye to business and I thought it was a good suggestion. I went up to the courtroom and talked about threequarters of an hour. Being a judiciary officer I then left the meeting and took no part in subsequent proceedings. However, the three negroes were condemned to death by a jury of, I think, fifty-two men. The fourth negro brought out belonged to Billy Miller, the richest man in the county. Sure enough a fight was made to save him and succeeded, but Miller said that the negro shouldn't stay in the county, and he afterward send him away. The moderation wing of the meeting compromised with the other faction by offering and voting for a resolution to whip every negro in the county. The resolution was adopted and a committee was appointed to do the whipping. I remember my cook was whipped, but she said they didn't whip her hard, and her husband at that time got the only whipping he ever had in his life, lie was a fine mulatto, a splendid blacksmith, and he would have uoth- ing to do with the negroes. He opposed the abolition of slavery and thereby engendered the ill will of all the negroes. He is living now on Elm fork, about seven miles from here. The public meeting in the courthouse was held Monday afternoon, and I think the three negroes condemned were hanged the following Wednesday in the forenoon. I was not at the hanging and I took no part in it, but most of the people had their negroes there to witness it.

" I am satisfied the town was fired by negroes. Mr. Cameron, who lived on the Fort Worth road, twelve miles from Dallas, had a negro boy about twelve years old who came to town every Sunday to get the mail. When he got back home that Sunday after being in Dallas his master saw the smoke from the burning town and asked him what it was. He replied that Dallas was burning. He was asked how he knew it. He said that as he was going to Dallas that morning Uncle Cato, who was then a notorious negro in these parts, told him to look out, that Dallas would be burning before he got back home. This to my mind was most convincing proof. (^Id Cato was captured and he implicated the other two negroes who were hanged with him. Their stories were corroborated by other negroes, so that there could be but little doubt that the negroes started the fire. They stated that two white preachers from the JNorth put them up to it, and a committee waited on the preachers. I never saw them, but after the committee waited on them they were whipped and told to leave the country.

At that time there was a good deal of house burning all over the country, but the war soon came on with its exciting events, and that is the reason I reckon nothing was ever recorded about the burning of Dallas and the threatened slave insurrection. It almost passed out of the minds of the people."

A Talk Witu One Of The Jdrymen

The News reporter ran down a member of the jury of fifty-two (Judge James Bentley), a majority of whom sent the three negroes to their execution. He declined to be interviewed, saying that this was a bit of Southern history that was not good. " The two white preachers," he said, " I believe to have been guiltless of the charge laid against them," and before the speaker knew it he was rattling away with an interesting narrative of tlie capture of the preachers, the burning of the town and the hanging of the negroes. "When the preachers were captured," he proceeded, " one of them doubtless would have been shot in his buggy, but his wife threw her arms around his neck and threw herself in front of him so that the vigilantes could not shoot him without shooting her. She made such a piteous plea for her husband's life that they decided to spare it. The elder of the preachers was not wanted, but he refused to leave his brother of the cloth. He said that he would return to Dallas and go to jail with him. The preachers were afterward whipped and told to leave the country. I think that about the extent of their connection with the negroes was that they had been seen perched on rail fences talking with negroes several times, and once or twice they felt in their duty to preach to theni. I don't believe they instigated an insurrection. In fact there was no insurrection. People became frightened and almost panic-stricken. " When the town was burned it was a hot day - so hot that matches ignited from the heat of the sun. Wallace Peak had just finished a new two-story frame building, and in the upper story that day a number of men were lounging and smoking. Piled up near the building was a lot of boxes tilled with shavings, and I think a cigar stump or a match was thrown into one of the boxes, and from that the fire was started, about twoo'clock in the afternoon. Several fires had occurred; there was a great deal of excitement about the apprehended negro uprising; somebody had to hang; and the three negroes went. There was a merchant in the town of Henderson who wrote to a friend here that he would pass through Dallas on a given date. Incidentally in the letter he mentioned the fact that the day when Dallas burned a box of matches in his store took fire from natural heat and he barely saved his store from burning. This incident was cited by those supporting the theory of accidental origin, but the merchant was denounced for being in collusion with the negroes. It happened that he originally came from the North and there were threats of lynching him in case he appeared in Dallas. His friend wrote to him to keep away from Dallas, and he did. At tliat time there was considerable wagon immigration to this country from the Nortli, and the idea somehow gained currency that those Northern people were coming down here and supplying the negroes with firearms and ammunitions. People actually held up the wagons and searched them as they entered the town, but nothing was ever found to confirm these suspicions."

In the language of the latter-day historian: " Things have changed since the events recited above transpired. A generation has passed, the shackles of slavery have been broken and Dallas has grown from a small hamlet to a proud city."

Othee Accounts

" Some months ago I furnished and you published from tiie old Dallas Herald an account of the burning of Dallas, July 10, 1860. Recently you have published several interviews with surviving citizens of that date in regard to that disaster. Some of them leave the impression that the calamity may have been the result of the spontaneous ignition of matches on that hot July day. As I believein nosuch theory (like Mr. William H. lieeman, then and now a citizen of Dallas and a native of Illinois), I beg leave to make public through the News the letter which follows. This letter, found as sworn to by two reputable citizens, if made puljlic at the time would have rendered the people of north and southwestern Texas desperate. Wiser counsels prevailed, and to a number of the most intelligent citizens of Fort Worth the country was indebted for the prevention of scenes of blood, and doubtless the summary execution of some innocent men, simply because they were recent comers, or possibly came from certain States. These wise and just men of Fort Worth adopted a wise and just course. They withheld the letter from publication, but had certified copies made and sent to confidential men in the various counties involved in the threatened dangers, to be communicated to a number of good men to put them on their guard. One of these certified copies was communicated to me and at least two other citizens of my then county. I have ever preserved it in my scrap book of special matters touching the current history of the country in those troublous times. Here is the letter:

" Denton Ckeek, July 3, 1860. " Dear Sir: - A painful abscess on my right thumb is my apology for not writing at Anderson. Our glorious cause is progressing finely as far south as Brenham. There I parted with Brother W. He went still further South. He will do good wherever he goes. I have traveled up through the frontier counties, - part of the time under a fictitious name. I found many friends who had been initiated and understood the mystic word. I met with a good number of our friends in Georgetown. We held a consultation and were unanimously of the opinion that we should be cautious of our new associates. Most of them are desperate characters and may betray us, as there are slaveholders among them and value a negro much more than a horse. The only good they will do will be destroying towns, mills, etc., which is our only hope in Texas at present. If we can break the Southern merchants and millers and have their places filled by honest Republicans, Texas will be an easy prey if we will only do our duty. All we want for the time being is control of trade. Trade, assisted by preaching and teaching, will soon control public opinion. (Public opinion is mighty and will prevail.) Lincoln will be elected and we will then have the administration, cost what it will. Her sovereignty accomplished, we have but one more struggle to make, that is free Texas. We will then have a connected link from the lakes to the gulf. Slavery will then be surrounded by land and water, and will soon sting itself to death. I repeat, Texas we must have, and our only chance is to break up the present inhabitants in whatever way we can, and it must be done. Some of us will most assuredly suffer in accomplishing our object, but our Heavenly Father will reward us for assisting him in blotting out the greatest curse ou earth. It would be impossible for any of us to do an act that is as blasphemous in the sight of God as holding slaves. We must have frequent consultations with our colored friends. (Let your meetings be in the night.) Impress upon their clouded intellects the blessings of freedom. Induce all to leave you can. Our arrangements for their accommodation to go North are better than they have been, but not as good as I would like. We will need more agents, both local and traveling. I will send out traveling agents when I get lioine. You must appoint a local agent in every neighborhood in your district. I will recommend a few whom I think will do to rely upon, to wit: Brothers * * * * L., W., I., K, McD., v., C, N., S., W., G., A., D., M. Brother L., the bearer of this, will take a circuitous route and see as many of our colored friends as be can. He also recommends a differetit match to be used about town, etc. Our friends sent an inferior article. They emit too much smoke and do not contain enough camphene. They are calculated to get some of our friends hurt. I will send a supply when I get home. I will have to reprove you and your co- workers for your negligence in sending funds for our agents. But few have been compensated for their trouble. Correspondent and industrious agent, Brother W., has received but a trifle - not so much as an apprentice's wages. Neither have Brothers W., M. and others. You must call upon our colored friends for more money. They must not e.xpect us to do all. They certainly will give every cent if they know how soon their shackles will be broken. My hand is very painful and I must close.

" State of Texas, Tarrant county. - Personally appeared before me, the undersigned authority, Paul Isbell, who, after being duly sworn according to law, on oath says: 'The above and foregoing letter was found by George Grant and myself near the residence of said Grant, six miles west of Fort Worth, near where a horse had been stealthily fed, as it seemed, and that the said letter has not been out of our possession till now, and that it has not been altered in any respect whatever.'

" If the old citizens of Dallas, who knew nothing of tliis letter to dear brother and have had doubts as to the origin of the lire in Dallas July 10, 1860, as well as those in Brenham, Georgetown, Milford and twenty other places about the same time, including over thirty mills and gins - if, we say, these charitable doubters will compare the dates and facts, all their doubts will be removed and they will see that the burning of Dallas was but a part of the plan inaugurated by the gang to which * * * co-workers belonged to "destroy the present inhabitants of Texas.

" Had this letter been published at the time it would have crazed the people of north and central Texas and caused the death of many men - doubtless many innocent men included. That it was not published was owing to the extreme caution of men who feared a great crisis was impending - men of the class who a few months later sustained the secession movement.

Health Depaktment

Dallas is classed as one of the liealthiest cities in this country. The death rate here during the last two years has been only one and one-tenth per cent. The rate in the Northern cities is much greater, and in Europe the average annual death rate is two per cent.

Dallas has never been visited with any raging epidemics. While some serious cases of epidemics have Ijeen in her borders, they failed to excite any alarm or to spread the disease. A hospital is provided for the sick, and the services of a physician are also provided free of charge. Any subjects thrown upon the city receive prompt and efficient attention. Dr. V. P. Armstrong is at present the health officer.

Street Railways

The street railways of Dallas, amounting to forty- six miles, are run chiefly by electricity, affording thereby as delightful and convenient accommodations in this respect as can be found in any city. In addition to the electric lines, a company of capitalists have partly constructed, on one of the leading business streets of the city, a cable railroad, which when completed will be, it is said, the only street cable railroad in the South.

Dallas As A Financial Center

surrounded as she is with numerous small cities of from 4,000 to 10,000 population, within twenty-five to sixty miles distance, besides the thriving city of Fort Worth, thirty miles west of her, and, being recognized as the metropolis of the State in the commercial world abroad, has become a city of great financial importance. Her banking facilities are equal to any city in the South.

The following are the names of the present banks in the city, their organization, and late statements concerning each, as well as the officers of each:

The National Exchange Bank of Dallas was organized under the State laws in 1875, and was converted into a national bank in 1887. Its capital was then increased to $300,000.

The present officers are: J. N. Simpson, president; W. H. Gaston, 1st vice-president; Royal A. Ferris, 2d vice-president; N. A. McMillan, cashier; R. C. Ayers, assistant cashier. Directors - J. N. Simpson, W. H. Gaston, Royal A. Ferris, George N. Aldridge, H. R. Hearn, George W. Buster, N. A. McMillan.

National Exchange Bank Recapitulation

Tlie American National Bank, designated United States Depository, was organized in 1884, with AV. H. Thomas, president; C. C. Slaughter, vice-president; E. J. Gannon, cashier. These are the present officers.

American National Bank

The City National Bank, at the corner of Main and Murphy streets, was organized in 1873, under the laws of the State; in 1880 was converted into a national bank, and in 1886 it was consolidated with the Dallas National Bank. After this consolidation it took its present name, " The City National Bank of Dallas."

The State National Bank of" Dallas was organized February 2, 1892, with J. S. ArtnstronfT president; C. A. Keatinj^ vice-president; E. D. Tenison cashier. Directors - J. W. Crowdus, president of the J. W. Crowdns Drug company; James Aikin, assistant superintendent Pacific Express Company; John S. Witwer, postmaster; J. S. Armstrong, president Armstrong company wholesale grocers; J. M. McCormick, of McCormick & Spence, attorneys at law; R. P. Henry, banker Lancaster, Texas; C. F. Carter, of White & Co., cotton buyers; C. A. Keating, president Keating Improvement & Machine Company; E. 0. Tenison, cashier.

Statement July 12, 1892 Recapitulation

The present directory and oflScers are as follows: Directors - W. H. Abrams, land commissioner Texas & Pacific railroad; B. Blankeiiship, president; J. M. Dickson, of Dickson & Moroney, attorneys; J. T. Elliott, capitalist; Henry Exall, United States Commissioner World's Fair; B. P. Fakes, of Fakes & Co., furniture; Robert Gibson, flour milling and coal mines; Philip Lindsley, investment banker; J. B. Oldham, cashier.

Recapitulation

The HankerB & Merchants' National iJank of iJallas was organized and opened for biieiiicBS Janitary 37, 1890, with Wm. .1. Kol ler, president; (!. W Uano, first vic(' president; Noa Spears, second vico-preBident; K. W. Taylor, third vice president; A. Ilansl, cashier.

Condition July 12, 1892

The Central National Bank was organized in September, 1889. Its present capital stock is $150,000. Its present officers are: T. J. Oliver, president; W. J. Caven, vicepresident; F. G. Claiborne, acting cashier. Directory: W. L. Williams, J. E. Lett, D. A. Dyer, S. H. McBride, A. D. Aldridge, T. J. Oliver, W. J. Caven, C. O. Wood. J. V. Childres.

First National Bank Of Marshall Dallas Board Of Tradk

Tliis institution has doubtless done more in presenting to the public the superior advantages and inducements offered by the city of Dallas and Dallas county than perhaps any enterprise that has ever been estal)lished by tlie citizens of the city.

The membership is composed of leading merchants, bankers, manufacturers, capitalists, etc., thereby forming one of the most substantial and effective agencies conceivable for the development of the city's best interests. It stands ready at ail times to consider all propositions submitted for the good of the city, to discuss vital issues of public interest, and to answer all questions concerning Dallas and this section of the State involving trade, industries, traffic, etc., etc. The following are the present officers: Henry Exall, president; Paul Furst, treasurer; George M. Dilley, first vice-president; A. Hausl, second vice-president. Directors, Henry Exall, W. G. Scarff, C. W. Guild, S. W. S. Duncan, J. P. Murphy, Theodore Mosher and Alexander Sanger.

Dallas Club

This organization is composed of some of the most prominent, influential and wealthy gentlemen of the city. It has a most liandsome and imposing building, four stories high, equal to any of its kind in the South, located corner of Poydros and Commerce streets, free from the noise and bustle of the main business thoroughfares, and yet sufHciently near as not to cause any inconvenience to the members in reaching their offices and places of business. The building alone cost $50,000; the lot cost $17,000, and the furniture $10,- 000.

The idea of a club was originated in the old Dallas Chess Club, which then consisted of a membership of a few well-to-do bachelors, with two rooms in the Randall building, on Main street. The leading spirits in getting up the Dallas Club, and the gentlemen to whom it largly owes its present success and membership are Messrs. A. II. Stewart and Geo. W. Toland. These gentlemen conceived the idea, and, assisted by others, put into execution their plans and have as a result this handsome building, an ornament to any city. Its membership is 264, and all but 37 are resident members. The following are the officers and directors since its organization:

Directors for 1887-'88: George W. Toland, B. A. Pope, R. V. Tompkins, J. C. O'Connor, Alex. Sanger. M. T. Holloway, F. M. Cockrell, John N. Simpson and Alfred Davis. Officers: Geo. W. Toland, president; 1j. a. I'ope, vice-president; A. H.

Society Of 8Dicide8

As a social curiosity, we may mention that according to the Chicago Herald of July 17, 1892, which had over a page, illustrated, devoted to the subject, Dallas has an organization calling itself the Society of Suicides, or something like that, at the head of which stood one M. A. Collins as president. This man went to Chicago a year or so previously, met with a railroad accident which injured his brain, lost all his money in "board of trade" (gambling) speculation, committed suicide by taking poison and shooting himself, and was ere mated, according to his written will (which, by the way, was a contradictory iiistrnraent), under the most weird and frightful surroundings, at the dead of night, in the deep, wild woods at the head of Lake Michigan, and under great pomp and ceremony and speech-making, by an order called the Whitechapel. Collins had a sort of mysterious and checkered life, distinguished himself somewhat by writing a pamphlet in defense of dancing, in answer to Sam Jones' challenge, and by publishing other articles, etc.

The Buckner Orphans' Home

This most noble institution was established in 1880 by the Rev. R. C. Buckner, D. D., and took its name after its founder and promoter. It was first opened in a rented house in the city of Dallas, with but three children.

It 60on became known, however, and the number of applicants for admittance became numerous. The founder, foreseeing the great future for his noble work, effected a purchase of 308 acres of land six miles east of the city, out on a high plateau of prairie, convenient however to a strip of the cross timbers. To this place he moved the home, where there is fresh air, play-grounds for the children, and land for cultivation. The inmates at the home now number 225, and when the buildings will have nil been completed there will be accommodations for 600.

Ur. Euckner, its founder, a true Christian gentleman of high culture and noble character, has been indefatigable in his efforts in building up this institution, and deserves much honor for so doing. Beloved by all who know him, he, in his unassuming, humble life, has gone on quietly doing his work of good until he has caught the attention of the public generally, and liberal contributions are voluntarily made to aid him in promoting the interest of this philanthropic institution. While the president is a Baptist minister, and the institution has a board of directors consisting of Baptist ministers, still it is undenominational in its teachings. The inmates of this institution have the advantage of being taught the common branches of education by a well qualified corps of teachers as well as being trained for practical business life in various fields of labor. The property now owned by this institution is valued at the handsome sum of $40,000, and all accumulated since 1880 by this admired philanthropist. Dr. R. C. Buckner, who is still manager and president.

Situated about two miles northeast of the city of Dallas, on a beautiful rolling prairie hill, on a plat of twenty acres, is this young but rather famous educational institution, established in 1889, for the education of girls and young ladies. It was established bv the Rt. liev. Mr. Garrett, Bishop of the Northern District of Texas, of the Protestant Episcopal Church. While this school is under the auspices of the Protestant Episcopal Church, it is controlled by Bishop Garrett and the following Board of Trust, viz :

" St. Mary's Institute is founded for the education of Christian women. Its purpose is to surround the children committed to its care with the quiet and dignified influence of a Christian home; to furnish their minds with sound knowledge, to mold their manners with gentle grace ; to strengtheu their bodies by the aid of regular hours, suitable exercise and sufficient but simple food; and above all, in humble dependence upon tiie Divine blessing, to influence their hearts by the holy teaching of Christianity as revealed in Scripture and preserved in the church.

" Keligion, equally removed from superstition and bigotry, affords the healthy atmosphere in which the best type of womanhood is grown; this, St. Mary's is designed to supply."

The building, five stories high, constructed of tine stone, on its elevated situation, presents a very striking and imposing appearance. It was built with the design of accommodating one hundred boarders, and is heated by steam and lighted by electricity throughout. The cost of erecting the building, and including furniture, amounted to $100,000, which was raised by Bishop Garrett in his travels through the State of Texas and other States, preaching, and presenting the necessity of a first-class educational institution of this character, to be conducted under the auspices of the church. The ground, twenty acres in extent, on which the building is erected, was donated for the purpose of founding this institution.

The patronage of this college has been equal to the expectations of all concerned, and the city with pride refers to it as one of the best schools for young ladies in the State. The following is the present faculty: The Rt. Eev. the Bishop of Northern Texas, Principal and Hector. Academic Department

- Miss Maria K. Torbert, head of the house, history and literature; Miss Eleanor Tebbetts, ancient languages, advanced mathematics, logic and ethics; Miss Ellen E. Creswell, English letters, rhetoric and composition; Miss Theresa Gertrude Williamson, natural science; Miss Minna Kupper, modern languages; Miss Sarah Cameron, elocution, composition and calisthenics. Preparatory Department - Miss Ersula Fitzpatrick, study hall, history and English classics; Miss Frances Kallam, English branches and elementary science. Primary Department - Miss Edith Hughesdon. School of Music, Instrumental - Miss Margaret Ida Bayer, principal; Miss Anna Margaret Kreutter, assistant; Professor Hans Kreissig, pianist. School of Music, Vocal - Miss Minnie Koyali, vocal culture and tone production. School of Art - -Miss Rachel Taylor; librarian. Miss Eughesdon; housekeeper, Mrs. Charlotte S. Cowles; infirmary, Mrs. Mary Frink; physician, Lawrence Ashton, M. D.

Texas College Of Pharmacy

This institution was chartered in 1892, with L. Myers Connor, W. F. Shook, C. N. Clauber, J. L. Williams, J. A. Rippitoe and R. Cotter, - all druggists of Dallas, as directors. It was instituted and chartered through the efforts of L. Myers Connor, an able and distinguished chemist who always takes great interest in pharmacy or any enterprise that tends toward the advancement of this science in Texas, where he has lived since childhood. He organized the first pharma- ccutical association, in Texas in 1879, and it is now a very large association, having almost every pharmacist of the State as a member. Of this association he was elected the first president. He was the editor of the iirst drug journal in the State. This talented and brilliant yonng scientist is a graduate of the St. Louis (Missouri) College of Pharmacy, receiving, in 1874, the degree of Ph. G. His eminence and superior qualifications as a chemist has been recognized by the greatest chemists of Europe and America in his being elected a Fellow of the Royal Chemical Society of England, and a member of the American Pharmaceutical Association. The pharmacists of Texas have honored him. He was sent as representative of the Texas State Pharmaceutic Association to the American Pharmaceutic Association at Old Point Comfort, Virginia, in 1890. Lately he was selected by the American Pharmaceutic Association as one of the representatives of tlie Southern States in the section of pharmacy at the American Medical Association which convenes in Detroit, Michigan, in the coming fall. He will be director of the Chemical Laboratory, and will till the chair of chemistry in this college.

With such men as Dr. Connor to till the other chairs, this college will be a great institution for Texas. The charter provides for the location of this college to be in Dallas, and Doctor Connor, assisted by the affable, congenial and talented Dr. IL D. llice, a druggist, who is at present engaged in Dr. Connor's drug store, at the corner of Elm and Harwood streets, is making preparations to open this college at an early date. The course of study will embrace chemistry, pharmacy, materia niedica and microscopic botany.

In 1842 A. H. Belo & Co., of Galveston, established the Galveston News, and so great was the demand for this superior daily in the northern portion of the State that a branch of the institution was established in Dallas in 1885 by the said company, upon terms that involved the discontinuance of the Dallas Morning Herald, then a daily with l)iit limited capital.

The circulation of the Dallas News has become so extensive that this branch has to all appearances become the fountain head. The company gives to the people, in addition to the Galveston News, - which is still holding its remarkable patronage, - one of the most successful and newsy dailies in the South. Each branch also issues a weekly, which has an extensive patronage among the farmers especially.

The daily edition of the Dallas News comprises eight or ten pages on week days and sixteen to twenty pages on Sunday. This includes respectively thirty-tive and seventyfive columns of reading matter. It is printed on a new Seymour-Brewer inset press, with a capacity of 24,000 copies an hour, of four six or eight page paper, or 12,000 an hour of a ten, twelve or sixteen page paper.

Iii8T0Rt Of Dallas Oounty

tions of the State, and in the Indian Territory and adjoining States and Territories. While tliis is its ciiiet' territory it also has an extensive circulation in all the Southern States.

The enterprise exhilnted by this live newspaper company is shown by their two special newspaper trains in north Texas and one in south Texas, sent out especially to deliver the News from Dallas and Galveston every morning, leaving about four o'clock over the principal lines of railroads, reaching to the most populous sections of the State.

These early trains are run with such regularity and with such rapid speed that all the towns within sixty and 100 miles distance from Dallas receives the News on the morning of publication before breakfast.

These two divisions - Galveston News and Dallas News, are so connected by special telegraph wires leased and operated exclusively by this company that a perfect and smooth interchange of news is effected. The Galveston News with its special train thus delivers its publication over southern Texas while the Dallas Netos covers northern Texas.

The officers of this enterprising company are: A, II. Belo, president, who shows great ability in selecting men; li. G. Lowe, vicepresident; and Thomas W. Dealey, secretary. F. Doremus is managing editor of the Dallas News; and a more able, gifted and talented gentleman for this position could not be found. It is largely owing to this brilliant young gentleman's superior ability as the managing

The Daily Times-Herald

This is an evening daily established and published l)y the Times Publishing Company, a corporation with $20,000 capital. C. E. Gilbert, its president and secretary,' is most certainly a gentleman of talent as a newspaper journalist. He has built up in this paper one of the most substantial and newsy evening papers in the Southwest.

It is a consolidation of two newspapers, as its name indicates, - of the Times and the Herald. The Times was started in 1875, and edited and controlled for a long time by Captain W. G. Sterrett. Mr. Gilbert bought out Captain Sterrett and his associates, and under his control and editorship this evening daily has become one of the most eagerly sought after of all papers of the kind in the South. Its circulation is remarkably large for an evening paper. It is but right to state its present popularity is also due to ability and talent displayed by Mr. Gilbert's splendid corps of assistants especially to the facetious writer Mr. Hush Fitzgerald, and his talented wife, who is the society editor. They have labored untiringly and with pride, with the proprietor, to build up this paper, and have certainly succeeded.

Mr. Gilbert was editor and publisher of tlie Abilene Reporter at Abileiii', Texas, before he came to Dallas and succeeded in making that one of the best papers in that section of the State. These are the only dailies.

Dallas Hekald

This paper was established in 1849. The press materia] was brought from a point in eastern Texas to Dallas in an ox cart, by Mark Lattiiner, a bright young lawyer and a spicy and pungent writer, as well as a congenial and universally popular gentleman. Of this paper he was publisher and editor for some time. John W. Swindell was his successor as publisher and editor. J. D. McCaleb was Swindell's successor, and while he had control it was converted into a daily. William L. Holland and J. B. Simpson were successors as editors and publishers to Caleb. Subsequently, Adams and Leonard purchased it, then J. W. Bartow and McNair became editors and publisher.-. Afterward, in 1878, . P. S. Pfouts purchased a one-half interest from Adams and Leonard.

In February, 1879, Colonel John F. Elliott bought a one- third interest from Adams and Leonard and P. S. Pfouts. Colonel Elliott took charge as chief editor, and also managing editor; and, being a man of superior talents as a writer, having gained the reputation as one of the ablest editors in the South, he soon increased the circulation of the paper and its size from a seven-column folio to seven-column quarto, or fifty-six columns in all.

In the summer of 1879, a consolidation of the Herald was formed with its strong rival, the "Daily Morning Commercial." W. L. Hall, at this point, took charge as manager of the business department, and Mr. P. S. Pfouts the subscription department.

This made a strong team, and the Herald prospered and grew to be a great favorite paper all over the State. It continued in its prosperity until the summer of 1884.

At this time Colonel John F. Elliott was called toNew Orleans, to take charge as commissioner in chief of the World's Exposition at that place, and remained there one year. During his absence, terms of negotiation were effected between the managers of the Galveston News (Belo & Co.), at Galveston, Texas, and those of the Dallas Herald, in which the Herald sold out, in 1885, her franchise, good-will and some property to this company, which at once established the Dallas Morning News, a branch of the Galveston News, at Gaveston, Texas.

Other Periodicals

There are many otlier superior pa|)ers, both weeklies and monthlies, published in Dallas, and most ably edited. In fact there are so many of these the writer will not undertake to give a detailed history of each. Of this large number of excellent papers the thriving city of Dallas is most certainly proud. Here they are:

Education, Public And Private

The esteem for education by the citizens of Dallas is evidenced by unusual attention and patronage given to the public schools and the many private institutions in the city. The public free-school system of Dallas is equal to any in the South. It is now under the efScient superintendoncy of Prof. T. G. Harris, an eminent scholar and an able educator. To his predecessor, however (assisted by Prof. Harris], Prof. J. T. Hand, a superior scholar and an excellent educator, beloved by all who remained under his supervision and esteemed as highly by the citizens of Dallas as any educator could be, may to very large degree be attributed, by his successful arrangement and training of these schools, the high excellence which they have attained.

The high-school curriculum aims at preparing students for the State University at Austin, which by a provision of the forefathers of Texas is made the apex of the State free-school system. The scholastic term lasts nine months in each year, and the public is not wanting in appreciation of the excellent work that has been and is being done in these schools. There are large, handsome buildings erected in different portions of the city accessible and convenient to the pupils of each locality. The buildings are not only imposing in structure but also handsomely apportioned within, at great cost to the city, in order obtain every comfort and convenience. These are public free schools, established by the citizens of the city for the education of the masses free, so as to make them better capable of discharging their duties to themselves and to society. This system has not been established for many years, and the success as realized this short time is marvelous. One admirable feature about them is that the colored population here has every advantage provided for them. Tlieir schoolhoiises are large, com mod ions and as comfortable as those of the white popuhition, aad they have competent teachers.

(The writer has failed to get the report of Prof. Harris, the present superintendent for year ending June, 1892, as he has been informed that it has not yet been completed.)

Special School Fund

This college was established in 1889 by Colonel J. R. Cole, an eminent scholar and educator, at the solicitation of a number of prominent citizens of Dallas. The special object was to prepare boys at home for college or university or give a useful education adequate for the various vocations of life.

While this school is mainly for boys, a limited number of girls are admitted. The course of study adopted, in many respects, is equal to the curriculum of many colleges, and, thoroughly mastered, will prepare a student for the freshman or sophomore class in the best colleges and universities in our country. It requires eight years to complete the entire course for graduation, which can be accomplished at sixteen or eighteen years of age. Students completing the entire course will receive diplomas.

Colonel J. R. Cole, principal, is a graduate of Trinity College, North Carolina, having received the degrees of A. B. and A. M. He has taught in Texas more than twenty years and has been professor, principal or president in some of the most prominent institutions in the State, as McKenzie College, North Texas Female College and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas.

Misses May and Ella Cole are the daughters of the principal and were educated under his direction. He was assisted by the l)est lady teachers he could procure in the State as private instructors in his family for nine years.

Prof. G. A. Harmon, in charge of penmanship and bookkeeping, is president of the Dallas Business College and is too well known in his departments for further reference.

Prof. Frank Reauifh is an artist of the Julian Academy, I'aris, France. He has devoted years to the fine arts, receiving high honors at the last St. Louis Exposition.

having completed the full course of studies and receiving diplomas, were Frank Blankenship, li. Iving Cole, Ernest House, Ellen Thurston. Those completing the English course and receiving certificates were Howard Ardrey anil Thomas Lucas.

The C. F. Carter medal for the best student of those who did not exceed fifty on the first roll of honor last year was awarded to Neita Barton.

Churches and schools always speak much praise for any city. The whites and colored people of Dallas have church buildings in the city at which they assemble to worship every Sunday.

The J^'irst Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized in Dallas in 1850, by Rev. Andrew Cumming, with eleven naerabers, when Dallas had a population of about 200. The members worshipped in a little house which was also used by other denominations, changing around, one denomination using it one Sunday, another the next, and so on. The first Methodist preacher, however, that lived in the little town of Dallas was a local preacher, Rev. James A. Smith,

This little church, of eleven members in 1850, has kept pace with the rapid growth of the city, and to-day it has a membership of 600 and a most handsome edifice on Commerce street. Rev. J. O. Jones, present pastor; membership of the Sunday-school, 250.

In addition to the First Church, the Methodists also have the following churches, which were established principally through the First Church, and each has a most handsome church building: