Democratic Sentinel, Volume 5, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1881 — The Texas Climate. [ARTICLE]

The Texas Climate.

The funny man of the Texas press Writes: The climate of Texas is an unabridged one, and we would be doing it an injustice if we did not devote some space to it in this paper. When the pious old Spanish missionaries first came to Western Texas to convert the Indians, and everything else they could lay their hands on, to their own use, they noticed the extreme balminess of the atmosphere, the gorgeous Italian sunsets, and the superior quality of the climate. They were surprised that the Creator would waste so much good climate on the wicked heathen. Back where they came from, where all the folks were good Catholics and observed 211 holy days in the year, they couldn’t raise as much climate per annum as they could harvest in Western Texas in one short week. . In the early days of the Republic ot Texas, and even after annexation, many of the white men who came to Western Texas from all parte of the United States had strong sanitary reasons for preferring a change of climate. . To .be more explicit the most of the invalids had been threatened with throat disease. So sudden and dangerous is this disease that the slightest delay in moving to a new and milder climate is apt to be fatal, the subject dying of dislocation of the spinal vertebra at the end of a few minutes and a rope. A great many men, as soon as they heard of Western Texas, left their homes in Arkansas, Indiana and other States— left immediately, between two days, the necessity of their departure being so urgent that they were obliged to borrow the horse they rode to Texas on. All these invalids recovered on reaching Austin. In fact they began to feel better, and considered themselves out of danger as soon as they crossed the Brazos River. Some of those who would not have lived twenty-four hours longer if they had not left their old homes reached a green old age in Western Texas, and, by carefully avoiding the causes that led to their former troubles, were never again in any danger of the bronchial affection already referred to. As soon as it was discovered that the climate of Western Tevas was favorably disposed towards invalids, a large number of that class of unfortunates came to Austin. Many well authenticated cases of recovery are recorded. Men have been known to come to Austin far gone in consumption, and so far recover as to be able to run for office within a year, and to be defeated by a large and respectable majority all owing to the atmosphere and the popularity of the other candidate. There is very little winter in Western Texas. But for the northers Austin would have almost a tropical climate, as it is situated on the same parallel of latitude of Cairo, in Egypt, where they have tropics all the year around. As it is, there is seldom any frost, although it is not an unusual thing for lumps of ice several inches thick to be found—in tumblers by those who go to market in the early morning. Occasionally New Year’s calls are made in white linen suits and an intoxicated condition. Spring begins seriously in February. The forest trees put on their beautiful garments of green and the fruit trees come out in bloom. Prairie flowers and freckles come out in this month, and the rural editor begins to file away spring poetry. In February stove pipes are laid away in the woodshed and the syrup of squills and kough kure man puts a coat of illuminated texts on the garden fences. Seedticks are not pulled until April, but after the middle of March there is no danger of the musquito crop being frozen. Early in March the doctors oil their stomach-pumps, for the green mulberry ripens about that time and has to be removed from the schoolboy.