Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 January 1913 — TEXAS LOOKS GOOD TO HORACE H. FELL [ARTICLE]

TEXAS LOOKS GOOD TO HORACE H. FELL

Son of County Treasurer Wrote a Glowing Account to Auburn Newspaper—Raising Rice. Horace H. Fell, son of County Treasurer A. A. Fell, and formerly a .resident of Carpenter township, is now located at Chalmers, near Bay City, Texas, where he is engaged. in farming and likes the country so well and considers the prospects so assuring that he makes conditions thereabouts the subject of a very interesting article in the Auburn, Ind., Bee. Mr. Fell formerly lived at Auburn. Some years ago he went to lowa in the automobile business and then to Bay City, Texas, where for a year he was engaged in the garage bust, ness. A year ago he moved to a farm and his letter certainly has the tone of one who believes he has found the opportunity for happiness and prosperity. After discussing a number of matters of chief interest to the people of Auburn, Mr. Fell points out the most serious drawback to Texas. He says it is the unscrupulous real estate shark, who misrepresents instead of stating plain facts. He says that they tell glowing stories of the fabulous fortunes that lie in wait for the northerners who will come down there and raise walnuts, pecans, figs and oranges. That many northerners have tried it and hav&“'hfter a year or two or three, givegi up in disgust and pronounced Texas as a whole a land of waste when they might have succeeded if they had raised cotton, corn, rice or stock. For these things, ho Says, there is no better place on earth. Corn produces from 30 to ”80 bushels to the acre, cotton a bale to the acre and rice in abundance. Oats, wheat and barley do not do so well owing to the salt air. Speaking of his this year crop, he says, “I had rice exclusively this year. Conditions were right fbr raising, harvesting and marketing. I had out 140 acres and have now between 1,500 and 1,600 sacks of rice, valued at $4 a sack. I hope to put out 200 acres next year and began plowing the last of November. There is lots of wild game here and we have mallards right along and now there are geese and thousands of Jacksnipe. I helped kill a deer recently.” In every line of Mr. Fell’s letter he shows real pleasure at his experiences and prospects in Texas.