TEXAS 



5768 



TEXAS 



one can travel almost as far within the state as 

 in making the journey from Texarkana to the 

 Atlantic coast. 



With the exception of Florida, Texas is the 

 southernmost state in the Union; it is midway 

 between the Arctic Circle and the equator, and 

 equidistant from the Atlantic and Pacific 

 oceans. There are 3,495 square miles of water 

 in the state ; its irregular boundaries are largely 

 formed by rivers, and on the southeast lies the 

 Gulf of Mexico. 



The People. As Texas is one of the younger 

 states, its population is not yet large enough 

 fully to develop its wonderful resources. Hav- 

 ing 3,896,542 inhabitants fewer than live in the 

 city of New York at the census of 1910, it 

 ranked fifth in population among the states of 

 the Union. The average density of the popu- 

 lation was 14.8, as compared with 30.9, the av- 

 erage for the entire United States. However, 

 the number of inhabitants is steadily growing, 

 and the population was estimated at 4,472,494 

 on January 1, 1917, showing an increase of over 

 sixteen per cent sinc6 1910. There are more 

 than 690,000 negroes in the state, and of for- 

 eigners the Mexicans are most numerous. In 

 the south and west of Texas a large part of the 

 labor on the farms and ranches is done by 

 Mexicans. 



All but twenty-four' per cent of the popula- 

 tion live in rural communities. The largest cities 

 are San Antonio and Dallas, each having over 

 110,000 inhabitants; Fort Worth, Houston, 

 El Paso, Galveston, Austin, Waco, Beaumont 

 and Laredo. 



The largest religious bodies are the Baptist 

 and Methodist. The Roman Catholic, Disci- 

 ples of Christ, Presbyterian and Episcopalian 

 denominations are also important. 



Education. Texas has an excellent system of 

 public schools, under the supervision of the 

 state superintendent of public instruction and a 

 board of education consisting of the governor, 

 comptroller, secretary of state and the state 

 superintendent. County schools are adminis- 

 tered by county boards and commissioners; 

 city schools are regulated by municipal boards 

 of education. In 1915 three assistant superin- 

 tendents were appointed, an appropriation was 

 made for the purpose of establishing depart- 



ments of vocational training in the high schools, 

 and education was made compulsory. In 1910 

 the illiteracy of the state was 9.9 per cent, 

 which is small, considering the large number 

 of Mexicans and negroes. Factories may not 

 legally employ illiterate children under four- 

 teen years of age. 



Texas has a permanent school fund of 

 $83,900,000, which is larger than that of any 

 other state in the Union. Separate schools are 

 maintained for the white and negro pupils, but 

 the Mexicans attend the schools for the white 

 children. Besides the elementary and high 

 schools, the state maintains normal schools at 

 Canyon City, Huntsville, Denton and San Mar- 

 cos; a school of industrial arts at Denton; a 

 normal and industrial college for the colored 

 at Prairie View; the state university at Austin, 

 with a medical department at Galveston, and 

 an agricultural and mechanical college at Col- 

 lege Station. Other prominent institutions of 

 higher education are Southwestern University 

 at Georgetown (Methodist) ; Texas Christian 

 University at Fort Worth; Baylor University 

 at Waco (Baptist) ; Trinity University at Waxa- 

 hachie (Presbyterian); and the University of 

 Dallas at Dallas. 



Texas has been conspicuous among the South- 

 ern states in its provision for the scientific care 

 of dependents and defectives. In 1915 this 

 state was added to the short list of those in 

 which provision is made for the care of-crip^ 

 pled and deformed children, and the Walter Col- 

 quitt Memorial Children's Hospital was taken 

 over by the state. Other state institutions of 

 charity and correction are insane asylums at 

 Austin, Terrell and San Antonio; an orphans' 

 home at Corsicana; an epileptic colony at Abi- 

 lene ; a school for the deaf and dumb, homes for 

 Confederate soldiers and Confederate women 

 and an institution for the colored deaf, dumb 

 and blind at Austin; a girls' training school at 

 Gainesville; a juvenile training school at Gates- 

 ville, and penitentiaries at Huntsville and Rusk. 

 Each of these institutions is controlled by its 

 own superintendent and board of managers, 

 who are appointed by the governor. The honor 

 system and some form of profit-sharing labor 

 have been established in recent years, in com- 

 mon with other states, in the penitentiaries. 



Physical Characteristics and Resources 



The Land. Texas consists of several vast 

 plains sloping from the mountainous table-land 

 in the northwest to the low, marshy shores of 



the Gulf of Mexico. The northeastern section 

 is an undulating timberland where there are 

 dense forests of pine and impenetrable thickets 



