TEXAS, OUR LARGEST STATE 



1359 



lars, and the ability to provide for an 

 expenditure of this sort shows marvelous 

 enterprise in a city that was almost bank- 

 rupt after the catastrophe of 1900. 



The harbor improvements at Galves- 

 ton are a very good illustration of the 

 money value of such operations. With 

 a channel 30 feet deep and 800 feet wide, 

 the largest vessels can today reach the 

 great docks which are built along the 

 water front, with accommodations for 

 100 vessels. The land-locked harbor has 

 easy and safe anchorage for 500 more. 

 The grain-elevator capacity here is 4^/2 

 million bushels, and a loading device de- 

 livers 70,000 bushels an hour into a ship. 



THi: VAI.UK 01^ HARBOR IMPROVEMENT 



In 1890, before the army engineers 

 began work on this harbor, there were 

 but 14 feet of water on the bar, so that 

 only small vessels could cross, and the 

 few larger vessels visiting the port had 

 to be served by lighters. A board of 

 army engineers estimated that 10 million 

 dollars a year would be saved by these 

 improvements, or a saving in one year of 

 nearly the total cost of the work. 



As a result of the harbor improve- 

 ments, freight rates on cotton from Gal- 

 veston to Liverpool dropped from 60 

 cents to 2y cents a hundredweight, or 

 $1.65 a bale. This amounts to six mil- 

 lion dollars on the total amount handled 

 annually. On grain the drop has been 

 from 6 cents a bushel to 2^ cents, and 

 on other products the decrease has been 

 proportionate. Applied to present busi- 

 ness, it aggregates a difference of 30 mil- 

 lion dollars a year, not to mention the 

 great business given to the city by the 

 natural increase in trade due to this great 

 advantage. 



Galveston has many delightful fea- 

 tures. Her climate is warm, but the 

 Gulf breezes usually temper the summer 

 heat, and the winters have only occa- 

 sional chilly spells of short duration. Its 

 title, "The City of Oleanders," gives a 

 clue to one distinctive feature, for in the 

 handsome residence district these trees 

 abound, and with palms and many other 

 southland trees and plants give a charm- 

 ing aspect to the place and attract many 

 winter visitors. 



HOW AN INDIAN VIIvLAGE BECAME A CITY 



But little more than a half century ago 

 Waco was an Indian village; now it is a 

 progressive city of nearly 30,000 inhabit- 

 ants. It is situated on the banks of 

 Brazos River, in the central part of 

 the State, and is the metropolis of the 

 most productive cotton-growing district. 

 Twenty-five railroad lines bring it into 

 close touch with the outside world, and 

 it is claimed that nearly 2,000,000 per- 

 sons are within four hours' ride of the 

 Union Station. Waco is deeply inter- 

 ested in the conversion of the Brazos 

 River into a ship canal — a project now 

 in progress under direction of army en- 

 gineers. The distance to the Gulf at 

 Velasco is 425 miles, and the estimated 

 cost is $4,000,000. It is figured that the 

 saving on freight on outgoing cotton 

 alone would be more than one and a half 

 millions a year. 



Austin, the State capital, is a city of 

 about 30,000 inhabitants, and, while it is 

 not growing as rapidly as some other 

 towns, it is an important center of civic 

 and educational interests. 



The State Capitol is the finest public 

 building west of the Mississippi ; in size 

 it is second only to the National Capitol 

 at Washington, for its length is 566 feet, 

 inclusive of portico, its width 289 feet, 

 and its height 311 feet from grade line 

 to tip of statue on dome. 



The State University at Austin now 

 has an attendance close to 3,000 and has 

 a very high standard of completeness in 

 equipment and tuition. The teaching 

 force numbers 170, including many pro- 

 fessors of high attainments. 



Besides this university, the State sys- 

 tem of education includes an agricultural 

 and mechanical college near Bryan, a col- 

 lege of industrial arts at Denton, five 

 normal schools, and a large number of 

 high and common schools. This is sup- 

 ported by the largest public-school fund 

 in the United States and by the usual 

 taxes. Austin also has a large insane 

 asylum and a great school for the deaf, 

 with 454 pupils, all of whom are trained 

 to be self-supporting on leaving school. 



Beaumont is the ninth of the Texan 

 cities in number of population, having 

 about reached the 30,000 figure, including 



