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SAN ANTONIO-HER TRADE,
seigers was ten times as great ; and even after succor was despaired of by
himself and men, the Alamo was held for days against superior numbers
and munitions of war. Not till the last drop of life's dear blood had been
spilled or congealed in death's grasp, did the cries of patriotism, Texas
and her independence, cease to echo through those halls of masonry;
and before the bodies were laid upon the funeral pyre, the brute comman-
der Santa Anna, is said to have flinched as he regarded the result of his
bloody orders, which could rob the heart of its own right to beat, but left
the smile of satisfaction and the half-formed cry of patriotism plainly
marked upon the lips of freedom's martyrs.
How the heart must thrill to-day of every one descended from such
noble blood when he but entertains those dearest memories, or peruses in
the annals of the days of Texas chivalry the glowing records of his own
forefathers' deeds of bravery, and who among them should or has the
power to suppress his joy at contemplation of the speedy fate, the subju-
gation of Santa Anna and the proclamation of Texas independence—the
cause for which his people bled and died.
However dark and gloomy be the day of carnage, the sun shines out
as brightly the succeeding morn as it was ever wont to do it seems to
smile, caressing brow and cheek and tress of mourning wife and wailing
daughter, as if an all-ruling power controlling not only the hard destiny
of man, but giving to its heavenly orbs the right to whisper through the
voice of nature to the weeping relict of his bravery and his love : 'be
calm, for all is well'—wished to deride the heart that after all is only hu-
man, and would belie the nature that had granted birth if it should fail
to mourn.
Such deeds to last forever in emblazoned letters on escutcheons of
fame, could only be enacted by the sons of soil as great in riches as the
hearts that bled for it could be in virtue. Their cause was grand ! So let
us leave the martyred heroes to their everlasting sleep and teach posterity
of the soil for which they died contending.

RESOURCES OF SAN ANTONIO.
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES.
It is easy to understand what a state of depression may exist in a
country which had for years suffered the galling effect of the arms of war;
and it is natural that long days, and even years, should pass before the
ravages can be erased or forgotten sufficiently to allow a new impetus to
the strides of trade and commerce. It lasts even through the efforts of
survivors, and though the stranger may be welcome, his hand is never
turned so deftly to the necessities of surroundings as the one brought up
and trained beneath their immediate influences.
The history of San Antonio's advancement in importance—commer-
cial and otherwise—may be properly dated from the enthusiasm occasioned