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Main Plaza Fifty Years Ago—View of Soledad street looking south from the present site of the old county court
house. Main plaza in the distance.
Main Plaza Today—Soledad street as is shown in the picture is the same today as it was twenty years ago. But
few changes have been made in that time. The street improvements were made about that period, when the paving
consisted of mesquite blocks. The park on the plaza was also put in about that time.
“Yes. that is old Soledad street
and Main plaza as it looked many,
many years ago. I remember it well
and yet I don’t remember all. You
see, so many incidents have crowd
ed one another in that long space
of time, for so much has trans
spired, some Incidents, necessarily,
have escaped my memory.’’
The speaker was Juan Antonio
Chavez, who resides at 219 Obraje
street, and was born within a
stone’s throw of that place in 1827,
just 83 years ago. But for his
snow-white hair and furrowed brow
one, when speaking to him, would
not believe he was an octogenarian,
for his eye is as clear as that of a
man of half his age, and his nerve
as steady as a boy’s, while his deep
resonant voice is full and strong,
all of which indicate the excellent
state of preservation in which Mr.
Chavez finds himself,
Mr. Chavez was nine years old dur
ing the battle of the Alamo, but be
yond the fact that the buttle took place
he knows, nothing of the details for
he .was far removed from the scene ol
action at the time. Like other San An
tonians who were here then, the Chavo?
family left the presidio and moved mu
iutd the country as a place of safety
Out about, twelve miles southeast of th<
city, where the Salado runs into tin
San Antonio river, the Chavez fumih
remained with relatives. When the'
>©turned to the city or presidio, Mi
Chavez says, they found that thei
home had been plundered and even
thing gone but the house and lot.
Indians Changed Their Minds.
"But you are not going to pnblis
this?’’ laughingly asked -Mr. < have
"It is such a long time ago that th
bapiiened nobody really is interested '
it, There were plenty of Indians hoi
in those davs. T remember one tin
when'thcy tried to take the town, bi
were prevented front doing so by tl
soldiers who took the InriaOT. Kigl
back of the present emr • house, bi
tween the court house and the ol
SUNDAY,
' Dwyer homestead, there was what he ।
called a "Quinta,” where the soldiers
i made the women make bread and tor
tillas for them. This was during the
I days of Santa Ana and the troops were
under command of General Arre-
: dondo. ”
Thus Mr. Chavez Continued to relate ]
i incidents as he recalled them at random >
from fragmentary bits of memory as l
, leaves that are missing from an inter
| eating book. As Mr. Chavez was born
| in San Antonio so was before him his
! father, Ignacio Chavez, who first saw
' the light of day on the site where the |
Bennett homestead at the corner of
I Nueva street and Dwyer avenue now
[ stands. His grandfather, Francisco
Xavier Chavez, married in this city
| Juana Padron, a member of one of the
j original thirteen families from the Can
, ary Islands, among the first settlers
of San Antonio. After she died he mar-1
ried Michaela Fragoso. There were chil
dren from both marriages who are eiti
r- zens of San today.
The elder Chavez, Franeisco Xavier,
, [ hud an eventful career. When a boy of ।
' twelve he was captured by the Indians
>r i in Albuquerque, N. M., and he remain ■
if; ed with them until he was a young j
i- > man. It was after the Indians had plan
•z ned an attack on San Antonio and had
it i moved here for the purpose of putting
y. I their plans into execution that Chavez
le I decided to remain in San Antonio. The
ic I attack was never made, for a treaty
ly.|was effected upon the Indians’ arrival
“yiand they went back to their wigwams I
ir.-without bloodshed.
“ir' Sun Antonio tool: his fancy ns soou ,
■y las he set eyes on the town and Fran
leiseo Xavier Chavez decided to remain;
here. As the Indians wore preparing. .to
ish return to their home in New Mexico
ez. I Chavez held back, but dared not make|
ills! his plans known lest lie be killed. He
in * pretended io be arranging the saddle
Wc and bridl" of his horse! saying Ik> would
nm | overtake them, and after the Indians
Hit | hud di-appeared from view, and had
be I probably forgotten all about Chavez
;ht ' the Inner proceeded to the governor
>r-jand presented himself with the desire
»ld of becoming a citizen of Han Antonio.
FROM SOLEDAD STREET
TO THE MAIN PLAZA
Two Widely Different Views From Old Court
House, Being the Firth in the Series.
। This later resulted in the courtship and
marriage of Senorita Padron and mark
ed the beginning of the Chavez family
in Snn Autonio in the eighteenth ceu
tiny, two hundred 'cars ago.
The Red Swimming Hole.
’This place ou the corner.” indicat
ing on the picture where the Kamp-
I mann building now stands, said Mr.
’ Chavez, • • was formerly owned by Sam
Maverick. A large lot of cypress and
other large trees grew here all the way
down to the river, and I suppose some
of these are still standing. The river
i here was one of our favorite bathing
places. The stream was then larger and
i deeper than it is today and there was
tine bathing. Here we and the Muverick
boys used to go in swimming.” ’
An incident that. Mr. Chavez recalled
with interest was when he went to
j Houston several years ago on a visit to
his son, who is located there. Upon
his arrival in Houston he recognized an
old build iug where ho stopped sixty
eight years ago while on his way to
Missouri to attend school. He went
j from here to Houston by wagon and on
, to tha gulf, where he took a boat for
i New Orleans. At New Orleans the trip
; was made up the Mississippi river
by bout. Houston in those days had
only a few small houses while Ban An
tonio already then was the metropolis
of the state. It was this old house in
which Mr. Chavez stopped during his
stay in Houston in ’42 and the exist
i enee of tlio house on the occasion of his
- subsequent visit revived old memories
' of his school days.
Recall Old Scenes.
“Well, thnt is an old-timer. said
Sol Frank of the film of Frank Bros.,
when ho was shown the picture. "I re
| call the scene well. It is certainly inter
’l estidg to look at this now and then look
' nt the improvements that have been
’ I made since the days this picture was
' I taken.' ’
’ M,. Frank was asked to mad the
1 name over the one story building when
4 .then stood on the site ot what is now
r itho Frank Bros.’ store. "My eyes aro
e i not ns good as they used to be,” he
’■ l said as he tool: his glasses from the
SAN ANTONIO LIGHT AND GAZETTE
EXODUS OF THE
DIPLOMATS HIS
BEGUN AGAIN
Many Members of Diplomatic
Corps Leave Capital on
Annual Vacations.
WASHINGTON IS DESERTED
Washington. April 23. —The summer
exodus of foreign diplomats has al
ready begun, and by the middle of
July the city will be* forsaken by the
ambassadors'and ministers from other
parts of the world. Almost two-thirds
of the heads of the foreign service at
Washington will remain in America,
and of this number of majority will
spend the summer on the north coast.
A few will seek the coolness of the
mountains.
The French antbasssador and Mme
Jusserand sailed April 7 on La Lor
raine for France, where they will di
vide their time until fall between Paris
and their chAteau in Auvergne.
Count von Bernstorff, the German
ambassador, together with the countess
and their daughter, Countess Luise-
Alexandra, will travel in Europe. Most
of their time, however, will be passed
at their country home near Munich.
The ambassador from Austria-Hunga
ry and the Baroness Hcngelmulier von
Hengvar, who are at present in their
own.country for the purpose of receiv
ing Co. Roosevelt in Vienna, will ar
rive in Washington next month, and
will leave again in June for Bar Har
bor to spend the summer. It is likely
the ambassador and the baroness will,
as usual, go to Lenox for the autumn,
returning to Washington in October.
Baron Boson, master of the imperial
court of Russia; Baroness Rosen, and
Baroness Elizabeth Rosen, with their
suite, will also leave in June for Bar
Harbor to spend the entire summer.
Ambassador Bryce’s Plans.
The British ambassador and Mrs. i
Bryce have their plans completed for n
summer in Dublin, N. H., and will leave
late in May or early in June for that
delightful resort, to remain until au
tumn. '
Hussein Kalzim Bey, who is at pres
ent in his mother country, has been
made ambassador to Boine. and will not
return to America. It is not likely
that his successor will arrive before
the season opens in the autumn. T'he
counselor of embassy and charge de’af
fairs, A. Rustem Bey, will go in June
to the north eoast, probably to Man
chester or Dublin.
Manehester-by-thesea seems to je the
most popular resort among the diplo
mats. Marchess di Montagliari. coun
selor of embassy and charge d’atfaires
of Italy, and the Marehess di Montag
liari will go there in Juue to spend
the summer.
The Brazilian charge d’affaires, K.
de Lima e Silva and Mme. de Lima
e Silva will leave the latte/ part of
May or the first of June for the Mass
achusetts city by the sea.
The Mexican ambassador, Senor de
case and adjusted them to take a close i
look. “Why. that, name is E. Wolfing,” |
he said. "Aholfing used to bo hero and I
was well known. I also remember Doerr, i
the photographer, who took tho picture,'
well,” said Mr. Frank as he turned the ,
picture over and read the name of;
Doerr.
“I came here in ’6B and this pictnre i
is a good representation of the old town I
as she looked then,” said Jim Downey,!
when he wa« nsked what he knew about !
it that would be of interest at this'
day. was a little boy going to school |
then, but I remember' the town as it *
was then. Right ou tho corner where,
the Elite now stands was a saloon con
ducted by Pat Schofield and John Earl, i
That was before the days of Jack Har
ris and there was no theater there than.
Across the street was the store of Sol'
Deutseh. I-remember when the store!
burned and wo boys waded through pa
per collars and ruffs, which were seat-1
tered over the street knee deep.”
Variety Theaters Flourished.
Tn the distance in the old picture is
shown a two-story building. This was
tlie St. Leonard hotel. To the right, in
the distance is a two-story building,
which is the present site of the South
ern hotel. This was a boarding house
then conducted by a man named
Dietrich. Later the present building
was erected, it was then the Hord ho
tel, and was conducted by the late Col.
Hord. Running the eye along the left
side of the picture, which is the east
side of Main plaza, will be seen a num
ber of one-story buildings. These have
disappeared, but further clown the walls
of a building rear up. This is an old
three-story building still standing. In
this building about twenty years ago
there was a variety theater. It was
known as the Tivoli and later the name
was changed to the Mascot. This was
one of several variety theaters running
in tho city about that time. Those kinds
of amusement resorts have since passed
out of existence.
An interesting feature in the showing
of these pictures to old-time Han An
j touilins is the different periods in Avhich
1 they remember incidents that have oc
curred here. There is the octogenarian,
-who recalls the days when the Indians
I were here, and there is the num of
- three score nnd ten who will recall in
cidents that the octogenarian does not
| remember, probably for the renson that
events which transpired later have not
; sufficiently interested him to make a
, mental note of. The man of 60 remem
j bers more recent events and with the
i man of 50 and 40 some interesting
events of the bygone days arc recalled.
- To tho one of 30 qr under the changes
have not been vejy great and the
I farthest back he’ can remember is the
I construction of the AVasher building,
' 'he addition of a third story to the
Elite hotel building and the erection of
the old AVhite Hlepbnut building, now
part of the Haul Wolfson store. All of
the other buildings have been Standing
for the past thirty years as they aro
iodij.
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la Barra, will go in Juue to Bar Har
bor, to return in September. This
leaves but one ambassador who has not
made plans for the summer, namely,
Baron Uchida, ambassador of tho land
ot the lotus bloom.
The Norwegian minister and Mrs.
Gude favor tne mountains for several
reasons. They have a considerable ret
inue and like to travel by auto, hence
they seek some place near AVasbiugton.
They probably will go to AVhite Sul
phur springs or tho mountains near
Baltimore with their son and two
charnfing daughters. They have sever
al canine pets,, chief of them being
Ihor H, a Great Dane of blue blood
pedigree.
The Swedish minister and Mrs. de
Lagercrantz will spend the entire sum
mer in their own country, where their
daughters have remained. Mr. AV. A.
F. Ekengren, who will be charge d’af
faires in their absence, and Mme. Ek
engren will join tho Bar Harbar dip
lomatic contingent.
To Spend Summer in Denmark.
Count Moltke, minister of Denmark,
I and Aime, la Countess will depart for
; Europe in July, and will travel before
i arriving at Copenhagen, their dcstina
: tion tor the summer.
The Belgian minister and Countess etc
i Buisserct will leave in Jun efor their
I native country to spend the summer
i months at their place near Antwerp,
i returning in September to the Unned
I States.
Beyond the fact that they will re
; main' in America, the minister of the
Bominiciu republic and Scnora Joubert
i are not certain as to their summer j
; residence. They assert, however, that |
(they will not make a long journey, but;
I will remain within a short run to Wash
! j ingtou. ,
At the Bolivian legation doubt was
■ I expressed as to the place of summer
i abode. Until the arrival of their
■ daughters, who are expected to visit
’I them during the summer, Senor Calde
’! ron and Senorita Elena will make uo
1 plans. They will remain in America.
, The Costa Rican minister, Senor de
' i Calvo, and family will leave in June
5 1 for some nearby place, though whether
1I in the mountains or Manchcster-by
? the-sea has not yet been decided.
Gen. Morteza, Petsian minister, is
• i now in Persia, and will not return be
- 4; fore the opening of the season in the
t ! f a ]|,
’ I Owing to the illness of Senora Carbo,
9 1 wife of tho minister of Ecuador, the
’ legation will remove to Blue Ridge
1 Summit. Pa-, in May, to remain until
D late in the autumn.
0 The Chinese minister and Mme.
8 Chano- will spend the summer in Spnng-
B I field? Mass. The ladies of the lega
-8 tion will go to Springfield early m
? the season, nnd the minister will be
I there only during the hottest part ot
the summer.
Will Visit Niagra Falls.
' Ti e Oolumbinn minister, 8«nor de
L P Borda, has been ordered to the
' I north coast, and will go, with•
' |de Borda, to Niagara Falls in June,
I thence to Bar Harbor.
,1 Jonkheer J- Loudon, minister of the
f Netherlands, who. with Mme. Louden,
’ « now in Holland, will return m Aug
nat? and will go to Bar Harbor for
i tho rest of the summer.
I Tho Guatemalan minister and Seno
a|ra Toledo Herrarte, with thc.r daugh
, [er. Senorita ChusHa. sailed todaj
for Guatemala, to reman, the ent.ro
Velez, who has goue to
! Buonos Ayres as president of the Lu
[than delegation to tho fourth Piui-Amer
? lean congress, having been appointed
e minister 1o K”' ’'T"? T k”
fl return to AVashington in the tall. He
T nora Garcia Velez, will remain m New.
f| York for the summer.
i»| The w w Cuban minister, e. < arrera
** v Jnstiz. who presented his credentials
|on April 8, IcH immediately for Phila-
delphia to address the Society of Po
litical and Social Science. From there
he went to New York, sailing on April
14 for Havana for the purpose of ac
companying his family here. Upon
their arrival they will go almost imme
diately to Stamford, Conn., for the
summer.
Mr. C. C. Arosemena, minister from
Panama, will spend the summer in the
mountains, as usual. The A’enezuela
minister, Senor Don P. Ezequiel Rojas,
will go to Manchester-by-the-sea.
The Swiss minister and Mme. Ritter
will leave the last of May for New
York to sail for Switzerland, where
they will spend the entire summer in
their own country.
Scuor Portela, minister from the Ar
gentine Republic, hasgo no to Buenos
Ayres as a delegate to the fourth I’an-
American congress, accompanies by
Scnora Portela. Senor Villegas, charge
d'affaires, and Senora do Villegas will
spend the summer at Magnolia, Mass.
To Leave Early for Montevideo.
The Uruguayan minister, Dr. Luis
Melian Lafinur, will leave as early as
possible for Montevideo, to spend the
summer with his family in his own
country.
The Siamese minster, Phya Akharaj
Varadhara, will leave in the latter part
of May for Gloucester, Mass., to spend
the summer.
The Chilean minister and Senora
Cruz, who expected to sail for Europe
April 16, were delayed nnd will not sail
until the middle of May. They will go
from there to Buenos Ayres to attend
the Pan-American congress in July, and
| in September will attend the centen
’ ary celebration of their own country.
The Haitien minister is another who,
j together with Mme. Sannon, will re-
FRENCH LABORATARY
to place a tubercular exhibit with good lectures to teach the sick
people how to cure consumption, ion West Houston Street.
FRENCH LABORATORY
APRIL 24, im
turn to his native country for the sum
mer.
Dr. Luis Lazo, minister from Hon
duras, will attend the Pan-American
congress in July as a delegate from
his countiy, and will not return until
after the Chilean centenary.
The Peruvian minister and Mme. de
Pardo have not returned from their
trip to their own country and nothing
is known of their plans for the sum
mer. Mr. Manuel de Freyre y Saman
der, charge d’affaires, is of the opinion
that the legation will go to the North
Shore.
Mr. L. A. Coromlias, minister from
Greece, is another who has made no
summer plans, though he will likely
travel in Europe. Mr. Caftanzoglu,
first secretary to the Greek legation
has sailed for London, having been
made charge d'affaires of the legation
there.
A. N. Shweehan.
A. N. Shweehan, aged about 28
years, died last night at 240 Garden
street of pneumonia. Shweehan came
to San Antonio about three weeks ago
from Cincinnati, Ohio. Relatives have
been wired and pending an answer the
remains will be held at the Shelley
undertaking parlors.
Knights of Columbus, Notice.
Members of San Antonio Council
No. 786, Knights of Columbus, and
visiting knights are requested to meet
in our hall, No. 211 North Press street
this afternoon at 3 o’clock to attend
the funeral of our late brother, Frank
J. Murphy.
P. C. WOODS, Grand Knight.
Welcome
The Glasses
IF YOUR EYES
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R. C.Rees Opt. Co.
The Better Opticians.
242 West Commerce Street.