The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 423

Book Reviews

toms official, the real estate agent, the churchman, the tinker,
the inventor, and the businessman has been faithfully collected
and truthfully recorded. It has been neither gilded nor glossed
over. The book is an excellent factual biography. It is more than
that-it is a twofold history job.
The Borden life span covered the eras of revolution and re-
public, annexation and statehood, and secession and reconstruc-
tion. In each of these eras Gail Borden played major or minor
parts. The roles he played have been accurately portrayed in the
manner and the setting of the times. New and old vistas of Texas
history move out from the shadows into the sunlight.
The history of business is history indeed. Gail Borden was a
success as agent for the Galveston City Company. The terraque-
ous machine sank, but it did not dampen the spirits of the
inventor. His philosophy of life was "If I do not hit it in one
thing I will hit it in another." The meat biscuit failed of public
acceptance. The cries of hungry children turned the "questing
spirit" to the condensation of milk. "Perseverance" brought suc-
cess. The patent was secured; then came the long process of trial
and error to establish successfully the condensed milk company.
The name Borden came to be known round the world; justly
he could have chiseled on his headstone the epitaph:
I tried and failed,
I tried again and again, and succeeded.
The book is good reading. Seventeen timely illustrations en-
hance interest. Events, time, and place are properly authenticated
by not too obtrusive footnotes. The bibliography and index take
up about io per cent of the book; they are a delight to the lover
of Americana and the student of history.
FRED R. COTTEN
Dreams of an Empire: The Story of Stephen Fuller Austin and
His Colony in Texas. By Sallie Glasscock. San Antonio (The
Naylor Company), 1951. Pp. x+213. Illustrations. $2.75-
This new volume of 'Texana was written for the shelf of the
school library and will be a welcome addition to a much needed
Texana. The student who lacks library facilities or is too imma-

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