The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965 Page: 296

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

history for its own sake. Pages recounting colorful anecdotes and
listing station agents, boards of directors, and local schedules are
scattered through chapters which would satisfy the demands of
most any professional historian and reveal that Maxwell is quite
familiar with general transportation history. Incidentally his
research on lumbering in East Texas has enabled him to add
depth to his work. The dual purpose of the author may be the
most rewarding approach but it makes for a slightly worrisome
incongruity that even affects the writer's style, which is a com-
bination of chatty informality and plain matter-of-factness. For
example on page eleven: "There Charles A. Burton . , super-
vised the unloading of the pert puffer billies [italics mine]. Their
cost was listed at $11,501.60."
Finally, a bibliography, an index, and maps make the book
more useful to railroad historians, while pictures of quaint loco-
motives and railroad memorabilia enhance its attractiveness for
all readers. E. DALE ODOM
---------- North Texas State University
House Journal of the Ninth Legislature Regular Session of the
State of Texas, November 4, z86z-January 14, 1862. Com-
piled and edited by James M. Day. Introduction by Price
Daniel. Austin (Texas State Library), 1964. Pp. xii+ 166.
Illustrations, appendix, index. $3.75.
Students of Texas in the Confederacy once more will commend
Editor James M. Day and the Texas Library and Historical
Commission for publishing a companion volume to the Senate
Journal (Austin, 1963) of the same legislative session, and the
Senate Journal and the House Journal (Austin, 1963) of the
First Called Session, February 2, 1863-March 7, 1863. Material
shortages prevented the publication of these and other journals
during the conflict of a century past.
Day makes it clear in the Preface that he has brought to press
"an incomplete and inaccurate account" of this session as the
"manuscript journal has been lost." He has pieced together
information from diverse sources including the Senate journal
(when the two houses were in joint session) and contemporary
newspapers, but the "bulk of information on the bills and the
committee reports were taken from the original in the Archives."

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