Dallas acknowledges Clarke's of February 28. He has been in San Antonio since January 2 building a house which will have to be added to 3 other houses on being built. They had two priests with them temporarily, Fathers Edward Dunne and D. Hishen of Chicago. After Easter the Bishop has promised to do all he can to get a priest for them permanently. Bishop John Moore was there and received the titles for the church and its lots. Clarke's emphatic no has simplified his position greatly. Judge Edmund F. Dunne will open a grove on shares for him. Dallas would do the same. Absentee owners rarely see any return for their money and Dallas cannot recommend anyone to open groves for this reason. He did not know anyone sufficiently well to promise for them. If Dallas undertook it, he could promise only to do the best with the means furnished by the owner and then not until he retired from active duty. The colony is a success. The man at the head is a born leader of men. They have about 55 colonists—heads of families. Dallas does not think any Catholic settlement can compete with it. The main object of the colony has been achieved—a large enough settlement to get a priest and school. Clarke could learn more from his proposed trip than a dozen letters. Purchase means settlement in San Antonio with Judge Dunne. Dunne intends an actual settlement of Catholics and discourages purchase of land for other reasons. Clarke's intention of spending the winter there might suffice and it would be perfectly practical for his son to buy land there. He trusts that Clarke will visit them; eventhough there are no hotels, he can be provided for. :: I-2-n A.L.S. 4pp. 8vo.