Mr. J. D. Marsh and his brother, Harry Marsh, of Farmers Branch, are in the city to-day. They are prominent planters in the Farmers Branch neighborhood. Mr. J. D. Marsh owns a cotton gin and a wheat thresher. This season, they threshed about 20,000 bushels of wheat. The yield ran all the way from 20 to 30 bushels per acre.
     He says the prospects for the cotton crop is the finest he ever knew. There has been just rain enough for the crop. The boll worm has not made its appearance. Much of the crop is now beyond danger from the pest and three weeks more, he says, will place every stalk safely out of reach. One of his neighbor's, Mr. G. L. Ford, counts forty and fifty bolls of cotton to the stalk in his field.
     Although Mr. Marsh owns one large gin, he is going to put in another with twenty bales per day capacity in the town of Farmers' Branch, in order to meet the demand which will be made upon ginners this fall.

Special to the Times-Herald.
     FARMERS' BRANCH, Aug. 3.--Farmers' Branch is one of Dallas county's thriving little towns and especially just now have her citizens joined hands for the advancement of their mutual interests and their town is taking a double quick in the march of progression. Among the improvements noticed by your correspondent might be mentioned, J. D. Marsland & Son's gin. The machinery alone will cost $2200.
     A. M. Markham has repainted his gin, is adding new machinery and is renovating generally.
     Thomas & Elliston have the Bev. Scott building filled with a $5000 stock of new goods and under the efficient management of the affable W. R. Turnipseed, they will have a full share of the patronage of the people who trade at Farmers' Branch.
     J. B. May, "the old reliable," has taken in as a partner, Wm. B. White of Grapevine, and will add to his already large stock. Mr. White is spoken of as a fine business man, and with Mr. May's well-known ability, the combination is a strong business team.
     L. E. Kerr has repainted his store and is adding to his stock of drugs.
     O. E. Fyrrell has his drug store nicely painted.
     K. E. Meyer, who bought the Good & Longmeyer stock, is doing business at the old stand.
     Good & Ogden, the blacksmiths, are doing a land office business and the ceaseless ring of their anvils be-speak of a time of plenty with the farmers.
     Dr. McCullom, the worthy disciple of Esculapius, who, by conscientious work, has built up an immense practice, will shortly occupy the addition to the Scott building with a large and complete stock of drugs. His success is assured.
     Mrs. Stanley has bought the McCullom, and will move there for the school advantages.
     Farmers' Branch has, up to date, shipped twenty-nine cars of wheat, two cars of oats and nine cars of hay. Farmers' Branch, through her live merchants, will handle 2000 bales of cotton the coming season, and taken all around, her future is bright with the assurance of prosperity and good cheer.
     Farmers' Branch needs a church building. There is no church closer than two miles, the school house being used for church purposes, but a move is on foot looking to the erection of a large church in the immediate future. It is to be hoped that her usually liberal citizens will not be backward in contributing to this worthy cause.
     There will be a concert given by local talent in a few nights, the proceeds to be used to purchase a new organ for the Sunday school.
     R. W. Yates, the youngest, as well as one of the most efficient, station agents in the state, has returned from a visit to relatives at Leonard. H. C. Fouts, of Trinity Mills, who filled Mr. Yates' position during his absence, has returned home. Sam Sebastian, the former railroad agent, is in from Wichita Falls on a visit.
     Miss Addie Asbury, who has been in Garland for the past three months, has returned home to the delight of her many friends.
     Miss Ola Eads, a Denton girl, who has a music class here, is producing consternation in the "beaters" of some of the young men of the Branch and a certain druggist is reputed to be a hard hit. He is acting "kinder" strange, anyhow.
     Mr. Langley, the lumber man, will move his family to Denton. He will be missed very much, as he has been one of the Branch's most progressive citizens.
     Prof. Bishop goes to Garland, and the people of the latter city have cause for congratulation in securing a man who is looked upon as one of the most efficient educators in the state.
     The school here has been given to Prof. Miller for the next year. He comes highly recommended and will, no doubt, give entire satisfaction to the patrons of the school.
     William and Howard, sons of G. L. Ford, have gone to Tennessee on a visit to relatives.
     A number of the prosperous farmers of this vicinity have been west, prospecting, but they all returned declaring the Farmers' Branch country good enough for them, and will continue to live in the land of sure crops, good cheer and plenty, in short, the garden spot of North Texas.

     O. L. Terrell, who resides at Farmers' Branch, Precinct No. 2, was charged with selling liquor to a minor named Marsh Elliston. The jury returned a verdict of guilty and Terrell was fined $25 and costs. There are eight or ten other counts against Terrell, charged with violating the local option law in precinct No. 2. His attorneys hold that the law is invalid and a trial of the case is on this afternoon.

     Petitioners of justice precinct No. 2 have filed a petition with the county commissioners court asking that the place of holding the court be changed from Carrollton to Farmers Branch.

     Prof. J. W. Bishop of Garland is announced as a candidate for county superintendent of schools. Prof. Bishop has been in this county four years, engaged all the time in educational work. Three year ago, he taught a school in the Shiloh neighborhood, and the last two years, he was principal of a flourishing school at Farmers' Branch. Last fall, he was elected principal of Garland College, and has built up there a splendid institution which would be a credit to any city. Prof. Bishop is a young man, vigorous and fully capable--of conducting the county school interests in the most approved manner.

     J. W. Markham and wife to Jno. R. West and S. C. Myers, lots 16 to 22 in block "A" of Farmers Branch. $1000.

     Mr. W. R. Turnipseed, a prominent young business man of Farmer's Branch, was met by a reporter and his opinion of the proposed Dallas county exhibit at the State Fair asked. He said: "I am in hearty sympathy with the move and stand ready to assist it all in my power. I think that there should be a meeting of the farmers called and some steps taken in the matter immediately, for in my opinion, it is of great importance to Dallas county. Each farming neighborhood would delegate one of their number to come to Dallas some day in convention assembled sufficient means could be raised and material for the exhibit collected to make one of the most attractive exhibits at the fair."

     Mr. Turnipseed of Farmers Branch was in the city to-day, and gave it out that Farmers Branch would have a big Democratic rally next Thursday night. The Carrollton cornet band and the Democratic clubs of Carrollton, Trinity Mills and Starks school house will be present, with many from Dallas. Chas. F. Clint, Farmer Shaw and others will speak.

     W. R. Turnipseed, of Farmers Branch, is in the City to-day. He has purchased the Thomas & Elliston stock of goods at that place and will conduct the business for himself.

     In response to the felicitous words of welcome from the Rev. John M. Myers, with which he greeted the old pioneers of Dallas county at Farmers' Branch on yesterday, the Hon. John H. Cochran spoke as follows:
     HONORED SIR: To me falls the honor and the pleasant duty of responding, in behalf of the grand old pioneers of Dallas county, to the cordial greeting and hearty welcome of the good people of historic Farmers' Branch, which has been so eloquently expressed and generously extended to us, by one of her gifted and honored sons, with whom I have been acquainted for forty-eight years, and whose remarks are suggestive of the leading and predominant character of the people of Farmers' Branch for the last fifty years.
     In accepting the hospitalities of this people upon this happy occasion, it is but meet, that we should briefly refer to the history of the community whose welcome guests we are to-day. And, when we shall use the term "Farmers' Branch," we use it as did the early pioneers of this community, to include all that territory between the county line on the north, to Jo's branch on the south -- from its head on the east, to the Elm Fork on the west.
     The people of Farmers' Branch have, for the last fifty years, been an intelligent, good and honest people. Friends, as little as you may think of it, Farmers' Branch is, indeed, a sacred and an historic place in the hearts and history of the pioneers of Dallas county.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in December, 1842, that Thomas Keenan and the Pulliam boys built the first two dwelling houses ever built in Dallas county. And, the third one was built by William M. Cochran in the spring of 1843. True, Col. John Neely Bryan, the founder of the city of Dallas, built, in the same year, a block house on the north bank of the Trinity river, near where the court house now stands, and the Beemans came down from Bird's old fort the same year and made what was known as the Beeman settlement, east of where the city of Dallas now stands in all her present beauty and grandeur.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch , near where we now stand, that Wm. M. Cochran, my father, fenced in and broke the first farm of fifty-three acres, in 1843, that was ever put in cultivation in Dallas county, on which, in 1844, was sown the first wheat, and planted the first cotton ever sown and planted in Dallas county. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, where the weary, worn traveler and emigrant of 1843, 1844, 1845 and 1846, first found a warm and hearty welcome by those who had preceded them. It was the Farmers' Branch settlement that was first known abroad, and to which the pioneers of 1843, '44, '45 and '46 directed their march and finally pitched their tents, obtained their supplies, and from which, they prospected and made their several selections and formed the different settlements, or neighborhoods of the county, familiar only to those of us who survive.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in 1845, that the first Methodist church ever organized in Dallas county was organized with my mother, Nancy J. Cochran, Uncle Isaac B. Webb and Aunt Mary Webb and Franklin Fortner as its only organic members. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in the spring of 1846, that Elder David Myers, father of brothers, John M. and Cleve Myers, in connection with Elder Wm. Boales, organized the first Baptist church ever organized in Dallas county, and baptized Thos. Keenan and wife in Farmers' branch, that the first church houses ever erected in Dallas county were built by the Methodist and Baptist denominations. The first was called Webb's chapel. The second, Union church. It was here, in the spring of 1846, in Webb's chapel, which stood near where A. J. Dennis now lives, that Thos. C. Williams taught the first school ever taught in Dallas county, and at which school, your humble servant learned his A B C's.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, in 1846, that the first Sunday school ever organized in Dallas county, was organized. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, that Wm. Boales erected the first blacksmith shop ever erected in Dallas county, with an old colored man by the name of Jordan, as blacksmith. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, that Wm. Boales erected the first corn mill, on stilts, run with a rawhide band, that was ever built in Dallas county. It was here, on Farmers' Branch, that R. J. West built the first tanyard and tanned the first leather ever tanned in Dallas county, and on account of the demand for the leather, it was taken from the vats and used before properly tanned, and in consequence, when this half-tanned leather was wet, and then became dry, it was as hard as a board, and from this fact, the north prong of Farmers' Branch, on which this tannery was built, took the name of "Rawhide Branch," which it bears to this day. The first shoe shop ever in Dallas county was run by an Englishman by the name of Sims, on Farmers' Branch. The first county clerk and the first representative in the legislature Dallas county ever had was a pioneer citizen of Farmers' Branch. The first land office ever established in North Texas was established on Farmers' Branch, in 1845, near where Whit Webb's house stands, by Hedgecock, agent for Peters' colony. Last, but not least, it was here on Farmers' Branch that Tom and Dave Marsh, William and Whit Webb, James M. Kennedy, Cleve Myers, John R. West, G. W. Good, A. M. and Wm. P. Cochran and your humble servant were school boys and rabbit and coon hunters together on Farmers' Branch, all of whom are alive and well to-day.
     With this array of facts before you, who can doubt but that Farmer's Branch is a sacred historic spot in the hearts and history of the early pioneers of Dallas county? The home of our fathers, the play ground of our childhood. Sacred spot where first were planted in the wilderness, the seeds of civilization which have grown and borne fruit in such abundance, that, to-day, it is the grandest and most populous county in Texas.
     Yes, 'twas here on Farmers' Branch that many, many pioneers, weary and tired, received their first welcome and warm greetings to a home on the then extreme frontier of Texas, by those who had preceded them, and to whom they were entire strangers.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, where many old pioneers first met as strangers, and, at once, formed attachments for each other that lasted during their natural lives, and is now extended to their children and their children's children, and, if true to the memory of their noble sires, will be perpetuated for generations yet to come.
     It was here, on Farmers' Branch, where the smokehouse and corn crib were first and ever open to supply the wants of the "new-comer." And, to-day, when we come here, to Farmers' Branch, to celebrate this, the fiftieth anniversary, of the settlement of Dallas county, and the forty-seventh since the organization of the county, we find the same cordial greeting, the same generous hospitality and liberal spirit, we found here forty-five and fifty years ago.
     Then, in the name, and in behalf of the visiting pioneers of Dallas county, I return your greeting and accept your hospitality in the same spirit they were extended and received by the pioneers of fifty years ago. And, I assure you, that we have come as brothers and friends, leaving behind us the busy cares of life for the purpose of partaking of your hospitality and enjoying ourselves with you, in the reminiscences of the past, and to perpetuate the memory of the brave and grand old pioneers of our county.

     After an all-night's ride, Deputy Sheriffs Ledbetter and Lewis arrived this morning with Henry Kennedy as a prisoner.
     Kennedy is 18 years old and lives in Collin county, about 250 yards from the Dallas county line. G. T. Johnson, a middle-aged man, lives about an equal distance from the line on the Dallas county side. The two men had a fight in Dallas county yesterday afternoon, in which Kennedy used a monkey wrench, with which he broke Johnson's left arm and fractured his skull. Some one in the neighborhood hastened to Farmers' Branch, the nearest telephone station, and telephoned to the Sheriff's office, and the two deputies named responded.

     So far as the officers could ascertain, the fight grew out of trouble between the women of the families of the combatants. It appears that several weeks ago, a sister of young Kennedy took a switch to two of Mr. Johnson's daughters. Mr. Johnson prosecuted Miss Kennedy in a Collin county Justice's court for assault and battery and a fine was imposed on her by the court.
     This led to hostilities between Miss Kennedy's brother and the Misses Johnson's father, with the result already detailed.

     Mr. Johnson is in a very critical condition.

     J. B. May and wife to B. P. Jett, one-half interest in 146x209 feet in the town of Farmers Branch, $1 and other considerations.
     J. B. White to J. B. May, 146x209 feet, block C, Farmers Branch, $1 and other considerations.

     S. B. Scott to Henry Hatcher, lots 17 and 20, block B, and lots 1, 11, 14, 15, 17, and 20, in block A of town of Farmer's Branch; $300.

     The court of criminal appeals handed down thirty-four opinions. there were no capitals among them, and only one from Dallas county, that of O. E. Tyrell for violating local option at Farmers Branch, which was affirmed.

     Considerable damage was done to outhouses in the Farmers Branch neighborhood by a high wind, which visited the vicinity about 4 o'clock Thursday afternoon. On the farm of Mark Elliston, located to the south of Farmers Branch, several small outhouses were completely destroyed. The wind, it is said, also destroyed outhouses on other farms.
     People in the vicinity were greatly frightened. The heavy black clouds hung over the place for some time, and immediately following the windstorm, a rain, nothing shorter than a waterspout, fell. The small creeks and streams were filled. The rain was exceedingly heavy.