The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-01-09
BEAUTIFUL SNOW.


to us as roses would be to q Greenland
midwinter, but it did visit us on Tues
day last, and we took it as a ft wiping
out Of all our scores againstt the oldyear.
We don't pretend to say we are fond of
SNOW. Unluckily we have passed the
Snow balling age, and have entered the
district of prospective rheumatism and
pneumonia. Nor have we a grain of
poetry in our composition, or we would
chant the Beautiful Snow " to our read
ers. But in spite of ample mufflers and
a total want of sentiment we did have
our own ideas, as we looked at the snow
covered scene on Tuesday.
1t was beautiful to see how the soft,
white mantle drifted down silently over
dilapidated buildings and broken down,
unsightly fences, how titled the muddy
bitches and lay among the green leaves
of the evergreens like feathers. We
paused before an old dilapidated cabin
which had been all eye-sore in our daily
walks. 1t had become a grotto of sta
laetiles sparkling like an Antiparos.
All the details of decay and sOrdid pow
erty hidden from view by the Kings
mantle cast overit. We didn't look in
for we knew the charm would be dis
PEELED. Probably the inmates were cars
ing the snow, not caring how very res
pectable lookingit had made their den.
Besides we are only dealing with outside
appearances at present, for it needs but
little search unfortunately to find a
canker in every fair seeming thing on
earth. ara
So ON the outside every thing was
strangely lovely. 1t was not the old
tumble down Opelousas through which
we sauntared but the "City Beautiful"
~glistening under a dark sky, and with a
white, silent peace upon it's streets and
houses. Its defects were TRANSPORTED
into beauties. Nothing mean, nothing
neutral tinted ON the earth, none of
those |" betweens Of color" which are our
denomination, buta white ~clearness with
out soil or blemish.
We were in a mood to accept this as d
good omen.
What a multitude of unsightly things
there are in the Past which we look to
the New Year to cover up for us. Cover
them so deeply too that there will be no
resurrection. There is much worthless
drift which we wish to put out of sight
ii we cannot turn it to good account, and
the snow burial reminded us of it. Of
course we don't want any glamor about
these pressing evils. We do not wish
them to assume a fair aspect in our eyes
when there is nothing but filth and rot
tcnness within, but we do believe there
is q remedy for them and that the New
Year will bring it.
The day Of miracles is over, but we
have often thought that of Cana in Gal
lilee is more frequent among as than
our benighted vision can see. We have
safe down before this year to Lenten
repast, poor mcagre in the extreme, and
with little hope of mending it in fu-
tnre days. Suddenly, and perhaps un-
expectedly, through some stroke Of good
fortune the water turns TO wine, the
bitter to sweet, and we go forth rejoic-
ing. We do not not know what the
new year has in store to mend our sorry
fare, but the outlook is hopeful. Stout
hearts and willing hands + generally
builders of fortune, not walters for the
plum to fall into their mouths. The
South is reused now rs it never was be-
fore to the necessity of work, and what
ever influence politics may have upon
the nation, there are certain politics OF
labor which are going to right things in
their own way.
This is a wide leap from the " Beauti-
fll Snow with which we began these
remarks; but the evolutions of Thought,
according to certain philosopheTsareaeh
from one extrcme to the other by nat
ul4l Laws, In this case, however, the
transition was simply from Il temporary
concsalment of what is unsightly in the
physical world to a putting it aside al
together ia the moral domain. Tuesday
morning the snow turned old 0pelousas
into adream city. beautiful i'll detail and
whole, and with d serene peace brooding
over it. Some Tuesday in the future
we may wake to find poor ruined Lou
isiana reviving to her oldprosperity and
happiness.
HEAVY JUDGMENT FOR TAxEs.-In
tho parish Of Livingston, a Judgment
has been rendered by the District
Court against the estate of the late
john SlidelI, for $4,000 taxes, alleged
to- be- due the State on lands lying il
tlsat parish. We would rather have the
amount Of taxes III this case than the
Iand. This thing of having land that
Yields no revenue and more than you
can pay taxes on, is worse than having
tile elephant.
OAndoN.-ReY. T. ID. White, who re-
ccsatly left this state for Oregon. writ
ing from there to the New Orleans Chris
tian Advocate, on Dec. 18th, 1873, says:
We are o having exceedingly cold
weather for this country, o little snow
wing On Che ground for three or four
DAYS, with considerable ice. half an inch
thick to-day. It'll is decidedly w~inteFisIA
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