The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1877-04-12
A MAINE PAUPER SETTLEMENT.
How Pioneer, Family Relapsed into
IL i4t r .-F Barbarian. go AF't
From the Boston Globe..l ,ts

How Pioneer, Family Relapsed into
+ h& # 49, Barbarism. 80 AF'f
| t......- [From the Boston Globe:l syed
Maine has a singular illustration of
| the tendency of mankind to relapse
into barbarism when cut off from the
| influences of association. More than
40 years ago, a family named Bubier
left Lewiston, and took to the continu-
ous woods where rolls the Dead River.
Whether they were Disguised with the
world and longed to be at rest, or
thought to lay the foundations of
thriving colony by going where land
was to be had by the square mile with
no one to dispute the title butIwildcats
and owls, we know not; but they pene-
trated into the forest primeval far from
the habitations OF other men, and built
log hut. In the course of years ap-
plications began to reach the authori-
ties of Lewiston from the settlement of
Rangely for indemnity for relief fur
nished to the Bubiers. They were some
miles from that settlement, but as it
was the nearest organized community
they had obtained assistance; from it,
and such authorities as the place boast
ed of made application to Lewiston for
indemnity. This thing went on for
some years. Lewiston sent sometimes
500, sometimes $500, sometimes more
and sometimes less, in year to its far
off paupers, at the call of the selectmen
of Rangely. Finally the Lewiston over
seers of the poor concluded to investi-
gate the condition of the lost tribe and
to bring such paupers as they felt called
on to support to the fold at home, that
is, to the alms-house under their super
vision. ..- -...,-f
| They set out for the northern woods
in person. They reached the borders
of civilization and passed the last lone
hamlet, they followed a lumber trail
until it diminished to squirrel track
and ran up tree, and then, with the
help of guide who knew the Bubiers,
they made their way into the forest
primeval near Saddleback Mountain.
Finally the huts and novels of the
Bubiers were reached, scattered about
in the patches of cleared land which
they had made. Here they found the
effects of lodging in a vast wilderness.
The vagrant family had increased and
multiplied into several families, includ-
ing over so persons, and was dwelling
in abject poverty, utter ignorance and
unconquerable sloth.. The log houses
were shabby, filthy and pnprovided
with any thing that could contribute to
human comfort. One of them con-
, sisted of two rooms, of which one was
occupied by a cow and the other by a
man, his wife and five children. The
, COW had the best of it.. There was no
furniture except blocks and pieces OF
: log, no clothing but shreds and
+ patches, no provisions but a peck
of potatoes, and the filth and vermin
; were sickening. Other families were
scarcely better off. But one person in
the whole plantation could read, and
+ he wouldn't. Not book or a scrap Of
! printed paper was to be found in the
( place. Noneof the younger generation
! had ever been to the nearest town, and
rumors of unsuccessful or successful
! war had never reached the place. = Its
denizens were profoundly ignorant OF
! the world, and utterly devoid of either
! religion Or morality. 70 Virtue and de-
lcency were unknown. Whisky had
/ never found it's way into that retreat,
o but tobacco was the one luxury fol-
which the people would make an effort
They obtained a precarious subsist-
+ ence from such scanty crops; as then
lazy habits prompted them to obtain
and from the game OF the forest anc
the fish Of Dead River. A few cedar
shingles were the only product OF ia
q dustry which they ever sold, and fol
o that they obtained chiefly tobacco
Men and women alike smoked theil
o black pipes, and INDUCED in filth O
i language and of conduct; and in shor
the Bubiers, under the benign influence
Of nature and solitude, had relapset
:. into q barbarism more depressing thai
r that of the savages that dwelt in thos'
, woods three centuries ago.
Il Two of these families have beel
q brought forth from the wilderness ant
+ lodged in the Lewiston aims house, ant
o the rest are sadly in need of mission
f aries. The women who were brough
h away showed that the better instinct
i of human nature were not dead withil
them. Their chief solicitude was les
their children should be taken from
Il them, and they were glad when toll
p that the neglected little ones would b
!, sent to school. We know of no NOR
y striking illustration OF the effects of re
j. firing to lodge in some vast wilder
s. ness, or being placed beyond the ir
ir fluences of society, than is afforded b
+ the sad effects upon the Bubier famil
e of living full generation and more
! the woods of Maine.
N ..-.-- EEL-lzfF
10 LEMoN-JELLY5 CAKE.-Stir 2 tabls
d spoonfuls of butter, well softened, int