The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-10-10
LETTER FROM TOBIAS
CoLFAx, La, I
Get g iRT {

Having been called by business to
'his hisLo'icsburg, where have been
snjonrning for a week, | cannot re.
sist the temptation to tell you some
thing OF this little place, which has
cot so extensive a tinu,e IN the his
tory of Il e South, and which for lis
size is the "bigae>c little place l
ever saw. Sholn of It's political i'm
poriance it is now simply the Parish
Seat Of Cant Parish. and strange. TO
say, the whole. concern, Court Honse
and all, is private property aud he,
longs TO the succession of Meredith
Cnlhoun. asa -4.., xxx
..-.,a THE TOWN OF, CoLFAxs 20 r.,
consists entirely of eleven houses.
stretching for distance Of qnarler
OF mile from a poiot directly oppn-
size TO The mouth of Cane River,
down Red River. and in these eleven
houses is done the business of five
stores, Two boarding houses, Court
House, Jail, a printing office, tailor
shop, Tax Collectors and Sheriff S
Offices, Two doctors and two lawyers
off es, post office, Justice of the
Peace, one gin, drug store and
one blacksmith shop; which, TO say
the least for il, is certainly utilizing
the available house room Oh hand
In the only brick house on The
ground, which was formerly stable,
Gin or something else on the Colhoun
plantation, there is now a store
lniniing Office, Tax Collectors office.
boarding house, tailor shop and The
post office all under one roof, ana
they all seem TO have plenty of room
The printin Office, however, is
Junctas oficio and ! am sorry &c
Chronicle" it's departure for the
shades where "the woodbine twi
neth." MirabM dictu, it died of The
"Sweeny," a disease hitherto consid
cred TO be peculiar to horses. Il
may be that "the young mans
JOKES helped to Kill it, and if so
there $ a poetic justice in the retail
iaJion, for Sweeney claims the credit
of having christened him ''the
young MAJ" -
JUSTICE IN CoLFAX.
The presiding dignitary of the
law on my arrival here, and fol
some days afterwards, until the Par
ish Court mel, was a colored Justice
Of The Peace, whose first name is Lo
lenzo, and whose distinguished pat
rimonic is Smijh---the same wht
represented Grant Parish in the las
Republican District Convention an,
who ''by ways that are dark an
tricks that ale vain" was moi above,
TO vote on his proxies, whereof,
Grant lost two votes and Orsborn th,
nomination. | am Of the opinion
That Lorenzo has been trying 10 ee
even Oh that score ever since, for hl.
court reminded me more of a radica
convention than court of justice
His ideas of law are unique ans
many of them reireshingly original
He doesn't believe in The claws de
lays" and cites you to day to appea
Tomorrow, and the third day execu
zion is issued. His cases are gene
rally against the colored people. AM
they know no better. His Consta
BILE, another representative of th,
great Smith family, whose othe
name is James, is vety efficient of
ficer, but "Lorenzo," as jim call
him, is too much taken up with hi
seed cotton store 10. attend TO bust
ness now.
q. ssB1G TOM"
Thomas Johnson, or, as he i
Familiarity called, "Big Tom" i
another local celebrity. He rent
four plantations from the Citizens
Bank and can neither, read nor writ
at least he makes his mark.
don't know how many sub lessees h
has, but he is the "boss dog of Til
honeyard" and puts on considerabl
style with them all, and is tlispose'
10 think that everybody is a sub
lessee Of his, or ought to be, and h
treats them accordingly. He is
big man 10 his own estimation 40,
is identified with The worst days Q
radicalism in Grant. Big Tom
has yet TO learn that white man i
as good as negro, even if he is j
Grant Parish.
/ WORK FOR TIE LEGISLATURE.
One Of the first acts that shoul
be passed by our Legislature thi