The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1878-01-24
Letter from Calcssie,l.

I y
To the Editor Of the Picayune
Having had for several years a
great desire to know something
about this portion of the State,
and could fnd no one or anything
in any paper that could give me
any but vague knowledge Of it, I
conclued to leave the hypsrborean
regions of Illinois for few weeks
| and.see for myself, and now think
ing others might be interested the
same as I was, / have taken the
liberty to pencil little of my OBJ
servations and send to You to pub
lish, if worthy place, or to be
consigned to the waste basket
either Of which will be agreeable,
To reach this place one has to
come by rail to Morgan City, and
thence up the Teche by steamboat
to New Iberia, 70 miles, and thence
by mail stage, 1856 miles, through
a sparsely settled prairie country,
almost level, but OF sufficient ele-
vation for successful drainage into
the lakes and rivers. which are
sufficiently numerous for all prac-
tical purposes--a country pecu-
liarly adapted to
STOCK RAISING.
Another way to reach here Is by |
steamers from Morgan City to
Galveston, and thence by the nu-
merous sleeps and schoonsrs that
run in the lumber trade to and
from Lake Charles; or by steam
boat to Houston, and then by rail
to the terminus Of the I'll. and o.
Railroad, 100 miles, and thence
by skiff, 18 miles up the Sabine
river, to Niblett's Bluff, on the
I.ouisiana side, and thence by a
hack, 45 miles, to Bagdad, at the
entrance of the Calcasieu river
into Lake Charles, and thence by
a little steam tug to this place.
When ohce reached, the tourist
forgets his hardships. It Is q lovely
place, situated upon the northern
and eastern banks of the lake.
The banks nre some eight or ten |
fset above ths level Of the water,
affsrding some eligible sites for
In front are several
banks, eight or ten feet high OF 9
clean white muscle shells. Some q
ew have ayailed themselves of b
hese beautiful shells to beautify !;
heir gardens and front walks. !.
Very few, however, have made uses =
# the very blessings that lio at
heir very doors, that might be Fl
made available to adorn their q
Iomss. No uses are yet made of
hsss shells for lime or fertilizers. r
nhs waters of this lake are clear :
nd soft, Having no currents, is y
n an average depth of ten feet. ]
ts shape Is nearly circular, or
rsscent-shaped, being indented L
n the western side. The Calca- :, :,
leu river just touches and passes u
nrough this indsnted edge, and "
asses out agaia without mingling is
ith it's waters. Its depth is about 81
fly feet. :,
This river is . very important y
no to the interests of
TUE TJJMREp MEM w
II passes through long range "
country covered with the long
afed pine, affording the means h,
transportation to float the vast hi
lantities Of pine logs required to \
Irnish the dozen mills near it's
,trsncs into the lake, and also ~
q mills that nearly surround the th
ks.
II approaches within one mile Ii,
the casters side Of the lake, and i, i.
en turns in q westerly direction, ~
most parallel with the curverturs
the lake for about Ave or Dix
lies before II enters the lake. -
bis ridge, at it's widest part, is hi
6ne fer the orange, sd
wing water protection as we'll as m,
q strip Of land bordering on the ~
ks around to the Calcasies river Il d
the south, oD
The future of y
THE 0RAEaE INTERESTS VII
:. II L
very uncertain. The bark in ms
1t has made fesrfsl rsvsges On To
me Of the orange groves. But