The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1879-04-23
COMMUNICATION.
TYRONE PLANTATloH,)
April Ii, 1879.

TYRONE PLANTATloS,)
April IA, 1879.
Editor Loaisiana Democrat
SlR-As matter Of interest to
builders, lumbermen, planters, and
others, wish TO give them, through
the columns Of your paper, my cape-
rience in regard to pine. In August
lS47, / had occasion to build a small
house in the Pinewoods settlement,
west from s'McNutt's HILL" It was
built in three weeks, "from the
stump" and consisted Of single,
very lofty room, twenty feet square,
covered by a roof forty feet square,
terminating in "teetotum point.''
This roof was covered with heart
pine shingles, gotten out there on
the spot, twenty-five inches long,
showing six inches on the roof.
which, I will also mention, that most
excellent workman and builder, and
upright, honest man, Samuel Oak
ford, had taught me was the best
and most economical length for
working shingle timber to make a
perfectly secure "three double' roof,
and who also taught me that the
best proportional length Of rafter
was had by taking two thirds of the
length Of the gable end plate, from
that deducting one inch in each foot,
the remainder being the proper
length of the rafter-for instance, If
the plate is thirty feet long, twenty
feet is two thirds; from that dedact
twenty inches, leaves eighteen feet
four inches as the best length of raf-
ter to a thirty foot plate.
Some five years afterwards ! took
the house to pieces, removed and put
lit up on my plantation on Bayou
Rapides, the same shingles recover
ing three faces of the roof, the East,
South, and West; the North face be-
ing recovered with new heart cypress
shingles. ! then painted the whole
with red ochre, mixed in boiled lin
seed oil.
These pine shingles have now
been in use thirty-two years, and,
with little judiciou1 patching, the
roof will serve its purpose eight or
ten years yet. / am satisfied, There.
fore, and this is the point to which
I wish to draw attention, that the
month Of August is the bes. time to
cut all pine timber il order to have
it last. Very respectfully,
VI. MASON GRAHAM.
.~~~~~~~-~O~~~~~~
IT is very well-known that for
the past six months, and even lon
ger. time, the mail between Shreve-
port and Alexandria, carried tri-
weekly in hacks and buggies, has be
come almost fixed Nuisance as far
as our getting the mail matter here
inside Of six days. It is also very
we'll known that it should reach here
regularly inside Of 4S hours, and ii
is further very we'll known, that
great complaint has been heard about
this nuisance, and that most Of the
time, the fault. was laid at the door
of the contractor, and to be candid,
we used to believe that way oarseli,
but as we watched this regular irreg-
ularity IN celebrity and reaching 10
time of our two Shreveport dailies,
the Times and Standard, We have
kept watch on it and are now firm
4 " convinced, that the sole and whole
blame Of this criminal and unpar-
donable neglect Of simple duty lies
entirely at the door Of two promi-
nent Post Offices, on the route be.
8 tween the City Of Shreveport and
the Town Of Alexandria, and thai
at these two Offices the mail each
"trip loses, in lying over at these tive
+ Offices, four days, that is 48 hours d
}, each Office, and hence the six days
y the papers take in reaching US in
stead Of 48 hours, the time the hack.
come through regularly in. We be
lieve this to be q fact, and If th.
! Post Office Department will send al
n Agent up here, We guarantee to pos
j. him SO thoroughly that he will fint
l. all this to be too true.
q -~s>~e.~~-sUs-~~~~>~~
LET us grant to governments
the minimum Of power, and to TIL
+ citizen the maximum Of liberty, con
. sistently with the order and safet,
n Of society. Let law, with the civil
crown upon his brow, and wearing
q the judicial ermine, treading tn
I. pathway of our civilization with n