The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1879-11-29

1
ordinary laborers in saw mills, brick
! yards, ctc.,per day, 81 with, and $l.50
! without, board.
From thirty to sixty schooners are
engaged in carrying lumber from the
saw mills on Lake Charles and the CAL
casicu river to Galveston and other
Texas ports, and in bringing back
freight for our merchants and people
generally. The mercantile trade Of
Lake Charles is chiefly with Galveston.
Three or four steam tug boats ply on
the Calcasieu river, towing schoonerst
etc, and logs for the mills.
| TOWNS AND PosT-oFFIoEs.
The post-ofices in Calcasieu are
Lake Charles, Rose Bluff and Phillips
Bluff, on the Calcasieu river; Niblett's
Bluff and Meadows Store on the Sa-
bine; and Sugar Town, Hickory Flat,
Dry Creek and The Bay, in northern
and northeastern Calcasicu. AT Sugar
Town there are steam mills, for saving
lumber, ginning and pressing cotton,
grinding corn, and cleaning rice.
West Lake Charles, opposite Lake
Charles, and Bagdad, about mile
above West Lake Charles, both Oh the
west side of the Calcasien river are
fourishing settlements, with stores,
saw-mills, schools, etc.
cALcAsrEu PARISH,
is the largest in the State, being about
eighty miles from north to south, and
seventy miles from east to west, and
containing nearlyasix thousand square
miles. The Mermentau river separates
IL on the east from ST. Landry parish,
and the Sabine river on the west from
Texas, while the Calcasieu river flows
nearly through its centre. 1t is thirty
five miles from Lake Charles, on the 3
Calcasieu river, to the Sabine, and q
little over forty miles from Lake Charles
to the Mcrmentau river. The country
east of the Calcasieu river is prairie,
and west Of it pine woods The pine
woods are scanned with a great number
of creeks, bordered with white oak,
pin oak, beech, magnolia, pine, gum,
blackberry, holly, and other trees, The
soil Of the creek bottoms is good, and
settlers in the pine woods live chiefly
along these streams The purcst well
water abounds In the pine woods. The
prairies are chiefly used for grazing
purposes, with occasional small farms,
where, with very little labor, rico, SUI
gar cane and sweet potatoes grow lux
nriantly, Excellent cotton, rice, and
Irish and sweet potato crops are
raised in the pine woods. Calcasieu is
the greatest country in the world for
rice, upland and lowland, and sweet
potatoes. Peaches Of the finest quality
are raised in the pine woods. Horses,
cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry do well
all over the parish. Game abounds In
the pine woods, bear, deer, turkeys,
and squirrels; the prairies abound with
prairie chickens and wild fowl Of all
kinds, while therivers, lakes and creeks,
are alive with trout, perch, mullett,
buffalo, catfish, etc. AT
Calcasieu Pass arefound oysters, crabs,
shrimps and reddish.
The principal industries Of Calcasicn
parish, SO far, have been stock raising
and the lumber business. We have
heard natiyeTexanssay they have never
seen beef equal TO that killed in our
markets at Lake Charles. The COM
pletion of the New Orleans and Texas
railroad, however, will open np new
and permanent departure in Caleasien
from the old order Of business, and with
The introduction of scientific farming
and fruit raising here we predict that
IN q few years Calcasieu will become
rs famous for it's fruits and farms as ii
now is for Its lumber and becyes,
All Y. $, public lands in Cacasieu,
many hundred Thousand acres
IF valuable pine timbered lands, are
Tor sale at the u, s. Land Office at
New Orleans, al $1.25 per acre, and
ire also subject to Homestead entry In
Jracts not exceeding 100 acres In1the
umber business the mills pay for logs
rom $3.50 to- S6 per thousand feet.
n the log business choppers get 20
,ents per log and make from Az. 80 tos
$3.50 per day; raftslnen get Ma per day;
eamsters, $l.5o per day, The log
business on the Galcasien and Sabine
'iyers is chiefly confined to yellow pine;,
IN the Mermeptau, chiefly u rcd cy-
lress.
Calcasieu has always been known as
he strongest democratic parish IN Lou
siana, II has nearly Two Thousand
registered voters, and has never yet
yiyen one hundred votes for any state