The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-08-02
PROSPEROUS PARISHES.
Among the Cane and Rice Fields
Of Orleans, st. Bernard
and Plaquemines.
Inequalities Of the Gulf Transports.
ton Company's Officers.

Inequalities Of the Gulf Transports
"a ton Companys Officers.
Your representative, according to instruc-
tons, left this city on Tuesday on the steamer
Martha, one OF the vessels OF the New Orleans
and Gulf Transportion Company's line. The
prepossessingly rakish appearance OF the
craft on which he embarked, willing con
Iyietion as to her reputed wonderful speed,
and cordial welcome from her courteous
commander, Capt. w. 8. Basset. oil comblned
to make the excursion on which he had set out
prospectively pleasant, TO say the least'
THESE authorizations were by no means ILL
bounded They were partially realized L. ne
lstarboarfl locker Of the admlrars room, where,
ley-onicio, presided the portly genius q the
Port Eads mail route. and where WAS sub
|stantialIy felt the presence Of prince among
|catarers Judge Black, Of whom tradition hath
lit that che has grown up with the river
M "A reluctant landing was effected In the par
|ish OF Plaquemines, where as also subse-
|ouently In the parish Of st. Bernard and the
hover part Of Orleans, your commissioner
had an opportunity Of personally inspecting
!. Ing their views on political, agricultural and
bther interesting topics.
The leading sentiment In PlaGuemines
keems to be favorable to the new constitution
presented for the approval Of the people, with
The exception OF few articles. The debt
ordinance was considered unsatisfactory
Enough the intention is expressed to vote for
II las the best that could be done" AS far as
| could learn an ordinance acknowledging the
lace Of the debt, with the Issuance of bonds
bearing per cent interest, without the re
mission of interest payment next January,
would have been q solution Of the debt ques-
lion most acceptable to the majority Of voters
hi Plaquemines, and would have been over
khelmingly adopted as far as the vote Of that
" barsh was concerned According to the best
Information the constitution as 1t is will re-
leive the approval Of a majority Of the voters
b that parish.
| The cane crop in Plaquemines parish Is I'M
Usually promising. Its not quite up to what
was at this time last year, but is In a
oourishing and vigorous condition. The crops
Fere those on the Magnolia Woodland, Pointe
leleste, Deer Range, Myrtle Grove and Belle
nhasse on the west bank Of the river; and
hose Oh the Union, Scarsdaie and St. Clair
Plantations on the east bank; Several Of these
NIaces, as well as others in the locality mem
Uoned, have been supplied with more i'm
Eoved machinery this year. Plaquemines
tas larger number OF vacuum pans than
by sugar parish In the State, and conse-
nuently makes q far larger proportion OF the
tgher grades Of sugar. In fact, that parish
bade about eleven thousand hogsheads OF
fairfield sugar last year, and less than one
thousand hogshead OF Kettle sugars; The
BIB named Is nearly equal Id amount to what
Ii WAS made before the war.
ESE In st. Bernard, among several fine crops,
v your representative noticed those on the
Gorinne and Story plantations. The latter
place Id being fitted with improved clarifying
l hnd centrifugal machinery.
In Orleans parish, on the west bank of the
river, the only three plantations where the
cultivation OF cane is continued are the Beka,
btaunton and Orleans plantations. On these
the crops are good. The Beka place. among
many others, is being fitted with vacuum pan
and centrifugal machinery this year
In 1873 PlaQuemines parish produced near
ly fifty-four thousand barrels of cleaned rice,
Ear more than any parish In the State.
n / From causes already mentioned in the
columns of the DEMOARAT, the crop has been
greatly reduced this year, and " is doubtful II
barrels of rice in 1879. st. Bernard and the
lower part Of Orleans made about ten thou
sand barrels OF rice in 1878, but will make a
n much smaller crop this year.
VIII The appearance or the plantations and
farms on the coast below the city show moth
4 ling of that "neglectfulness, ruin and poverty,
with wasted fields OF poor Louisiana 30
\ vividly depicted by some OF our lately la
mented orators Fields, fences and buildings
lare in fine order; magnificent machinery,
much Of which Is new, Is seen on most OF the
plantations, while carefully titled crops are to
be seen on every hand. Itis perhaps not the
case that these people have been absolutely
prosperous, but year by year they have been
making large OUTLAWS of capital in Improving
their properties. Whatever profits they have
made have been largely used In increasing
the value and capacity of their estates, till
now these are nearly equal In every respect to
r what they were In the days Of Louisiana 5
prosperity.
Labor in the parishes named Is reliable and
lin abundance. The Caucasian, Mongolian
and African races are drawn upon as sources
Of supply. large proportion OF the rice
crops ls raised and harvested exclusively by
4 white labor. Gangs of Chinese are employed
on three plantations and do good work. The
wages paid for rice cutters are 81 per day and
board, or ST. % without board. The work Of
cutting will commence fairly toward the close
II next week. The wages paid for collecting
he sugar crop have been Sl3 to SIS per month,
With rations. comfortable lodging, fuel and
arden patches and paSturage for cattle given
he labOrers The actual value Of the wages
paid Is quotably S25 per month In the roll
VI ing season from IS cents to 81 per day OF nine
hours work is paid, with from forty to fifty
cents for six hours watch at night The
laborers find employment all the year round,
and are apparently well satisfied with what
they get--which Is more than Is paid to tho
common class Of agricultural labor anywhere
ID the country outside Of Louisiana.
The mail steamer Martha is now by pro-
Eads against New Orleans at Grand Bayou,
APPOINT five miles above Port Eads. Mails
and healthy passengers are thence forwarded
to Port Eads In a tug.