Louisiana capitolian., 1880-05-22
(aernnnin! Fntherlnnd!

almost AsfA national 1estiVe', W envy
| which thu remembrance Of tho tolls du.
ring tho past year ore laid aside, It not
forgotten, 10 that no bitter thought may
come to mar tho pleasure Of the t'mo
huuorcd occa~tou. fa~f sas
/ The Germsps Of l,stsn Reugc, COM
posing on Influential and usefnl element
ofit~ population, have over shown them
selves faithful to the traditions Of theis
Fatherlaad, although they hSve thor
oughft identified themselves With The
isterests of p.our community, s,nona
whom mono nre moro public.upirtea OF
law abiding than thoy.
The German Association, ut ito last
meeting, had decided to celebrate this
anniversary, by q rural festival For
this object, q committee, composed 81
Mrssrs. A. Blum, j. T.. I,ott, II, busch,
Charles Wrck and Jacob Shnlcr, to
which we're added tho President and
vice-1'rcsidcnt, Mcssrs. John GaSS and
Henry Scl,0rten, were empowered to
make all necessary arrangements, such
an selecting tho grounds, etc,
The Committee did not hesitate long.
The famed Oak Grove, whiel,rovers a'i
area of nearly thirty acres of ground,
the property of Mr. Vim. $. Booth, ait
uatcd in a direct line ut less than u mile
from the Courthouse, was by permission
Of it's clever and hospitablc owner, Sc
lected ~ u suitable place w1crrat to
enjoy, with their families and friends,
tho traditional holiday.
At day dawn tho preparations began +;
cooking utensils, tableware, lumber,
and last but not least, tho c1iblcs, and
ESPECIALLY the Ice and lager beer, were
transported to tlir beautiful grove,
planted on q knoll which commands the
rolling country around it, II spot as pic.
turcsquc in appearance rs any that can
/ he found tt louisiana, ono where the
breeze, no matter from whence 1t comes,
is sure to bring comfort to thosr who
may be resting under the shade Of the
oaks.
Through the courtesy of cX-Mayor
Srhortcr, VIZ reached Booths Grove ut
10 A. NJ. There we saw . large number
Of ladies and gentlemen disseminated in
small groups through the delightful
ground, Here was the place set apart
for the dance, which was to bc guided
by the strains Of Pages splendid or.
chcstra. Already fair ladies occupied
the improviscd seats erected for tho oc.
casion. Farther OH, was q wagon filed
with saw-dust, lee, and lastly-lagcr
beer!
We had scarcely effected landing
that our German friends coaxrd ,,s to-
wards the wagon in question. and
though they know that wr--harlly over
do it, they poured ont Il glass of cool
sparkling beer which ono Of the con
sPlrators handed to us. We looked
around for some cc-watcr, lemonade, OF
something Of that sort, but couldn't
discover any in the vicinity. Wc were
too timid to say that We didn't like beer,
for we feared to insult our kind friends
| by thus belittling their National bcvcr.
age, 80 we put that glas.fal| inside the
left hand pocket Of our vest, where, at
intervals during til" day, We managed
to conceal enough of that liquid to al.
most float a snall.sizcd piroguc, witl,ou,
showing tho slightest emotion concern.
ing it.
After this preliminary rcfrrslment,
we bctook oursclf to the commissary
department, whore we saw, first, n
trench filled with live Goals, over which
were being broilcd, under the skillful
supervision Of Mcssrs. +. Glstabcl and
Philip Buchcl, lot Of tender veal, fresh
| pork and other appctizipg meats. Near
by, looking business all over, was Major
Machct, tho Qnartcrnlastcr of the Third
Brigade, who had consented to oilicatc
in directing the confcction of the court.
boni'lon to hc made of red fish and red
snapper brought from New Orleans for
the feast. Some few yards away, under
the shade of an oak, were u number OF
ladies', who, under the command of Mrs
n, were engaged in the nppoctiral task
of pcaling potatoes for the salad, while
Professor X. was shedding tears ~ he
WAS removing the robes from lot OF
onions. At the suggestion of y friend,
we were induced to try a Russian sar.
dine, II conto,indrI fish that caused us to
slip mp, right then and there, for we
consented chccrtully TO 90 back to the
beer wagon, where u second half-barrel