The Ouachita telegraph. [volume] (Monroe, La.) 1865-1889, 1881-10-07
liUMEUG.

| "Can storied ,,rn, or animated burst,
Back to its mansion call tho tloeting
| breath?
Can Honor's voice provoke tho silent dust
| Or fiattery soothe the duh, cold oar OF
| death"
If there is any thing calculated to
aggravatc tho bile of the reflective citi-
zen beyond its normal irritabiIity at
tho toiiies OF mankind. it is to contem-
plate tho ingraincd asininity OF the
American people in celebrating their
grief or joy ION all public occasions by
pageant and parade. More especially
docs this idiosyncrasy, as it trends
Southwark, initiate its bombastic dis
play, eliminating in ridiculous cxcess
where 1t is finally checked by the sparse
limits Of population, at the Crescent
City of the United States.
We have been moved to these re-
marks by tho absurdity of tho mock
funeral procession which marched
around tho principal thoroughfares of
New Orleans last monday, to the con-
siderable hindrance of traffic and the
great advantage of liquor dealers along
the route. This concourse of persons,
comprising militia, tiremen, and bcnc-
violent societies, headed by Il long file
of carriages, and accompanied by brass
bands and banners, escorted u float, on
which was placed 4 floral design bear
ing some remote resemblance to a
coffin, tho whole mimicry being sup
posed to typify the solemn intcrmcnt
OF the late President, James a. Gar
field, then taking place at Cleveland,
Ohio. This senselcss sham, this mas
qucrade mummcry Of woe, carries the
imagination back to the days of that
other Great Republic, whose citizens,
while free institutions were tottcring
towards their fall, dcDlanled only
t'pancn ct circcnscs.'' Can it DC posi-
bic that such q medley procession, of
tho same conponents as, but interior
in magnitude and general participation
to, those of Mardi Gras, the Fourth of
March, etc, ETC., can be accepted AS OK
prcssivc of nations mourning, unless,
indeed, its evanescencc may be there
by symbolizcd.
They speak of this empty pageant,
SOON to bc cclipscd and forgotten in the
Gnscl splendor of the next visiting cir
Gus, as the effect Of a spontanclty of
generous feeling; it wiilahow the North
that sectional bitterness is extinct, say
many. Could not that have been
managed in :, score of ways moro noble
and lasting. Had their regret taken
the shape of a grand donation in aid of
medical science, or to some hospital or
charitable institution which thenccfor-
ward should have COMMUNICATED the
name and virtues OF the murdered
President, would tho world have deem
cd our peoples grief the less poignant?
Would they not rather have applautled
the triumph of reason over unreason
and hailed our example as worthy of
all emulation? Our city papers decry
the vulgar ostentation Of Northern
insurance company which has widely
advertised its payment Of policy in
connection with the Presidents death,
but ignore the discrepancies surround
ing them ut homo. Here, with winter
already nigh at hand, thousands of
yards Of calico were used to decorate
pillars and galleries. while the city
paupers, children, widows, and insane,
are destitute Of change of clothing.
Costly professions cnlivcn streets which
will later become impossible for lack
of funds to repair them, and Il time Of
mourning is transformed into Il ludi-
crouS Saturnalia.-St. Bernard Luyle.
The contract for building 100 miles
of the Louisiana and Southwestern