The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1882-05-27
ylyIAN's VAGARiES.

Itemizer, Etc.
Baton RoCGE. LA, May IA, 1882.
DEAR HOPE:
Ny last communication, dare say, has
scarcely reached you, and yon Will he
surprised at this second epistolary visit
alton, but rs the days grow Longer at
summers approach, find 50 many spare
moments that will be better employed III
writing to ones friends, than idiing
around, wasting no end of time on novels
or day dreams-1 prefer the latter, for
what would the world lie without day
dreams All our faculties would become
so practically immured in prosy, every
day .,tfairs that life would grow monoto-
nous Think every one onyht to indulge
III them. am systematic day -dreamer.
When any thing or perp'excs me
I deliberately find u qniet, comfortable
place, fold my hands and give myself up
to the magic and delight Of dreaming
with my eyes open. / find it has ben
cficial effect on nerves and temper. II
one has nothing i'll the past sufficiently
pleasant to start train of thought, con-
lure up some possible delight for the
fn,ure. One forgets their identity and
their surroundings. No matter how I'M
congenial our occupations may be, day
dreams lead us into forgetfulness, aud
even while our hands are mechanically
performing daily tasks that perhaps have
grown burdensome, our fancy wanders
to fair domains, gliding over the stern
| realities of life, and lending IL golden
! hue to the unappreciated but inevitable
Bayarl Taylor said truly,
The best have felt and known,
| Is less than the least dreamed
We have reached the zenith Of our
! glory-the Legislature has met-and fire.
quently adjourned, for that matter. We
feel that nothing more is wanting in life
to make us perfectly happy. You can
imagine the extent of our joy when one
Of our local papers, the Week1y Press,
| announced triumphantly, "The streets
! of the Capital City is crowded with
| legislators from early morn until dewy
eve" Try not to notice the grammatical
construction of that gem of thought
| try to think it u typographical error
! but grasp the idea conveyed: "carly
morn until dewy eve '-beautiful, map
propriate quotation! At that honr, we
are led to suppose the poor Legislators
vanish from the scene. Perhaps they go
to bed at SHUTDOWN, like good little boys
in Sunday school books. We hope it is
50, and that the proprietors Of gambling
houses and bar-rooms have the same
regard for dewy eve and night air, and
follow their patrons example.
| The town is very dull at present, as the
Legislature adjourned last Friday-in
favor of an excursion to New Orleans, so
hear. [ wonder il some Of the members
couldn't he tempted to remain there, rs
it is $50 dull here" socially. Do yon
| think Baton Rouge pohey little town?
l don't! True, we have no theatres, but
then there is the penitentiary; no West
End or Spanish Fort, but there arc the
cemeteries and garrison grounds, it they
are not afraid of snakes; then there is
the University, the State House, and oh,
just no end of places, if you take time
to think Of it. Now, none may afford
amusement i'll a general way, but think
amy man can enjoy himself if he makes
up his mind to- If he wants to have Il
| real good time let him read the Texas
Sifiiags, and tell the jokes rs orjyis.l to
his friends: or else he can sit on the
pavement in front of the Capitol Hotel,
and criticisc those passing. That is per
tectly comfortable and lively, especially
for those criticised. Well, I can't begin
to cnumerate all the simple, soulful,
innocent delights Of our town, but l
know they are fully sufficient to satiate
amy man whose whole soul and heart is
bound up in the cause and good Of his
State, as our representatives are sup
posed to DE.
This morning after church qnite a
party Of US repaired to the State House
on tour of inspection. We had heard
so much Of its beauty and elegance we
wanted to see for ourselves, for though
scarcely credible, / have not visited it
since it's rise from ruins. At the gate we
were extremely fortunate in meeting Mr..
r. S. Landry, who kindly volunteered to
show us through the building. The Gov
ernor's parlor is very lovely, and every
moment some of us exclaimed "Exqni-
site mantelpiece!" "Beautiful carpet ~
"Snch taste!" etc. In his ante-room is
the famous picture by LAM, the Battle
Of New Orleans. AS we stood gazing at
: this work Of art, one Of The gentlemen
of critical turn of mind, remarked
"The British seem to have intentionally
piled up their dead near the American
breastworks," and he dared say tue artist
| uHO HtSCl seen Il SklIIilSu. uOu
pretend to know much about art, and
find that persons who can not draw a
straight line with pencil are the most
apt to criticise some thing perfect, thus
bctraying their ignorance. So this pic.
ture was commented upon freely, until
we learned the original cost of it was
thirty thousand dollars! "Oh!" we all
gasped at the same breath, How lovely
. What exquisite coloring! Grand! Mag
nificent." -and then we were silent
Spell-bound, awe stricken, we stood be.
fore it gazing on its beauties, which now