The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1882-11-04

Where consistency might darken, curse estrange,
Fair fall the sunny power OF happy change!
Let times soft magic wear away the wrath
And patience do her perfect work at last,
And hope SOW laughing blossoms on the path
That will ont bloom the nights shade Of the
Till iii that lives ard moves in lifes wide range
May bless the sweet vicissitndes OF change.
VILLETTE'S VIVACITIES.
Fabrics Of Fact and Fancy Fashioned by
the Facile Taber OF u Fair Felicianian.
WEST FELIcIANA October q, 1882.
EDITOR CHIEF:
What flies faster than time? There's a
conundrun for you. have but to clesc
my eyes to imagine that it was only yes
terlay that heard the first faint chirp-
ings of the hungry young mocking birds,
;..ld The bnzzii,g Of .siynior M,.sca domcs-
tea against the widow panes, h,,rbingers
Of Spring, and then open them again
upon October days and October weather.
blessed is the man." said honest San
cho l'aEza, who invented sieep;''
thrice blessed, say /, is the man that i'll
vented fire; it may have been Prone
tlens, and it may not. What matters the
name since the fact remains, and hearth
stones glow dnring these frosty nights
/ don't wonder that the Indians counted
their villages us containing SO many
fires; surely II census could be made :,
more poetical fact by entlmerating the
strength, of u tribe as sixty or eighty
fires than by indivitlnalizing it as plain
g Hungry Bear" Hooting OWL" and Sc
OIL. There is a wide field Of fancy on the
beauties and luxury of fire, lying
open for some future essayist 10
pre-empt. 1t is true that Thompson, Ike
Marvel, W. G. Bryant and hos of less
noted writer's have taken corner-lots as
it were in that wide domain; but its
greater extent still remains UNEMPLOYED
aud untold to the present day. Speaking
of fires reminds mo of the comet; was
ever any Object MS glorious!y beautiful 7
" So near and yet so fart" When a little
child l was often Mlisled by bong told,
when particularly anxious to capture
some bright-winged bird, that it would
soon become mine, if I would only
sprinkle a little salt upon its tail and
now feel an almost irresistible impulse
to try to bring the comet within my
grasp by following the same childish
formula. Three times have we arisen at
an uEearthly hour to feast our eyes upo1,
its splendor long drawn out" To para
phrase Bishop Buffers quaint remark
about the strawberry, "Doubtless God
might have made sublimer object, but
doubtless lie never did," and rs we
gazea III silent admiration-no exactly
silent either, for our teeth were chatter
ing with cold-npon the right-waliser of
the skies, fancy wondered what would
become Of our little globe, if the SUMS
furnace were not fed by these celestial
siro-brands. Thank goodness! there is
enough cometary fuel i'll space to keep
up the fire for three billions, six hundred
millions and some odd thousands aud
hundreds of years yet, so say scientists,
VIII" are of course never wrong in their
calculations; and I have lurking sns-
r'cion that after that period we will not
care much il the sun does fail to wood
mp" The Negro theories to account for
the appearance Of oar celestial visitor
the Macomick they call it-are, to say the
least, strikingly original. One Of the
most astounding is, that " it is the morn
ing star with Il streak of lightning
liitcled to it," The old Negro that i'm
parted this astonishing piece of intelli.
gence to me, is great authority on the
plantation ON all abstruse points. and
he delivered his opinion er cathed,u, with
all the assurance of a college Of astrono-
me's. With the superstition Of tlei,
race the Negroes attribute to the comet
some impending calamity, and couse.
qnently there is great awakening III
ecclesiastical and religious matters,
greatly to the delight of Brother Isaac
ana brother Aat, who hold the enviable
position of controllers of church funds
ana who see probability of an amber
harvest of nickels OH Sundays ,na
rlHr evenins." Their exorcislns of the
comet and old Satan would atfor, frn;t-
ful matter for speculation to metarhv.
stefan. tending to pyove that there is {,
certain identity Of thought among all
people, however diverse n, race. or ,.-
moved III point of time: since in 1856 tho
faithful prayed daily in the same shirt
If not IN the SAME words, to be delivered
from the Devil, the Turk and the
Cumetin =
ihis is the busy, or rather the busiest
season at The year on plantation: the
gin is kept running ut all hours: and 7
am gl:td t" say that the cotton crop rem
orally is turning ont much better than il
promised To do some months ago. There
'sn principle of economy involved in the
sn'fseht Of their crops, which mncl,
mss;Aes the simplc-iatciiuct OF the nm
sophisticated darisry. He appears inca
rabie OF understanding why it is that
cotton "isich may ecmmar,tl !; fine price
swo weeks !'et"re the First Shipment. in
yariah!y falls two aud three cents lust
as s""n us the first consignment is made,
Whereas snesi dainties as picked pork
aud bo!tesl neal aI,. i,ny.r rniltr