The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1883-08-04
YE ANCIENT PHILOSOPHER.
One of His Back Observation-Disclosures
of the F1ood-Thoughts on the Weather
A Tempest in 81 Rouge Pot-Assump-
tion Visitors, Crops ana So Forth.

OF the FlOOd-ThoughtsO on the Weather
"A Tempest in Rouge Pot-Assunnp-
| ton Visitors, Crops ana So Forth.
NAPoLEoNvTLLE, June 3O 1888.
EDITOR CHIEF:
The biggest portion of last week I spent
at Midway plantation, some SIX miles below
here ON the Attakapas Canal. The place is
about equidistant between Napoleonville
| and Lake Verret, and Opposite is the Tai
bot place, which will turn out 300 hogsheads
of sugar next fall. To go into the detail
business relative to this peculiar section
would crowd the columns of the CHIEF for
| the coming nine years, but as do not wish
your countless readers to be awaiting with
fearful anxiety the exciting chapters of such
a continued story, I'll bite off this subject
as soon as possible.
The unprecedented high water of 1889
flooded the greater portion of the Canal
district, and the water receded only when it
/ was too late for the planters to resume ag-
rlcultural operations with any hope of sue
cess. AS sample of the floods playfulness
L will state that the water rose two feet
above the floor of the dwelling at Midway,
and as the flooring was three and half
feet above the land level, you may imagine
there was some pretty fair swimming in
the vicinity. The veteran "boss of the
ranch ''-H years Of age-stuck to his post,
however, after having his family removed
to Hrya,. nI1a rtarc and for1rrht II hot
line, thinking, no doubt, the temperance
cause never had brighter prospect, and
finally, as the watery element encroached
on his roosting place, he built a raft under
his bed. and thus rocked to repose by the
gentle billows, considered himself second
Robinson Crusoe or any other man. His
companions on this "desert waste" were
snakes, frogs and chickens, the latter sail
ing gaily around the premises on stray
pickets, etc. At intervals the commis5ary
boat would arrive from the cuisine depart
mert at Mount Ararat, and thus the aged
hermit existed for many a long day. But
to-day some of the best cane and corn in
Assumption mark the spot where the ducks
sported III water a fathom deep year ago.
And now. the "peilucid" Canal flows
gently on, as of yore, though there is not
quite SO much of it in water area as there
was three decades since. At that period it
was an outlet of Bayou Lafourche and high
and strong levees were required to keep it
within bounds. In those days youth of
about my corporeal and mental stature and
calibre was considered the hight -tonedest
pilot that braved this dangerous and eccen-
trio stream! Then we had a mail route
through this section via the Canal, Lakes
Nerret, Flot, ETC., to Attakapas, and Louis
Clement, the most jovial and energetic of
Acadians, was Uncle Sans messenger. La
ter on civilization, stupidity and internal
improveInents(?} built ievee across the
mouth of the Canal and wiped out the mail
contract, and right now good sized ditch
the rendezvous for crayfsh and frogs-is
all that is left of the once famed Attakapas
Canal, which is Just about as useful and Or
pamentaf to Assumption as your new
bridge is to Ascension. This last long
sentence was manufactured under the in
spiratioH Of & glass Of Anheusec- Busch
handed me by one of the dear secondary
formation" and [ feel like going right
ahead-on some other subject.
st. Medard, who, believe, is the accred-
tied weather contractor for the six weeks
beginning on the 9Th instant, is keeping
along steadily at his work in the deluge de-
partment. We are thankful that his reign
has thus far been Of mild character in
comparison with many of its predecessors.
His saintship's administration is now about
half finished and I think we have been
blessed with five clear, sunny days. Yes,
they were some sunny: but the contrast was
SO marked from the dark, dreary, desolate,
distressing, depressing, dispiriting, driz-
ziing, dozy, doleful, downpouring season,
that the almost forgotten sunshine was
warmly welcomed by all hands and the col
ored dispenser Of edibles. Perhaps, though,
an overdose of this torridness would be
equal If not more SO to a preponderance of
of moisture: at any rate. change is ever
desirable; a sameness, even CT a good thing,
makes the cold streaks of discomfort ira
verse longitudinally over a fellows spinal
column till he can't sip his beer Or muir
muc soft things to the beloved of his heart
and treasury with the least intinite5imal
satisfaction. One requires something Oc-
casionally to irrigate his soul and strength
en- his liver and things, and right here |
wish to remark that an overland trip to
California and return. via Cape Horn.
would just about fill the bill-at least it
strikes a man of my profundity III that di-
rectiou. But travel doesn't always improve
the wanderer. [ call to mind the case of a
renowned journalist who escursioned last
summer o er the brlny deep to Charleston
and New York, thence overland to the Ma
tons capital, the Far West, the near Cres-
cent City end back home. Did his mean
derings irnDro-,e his mind or style? Was
the tone of his paper amended Or reformed?
The Parish Recorder has made no note of
it. Not many. The editors ideas had been
sadly demoraiized by the strange things in
vestigated in Gotham and Chicago, and his
readers wondered at the dearth of brain
force and prayed that the sanctum might
become too hot to hold hiln-that he might
take another tour and be a long time abb
sent.
It is a very easy matter, while sojolrning
on this footstool, to get up a sensation;
whether satisfactory or Objectionable TO the
originator is difficult to ascertain until the
first act is played ont. By that time the
future is pretty well forshadowed and it is
generally the case that when fellow wishes
he hadn' started the boom he finds it about
as hard to make retro-ade movement as
it would be to go ahead. That's the kind
of menageGie young Creole discovered
himself id short time ago. It appears that
in conversation with an associate he men
u: 4 Z 4 81 IL.