Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1884-05-22
a CHAT WITH CABLE.
The Origin, Descent and Language OF
the CreoIcS.

wonderful amount OF personal mag
netlSm. and one Is urcOnSc.0uSlv at
tracted toward him. He is OF slight
figure, quite short. and was riainlv at
tired yesterday IN a black frock coat.
dark pantaloons, and wore very little
jewelry. His beard is worn full and
pointed, and heavy, dark mustache
shades his mouth. His thick. dark
hair is brushed carefully back from
Eigh forehead, and his brightgray eyes
are very expressive. In casual CONVEX
sation his voice is soft, low and pleas
ant, and he is 4 very fluent taiker.
never at loss for 2n expression which
fully covers his meaning. In man.
ner he is modest and un&ssrming. and
he is always careful to abstain from
referring of his own accord 10 his lit
erary work.
PERSONAL HISTORY.
Were YOU born III New Orleans ?"
Yes, born and brought up il that
city"
''By the way. how did you first hap
pen to strike the fruitful field in
which you have been carrying on your
literary labors."
well, it was sort of an accident.
I was free lance in New Orleans for
q time, doing work on the Picayune,
and was called upon to write up
series of articles embodying the past
history and present conduct of the
charitable institutions. churches and
schools of that city. You know they
are all old, and in writing these arti-
cles was obliged to deIve considerably
into the old traditions of New Orleans.
These articles brought out q good deal
about old Creole life in the city and
they attracted q good deal of atten-
ton. This brought to my notice the
field of work you refer TO. "
'What were your first literary
sketches?"
Those short sketches published in
Scribner's and recently collected by
the Century Company and printed in
volume called Old Creole Days The
first of these was .Sieur George
which was printed in the old edition.
The last edition includes that little
story entitled Madame Delphine'"
THE CREOLEs OF TO-DAY.
''Do you find in New Orleans at the
present day any of the type you have
individualized as Narcisse?'
''Oh, yes, indeed. Thousands of
them. You will find Narcisse in every
bank and cOunting-room in the city,
DO you not find that the Northern
people generally possess a mistaken
identity of the Cre0le?''
Yes, and | find that many North
erners believe the Creoles have negro
blood in their veins. | am always
glad to give the definition of the name
Creole. 1t is correctly applied to
natives of the West Indies, the Flor
idas, and Louisiana, whose ancestors
came to these territories direct from
Europe. where they had descended
from the European Latins. They are
mostly white, and the pure Creole who
has pure white complexion is very
proud. Natives of Mexico and South
America cali themselves Creoles, [ be-
lieVe, but they are not recognized as
such by the pure Creoles. Then there
are the descendants of the European
Latins, who came to the Southern
States, after first going to Nova SEQ
tia. These are properly called Area
dams, and they are the small farmers
of Southern Louisiana.
Are the Creoles patriotic?''
Very. They will fight for their
country, but the country of 4 Creole
does not extend very far beyond the
range of his naked eye. In Jackson's
time the Creoles said they would
fight 10 defend q city, but not State,
and they had considerable trouble with
them ut the time. F"
OLD ARCHITECTURE.
DO YOU find in the city any traces
of Old Creole arciilecturc?'
Yes, quite frequently. And when
they rebuild they observe the old
forms. rtmemJcr that | was asked
in the East if the cathedral down there
was no. very Old building, and when
said that the old building had been
torn down and this new one erected
on its site in 1852 my questioner was
very much surprised. The French
quarter, SO called, is becoming more
circumscribed, and the Creoles are set
Ting all over the city now
CREOLE FRENCH.
How is it that the Creole French is
SO different from the pure French?"
w Gil, IlO CEGOIcS are lnQOIenG pcO-
pie who live in a warm climate, and
they relax in every way-even the mus
Giles of the throat relax, and they talk
with lazy drawl"
THE AUTOGRAPH FIEND.
care you greatly troubled with the
autograph fiend, Mr.. Cable?"
"WelI, I receive numerous requests
for autographs, and in most cases it is
a pleasure for me to comply, as [ es-
TEEN it an honor; but [ never like to
see a person send two cards, for /
think he wants to swap and I never
care much about long letters in which
[ am told of the writer's large collec-
ton, and assured if [ could see it [
would certainly like TO put my name
among the others"
A NEW WORK.
''Have you any new works in view?"
Eyes, intend writing q novel ideal
izing the Acadians, and in the Century
safe [ have rare lot Of old manu-
scripts which [ collected in New Or
leans, and [ think that these | shall
l,,+ Z