Morning journal and courier., 1885-03-18
pal dissipation in their humdrum exis-

pal dissipation in their humdrum exis-
tence.
The morning mists that hang over the
river also sources of daily admiration.
Often only the smokestacks and upper out
lines of stately steamer will be visible
she gides along, and it verify seems as if the
boat were ploughing its way through banks
of purest snow.
Like most of the houses in the city, these
plantation mansions" are generally surround
ed with high English fence, provided with
locked gates and gong-like gate-bell
instead of a door-bel1 in many cases.
Of course it is muddy and dilapi-
dated hereabouts, but one does not notice
these things when he emigrates from New
Orleans. Here is an inventory of what I saw
on one back street in the ambitious Crescent
city: Two dead cats; one dead hen; two
live, thoughtful looking roosters; a egular
bouquet of goats; loose mule; three hogs;
squad of geese and three ducks; a stray
dog or two; some odd pieces of rusty stove
pipe; heap of oyster cans; barrel hoops and
cast-oH broom; some worn-out mating;
vests, hats, shoes, ETC.; broken beer bottles;
egg shells; great piles of ashes, and odd
pieces of discarded furniture. I might add
also green scum, purple scum, yellow scum,
liquid death, gaseous poison and fugitive
pestilence of every species.
l noticed that scores of men and boys
crossed the river at early da wn equipped
with fishing tackle and started into the
country along the banks of the canal. Some
days there would be seventy-five or a hun
dred fishers, and on Sunday two three
hundred.
This stimulated my instructive love for
the piscatorial art, and the result was that
one bright sunshiny day we provided our
selves with fishing tackle and also started up
the canal, or more properly down it, though
there seems to be something incongruous in
ot11ro &of
After crossing the railroads we came
to toll-gate, where fee of ten cents
apiece demanded of us for the
privilege of fishing along the canal
III return for our silver, we were
provided with cheap printed permits signed
by Louise Harvey, relict of the original Har-
vey already referred to-
We followed the bank of the canal for a
distance of couple of miles, anon dropping
our lines into the stream to test the fishing
and anon repairing to neighboring bitches
bayous for crawfsh, to be used bait
Bayou" is the southern equivalent for the
western ''creek" and the eastern "brook,"
Just as ''carshed' among the negroes and the
illiterate whites is the southern equivalent
for the northern 'tdepot," and the English
station" Crawfish are very common in this
swampy region, and are therefore almost uni
versally used bait. Not only may they be
dipped out of the pools in great numbers, but
"chimneys" for themselves all over the low
fields. Brackish water is found only Il few
inches below the surface here. These mud
chimneys sometimes project over foot
above the ground.
On either bank of the canal we kept dis
covering large piles of dead and decaying
crabs.
did not conclude that this was spoiled
stock from the city deposited here for the
reason that they deposit all such refuse right
in the streets in New Orleans. L presume
that it represented the waste cargo of canal
skiffs that come up from the woodlands to
supply the city markets with favorite dish
Never have fished where the water seemed
more densely stocked with animal life than
is this Harvey canal There was scarcely
moment when, looking up or down, we could
not see one or more fish Hopping out of the
water. Usually these were the small fish, of
course, that sought to escape from some pur-
suing monster. 1 say monster, although
speaking of canal, but, think, advisedly.
We saw one catfish that was over four feet
long come to the surface, turn several somer-
s.tults, lash the water with its tail and then
disappear. We also one great lazy gar
fish approach too near the bank Just
rs hunter was passing by.
The latter took aim and promptly
there toad splashing as his finny Shigh-
ness realized too late that he had been indis-
erect in making himself SO conspicuous.
When after some difficulty he was stretched
on the shore 1t was found that he measured
little over two feet in length
But we were not fishing for such tough
and weighty specimens these.
Our ambition was limited to trout bass
small catfish and half dozen other common
varieties of fresh-water fish. In this direc-
Jon our am mbition was abundantly satisfied
The fish bit just as fast as we could throw in
olr baited lines. The only drawback to the
sport was the fact that some miserable little
sinner or sunfish would capture the hook be-
fore it could get down where the more re-
spectacle denizens of the stream lurked We
caught goodly mess of trout averaging from
six to eight inches in length. Had we felt
like expending the time and strength re-
qulred to move on six or eight miles further
down the stream, as do those city fishers who
cross the river during the night, we might
have secured much larger trophies to show
for our mornings labor
Yesterday afternoon | took a walk down
the levee to Gretna mile and half below
here, and then proceeded by street car to AL
giers.
You know Algiers, the much-remarked
manufacturing suburb of New Orleans, is
right across the river from the foot of Canal
street. Then, as you ascend the river by its
west bank, you come to Gouldsboro,
named after the great railway king
who controls the Texas and Pacific rail
way, and therefore is regarded as remote
benefactor of this New Orleans terminal
town. Gouldsboro is, like Algiers and Gret-
ma, one Of the most squalid and dilapidated
collections of shanties that exists in the two
hemispheres. Four miles further on you
come to Gretna, which hes nearly 5000 in
habitants and is connected with the foot of
jackson street by large ferry.
1t being dry day, the levee walk was an
easy, pleasant one,
The material of the levee along here is
simply mud that has been washed down by
the Mississippi, sometimes partially retained
by rotten wooded wall, and sometimes
solidiied by means of sealed bags of
earth holding perhaps bushel
apiece. Of course there is nothing i'll the
shape of stone work, as all the stone in this
part of Louisiana has been brought here. and
stone is expensive. Perhaps L should say
| rock instead of stone, as nobody uses the lat
ter term here. Even a milestone is a
'whet-rock." If you order children to stop
throwing stones they'll only stare at you a
| moment and then resume operations. But if
you order them to stop hurting rock, and
they are inclined to be obedient, they will
cease.
Gretna is about as hopelessly Goddess a
| town ever were Sodom, Gomorrah, Tyre
or Sidon. The pace has six churches, but
| when I went down there last Sunday to at
tend service there wasn't of them open
| or billed to be open during the whole fore
noon.
At Gretna I boarded the narrow gauge
mule-car for Algie1s. No incident served to
vary the monotoay of wretehed huts and
| rnbbish-strewn public ways, save an over
| throw of the car. For street car to jump
| the track is nothing extraordinary, but for it
| to also fall over upon one side, as this one
| did, is decided novelty. After we pas
| sengers had extricated ourselves the curious
| crowd that had gathered around began the
| task of righting the coach. But it was evil
dent that this would require some time and
| pains, and the darkies promptly demurred
| when it came to performing this service.
''Dis yere amt no picay Inc job" said one
sedate old fellow. "No," added another, 81
| dom get pass dis road. Jess let us
know what wese goin' to git fust.'' ''But
| can't promise you out of my own pocket, -
said the driver. (The street drivers are
| all Whitley At this frank avowal some of the
more autocratic of the African element
marched away with great dignity, but there
were enough men left of less selfish animus
to right the car, and we finally arrived. in
safety at Algiers.
weeks without saying anything in print CON