Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1888-12-08
LOUISIANA'S GLORIES.
THE BEAUTIES OF THE STATE AS
SEEN BY ONE OF ITS RESIDENTS.

Scenery That stirs the soui OF tho roet.
Romantic Spots by Laho and River.
The Odd and Interesting People One
Nay Sec.
In New Orleans we bury In ovens above
ground to escape the waters on which
our city floats; In st. Martinsville there
are dungeons Of underground cellars;
and In one parish tho SHOWS are orange
blossoms, and In another they fall from
heaven itself. In tho Acadian country,
when ball is TO be, q courier carries q
flag and rides over all the country shout
Ing out like town cIier In the olden
days the summons TO tho fcte. In Gre
olcdom young girl dead Is borne to her
grave by white veiled "death maidens,"
and In Acadia the very horses wear nmu-
lets to charm nway tho "gri-gri." There
are out Of tho way little inns in Louisiana
whero tho cooking Is ms good rs ut Del
monico's-nay, better. Who would not
go a-swamping II only tho way was
shown him? How many tourists would
be proof against q day at Spanish lake,
or nights alligator hunt on the Atcha-
falaya2 What Floridian scenery can
equal our Tchcfuncta? There fs street
In Dublin only q few books long said TO
DO tho finest street In tho world; and
there is river in Louisiana only navi-
gable for little way that for beauty, for
color OF environment, Is more finely
picturesque and lovely than miles Of tho
Thames, the Rhine, the Arkansas or tho
Hudson.
NATURE AppEAIs TO TIE ARTIST.
Nature In Louisiana appeals to the art
LIST, to the poet, TO the photographer, TO
tho tourist, who Is none OF these in prac-
tice, yet all and more in love with tho
beautiful. There Is an Undesirable
charm In the softness of our lakes, tho
serene, deep beauty of our bayous, tho
splendor of our forests, the gayety and
grace and lively life Of our plantations.
Every village has its inn, its traditions,
Its accessible gossip, its peculiar local
customs, too pronounced 10 escape the
interested locker on. Here you will find
the big plantation, tho fine house over
run with pickaninnies, the royal well
come, tho never failing hospitality.
There you will find the adobe hut tho
squalid tamales maker. Here you will find
the voudou witch working charms; there
you will find ma belle creole making O
novena before her saint and praying for
husband. There you will meet pa
tient, farm laboring friar or hear
the dirgelike chant of tho entombed
Carmellito nuns. One day you may
stand under an orange tree freightcd
with 10000 golden globes Of fruit; an
other day you may climb up ladder
into tho perch Of the swamper u. down a
shaft into salt mine far below the sur
face.
Ours Is n pastoral country, as pastoral
rs England. Ali IL gentle and serene
and matured and full Of soft repose.
The flowers and even fields, tho still for
ests, the waveless bayous, tho rich crops
and tho lowing kline all appeal to the
home side of nature. The grass Ia green
everywhere, innumerable ilocks Of geese
waddle over the green levees and nip
grass in the orange orchards.
THE IT1NERANT SNOWMAN.
Out In the woods and by the rivers
brim, the cheap circus people, travelling
In caravans or in gay painted barges
drawn by tiny tugs, erect their tents;
peddlers plod about in heavy blue hacks;
gypsy fortune teller. her baby swung
on her back, stealthily creeps up and
whispers a wish to have her hand crossed
with silver; an evil Arab sinks by under
the Cherokee rose hedge leading a
uaiClhb pcilr. ile Eets OUT OF tno Wly
for the gentleman planter trotting by in
his dog cart. Under the pent roof in tho
Teche country, in the tiny hut made on
the gulf islands of wrecked ships timbcrs,
in the fine old country mansion, palace
in the old days, there burns tho incxtin-
guishable torch of genial hospitality.
Like the Spanish the house owner grects
tho new conner with that gracious
warmth and gives him not only the best
he has but all he has.-Catharino Cole
In New Orleans Picayune.