The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1889-02-23
OUR
Editor SENTINEL :

Editor SENTINEL
Your correspondent in Letter I arri-
we'd at Jacks Camp, the centre point
of the oyster fisheries of Timbalier.
| was not a stranger in that entrep0t.
Not a man or boy Of the entire popu-
lation to whom | was unknown, or |
whom | did not know. Wherefore
CHEEKY voices welcomed me, and >nen
it was known that | came among them
as.an invalid in search Of healn and
strength, cordial hospitality was prof
fered on every hand, and | was soon
installed in one of the group of cabins.
These cabins, being built of poles and
palmetto, (Laiourclle ~shingles) present
q rather fuzzy, unsubslantial, and fly
away appearance frem the outside,
bat it is astonishing how comfortable
they can be made, and how luxurious
this one appeared to the weary rain
bedraggled sick man who lifted him
self painfully up the n high step to
the floor.
To civilized eyes. the interior was
as odd as the outside. 1t Was about
ten feet by twelve iii area, fisored
with rough planks, which being very
insuiiiciently supported below by the
willow pole %.joists, and having inch
wide cracks between, sprung, and even
waved beneath every footstep. In one
! cerner was Il high standing bunk
) draped with Il dingy but necessary
! mosquito bar. In another corner was
the fireplace, in Il third corner was an
opening serving as doorway and win
dow, and in the fourth corner was Il
. pile Of tirewood mixed up with old
sacks, ropes and bits of canvas. These
were soon cleared away, and your cor
respondents mattress and mosquito
bar were cOmmodiously installed il
their place, leaving just room enough
for the occupants to sidle arounl
in.
:. As night approached a fire was light
ed on. not in, the fireplace. and suppe
r was prepared-an oyster supper. Ii
i the popular mind the oyster supper /
de- l"re, a costly and rather sinful dis
sipation peculiar to the rapid, silde'
youth Of cities, and to the light-heele'
P and li.ht-manneied nymphs Of tn
bullet and the chorus; bpt at Jack
n Camp the horny handed sons OF TOT
eat not only oyster suppers, but oyste
Il breakfasts, and oyster dinners, as muc
l. as a matter of course as his cogeiie
he deyours corned beef and cabbage.
$ Stoves and even ciiimneys are III
\. known at jacks Camp. 4 square DO
filled with earth serves as a heartl
to and the eddying wind through the e>
$, er open doorway swirls the smoke III
De partially into the faces of those groul
e. ed about the fire, bringing back to
t. least one OF them, memories, long SIM
r almost forgotten, of other camp fir
extending over half Il continent fro
INV Virginia to the Gulf. and from Mexi,
to Alaska. The fitful flame OF tt
burning wood, or the glimmer of
candle-eld serves to illuminate Il lit
nL patch Of the darkness-and | thin
of Jacks Camp is the Limbo of candl
OF ends. l can not otherwise understal
why so vast II number should be acc
'S INFLATED there, with never a whole ca
Oh die to relieve the monotonous proce
ny sion.
After supper, pipes and cigarett
are in order. The elders sit arou
Ills smoking in the smoky semi-darknes
'!- swapping lies, and pretty steep on
HIS too, while the youngsters stray aw
ess to some rendezvous where Il store /
covered with a blanket. and with
inevitable candle-cnd ut each corr
teOrms a card table, and there play
mild game of poker for apples, pee:
Ev- or sweet cakes for more hours tt
in are good for them.
les, AS the night advances, one by +,
~ the fires ar covered. and the lights
are. o."
The tinguished. The poker players ST
md back to thei7 hunks. The screech
:, Is fiddle and thu strident accordion
Z -