St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-07-26
GETTING STARTED.

GETTlNG STARTED.
&perienoes During q Trip nom
Paris to Lyona
Sfoshae With . Cahaaa-La.guags Ua.
assseood by . Paris Jsh1 Thres sel.
:, Ash Nsa-A Daseessiea .. Tobacco
That Ends In 6neke.
Tho letters seP. L. Mare . magis
combination. They are . sort Of alpha
botic 'open sesame" p l. NJ IL tho
eochanted gateway through which
every ono must pass to escape from tho
damp. shivery gloom Of an English
winter to the paradise Of eternal sum
shine. The old, the worn and tho weary
60 through this portal to have . refresh
ing dip in the fountain OF youth; the
sick 60 to get we'll and tho hopeless to
die. Tho letters ON the northern side
Of this gateway might stand for Pierc-
ing Livid Misery or Pouring Liquid
Mud, or Potatoes Liver and Mutton. or
Pitiless Lurid Murder; and on tho south
for Peaceful, Life-giving Mildness. or
Palms, Lilies and Mandarins, or Ports
and Lakes and Mountains; but in plain
literal meaning they stand for the rail-
way called tho Paris-Lyons-M Mediter-
Fanean, running from the capital Of
France to the great southern sea and
along the Mediterranean coast 70 tho
italian frontier.
A little knowledge is . dangerous
thing, especially II that little happens
to be wrong. Ialvays had the idea that
the p. L. NJ station was that terminus
south Of the Luxembourg Palace. Idon't
know how this notion fixed itself ON me,
but anyhow, when the cab-driver in
stead Of crossing the Seine took the
rough stony street on the north side Of
It, I thought he had mistaken my in
structions and tzied to tell him whore TO
20. This attempt to give Paris cab
man information about his own city
evidently amused him very much. and
hc proceeded to argue tho point with
me--he talking French while confined
myself to English-but strong. forcible
English.
think woman takes . deplorable
delight in finding her husband in the
wrong. Anyhow, this rcma rk was made.
There Is just ono chance in million
that you are mistaken and that tho man
knows where he i going"
''Kaocsf He doesn't know any thing"
and to show that was In the right
I IVES indiscreet enough to pull out .
map Of Paris tried to fold 1t up
again ~. quickly q. possible. but was
not soon enough.
Exactly. The. man was right after
ALL It's miles away and on tkis side Of
theyayee." sfe- ss-i-s-'s-ss = &
't0o On" I shouted to the driver:
''what arc you stopping for? Drive On
and hurry mp" 8 e. .a
Now, this idiotic cochier seemed 70
think every time tried to get him TO
move on. that wanted to reopen the
argument about tho position Of the r.
L. n. station. He would pull up his
horse and turn half round In his seat
towards me and vehemently expound
his side OF tho controversy. realised
that II this sort Of thing WAS kept on No
would miss the train and was just de-
batting whether 1t would be better to
murder the man outright and tako the
reins myself or merely stun him and
try 10 get to the station before he re-
vived, when there came along . ped
cstrisn who looked - IL he was IN Eng.
lishman. 81 Sc
81 beg your pardon" I said. .'but do
you speak English?" 4..-zf
81 have been accustomed to speak It.
he answered. coming to . standstill,
''from my youth up What can do for
your"
Nothing. unless vou can also speak
French" a& &A
"Ah. there you touch my weak point;
still know enough Of the Language TO
get cheated F.,.+.
"well. I wish you would ask the
driver what he Is arguing with mo
sbout-politics or religion"
There was an animated confab BE-
tween the two for . minute, then the
stranger turned to me.
The driver says that you seem lit
tie wabbly In your mind - to what par.
ticular station you want 70 60 to He
says he doesn't mind driving to any ens
station, but he declines to experiment
with all tho te:mini In Paris unless you
hire him by the hour"
''Will you kindly tell him that I want
the p. L. NJ station and that want 1t
Dad. Ask him to hurry and hint 1t extra
compensation"
When this wasdono the stranger was
good enough to give me some hints that
might prove useful
''If he doesn't move fast enough don't
say go It or hurry up;' he'll think you
want to enter into conversation with him.
Shout 'pressay,' and il that doesn't do.
punch him with your cane. They under
stand that in every language. Don't hit
him with the cane. He will take that -
. challenge and hit hack with the whip.
but punch him gently and yell 'pressay.
Goodbye Oh, don't mention It No
trouble 1t all"
"Now, you villain. cried: ''Pressay
or perish"
He gave that peculiar "Youep" which
French drivers 30 frequently address TO
their horses, hit the animal IN under
cut with the whip, then worked on .
fusilade of sharp whipcracks that
sounded like . succession Of pistol shots.
and the horse broke into . detected GAL
lop. which finally worried us TO the foot
OF the stone hill that leeds TO tho sta
tion. The big clock showed that IL was
still i've minutes to train time. This, on
most lines in France or Italy, would b
equivalent to missing the train. but tho
p. L. NJ people run . modern railway.
and %, with the aid Of . good angel.
who. instead Of having wings. had the |