The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1891-12-26
GALLON ISLAND IN 1896.
lC0ntHae1.l

COttE- ueU.
"All this may be true" said he,
"where you came from ; but it is not
SO here. And as to the slavish drink
ers of rum that you speak of, that may
be true where that liquor is used ; we
do not drink RUM down here as for
me, I despise ~rum-suckers. Good
whiskey is my ordinary drink. 1t
must be remembered too that this is a
low, damp, and swanpy country,
where water is often bad when you
get up in the morning, and go out i'll
the damp foggy weather ; it Is good to
dri nix something, and it is also good to
take a drink at night. When the
weather is cold, it will keep you warm,
when it is hot, it will keep you cool.
When you are wet and cold, it is we'll
to take about two drinks and when
you are dry it will do no harm to take
a little. When a lot of men meet and
wish to be friendly, they take a social
drink. When the doctor looks at you
and sees that you are pale and look
sickly, he will tell You to take three
drinks a day of brandy or whiskey /;
when IA man is recovering from fever,
or any sickness, the doctor prescribes
brandy toddies. And when his health
is fully re-established, lie will tell him
to continue taking, now and then, a
little brandy or whiskey, to keep from
getting sick"
Now | never was good OF a debate, |
| tried that at school where we had a
debating society. This, was, accord
ing to the slang of the times, a knock
down argument. | had to consider
myself defeated, whether, l thought 80
or not, and retire from the contest; the
middle aged gentleman wound up his
eloquent disco urse on intemperance, by |
talking of his favorite beverage with
Mr.. Gautier. We then parted company.
All the sugar plantations that we
passed in going down, had names,
such al Myrtle Grove, Hope Farm,
and some others that | do not now re-
member. A few miles below the latter !
place, was a house which was pointed
out to me, as II of the headquarters
of Lafitte, the Pirate, when he came
up this bayou to sell contraband
goods. As long as the house remain
ed standing, there were marks ON the
floor showing where his men pitched
dollars and doubloous. The house
vas rather an elegant one for a place
like this, from its appearance seemed
to have been built by a man of means. |
But who built it, or who lived here. in
Lafyitte's time, | cannot now refnem-
Der. The property had very recently
been purchased by Grugar c. Pierce.
1t was built in the old French or Spanish
style, much used in tie early settle
ment OF this State. 1t was elevated on
pillars about ten feet from the ground.
the lower story being used as a store
room, lumber room and other Tough
purposes. Here, they say, Latte
and his men assembled to sell contra
band goods, to drink wine and play
cards. The name LATTE was rot
unknown to ne ! once sawa book,
when l was a BOY, containing the his
tory of the most noted pirates, and
among them vas that of Latitte. 1t
told how these pirates captured ships
on sea, killed the men, and those they
did not kill, they forced to walk the
plank, assthey call it, with their hands |
tied behind them. and then tipped into
the sea to drown. After that they
took all the money, all the goods. and
everything that was of any value, and
then setthe ship ON fire. But the book |
was SO full Of horrid deeds, that l did
net read much of it. And | have of /
ten thought since that it is wrong for
persons, particularly young persons, to
practice reading such books as the his
tory of the pirates, the stories of high I
waymen OF the records Of the Police l
Gazette. It is well enough for people
to know these things ; but not to ac- I
quire a taste forthat style of literature.
The mind, particularly that Of young
persons, is liable to become too fami-
liar with vice and crime.
We arrived at Bayou La
Cache between three and
four o'clock P. NJ. Here we made cof-
fee and ate orr lunch. The name La
Cache means hiding bayou ; from the
fact that LATTE ran his goods up this
bayou to hide them. Some say Ire had
money buried somewhere along its
banks. But if there ever was any
buried, they have come long ago and
taken it away as they have done in
other places.
10 be continued.1