St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1892-07-23
A TRIP TO RUSTON.

The object of this effort, is to give our
gentle readers faint picture of the many
| pleasant experiences one has on even so
short a trip as to Ruston
1t would be proper to state that, during
our trip, We had the good fortunr of being
associated with the talkative and affable
Mr.. Laurent Dupre, and the pleasant Dr.
Irion; both of whom added invaluably to
the agreeableness the trip. Wejourney-
ed part of the way with our distinguished
friends, Judge A. B.. 1rion, of Ayoyelles,
and Judge ]. e. Barry, of Acadia
Our first stop was, of course. at Alexand-
ria, where we stayed over night before TAX
ing the I. q z; train for Shreveport. Alex
andrla is SO situated on the Red River, and
thoroughly connected by railways with all
points in the State, that it will undoubtedly
be the future metropolis of central Louisi-
ana. Its citizens seem to be aware of this
fact. and are on the alert.
We reached Shreveport about 10o'cloek,
of the day after our departure. We re-
manned there only long enough to discover
that the people take great interest in pub
lie affairs, and that they have the best or
ganized schools in the State, outside of
New Orleans. A few hours later found us
travelling eastwardly over the "pine hills
of North Louisiana" Soon we arrived at
the beautiful little town of Ruston, but be-
ing anxious to reach our destination, we
took vehicles for the Chatauqua Springs
where the Convention of Superintendent
of Public Education vera sitting The
springs are beautifully located between
two large hills, about two miles north of
Ruston. The principal buildings at this
place, are hotel that viii accommodate
abour 100, and pavilion that will seat
upward of 1900 persons There are also
several private cottages.
We remained at the springs during the
Convention, and enjoyed ourselves hugely
Among the many things which tep.led to
make our stay a pleasant one, were splendid
music, lovely songs, moonlight strolls and
association with the fairest and sweetest
of Louisiana's daughters. We heard many
interesting papers and speeches, the most
eloquent of which was a speech delivered
by Hon. A. d. Lafargue, our efficient Sup
erintendent of Public Instruction. The
day before our departure, we had the pleas
ure of being face to face with the famous
Sam Jones, and of hearing him lecture
and preach.
On our retnrn, we stopped over in Mon
roe, and after visiting its beautiful suburb
an places, with their lovely lawns, dotted
with the majestic oak, and avenues lined
with trees, we reached the conclusion that
1t is the prettiest town in Louisiana. Mon
roe presents quite a city-hke appearance,
with its many large two-story brick estab-t
iishments, several wholesale mercantile
houses, three banks, G. S. Court-H ouse,
cotton compress, ice factory, three railroad
systems and steamers lining the bank of
the placid Ouachita River
Our route from Monroe to Alexandria
was very picturesque. In many instances
the waters of the Ouachita had escaped the
confines of its banks, and had spread ont
over the country as far as the railroad,
where it was again arrested in its deyasta-
ting march. We soon reached Alexandria,
and few hours of additional travelling
landed us in fair Old Opelousas once more
Respectfully, A DELEGATE.