The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-28
no. III BuII Street

ole planters home, and hundred inter
mediate shades between the types all
speaking the soft bastard French. UNI
changed in word or accent for 80 years
The yankee had never dreamed of such
q scene as this. He tried to talk to some
Of them, but, for the most part, they
shook their heads and said No spik
'Merican, me no parle creole" while
others, speeches., ran away. BY chance
he came across a man he had seen before,
an officer in tho - Connecticut and told
him of his trouble. ~ think I know the
man who can help you" the captain said.
He is neither black nor white, but a mix
ture of the two in such a way that | do
not know which race predOminates in him.
he speaks all these dialects, and can pull
you through. l will send for him." Di-
rectly the man came. He was a tall,
straight mulatto, ready, alert and full of
energy. II was agreed between them that
the colored assistant was to have $3.50 per
head for each recruit he procured the
person enlisted $50, while the thrifty re-
cruiting agent kept the rest.
The color ed tout In wv his business
He went among the ragged, dirty contra
bands, told them the government would
give every man who wanted them new
clothes and new gun and "a big pocket
full of money, Mana he would not have to
work and would have plenty to eat be-
SlNlbo. IlG uFtSSelb one OF TWO Ol mem IN
uniforms to sh wv them how they would
appear when a Denifcent government had
clothed them as it would if they wanted
clothes. The agent got his quota filed,
the Sagacious Colored citi en- got $3.50 900
in cash in seven days, ana the United
States got a great many parti-COlOred
warriors named Jean, FRANCHISE, and St.
Jeau Baptiste, who staid with their COM
mands until they heard of the emancipa-
f1nn nrOplqTOa finn and than tboNr 1ra1
their pay and cut out. Soon. disguised in
their usual picturesquely- dirty garments,
they would never h I've been recognized as
the smart corpordls or sergeants of the
late New England regiment of infantry.
Not long ago Washington pension
agent said to a Louisiana friend In
looking over the rolls of the - regimen
l lind ever so many French names.
can't get any clew to the whereabouts of
their owners. Some of them must be still
alive. If they are dead, they should have
heirs. The towns they enlisted in, a part
of whose quota they were, know nothing
about them. Where do you suppose they
are2"
''My friend, " said the one addressed.
solemnly, these people never saw Massa-
chusetts or Connecticut. They were en-
listed in tho Opelousas and Attakapas
country of Louisiana. Those who are
living are somewhere between the Gulf
and Red river on the north and from the
Bayou Chacala, in the Parish of Terre
Bonne, or on the Lower La Fourche on
the east, to the Cote Gelee hills on the
west. They could not speak to you if YOU
met them, for they pare the creole dia-
Iect alone, Then they would tell you
forty lies about their enlistment, and
deny, probably, that they were ever in
the volunteer army at all if pressed, for
they would believe your questioning
them was q scheme of the government to
catch and punish them for some unknown
ohense. The less intelligent, having been
told by republican statesmen that if the
democrats ever did get into power the
first thing they woulddo would be to kill
all those who had been in the union army,
would believe list was being made up
for the purpose of giving the killers the
proper names Of persons upon whom they
were to operate, and would die before
they would own to their military expert
ence- You can't do any business there "
SWeI," said he, with grOan, ''you
may be right. Yon ought to know But
just think of such an unwor1ed mine as
there Is in Southwest Louisiana for pen
sion agent absolutely untouched, Why,
some OF those people have 81 900 in back
pay. pensions etc, due them There are
not less than 81 500, 900 of good claims for
pensions and bounty, the proper owners
of which are Louisiana negroes in the re-
gion you speak Of who can't be got at.
By the Lord, this is hard! !" added the en-
terplising gentleman, almost overcome TO
tears by the thought.