The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-07-25
LETTER FROM NEW ORLEANS.
Observations and Reflections by an Uncom
nerciaI Traveller.
lSpecial Co-r.-nondence.l

my heart / believe that severe toll is the
grandest and most glorious invention that
man has been guilty Of, but when see a
gang Of negro roustabouts going through
their little act of unloading freight from a
Mississippi steamboat am apt TO think
that toil-at least of this caIiber-is
neither grand nor glorious and most assur-
cdly has no dignity about it. The poet,
philosopher or whoever the mischief he
was who was guilty Of tho preparation of
that aphorisnI which says that there is a
dignity in labor ought II try his hand at
shoveling coal or sand for ten hours day
or take turn with tho negroes in unload
ing freight on to the levee. I'd like to see
the panegyric he'd write about labor after
a week of it. Do you know il struck me
yesterday, As / was watching the men at
their horrible, man killing work with my
hands comfortably stuck in my pockets
and large cigar in my mouth, that the
famous authorities on economies who
write such big, unreliable books con-
corning the relation that is supposed to
exist between capital and labor ought to
take-as the most vital part of the equip
ment necessary for their work-a course in
the earning of their own living by hard la
Dor before they commenced to spoil good
paper by writing upon it concerninga sub
ject Of which they practically and actually
knew nothing.
But this is of the point. I must tell
you of what l saw. 1 was standing on the
levee in Algiers smoking the aforesaid
large cigar ana thinking how nicely things
were going with me generally when 1 saw
Il steamboat approaching from up the riv-
or. In jiffy she was alongside the levee,
her gangplanll was thrown out, and the
roustabouts were scooting off the freight
for dear life. Scooting is the only word
that describes it. L never saw anything in
the toll line to equal it. Boxes and bales
and barrels seemed to move of themselves.
A man would pick up something that
ordinarily ought to take three or four men
TO lift and by some means or another hus-
tie it ashore. The boss was a white man
who stood near the gangplank swearing
and bowling at the top of his voice. He
was big, red faced, double listed and coarse
looking. He held a stick with which he
prodded any negro who showed the least
sign of tagging.
From AlgierS you can look away over
the Mississippi and see the spires and col
umns of New Orleans. They seem to rise
from out Il great, calm flow of water. For
a moment you feel that they tell of 4 city
that is submerged. The land hereabouts
is lower than the level of the river, and the
people have to fight its encroachings by
the building of levees, or dikes as they
would call them in Holland. 1t is
strange river, this Mississippi. Beneath
its calm is a ferocious rcstlessness. Ever
is it changing its channel; ever is it seek
ing a new way TO lay waste the land. The
people of New Orleans fear it, and there Is
n belief among them that some day it will
sweep themselves and their city to utter
destruction.
Once 1 saw it roaring and seething
through a crevasse it had burst in the levee
some miles below New Orleans. 1t had
thrown off its mask of calm and was thun-
dering out over southern Louisiana. The
crevasse was three-quarters of a mile wide
and in a few days steamers were able to
sail overland to points 200 miles away
from the rivers usual course. The roads
were thronged with people who were fly
ing for their lives to the higher land, laden
with what little belongings they could
easily carry. During this time had an
odd adventure. 1 had come on a steamer
through the crevasse from New Orleans TO
n place called Bayou Sale, where 1 was
staying on a plantation with a friend of
mine. The plantation was on high ground
and so had escaped the surrounding inun-
dation. / believe it was either on the day
or the day after my arrival there that set
out for Il walk, with the idea in my head of
generally noting the damage the river had
done. 1t was rather late in the afternoon,
and my friend warned me to be sure to
get back before shutdown, as the water was
rising quickly all the time and it was well
10 look out. l walked on for an hour or
so, not thinking much of what he had
said, till suddenly l noticed it getting
dark. Then / turned back and hurried
along the road as fast as l could but
= 81, II
not don't know to this day. All that /
know Is that when 1 turned TO;Ind bend
Of the road l found my way barred by ID
great stretch of water. Surely this was
the way 1 came, 1 thought The water
must have risen and covered it in my alb
scncei l didn't stop long TO consider,
however but got back along the road, only
to find myself barred again by another
stretch of water. Things were getting
serious. 1 looked around me and could
see nothing but great black shadows Of
cypress trees rejecting in calm black water
that 1 knew was stretching over and swal-
lowing up everything. y hideous fear
seized me, and n sweat broke out all over
me. My nerve was gone utterly. These
frightfUl shadows had affected my imagi-
nation. Shadows in water have always pro-
duced in me a strange sort of fear. would
have to die here, / thought. would be
isolated and slowly drowned BY this
time it was dark, and stood thinking and
shivering when L heard the bark OF dog.
At once the fit of cowardice left me, and L
was a man again The bark came from
away off on my right. Going in that di
rection, which brought me right straight
eff the road and over what seemed to be
the burrows of - sugar cane field, saw n
light, and in n moment or 50 was knock
ing on the door Of. q hut y negreSS opened
IL, with lamp in her hand. Behind her
stood two negroes. One OF them held
pistol full ut my head; the other was hold
ing two big, fierce looking dogs that were
straining and Juggling TO get ct me. How
ever, they let me i'll after n short parley.
They had to be cautious, they said, because
of robbers. They fed me on corn bread
and bacon and coffee, and the next day
one Of them pilotcd me TO my friends