The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-04-10

h- AHe
a rev Of the sagerlnes Already En-
dursd In Southern country Housea
The last month 1T 1896 IS memorable
In the south for the cold storms that
swept over the country and enveloped
everything IN sleet and SNOW. People
shiyered before the hMped-up light
wood fires and talked g f they really
entertained the idea Of building warm
cr houses. Some sent on for stoves to
warm the big halls and dining-rooms
stoves that, owing to the prevailing
tOrpidity Of labor and trade, gotto them
after the cold spell was over.
It was so cold that more than one sit
ting-room door was shut and kept shut,
a fact significant to anyone familiar
with plantation customs, and It was 50
cold that the sheets had p be rubbed
over with d warm iron before people got
between them. Even courageous, o
bust young folks Jeff the fire reluctant
" when bedtime came. and hot-water
bottles, hot bricks and hannels were
the order OF the night. The carrying ID
Of huge back logs and front logs and
great armfuIs of fat splinters ia an the
rooms was the order OF NE day.
The focks of guineas took refuge 10
thick orange trees and stayed there. re-
fusing to be coaxed down even hy the
most liberal spread Of peas and corn on
the snow below. Mockihg birds, and
poor, bew8ldered little thrashers and
sparrows flew in under the piazzas for
shelter, and their natural enemies made
no effort to disturb them. Up by the
cattle sheds and the sheep folds, remote
from the houses, queer tracks would be
seen in the early morning, imprinted
by shy woods creatures, which, startled
by the abnormal condition of things.
| sought strange compaRionship. Do
nestle servants known to be of slim
proportions assumed unfamiliar stout
ness as the thermometer fell.
"How many frocks have you got on
to-day, Maum Eve2" that trusty maid
servant would be asked, with a compre-
hensive glance at the layers of dress
bodies that refused to fasten over her
chest.
use cold, chilei cold all through!"
grasping helplessly at the refractory
buttons. Last night itlook like every.
ting on de whole yearth would freeze
jam up fore mornin'. I never sleep
none tail; jest lay down cen de bed and
hear de trees crackin' and strainin' and
snappin' off out cen de woods. Seem
like some st~rong-handed something was
going through there 'stroyin' of EN-"
There was a heavy rain, then a freeze,
then snow, then another freeze, and
during the three days before things
commenced to thaw out the country
had a curiously unusual aspect. A hush
seemed to settle down over the land as
if something %portentous had happened
OIL was about to happen. Scarcely any
travellers were abroad on the roads, and
over all the big, fat fields nothing wat
TO be seen but the dead white level OF
snow and the plumes of smoke curling
upward from the negro cabins. The few
people who did any visiting went
wrapped up to the ears, and provided
with every safeguard against getting
cold. When the negroes ventured forth
they were bundled up amazingly, and
had all manner of wooden strips ban
daged round ankles and wrist and head.
Out in the woods no usual sounds were
to be heard. Nothing stirred, neither
fiutter of bird chirp of insect. Even
the chattering crows were chilled into
silence. The forest paths we're abgo-
lutely untrodden by man or beast. Not
a sign of life was to be seen, not a
glimpse of a rabbit or squirrel or chip
/ TnI1nlys nn1u. 4ha rar4 afnHrO1-ar -,,s14
save when some overburdened bough
crashed to the ground. One walking
there felt like a pioneer in a strange
country, the most familiar hooks seem
ing cast in a different mold. Great lam
cntations go up for the wrecked and
broken trees.
"The live oaks on my place are ruined,
and I'll never live to see others take
their place." says one cotton grower,
and another reports that his fig trees
are killed and the magnolias in the front
garden bruised and battered. All the
trees with thick foliage have suffered;
theirs vas literally a weight of woe
that they could not Withstand, each leaf
u crusted icicle.
It was too cold for hunting, too cold
for riding, too cold for sewing, piano
playing, or any kind of occupation that
would take one away from the fire. It
was almost too cold to read; but it was
a capital time to pull molasses candy,
pop corn, pet the children, and do any
thing that amounted to nothing.
II thought that roses grew out OF
doors down here in December protest
ed a northern visitor in South Carolina,
shut l never was so cold as this in Mas
sachusetts. Pile on that big light-wood
knot, Sambo. / love to see it blaze,
even though it makes me back out into
the hall. A fire of pine knots puts to
shame the most brilliant lamp that was
ever lighted, and one can enjoy its
beauty even while longing for a prosaic
! furnace to warm by."-N. Y. Sun.
Our indian CusswOrds.
"Gewhiteke," is Indian. 1t means
: fight, charge, advance collection OF
Rhode Island Historical society, vol. 1
page 14s). There is no Indian word fo1
: father" Elliot in the Indian Bible