The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1899-02-09
SOUTH'S OLDEST COLONY.
COMPOSED OF CHINESE AND OTHER
ORIENTAL SHRIMP FISHERMEN.

of Louisiana Their Habits Are ln-
| credibly Simple and semi-savage -
Interesting Story of q Chinese Prince.
Hidden away in the labyrinthine
bayous of lower Jefferson parish,
Louisiana, and scattered about the
mar gins of Grand lake, Little lake
and the unsteady named Cheniere
Caminada is q strange colony, the
bare existence Of which is practically
unknown. 1t numbers, all told, at
least 1000 people, three-fourths of
whom are Chinese aud the rest Man.
lila men and undesirable mongrels.
They live in brushwood camps near
the edge af the water, their habits
are incredibly simple and semi-sav-
age, and their business is the catch
ing and drying of shrimp.
This singular settlement recently
came to the surface in some litigation
ON the calendar of the New Orleans
courts over the ownership of piece
of adjacent property, but the industry
has been quietly pursued, from time
out of mind, in almost unbroken iso-
lation. Its product is never seen in
the New Orleans market, but is
shipped direct to San Francisco and
! New York and consumed entirely by
! the Chinese. At certain seasons the
shrimp are caught by the million in
rude hand nets and spread in layers
/ on platforms, built over the surface
Of the water. The hot sun soon
shrivels them up and they become
| I'D m, 1u INV
! they are brown and brittle and have
sweet, nutty flavor that is far from
disagreeable. In this condition they
are packe loosely in barrels holding
about $50 pounds each and sent to
native merchants on Mott and Doyers
streets in New York and to the IA
nous Chinatown of Frisco. At both
places they are in lively demand and
are eaten either as condiments, with
out further preparation, or with
curry of rice. Even American bar
barians find them very good.
The scene at the shrimping camps
is so strangely Oriental that it is hard
! for visitor to realize that he is in
the neighborhood of big American
city.
Secluded as they have been, the
litigation already referred to is not
the first event that has brought the
Chinese shrimpers to the attention of
New Orleans officials. About eleven
years ago a tremendous row was
raised at the postofIice over some I'M
known matter that was tainting the
mails with peculiar and villainous
sdor. The trail being as evident as
the aura Of soap foundry, the gov
eminent sleuths were not greatly over
worked in following it to certain mys-
FERROUS parcels, decorated all over
with Mon9olia hieroglyphics.
The bundles contained dried shrimp,
prepared after special and odorifer
GUS formula and sent as tidbits to
friends of the colony. Needless to
say, they were promptly fscated
under the rules of the postal service,
but the mailing went on to a wild
chorus of public protest, until it was
stopped by peculiar incident.
One day the superintendent was
passing his window just as China
man dropped tabooed parcel in the
slot. The official was a man of ac-
ton. Grabbing the package, he
hurled it instantly at the retreating
Celestial, who turned just in time to
stop it with his nose. The Chinaman
emitted howl of anguish, and from
that day to this not a single shrimp
has ever perfumed the mails.
| But the most remarkable story con-
nected with the shrimpers is that of
the Chinese prince. 1t is true story,
and SO curious in its details and so
grotesquely sinister in it's denoument
that it might easily be elaborated into
q striking romance of Anglo Oriental
life. However, the plain facts are
these:
About seven years ago Chinese
prince of the blood came to New Or
leans for his health. He was not ill,
but he had reason for believing that
DO might live longer if he removed
himself temporarily from the neigh
borhood OF the court aud enjoyed
complete change of diet. Exactly
what these reasons were nobody
knows, for, like all Orientals, he kept
his own counsel strictly, but it was
limited in the Chinese colony that he
had taken too active an interest in
politics and was regarded at Pekin as
An offensive partisan.
Strangely enough, the news of his
presence never got into the papers,
but there was no doubt whatever of
his genuineness. Those Americans
who met him in connection with cer-
tain business transactions found him
. cultured, superbly educated and
thoroughly accomplished man of the
world. His official robes, which
formed part of an extensive luggage,
were such gorgeous affairs as are sell
dom seen outside the sacred circles of
the court. They were made Of silk of
the wonderful weave reserved for the
royal house, to counterfeit which
means death, and were stiff with in
tricate embroidery. He had, besides