The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-05-12
EDEN OF LOUISIANA.
The N. E. League Pays a Visit 10
Lake Charles.
fIouTishiHg Municipality That Is a Fast
Growing Lumbar Center

4
easy travelling over the Southern Pa
cihc, for The road bed Is like an arrow
! Hight most OF the way and exceedingly
| woll-ballastedi 1t Is doubtful If there
Is more interesting stretch OF coun-
, try in all the United States. Besides
being a semi-tropical region it is the
land of romance. There are many
points along the road where neeting
/ glimpses can be abtained OF the best
! types OF famous old plantation houses
| III was always "a great sugar and cotton
| country. and today, In it's western sec
tion the best rice in the world is being
/ grown. Side by side can be seen the
] most primitive ana the most advanced
| practices of agriculture. and views Of
| the stately manor house of the old
! plantation are replaced instantly as the
| train flies on by glimpses OF negro cab
| ms that are often the rarest Of archl-
| tectuat oddities.
The path OF the tourist also lies
/ through cypress sWamps and over
! creeks and bayous. The vegetation is
| tropical i'm it's luxuriance and at this
! season Is startling panorama of livid
4 green. The trees are decorated by long
| streamers OF Spanish moss, "A parasite
| cal plant which eventually saps the
| life of trunk and limb. and many OF
| them are OF commanding height and
| alGermanic girth. IL is "A country as
! level as a table. Once in the remote
| past, ii Is believed the waters of the
| Gulf OF Mexico. rolled over this entire
/ region, and today when the winl
! sweeps the mighty meadows or cane
and rice field the country side seems
| 10 undulate like the surface of n sea
| At night at this season the fields and
IL.
/ Myriads OF fireflcs dot TIE darkness
! with hitting cvdnescent CLEANS and the
! effect Is weird, wonderful and entranc-
/ ing
/ En- route to Lake Charles from New
| Orleans you first pass through what r.
| often called the sugar bowl" section Of
| Louisiana. and next through the land
! OF the Acadians. The descendants OF the
/ quaint and lovable people made SO IA
NOUS by Longfellow's "E,vangeline"
! still inhabit this rcgion.and tradition
/ hereabout says that the veracious name
! OF this heroine of poesy was Emmeline
Labiche. IL Is said that the story OF
| this lady corresponded I'm the main
with the chief incidents in the life of
Icvangeline as related by the poet. Mime.
Labiche. after the expatriation of her
! people from Nova Scotia I'm 1905, pro-
ceeded as far south as Baltimore by
vessel and thence 10 New Orleans by
foot. II must have been frightful
journey. She married In Louisiana. and
some OF her descendants were promi-
lnent I'm the history Of the colony and
state.
The Acadians who reached Louisiana
preserve many of the family names
once Identified with the Basin OF AInas
and Grand Pre-. Nova Scotia. and many
of them follow the pursuits and lead
as simple lives as did their unfortunate
ancestors.
IT cruel fate drove these latter from
! happy northern homes, kindly fortune
guided them 10 richer soil and a more
genial cline. The Acadians of Louis
lana are delightful prUptg, as rhe rep
resentatives of the New England News
paper League who stopped at Lafa-
yette az their guests can testify.
Beyond the cane fields of Lafayette
Is the country OF upland rice growing.
This is an agricultural pursuit OF mod
ern origin, and one of the most profita-
BILE as well. Ii finds its best exempli-
lication around Crowley. remarkable
little city whose population is a COM
poste of native stock and people from
western states. Many thousands of
acres there have been irrigated and big
rice mills have been built in this thriv-
ing expanding community. and the peo-
pie there look as prosperous as the
fields they TILL When the League rep
resentatives crossed the Mermenteau.
which is just beyond Crowley. they en-
tered "A section famous for its legends
regarding the exploits Of the great
Louisiana freebooter. Jean LATTE. ana
his men. The members of that piratical
band haunted the many bayous and
streams of-the region, sold slaves TO the
early planters. and, IL there is any truth
in tradition. buried treasure in isolated
and lugubrious spots.
The soil along the region that has
been described is of extra ordinary fer
tility, and many Of it's old plantations
were accounted forty years ago as valu-
able as any I'm the South. The Gulf
coast Is about nifty miles To the south.
and the gulf breezes which watt north
ward the year around deliciously tenn
per the climate and caress away wrln-
kles from the brow OF care Longfel-
low ftly described il when he wrote:
Beautiful Is the land with it's praries
and forest and fruit trees.
Under the feet of a garden of flowers,
and the bluest OF heavens
BENDING above. and resting it's dome on
the walls OF the forest,
They who dwell there have named it
the Eden Of Louisiana"
The prarie lands of southwestern
Louisiana are a. fine for grazing as the
the much discussed Woodland pastures
hl NtllAutkN, biu are frequently nlokcn
10y groves Qf trees and miles and miles
OF grand forests. The soil is so fertile
and the climate So fecundite that. to
quote one ACadian. YOU can grow
hedges here almost as soon as you can
build fences. The herds that inhabit
the pasture lands are the sleekest kline
the writer ever saw. and the crops are
not confined to rice and sugar: 10 Is
a land where all the trees. shrubs.
fruits. cereals and grasses grown in
semi-tropical and temperate ATTITUDES
can be raised. too. II Is also the home
Of peaches. pears, nectarincs. plums.
apples, quinces. grapes. figs. persim-
mons. pomcgranates, oranges and the
Citron. u seems strange To- the strang-
or that the rest of the world should
know SO llttle OF the earthly paradise lo-
cally known as Acadia. ~. Landry.
Lafayette. -. Mary. So Martin Iberia
NVrmillion. CalCasieu, Iberia and
Cameron parishes. There are no "coun-
ties" ln Louisiana. What is elsewhere
known as county" IL parish here
Lake Charles is a nourishing city OF
1900 population. and "A great and grow
ing lumber centre IL Is built ON the
eastern side Of a beautiful sheet OF wa