The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-05-15
TRIP TO BATON ROUGE.
Newspaper League Passes Through
Rich Cane-Growing Tract.
Visit From Governor Foster He Endorses
Work the League is Doing.

tStaI correspondence OF the NeWS.)
Baton Rouge. La, May 10.--The rep
resentatives OF the New England News
paper league, in their trip from New
Orleans 10 this city over the Yazoo &
Mississippi Valley railroad, the West
ern line of the Illinois Central railroad.
were enabled TO see from the car win
dows one OF the finest farming sections
Of the state OF Louisiana. For the en-
tire SO miles between here and New Or
leans the railroad runs wnthin few
hundred yards of the Mississippi levee.
and through a country which produces
a large percentage of the sugar cane
grown in the state.
The ride is one of the most attractive
that could be taken by any traveller. AS
the train runs out Of New Orleans IL
traverses swampy district for about
20 miles ON these lands are grown
heavy crops OF rice. About ten miles
farther on the cane country is reached.
and at this season of the year no finer
picture OF industry could be seen than
is presented i'm these fields which have
been under cultivation Tor nearly 100
years. Every now and then "A large
sugar refinery is seen, and in the Sec
tions between them are numberless old
style sugar mills, relics OF the days
when each plantation ground and
treated its own cane. Now the large
rehneries buy the cane from the grow
er and transact all the business of
handling the product.
AT numerous places can be seen the
effects of clevasse, the land being
cut by gullies and in places being turn
ed from dry TO swampy ground. which
could, however, be easily reclaimed by
drainage. In one place the ruins OF a
fine old mansion, destroyed years ago
by crevasse, is seen. The levee is
kept very strong now, and breaks are
infrequent and do little damage. A
complete system of watching by day
aud night and prompt remedies in case
OF threatened trouble reduces the dan
ger to minimum.
AS the train approaches Baton Rouge
the cotton commences to dispute with
cane in the deha lands until when the
limits OF the city are reached and the
farm lands are changed To city lots
nothing can be seen of the stalk which
has made such returns 10 she Louisiana
planter. -
How ting city came TO receive it's
unique name is much mooted ques-
ton. There are several stories anent
the christening. but the one that OBJ
tains the most credence is about as fol-
lows: Baton Rouge Is French for Red
Stick. and the story is that the site of
the city was once the boundary line be-
tween the lands of two tribes OF In
dians. To settle the territorial ques-
tion the aborigines stripped a cypress
tree of its bark and kept IL standing
To mark where the domain OF one tribe
began and that of the other ended
Now cypress wood is OF a reddish tint,
and when the French explorers came to
this point on the Mississippi and saw
the large landmark they called the
place Baton Rouge or Red Stick.
The tour of Dixie by the representa-
tives OF the New England Newspaper
league was enlivened by a notable incl
dent at Baton Rouge. Hon. Murphy
j. Foster. governor OF Louisiana, was
so impressed with the purposes and
mission OF the Northern newspaper men
that he did not wait for the tourists to
wait upon him at the state capitol or
the gubernatorial mansion, but paid the
visitors the unusual distinction of call
ing upon them in the league hotel car.
Chicago" the morning after its arriv-
al in this historic city.
Governor Foster expressed himself as
personally anxious 20 lend his aid to a
movement which should lead TO bet
ter understanding and closer industrial
and commercial relations between the
people of the East and South. After
he left the visiting newspaper men he
added emphasis to spoken words of
commentator by writing the following
personal letter TO g. f. King, chief of
the league staff:
t..s..