The Opelousas courier. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1852-1910, 1899-04-15
They Must Live High.
Bayou Chicot. April 3, 1899

Editor. COURIER
Ny wife has been reading f. :,
COURIER and ruminating about
this 43 cent, v, day for feeIina
prisoners in the PA rsnn.hl She
thinks that - tents day will buy
more fodder than IN african mon
key can eat and keep his digestive
organs III trim; says she and hun
dreds of others in this parish are
forced 10 live on ten cents OF
less i day Now this, to a slick,
well-fed politician, will look like
Il fish story. but if the Sheriff and
the Hon. Police Jury will come in
a body and board with her month
she will agree to board them on
such As She is forced to live on 1T
10 cents n sl:,, She Says she will
also agree TO lodge them free of
charge IN our hay she'd artistlcally
furnished with 4 bed of pine straw.
She say there ire some of them
that We're taught economy i'll the
same schooi ~nc was 35 years ago,
and would laugh over the situa-
ton, but ,he fears that some Of
Gov. Fosters appointces would
curl their noses at such fair. but
she is Il Cleveland Democrat and
believes in giving object lessons.
She wants 10 teach them the i'm
proprietv Of robbing the poor tax
payer that is forced to feed his
wife and children On ten cents a
day in order to feed Il cage full of
african monkeys at Is cents Il day
She is anxious to know if those
monkeys get pie for dinner every
day; says they are entitled to it ut
Is cents a day, and if they don t
get it somebody else does. She
says she knows how desperate men
can get when surrounded by an
enemy. Says her and her five
little children were surrounded by
the yankees once. and robbed OF
all they had to live upon-just As
she is surrounded and being rob-
bed now by the politicians, and
felt then as she feels now, if she
was L n1an She could whip her
weight in wild cats. She says it
would not surprise anyone but Il
blasted pap-sucklng politician to
see suffering taX-rldden people
become frenzled over the distress
of their families and organize
themselves into bowling mob
with WlncheoterS and rope enough
to bring about Il wholesale jail
delivery. Well. she is an unre-
constructed Rebel. and when she
gets to thinking about yankees or
politicians she speaks out in meet
ing, especially when the coffee is
out. as it is now.
| get into a funny mood some
times and want to see her fluff her
feathers. turn red in the face and
strut round like a turkey gobbler
all | have to do is to say yam
kee" or 'politiclan.' She says
if she has sympathy for any Grim
inal on earth, it is a petty hog
thief. for they are surrounded and
robbed by the politicians just as
she was surrounded and robbed
by the yankees, and if she could
be summoned on the jury she
would turn the last one of them
loose; bat it looks to her like they
are the only criminals that it is
possible to convict in this parish.
Only yesterday she was giving the
politicians Hail Columbia. Said
|: MY dear, you are too hard on
the politicians - :'How dare you
sir said she, "defend politician
in my presence. [ once heard of
your doing nearly as mean a thing
as a politician would do. - ''W hat
was that" said [. "Stealing a
ear of corn from Il shad-bellied
artillery horse and appropriating
it to your own use.
Well, | caved in, that 5 all
Respectfully,