The Opelousas courier., 1904-07-16
WASHINGTON Letter.
(From Our .gular Correspondent.)

WashiHIon, D. c., July 8, 1904.
The reportgRgis morning that after an
all-night seSTnn the Democratic con-
~vention at S#LOuis has nominated on
the first hEsot Judge Alton B. Parker
is received s%y leading Democrats here
with mue3 E8atisfaction. The platform,
too, is ahf@ht was hoped for, though it
is quitebFF Nsprolix, and some of our peo-
pie wo6b Elave preferred am approval
of the fSome tax and oth3s wanted
the in hAon of the Hill plank, guaran-
teeing IAe country against financial
changesF It is expected, however, that
the latkbr defect will be remedied by
Judge Parker himself when he makes
ter of acceptance.
Clergymen here have just been sca
daliskd by the appearance among them
of Rev. William Hoffman, of Mount
Pulaski, Ills, recentlXN-lected pastor OF
st. Matthew's Lutheran Church. Ha-
gerstown, just over the Maryland line.
He returned from the west with his
bride, MisssSaelia1geoth, whom he mar
ried atPeki6s Ills, June Goth. The
Young couple were shocked" yesterday
by a delegation from the Hagerstown
congregation waiting upon them and
asking them why they occupied IA Don
together at q hotel in Pekin on SundaNa
night, June Goth, and were registered
there as REV. Hoffman and wife" three
days before the marriage. The young
ing wrong about il; that on the Sunday
night in question Hoffman and Miss
Roth went to Pekin together after SER
vice, missed the car back, and were
forced to stay in Pekin all night. They
explained that they went to the hotel,
registered as husband and wife, occn-
pied the same room, and "sat NJ the en-
tire night and conveIsed.' Hoffman
says he registered Miss Roth as his wife
for her protection, and the meddlesome
hotel keeper adds that they occupied
one room for the same reason, for
there were lots of other rooms" The
HagerstoWn church considers the eX-
PLANTATION satisfactory. Miss Roth was
secretary of the Sunday School con-
nected with Mr.. Hoffmann's Pulaski
charge.
The effort to protect Texas from the
ravages of the cotton boil weevil which
threatens to destroy the cotton crop of
that State and to sweep across the Ell
| tire cotton belt if not arrested, is ac-
cOmpanled by many suggestions to stay
the advance of the plague. Professor
Cook, of the Agricultural Department
here, has brought from Guatemala to
Galveston a large number of voraciOus
| ants peculiar to the fauna OF Central
America, whose function and pleasure
it seems to be to attack and destroy the
weevil. A corps Of eXperimenteTS has
assembled at Victoria, Texas, where,
under the direction of DR.. Cook, they
will release the ca%rnivorOns ants into
cages covered with mosquito netting
inverted over infected cotton plants.
The result of these expeI iments will
determine whether this lively exotic is
an effective antidnte to the bane from
which Texas has for ten years been a
sufferer. Another hopeful remedy is
proposed in "the cotton tree" which
grows to the height of 40 or so feet,
multiplies very rapidly, is immune to
tue boil weeVil, and will yield from 30
to IS pounds per tree, including seed.
If difficulty is found in gathering the
crop, the tree is easily dwarfed, SO as to
bring the cotton within reach. At an
average yield of 90 pounds of cotton
per tree, the yield would be 16 bales to
the acre. The expense of planting is
no greater than hat of corn, and it is
able to withstand droughts during eight
months of the year. 1t is planted only
once in 90 years. This tree comes to us
by way of Mexico.
The petrified body of "a man was
found near Leroy. H.. one day last
week. President Roosevelt should not
have been in such a hurry in the ap-
pOintment of a successor to Attorney
General Knox. just think what n good
one has turned up at Leroy,-Conmoner
Tlrr.n -A o. -, nd n.r,N.,e -n, a~,n
ted at che time in the Palace of Agri-
culture at the Worlds Fair one day re-
Gently. Even with this large attend
ance the structure, which covers 90
acres, was by no mean crowded.
The effort to promote the beautify-
ing of the AighWays by planting of