The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1905-04-30

| April 80. 1908. was sold by france &c
the United States: bu! Baton Rouge
and eight counties. or parishes. were not
| included in the Louisiana purchase
Philemon Thomas. with a band OF
woodsmen and hatboatmen, organized
an independent government called 1.-The
Republic of West Florida and main
| tanned themselves here until 1871, when
| they were annexed to Louisiana by pro-
clamation. General Thomas was re-
| markable character. He served two
terms in Congress, died here in 1872
ani was buried in the serene old ceme-
terry in a grave that is covered with
| violets. There are two cemeteries here,
side by side-one for soldiers and an
other for civilians. In the civilian GEM
etery is buried one David J. Martin,
who died in 184o, and whose epitaph
reads: Il die a Christian and a Demo
crat"
The cemetery here. like all of the mil
itary burying grounds in the United
| States, is onranented with tablets of
cast iron painted white. bearing inscrip-
tions from that we'll known poem, OF
| which the following is a stanza:
On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.
1t is generally supposed that the
| beautiful lines were by Union soldier
at the close of the late civil war. but the
author was Major Theodore OHara,
an Irish adventurer soldier of fortune
who served in the Mexican war. and the
poem was written in 1854 and read at
a service conlnemorating a company OF
| the soldiers of Kentucky who died in
the battle of Buena Vista in the war
with Mexico in IS4 49, O'Hara served in
regiment of Kentucky cavalry during
| the Mexican war and was afterward a
captain of cavalry in the regular army.
He resigned to practice law in Louis
vile. made failure Of it and drlfted
into journalism. When the civil war
broke out, he went South, served as a
major in the Confederate army, re-
turned to>Louisville after the surrender
and died there in 1867.
Baton Rouge is quaint old place,
with several modern spots. The slunl-
bers in which it has lain since the civil
war are being broken in upon by enter
prise and progress. Several new mod
ern buildings have recently been erect
ed, including an excellent hotel, and oil
mill on the outskirts of the town. The
United States government has an exper-
iment station here under the department
of agriculture. which is not only en-
gagged in educating the farmers how to
obtain the most profitable returns for
their seed and their labor, but is doing
much important original research work.
The Federal building is beauty-one
VI tlC HlOSt dlllotlA HdNC C'Sl oSSll'
1t houses the postofice, Federal court
anl other United States government Of
fees. It is built of cream -colored brick
with stone trimmings. Venetian por-
tico and grills and other ornaments OF
iron The governors mansion is a
stately old ante-bellum house, and there
are many handsome mansions in the
city, belonging to rich cotton and sugar
growers.
The statehouse is a fantastic strife
ture said to be designed after Norman
castle. but the windows are Gothic and
the towers have peculiar looking skele-
ton pinnacles which remind you of bird
cages and give the building a ridiculous
appearance The people call them ''buz-
zard roosts.' and every now and then
some citizen whose artistic taste and
sense of propriety are irritated by the
spectacle starts movement to take them
down. It is said that the iron of which
they are built was brought down from
l
| Boston by General Butler during the
war to ornament warehouse at the foo,
of Canal street in New Orleans. The
building was torn down at the close Of
the war; the iron was sold at auction
and was bid in by speculator, who per
suaded the architect of the capitol tc
perch these things upon the tops of the
towers. The speculator had the iror
and the architect&I the money, anc
the State Officials have never had the
nerve to punish either Of them for max,
ing an exchange.
Along the banks of the Mississippi
which is about a mile wide here, ane
whose tawny waters roll by this city
with a dignity that BELTS the Father o1
Waters, stands the Louisiana State
University, of which General Sherman
was once the president The canpu:
is historic ground. 1t has been tht
scene of much history, and has been as
sociated with the careers of many fam
ous men. For $50 years it was mill
tary post and arsenal The dormitorie: