The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-02-25
A WINTER JAuN T..

Temperatures.
ST. LOUIS, Mo-, Feb. IS, 1905.

AS DEISuy mSubiOHSu III your 1SSuS
of last week. your "bossa editor was
summoned to this city to attend a
called meeting Of the executive COM
mittee of the Knights of Honor, and
like dutifnl husband he elected
wholly OF his own free will, mind you,
and without the slightest moral or
physical suasion by the 4.party of the
second part''-to take his better half
with him, not so much for his own pro-
lection from the snares and tempta-
lions that beset the unsophisticated
wanderer from home-although that is
a consideration not to be ignored in
the present ease-but TO double the in
eidental pleasures of an interesting
trip by sharing them with congenial
companion. We left New Orleans at
9:15 O'Clock Wednesday morning. the
10Th instant, on the Illinois Central
Railroads "NeW Orleans and Chicago
Limited. probably the best equipped
and speediest train that pulls out daily
from the southern metropolis, and
made the run to ST. Zgouis without an
accident or unusual Incident, reaching
our destination befora O'Clock Thurs
day morning, less then three quarters
of an hour behind time, which was
doing unusually well in view of the
general decentralization OF railway
service by recent storms and Billiards.
The average speed of the Illinois Cen
trails limited and fast mail trains
is between thirty and thirty
FIVE miles an hour, including stops,
and the excellent condition in which
the road-bed and ro1ling-stock are
maintained makes travel at this rate
more agreeable than it would be in the
slower trains of other lines with in
ferior equipment.
AS the destin alton of our train was
Chicago, it became necessary for US
to change sleepers at Memphis, but the
process was accomplished without in
convenience or discomfort, involving
rods of welI-sheltered platform in the
big Poplar depot, and had we chosen
to take the fast nail train which leaves
New Orleans at 7:30 p. m. daily, we
would have been Whirled through the
entire distance to ST. Louis without
the change OF cars.
a &oS n n,s%Y,
from New Orleans was the brightest
and prettiest south Louisiana had ex-
perienced for several weeks, and itw was
exhilarating il the extreme to eontem
plate the bright sunshine and the beau
tiful blue skies from the windows of
our luxurious sleeper as we s'seooted'
over the landscape at rate of speed
not equalled by the flight of many
species OF the slower-Winged birds.
The air was crisp and cold outside,
and ice was plentiful wherever the
frigid temperature OF the winters
coolest spell had found water to con-
geal-and that was pretty much every
where on the visible face of the earth
but we were warm as oast'' inside
the ssCracOW,1 and might have been
in danger Of being literally toasted
had not our courteous Pullman con-
duetor and his vigilant porter tenn
pered the Steamboat by jndieious
manipulation Of the ventilators.
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the fveminute stop made by all the
trains at that pretty town to step into
the lunch-room-af famous dispensary
ofgenuine Louisiap coffee. pure milk,
luscious pies and other good things
thinking TO have the pleasure of shak-
ing hands with our Whole-sonled
friend, Col. W. Il. Robinson, but he
was over at The Oaks, a hundred yards
away, one of the daintiest and cosiest
hotels in all Louisiana, where he and
his charming wife are entertaining a
houseful of northern guests who have
chosen this delightful hostelry as q
refuge fl ON the severity of the winters
climate in their up-country homes.
There may be nicer places than Ham
mond and The Oaks for enjoying the
numerous comforts and enduring the
few discomforts OF a Louisiana winter,
but I don't know where such favored
localities are TO be found, and I've
got fixed opinion as to the result OF
a search for them.
Our route took us through such we'll
known towns as Amite City and Kent
wood, La, McComb City, Brook
haven, Hazelhurst, Jackson, Canton,
Grenada and HernaLdo, Miss, Mem
phis, Coyington and Dyecsburg, Tenn,
Fulton, KY, Cairo, Carbonate, Belle
vil1esand East ST. Louis, Ills, and by
the time we reached Jackson evidences
were multiplying within the range OF
our vision of the unusual severity OF
the storms OF rain, sleet and snow tn at
had prevailed all over the country
within the preceding fortnight. Patches
and drifts OF snow became larger and
more numerous as We progressed
northward, the ice gradually grew in
thickness, and as We neared Memphis
the surface of the earth vas fairly
covered with a mantle of white that
reflected the light OF the moon TO
degree which made distant objects all
most as plainly visible TO the eye as