The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1907-04-13
THE L LOUISIANA EDITORS.
An Advance welcome to the Press Gang
and Something About the Town and
Parish of Lafayette.

and Something About the Town and
] Parish of Lafayette.
The Louisiana School Review, ed.
tied by DR.. E. L. Stephens, president
of the Southwestern Louisiana In.
dustrial Institute and chairman Of the
Louisiana Press Associations ak
ecutive committee, tltscourses thn6 in
terestingly about the thriving town
and parish in which the newspaper
men and women of the state are to as
semble on the Both instantSfor three
day feast of reason, fow of soul and
high old time:
Lafayette is to have the honor this
year Of entertaining the states mold
ers Of public opinion on the occasion
of their twenty eighth annual conven-
tion. The distinction Of being il the
fraternity and the privilege of joining
with the local press OF Lafayette il
being hosts at this meeting are s
source OF much pride and grati6eation
TO the School Review.
We join heartily, therefore, in ur.
ging upon our brethren { ard sistersl
of the pen throughout the state 10
come to Lafayette, and assure them Of
a cordial welcome and a good time.
Lafayette was once a small Acadlan
village named Vermilionville. It once
had very few people, but more came.
Even the few it had did not say much
about it, but left things to be inferred.
Some inferred that 1t would never be
a great town and some inferred that IL
would; the latter were correct. Thus
we see that Lafayette is like Nsw Or.
leans. Chicago and New York; that 10,
it was once quite small and afterwards
grew larger. It is also a good deal
Elike Boston in one particular: its
streets were developed by the pos
teriori method. In these days OF rest
less impatience and the encroachment
of science gpon nature, the streets of
a village are all planned out la aa-
vance-which is the a priori method;
but in Boston and Vermilionville man
paid more respect to natural Law, by
waiting till the COWS. lad beaten =
path to and from their grazing places
and then adopting these paths for the
| lines Of future streets, thus avoiding
what Emerson called the violence oe
direction, and substituting fos harsh,
inartistic straight lines, a graceful cur-
Yature like that of river.
A census was taken by tbs goysra-
ment in 1900 and only 1914 pe0pla
were at home. There vas 81
cnrsion to New iberia that day and
several thousand Lafayette peopls
were left out of the count In Lafeyetta
but were included, OF course, Id the
| New Iberia counti Next time the cen.
sus taker comes we are all going 20
stay at home, and it Is likely there
will be nearly ten Thousand OF as. VVe
will also tell the man TO note down
several other changes since his last
visit, namely:
] Lafayette has widened It's streets;
paved it's sidewalks; enlarged It's mn.
nicipal electric light and water plant.
quit building It's stores and principal
buildings of wood, using brisk and
concrete blocks instead; taxed Itself
two mills for ten years as g bonus so
the state for locating the Southw0stsrn
Louisiana Industrial Institute here:
issued bonds for sI00, 600 for two nsw
public school buildings, improved
equipment and buildings for the mss-
nicipal power plant and city hail;
built tflree-story brick hossi. tNo
new banks, brick opera house, with
q acapacisy Of near one Thousand, aboul
twenty-five other new business houses
and about two hundred and fifty neu
residences.
i Lafayette is where the soutnsru
Pacific Railroad starts from: Il starts
In four directions one way TO New
Orleans, one way to San Francisco,
one way 70 Alexandria, and one was
10 Baton Rouge. Il is also where tsas
stream used to be q bayou, but IS.
came . river IN order 70 keop up wish
TIE swift current of progress Lt.say,
ette is making; IS soon is b is dredges
3. by the government, IT will piae.
I4alay yette II communication, By y atsr
Continued an Fourth Ra9ss