St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1910-04-23
IN MEMORY OF JUDGE
v. c. PERRAULT.
Continued from page onel

Ws us lLMAAHJLIt
CONTINUED from page onel
From that moment up To tie present
time was intimately acquainted Will
him. ] was FIVE months older than
he. Was admitted to the bar j YEA,
or so IN advance of him. Was mar.
ried several years ahead was mar
ried in 1881, while he married ii
1885. was present at his marriage
twenty-five years ago. Tt seems but
yesterday, SO swiftly does time roll
Oh its bis %remorseless course. During
all Of these years NE were having our
ups and downs together. We were
both ambitions. Eager to fill a space
in the worlds eye. Both poor. both
fatherless. He was the poorer. Or
phaned a an earlier age, he sought
shelter at his Uncle's home (Mr. L. Il.
Sando2l, who, altbo' oyerweighted
with d brood Of children, (ten III num-
ber), welcomed him with a fatherly
Gae into bis household. I have al
ready stated that be wa bereft Of
his father at an early age.
Left BY his sire, foo young such loss
to know,
Lord Of himself-that heritage Of
woe1
He was not only orphaned and poor,
but had q mother and younger broth
er dependent upon him for support
He strove nightly and oyercame the
insurmountable difficulties that beset
him. Leaving the Recorders Office,
he began to work for Meyers & Co.
He was something Of a general utility
man for Mr.. Aiphonse Levy, the man
ager Of the firm. Thence he entered
Judge Estilette's law Office, where he
read the law, and after obtaining his
diploma, began practising his pro
fession with his Uncle Jules Gil, I'M
der the firm name Of gil e P~errault.0
He was town attorney for a while.
In 1892, when but 80 years Of age,
lie was selected BY the McEnery fac
zion to make the race for Judge of
The Chem 18th Judicial District
Court, composed of the Parishes of
st. Landry and Acadia, and was elected
{ trembled ait his position. Here was
d young man, inexperienced and who
had but little practice, swept into an
office which had been graced by some
of the ablest intellects Of this state.
How would he govern himself? How
steer clear the difficulties? With
care and dignity they disappeared.
He made good, so much so, that in
1896 he was the unanimous choice
Of bis party for The Office. These
were trubulous times. Judge Per-
rault was i man of peace. He hated
quarrels, strife and contentious. He
declined to run. His successor swept
the field.
lib 1900 bic was d candidate for the
State Senate, but was defeated-he
went down with his friends.
I'm 1904, the mailed hand of the
State Administration denied him the
nomination for Railroad Commissioner
His was al magnificent fight. But the
State machine, cat all times oiled and
in perfect repair, crowned Cade the
victor.
Surrounded hY q happy family. with
troops Of friends.of whom he was (by
reason Of this great victory to be
the leader, in love with life and rap
tured with the world, the pallid mes
senger with the inverted torch beck
oned him forward. He did this BY
stealth. Not with the s%wiftness
which cuts off inquiry, but with the
SLOW steady steps, making iuroads
upon his general health until his vic
tim must have looked into his open
grave. On January the 4th, 1909 he
entered the household. On February
the 18th, 1910, his victim passed
iato eternal sleep.
Who shall measure his grief, as
u By HdS AG HAkACSSSh uAa SeEGBRtA4
give way? Who shall compare the
tortures of his mind as he witnessed
his usefulness being swept away,
''Faster than arrow from archers
bow" Who shall penetrate his grief
as NJ beheld his family soon to be
derived Of a husband and fathers
Who shall gauge the desire
10 prolong his existence before the
fast receding tide? Over these nm
ceramics let us cast the mantle of J;
and oblivion. Let US hope
tAa as these thick coming realities
then Gives upon him, he over
anne them all and died, as all Of Us
.lpsald do. with regret always, but ]
0ut 2 fear, Without q tremor.
To his imme6iate family bis loss il
,r parhle With tfem the world is
liter ittat ne should have lived,
that he should have died. i