New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1921-01-29
Country Untouched By Man.

Country Untouched By Man.
The way leads through Bayo
Black, Bayou Chene and Bayo
Boeuf, for the most part throug
"A country as untouched by man
hand as in the days Of the othe
fatDoat trip. True, the water
ways are cleared now of the log
and vines that FRANCHISE spoke OF
but since then has colnOanotheI
men2ce, the exquisite water hyac
lnths whose hair-likc roots anC
tieShy leaves choke the passes ailr
block the passage Of boats. =.
thiskly do the floating plant,
grow that man can walk on q
board laid upon them. At rara
intervals the boat passed an $50
lated cabin cling rhg G. the edge
of the bayou with the wall of the
forest at It's back, and one lonely
man would wave a greeting from
underneath a swARng sign,
"lnited States IIyacinth Boom. "
These official hermits operate
LOG barbados to hold back the
pating plants from more f"e-
quentcd waterways. and cons ct
the government s battle. Witb roi-
son agains thez lovely menace
TrapperS had sgitated the plants
in the waters of smaller Dayous
further upstream, and at one poin'
all hands aboard had to arm
Themselves with boat hooks and
push, the green sea aside while III
little launch sputtered an ahead
with its propeller tangled in long
tendri.s like the hair Of drowEcd
woman.
A Riot of Color.
The repressed melancholy Of the
Louisiana forest was augmented
rather than changed by the bril-
llanceN Of autumn foliage on the
route. In the setting Of gray
hair and moss the leaves burned |
like iewel-the dull ruby and ma
room of SWeetgum and haW; the
scarlet and gold of maple and
hickory; rusty oak and flaming
feathery boughs Of cy-
press like ostrich plume fans OF
orange and brown; tones of pink
and mauve and cardinal, pale tan
and purple, all misted over With
torrents Of silver moss.
Just before sunset the car
climbed the bayou embankment
at Ramos. paused for a trium
)hant moment. and shot away
nto the center of the "sugar bowl
# America. One after another
he great plantations unrolled in
OUR path like a panorama Of in
lustry. In the midst Of the dun
,olored seas of cane a clump Of
great oaks would mark the plan
alton house, white and stately,
Just beginning to bloom with soft
lights. A twinkle of CHEEKY fire
light came, too, from each one Of
he cabins in the quarter. A toy
steam engine darted across a huge
,xpanse Of field with a train Of
ears loaded with cane. Mule
cams ratified into the barns, and
he negroes were scattering home
ward to their various cabins.
Most Of them sang on their way,
md one played a guitar and lifted
1p a mellow voice in an old
fashioned hymn as he walked.
Another shift had Just gone on in
he great sugar house from whose
all stacks the smoke never dies
lowh from the opening to the
lose of the season. Mingled with
he crisp frosty smell Of the new
v cut cane came the delicious
dor of boiling syrup and sugar,
sparkling and warm from the
,ranulator.
1t the End Of the Trail.
"Fairview," -" Shadyside, ~
Orange Grove" "Olivia," they
ollcw in continuous order, meet
ng places of the gracious old life
nd the efficient new era.
A great glowing moon like a
mandarin orange hangs itself in
he eastern sky. Through the