The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-10-04
FARMERS TALK
FLOOD RELIEF
In LOUISIANA
Farm Relief Question Sub
merged in Plea for Harness.
ing of Mississippi
ROMANTIC PARISH SEEN
Village of Natchitoches Raised
Statue to the indispensable
'Darkie'
BY GEORGE d. MANN

OI uEONI6 ". M ANN
Baton Rouge, La, Sept 28.-Louis.
lana expects to be q veritable garden
when flood relief has removed the
constant menace of inundation which
impairs crops and breaks down the
morale Of the inhabitants.
Motoring from Texarkana through
Texas for a distance of some 40
miles, Louisiana is entered not far
from where floods of last year
ruined much property.
Roads have been restored with
great rapidity and fields are grow
ing average crops, although the cot
ton crop Of this state is only half
its normal yield. Sugar cane, it is
estimated, will market for some
forty million dollars. Like the
farmers of the wheat and corn belt,
the cane growers claim the market
is below cost Of production. They
are not blaming the administration
nor do you hear much about farm
relief but you do hear a lot about
flood relief.
Near Bunkie, La. en- route to New
Orleans, we ferried over great
tributary of the Mississippi where
the flood waters had snapped great
span Of q long railroad bridge.
Damaged and broken levees are
being rapidly repaired and engineers
are busy surveying this section for
the creation of great spillway to
carry off the flood waters and pro-
tect the fertile slopes of the Missis-
sippi.
At Baton Rouge, the waters did
not break through the levees but
the residents here tell how waves,
dashed by the winds and fury of the
storms. spilled over the levees but
the vast earthworks held the raging
waters back and little damage was
done at this point.
Bridge Lack Noticed
To a motorist, the absence of
bridges over the Mississippi is
noticeable. Ferries are used, as there
is not bridge south of Memphis.
It is q scenic drive of great beauty
and gripping interest from the Texas
line down to Shreveport and thence
to Baton Rouge, the picturesque and
quaint capital of Louisiana. You
skirt the edge of the Evangeline par
ish, a section immortalized by Long
fellow in his poem. Two years ago,
the writer motored through the
Grand Pre- country about the Bay of
Fundy in Nova Scotia. 1t was in
teresting to compare that rugged
north habitat of the French voy-
ageurs with the semi-tropical lands
Of Parish Evangeline where the un-
fortunate refugees finally found
home and happiness.
Statue to 'Darkies'
Along the pine lined roads that
lead to Baton Rouge, through dense
forests Of moss festooned trees, the
motorist reaches the village of
Natchitoches where on the public
square fashioned in bronze is a
statue to the "darkies" of Louisiana.
The figure is that of the humble
cotton picker, hat in hand and bow
ing respectfully as they do down
here. Beneath the figure are these
words, Erected by the citizens of
Natchitoches in memory of the serv-
ices rendered by the "darkies" of
Louisiana.
It is just a touch of the south-a
flourish, one Of a cynical disposition
might say-but the southerner
knows how to treat the "darkies."
The "darkies" for the most part
are respectful and certainly the cit
liens of Natchitoches express the
general attitude of this section to-
ward the race which is such an eco
nomic necessity to this great south
land-the land Of cotton and cane.