St. Landry clarion., May 17, 1913, Image 1

About St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921

Image provided by: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

                
ABSORBED THE ST. LANDRY COMMONER ON JULY 2, 1912.
"Here Shall The Press The People's Rights Maintain; Unawed by Influence and Unbrlbed by Cain."
VOL. XXIII.--NO. 31. OPELOUSAS, LA., SATURDAY, MAY 1 7, 1913. $1P YEAR
P.MI.4
RICE CROP IS EX
CELLENT THIS YEAR
St. Landry Will Be On Top As
A Rice Raising Community.-
Country Will Be Prosperous.
Over three thousand acres of
rice being raised right in the
vicinity of this city sounds good
to the well-wishers of Opelousas.
It means that the country people
situated close to the gigantic
canal of the Union Irrigation
Company will be prosperous once
more when the leaves of the
silent oaks will be turning golden
and the cool breezes of Autumn
will be on their annual visit to
this country. It means that
there is no need of saying that
the farmers of St. Landry are
having hard times.
Rice will be raised in abund
ance this season and if the mar
ket prices are anywhere close to
being suitable our banks in Ope
lousas will be doing a wonderful
business during the winter
months.
St. Landrv farmers were al
ways afraid to undertake raising
rice, as they were compelled to
trust to the rainfall for their
water, but now that Mr. Schell
has accomplished a wonderful
feat-that of establishing a mam
month canal right here in our
'midst, in old St. Landry parish,
the people living around Opelou
las and Washington, havye gone;
to raising rice, as they re 1
S-ways sure of floodingºtheir P
just as muchas is needed.
Asaina tmt erFIf the rmce
this chit ii Is a pretty for
the season: as a.y one cai fin,
+ma atter if hfsiould go, to tJ
ioerh ric. e country of this state,
Ab' ti e osreal was ti
eop; + ep ..s m :Un;ion.
ration Canal.
DI. FRED. J. MEYER
iUEST OF TEXAS
IEDlIIES.
;r Fred. J. Mayer, the Presi
the Louisiana State Med
l ociety returned home Mon
ofrm San Antonio, Texas,
he had been attending the
s of the Texas State Med
~iE Society, having been in
ited to address the citizens of
cthat ity, under the auspices of
the Texas Medical Association,
the night of the 5th of May.
The following night, at the
r intlane Alumni banquet,
. Mayer made an earnest plea
reciprocity, pointing out the
,that the President of
Texas Board of Medical Ex
Niners, as well as many of the
t surgeons and physicians of
were Tulane graduates
yet no medical graduate of
lane University could practice
the state of Texas, without
jre-examined by the State
M&eal Examining Board.
iD. Evans, the distinguished
of the Texas State Medical
ning Board, as well as
ay other prominent physi
ans of the Lone Star state,
tomised the able President of
he Louisiana State Medical So
.e, to do everything in their
wer to rectify the anomalous
At the installation of the
erselect, of the Texas Medi
SAssociation, Dr. Meyer was
n called on for an address,
which he discussed "The
lher Duty of the Pro
tasio n-Prevention." In
course of his remarks he al
to the fact that this was
it. fith time he had enjoyed the
bounded hospitality of Texas.
tribute to Dr. Brumnnby,
Health Officer, under
administration and with
assistance it had been his i
to hold the First Popu-
Ih lttute of Hygiene, held in (
at Corpus Christ, in 1906.
yer also spoke of the I
tphilanthropy of Mr. Hol
of the Holland's magazine, i
d financed a scheme of i
Ppar education in Hygiene, I
Sthe lines of a Louisiana 3
*Jee Bill of 1900 and 1902,
Wnch unfortunately for the
was vetoed by the Gover
W. Heard, which scheme a
the eloquent Dr. Car-i
i of Dallas, to evangelize the I
eas towns, on a clean-up cru
sd.; that judging by the imme- 2
sItte rults following these re
~ M. a's philan-. 1
tpp was of greater value than I
· lishment of the great1
+o,+.*
DUJNBAR'S LAWYERS
GO TO SEE WALTERS
District Attorney Garland and Mr. Veazie Visit
Columbia to Secure Evidence Against
S Walters.
District Attorney-R. Lee Gar
land and Mr. Edward P. Veazie
went to Columbia this- week in
order to secure e ,ough evidence
to have W. C. Waiters, the al
leged kidnaper of Robert Dunbar
iJr., extradited to Louisiana,
and it is reported that these
two men have found more evi
dence against the accused than
was ever thought of.
The most sensational feature
of the trip to Mississippi was the
identification of the alleged kid
naper by five very reliable per
sons from McComb City, who
were brought into the crowded
court room at Columbia and im
mediately, without any difficulty
picked out W. C. Walters as the
man who had told them in the
Illinois Central station, at Mc
Comb City, one night during the
month of December, 1912, that
he (Walters) was a detective and
that the little boy with him was
little Robert Dunbar, whom he
was bringing back to his parents
Mr. and Mrs. Percy Dunbar, of
Opelousas, to claim the $6,000
reward.
One would say that it was very
easy for them to recognize Wal
ters, an account of the pictures
f : theý ... _a which they saw
times an again ii· l New Or
leans and other papers, but those
Sawegre: presnt realised the
~fat that it wad .nideed dcificult
to pigck i t i 'alleged :iduaper
or -crwd of ,two hundred
se #t"vespecially since Wal-:
rs w~al "lean shkven, and again I
there were two men from Colum
bia brought into the Court Room,
on account of'their personal re
semblance to the accused.
The men who picked Walters
were A. MI Ritchie, W. D.
Holmes, B. L. Morgan, Joe L.
R, WIi51ilNS MOVlNG "
lACL TO OLD HOME
Many Years A Resident Of This
City, But Now Going Back
To Yllie Platte.
Mr. R. Lee Wiggins, for many
years a prominent citizen of this
community has made arrange
ments to move his family to Ville I
Platte, next month, where he
has accepted a position with the1
progressive and thriving Evange- I
line Bank and Trust Co. In his
departure Opelousas loses one of
its foremost yopng citizens.
Several years ago Mr. Wiggins I
moved to Opelousas, from Ville
Platte, to enter the employ of I
the sheriff's office, where he t
worked under Sheriff Swords for I
quite a while, when he was tak- t
en up in the Clerk's office, by
Clerk of Court Yves Andrepont. r
He worked there for some three r
or four years. At both places c
he applied himself faithfully and l
excellently, and drew the admira
tion not onr of his fellow work- t
men, but also of his superior I
officers.
Whilst in the employ of- the
Sheriff an* the Clerk of Court of
St. Land y, Mr. Wiggins was
thrown in contact with hundieds
of people from all over the par
ish, thereby getting acquainted
with everybody in old St. Landry, e
and all these people liked Mr.
Wiggins forhis honesty and open
heartedne~s. He made friends
with all those who knew him, t
and these wish him the greatest e
success of his life in Ville Platte, t
his once up-on-a-time old home.
Correction.
In last Saturday's issue, in giv- 1
ng an account of the death P
of little Ewell D'Avy the t
larion, on account of being
mis-informed, stated that the e
little baby had died whilst the t
mother was taking him to Mrs, .
Cahanin, when in reality he died
n the arms of Mrs. Cahanin, at
her home, where the mother had L
been with the child for a week a
penditure of millions. t
Dr. Mayer thinks San Antonio
Sgreat town, which will not, Y
however, reach the acme of its V
businesshope to be the Tourist
fiecca of Texas, until the citi
.ens allay the dust, destroy the
breeding places of flies, and pre- 3,
erve every shred of its historic o
past, instead of pullilng down the C
ra1s of theO Od Monstery Clois v
~irs, naerdsr :i·: l ·~ ti
- Johnson. nand W. L. Ricardo.
a They all picked out Walters,
without one mistake, going
" around the court room very
slowly and looking at each and
every person present, until they
were opposite the man they were
looking for. At one time Wal
ters was so excited that when
Mr. W. D. Holmes identified him
as the man whom he had seen
with a little boy, whom Walters
called Bobbie Dunbar, on or
about the 18th of December,
1912, he (Walters; stood up and
extended his hand to the pro
truded hand of Holmes, thereby
making the recognition mutual.
Mr. Dunbar's attorneys have
discovered so much evidence in
the vicinity of Columbia that
they are confident that there
will be very little difficulty in
proving that William C. Wal
ters is the kidnaper of Robert
Dunbar, Jr. Neither Mr. Gar
land nor Mr. Veazie have given
out a single statement for publi
cation; they seem to prefer to
keep everything to themselves,
not even divulging one secret to
Mr. Dunbar, father of the kid
naped child.
Besides this evidence which
District Attorney R. Lee Gar
land and his distinguished as
sistant prosecutor, Mr. Edward
P. Veazie, Mr. Percy Dunbar
was in the vicinity of Alexan
dria, where he discovered that
Walters had been around this
section of the state at the time
that the little fellow disappear
ed. He, too, would not say very
much, as he and his attorneys
are preparing to give the people
here a great surprise when the
trial will have been well under
way in the near future.
LOCAL ELKS VISITED
BY DISTRICT DEPUTY
District Deputy Grand Ex
alted Ruler Frank Dimmick paid
the Opelousas Lodge 1048 B. P.
O. E., his annual visit on Tues
day night. Some two weeks
ago he was billed to appear at
the local Elks home and was to
be given a splendid banquet, but
on account of the death of little
Elizabeth Hollier, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Fred. Hollier, was
unable to be present. Although
he was not tendered a banquet
by the "Billies," Mr. Dimmick
had a very enjoyable evening.
At this meeting of the Elks
Mr. P. W. Linsley, manager of
the Opelousas branch of the Port
Barre Lumber Company was put
through the order. Having had
so much exercise on .his "Yale"
motorcycle for the last few
months, Mr. Linsley showed the
old fellows that he could ride the
goat with ease. He made a ood
subject, so everyone says, and
the old members of Opelousas
Lodge welcomed him intheir order
with glad hearts and open hands.
Weather Warm Enough for Fans.
The electric fan, which gener
ally makes its appearance in
Opelousas at about this time
each year, has not shown itself
as yet, but it is the hope of the
people in this city that it will not
be long before the current is
turned on and one will be able to
enjoy a fine breeze from an elec
tric fan.
The power house of this city
is in a better condition at pres
ent to afford the people of Ope
lousas good service and it is ex
pected that there will be no
trouble this season with the
fans, which has been experi
enced here before. It is also
thought that the current will be
able to remain on the whole day,
instead of being cut off, at cer
tain hours, like in days gone by.
Leave it to the Mayor and his
able Board of Aldermen and
things will come outall right in
the end. There is no need of
worry on the part of the citizen,
you will have your fans in the
very near future.
Memorialda willibe on June
Brd, on which day theconferring
of crosses of honor by the U, 1..
C. Gordon GChapter upon . six
veterans and five descendants of
the veternan, willtakepls# .
COlMMiTEEiS MEET TI
nISiiSS SOO
ROADS
Meeting Held at the Courthouse
on Monday Highly
Enthusiastic.
A representative from nearly
every incorporated town in the
parish, a committee of three
from the Police Jury and the
Mayor of the City of Opelousas
met at the courthouse on Mon
day evening to discnss things
about things. The subject is up
permost in the mind of every
true St. Landrian and was thor
ouughly discussed by those in
the courthouse and these men
came to the conclusion that the
people of this parish were al
most universally in favor of
Good Roads, but the principal
steps to take would be how to go
about it to secure the money for
the construction of permanent
highways. The ordinance passed
bv'the Police Jury sometime last
month was found to be defective,
so the meeting of these men on
Monday evening was for the pur
pose of formulating plans by
which this parish could be ad
vised as to the fact that it was
hardly probable that any money
could be secured on the face of
the ordinance adopted at the
April meeting of the Police Jury.
The following resolution was
adopted:
"Be it resolved, that it is the
sense of this meeting, thati
whereas, a vast majority here
present favor the bond issue for
good roads, nevertheless, due to
the fact that there is a serious
doubt as to whether or not the
bonds could be disposed of with
the ordinance in its present
shape, be it resolved, that it is
the sense of t h e meeting that
the Police Jury rescind the pres
ent ordinance and draft a new
ordinance that will command the
support of the mass of the voters
of this parish."
Chairman Pavy, of the com
mittee froth the ice ...Jury,- is
of the opinion tt,.-this is the
proper course ta pursue under
the present citsumstances and
he expressed himsetf to the effect
that he would recommend the
resolution to thePolice Jury
It is hoped that there will be
no difficulty in erecting the or
dinance adopte4 hby the Police
Jury of this parishsometime ago,
if it is really incorrect.
Good roads being the most im
portant topic, since the Dunbar
case has been quited down, in
this community, the meeting
held at the Courthouse, on Mon
day evening, was of great im
portance, not only to the people
present, but also to each and
every citizen of the parish of St.
Landrv. It was not of their own
accord that these men met' to
discuss such a vital question, but
on the contrary it was because
of the interest of the citizens, at
large of this parish.
As soon as the ordinance will
have been remedied and the good
roads campaign will be w.ell
under way it is expected that
there will be very little trouble
in convincing any one that St.
Landry cannot do without good
roads. When the election will be
called to take the sense of the
majority of the tax-payers ofthe
parish, it will be found that the
big tax-payers as well as the
small ones will fallin line to vote
the Good Roads Tax. This tax
is the most important of any tax
ever put to the vote of the peo
ple of St. Landry and it is expect
ed that the wise and intelligent
men of this parish will all go to
the voting booth and cast their
votes for the tax, thereby rend
ering their country, their neigh
bor and themselves a service,
which will stand as a monument
totheir good name, even after
their death.
Er. lalpaen Dolig Spludedd IeriL
Mr. Michael Halphen, the City
Street Commissioner, has done
splendidly in fixing up the
streets. A short while after he
took charge of the streets, due
to the terrible winter weather,
Opelousas was nothing but o n e
mnudhole from one end of the
city to the other. This natural
ly put the streets in a very bad
condition, but now, due to the
efficient work of the Street Coin
missioner, the sttreets are being:
improved each day; it will notbel
along before every street int
this city is a4s. level as poesib.e,.
if thing,.. to prevent[
his, duty.
'COUNCIL TO ISSUE
BONDS TO PAVE STS.
Ordinance Passed at Last Meeting of the Board
to Bond This City for
$36,000
The City Council, at its last
meeting adopted an ordinance
reserving 3 mills of the present
miliage of the city, for ten years,
in order to levy $36,000 to better
the existing condition of the
streets of Opelousas.
It is the hope, however, of the
Mayor and the members of the
Board of Aldermen, that with
this money the city of Opelousas
will be able to assist its property
owners to pave the streets of
this city. It is understood that
if the tax-payers on Main, Lan
dry and other prominent streets
of this city, desire to have these
streets paved, the city will pay
one third the cost:of construction
besides the intersections; this
would thereby impose only one
third of the cost for the building
of the streets, on the property
owner on each side of the streets.
Bids will be received by the
Mayor from now on for
bonds amounting to the sum of
thirty-six thousand dollars.
The Mayor and the city- coun
cil have always showed, since the
first day they were sworn in
office that they were progressive
and would be such until their
term would be at end. They are
without doubt fulfilling all their
pledges and it is hoped of the
community that these wise and
intelligent men will persist in ad
ministrating the affairs of this
city in the same manner in which
they have done for the last year.
It will not be the fault of the
present administration if this
city does not secure paved streets
and other such luxuries which a
city like Opelousas should by
ST,. U1NY PARlSI
F16Ia TIll STEl
The Once Largest Cotton Grow
ing Parish Ii State Is Lag
King Baek.
St. Landry parish took eighth
place this year in the number of
cotton bales ginned in the year
1912. It was at one time the
largest growing cotton parish in
the entire state and now it ba,
the eighth place. It is truet
that when St. Landry's output
would be in the neighborhood of
60,000 bales and over Evange
line parish had not been carved
out of this parish. If we were
to take the figures of St. Landry
and Evangeline combined St.
Landry would be but 51 bales
from second place.
Under the existing circuam
stances for the last eight years
14,226, bales fora parish the size
of this one should be considered
very good, especially since many
of the large cotton farmers have
gone into raising diversified
crops. St. Landry and Evange
line combined had an output of
25,249 bales of cotton for
th e year 1912, nearly
double the output of 1912.
which was 15,378.
Cotton; seems to be coming
back to its own once more and in
a few years St. Landry will be
as prosperous as it was up to the
boll weevil time in the year 1905.
Besides raising a considerable
lots more cotton next year, the
parish will have to be contented
with for the supremacy in the rice
raising race, and other crops.
The total number of bales
ginned in the state was 374,742
a slight decrease from the output
of 1911, but an increase of nearly
30,000 bales over the year 1910,
Accordming to the report releas
ed for the use of morningppgr
Tuesday 29, 1913, by the Dept
ment of Commerce, Washington,
the out put of the respective par
ishes of the state is as follows:
(Giving only the first eight par
ishes.)
Caddo, 39 479; De Soto 25, 800;
Natchitoclies, 22S.; C~aIbo~rei
22,687; Bo~asier, 21,811; More
house, 18,838; Riehland, 165i05;
8t. Ladr, -14,@s'
If nothingi haLpens to the
cotton formera of this parish St.
In.dry vri1 be near the top when
Sthe report wl be given out exxt
-earsr.fr thet ear 191:8. It is
t parish will go
al. tp Pti'it takes itsplace
once morea at the lead the
cotton raising parishes .of Louisi
right have.
Once one street is paved here
it is the opinion of nearly every
one in favor of better streets
that the property owners of
Opelousas will not ask the city
to help them to pave the streets,
on the contrary they will do like
the people of progressive cities
are doing every day of their
lives-they will pave them of
their own accord, doing the same
thing which our citizens have
done with concrete side-walks
When it was first proposed that
Opelousas have concrete side
walks, some of the old fellowo
here wanted to fly up tothe skies
as they thought that the people
were getting to be too expensive,
now the city does not even pay
one third for the construction of
concrete side-walks, for some of
e entrpriing and hustl
ltizens of this city go to w*
apd have the banquettes passing
in front of their residences and
pay for these with their owa
personal money.
It is hoped that Opelonsms will
be able to. boast of splendid
streets in the very near future.
If it were left entirely in the
hands of the men who are at the
helm of the affairs of Opelousas
and these men were in a position
to pave the streets this city
would not have one single dirt
street to its name. These men,
the Mayor and Board of Alder
men, are doing a1l they can for
their communimtyit is up to the
citiens of Ope to do some
tng for thems ve at thesame
te rendering valuable service
to eirtown.
Al SEUIEE
Mr. H. W. Sheridan, General
Superintendent of the Morgan's
iLodiana &Texas Bailroad and
Steamship Co. Louisiana West
ern Railroad 0Go and the Iberia
and Vermillion I~alraad Co,, was
in this city dn Wednesday, ac
companies Mr. J. W. Knight
linger, and. -Mr. W. . MIiddle
mas, Assistant Supedntendenta
and Mr. A. . . Hermna, Ins ec
tor of Trasp aton. These
offcialsof 1the Southern Pacifie
were in Opel ouasa for a few
hours, being kept busy the en
tire time they emained here.
They expresso4 themselves to
the effect tet there was no play
with them, and they were not
dressed like one would picture
the owner,-of thegreatSouthern
Pacific railroad, and his. asiat
ants, would be. When the Clar
ion representative aslked for M
Sheridan and a stouty built
man, attired in overals, walked
up and.said "Herea he is," the
representative eould not restrain
from having a massled look, -ie
soon found o, however, by the
manners of the dist nguishedman
that he was lr. Sheridan, .the
Vice President and owner of the
Southern Pacific,
Mr. Sheridan is. of the opinion
that Opelo eas should have a
metor car service and is willing
to give his line a motor e.agr.rn
inng from Morgan: City to Wash-.
ington and harek. each day, but
he says that he has to know how
the people of this city feel about
it. Anyone who has ever ridden
on the Mary Jane ought to be
overjoyedat tbentg offered such
a prposltln, asthis motor car
is to hreplae te slow girl.
Thferfe is no doubt that Oelonu
5s needs. this service and that
it would be gretly beneflcial to
jt~br~~ino~is ·4 Olii as very often
tris ( quneed ing to souse
P~mtaon the mae line of .the&
Pi after the
cannot be do. on. aceount of
presQntj ae odtion -
Some teople of this
-omm oemmui4Mte
with Mr. and makel4sa
aware of tof that *te pee
te here wil J. r!ehavry _.idre
LOCA AMLAiiATIUN
MIAIN VIlTORIlOU
Veltin's' Piteain and Dejeae"'s
Hitting Feiatres of atpleen.
did Ball G(ae.
The Kinder team, the oone
which had such a good repute
tion all through this country for
its wonderful ability to hit the
ball all over the lot, journeyed to
this city on last Sunday, withý..
large crowd of its rootera , to
get a good trouncing. They also
brought with them their "pill
flinger," who threw his bells so
swiftly. that there were no bsat
tersin this portion of Louisiana
who could even come anywhere
close to hitting him, he was
what you may call a wonderful
being. Opelousas was to be
shut out and the Kinder pitrh -
would not hve any pity whatso
ever on the local bunch of be.
ha , one :bit:- " ubth
sieae book aad you m~al ii1 a ~t
what that second 'qibe Wad.
del" - at o lastm what th:
d ki to tho .
Toby ., tm U ~ hea
was on' .the moun wit tq
goods, and he cehienly did
iver them to the Kinder nine.
They were undoubted of othe
o.pinon ithat O~ ad
plwaer. Nerlsy tsamkie bw
of plaer o the 0l*
.ellsble "Ox out . of the
sometime last anumer,
Veltin, but they learne
Toby was there to star $ As
-- bm ox and a aeb
time would rmake the g~t
away from s plate. ,:ey
seemed a to the7 weea ex
erising thems iles for a
days work in the pine w oed
AILen paris.h;L. · : : .
The featsureof Sdy 's
was the heavy hlttgfin
Charlie Dejn as4dl -I6e P
-eans hits meoati. o.
time." _ the semev t
,on to opiat4 -+;-.s A +:i,
ath
tel . ,l*.s bs s l;i
the . url m i m th wi
everwi
nds. The wis st, fl~s
"amon th'paeno
.lasts ai a..ny.
team inl help th end
ra nied the team .,
tmar~In t .henai d, of the
aSherit -'M 1 rs
tehafala h iven, an anmer
diately gPrceeded to ans- t a
ae in await the meeting a
t is now evident that the
o nesthoritieskn this seetilo
te audtr- res who do not
ceson l ntwo ay s hunter whoa
o t he abthorythe for
t8oltjuWe: of Y~ -w
c~dlnst.·tid L~,l:
/ss'a-·i\lt$1g~.~ e~~~ ,Aict: