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The Lower Coast Gazette r PUBLISIIED WEEKLY BY W THE LOWER COAST GAZETTE CO. F. G. MEVERS, President; S. B. MEVERS, Secretary. b POINTE-A-LA-HACHIE, LOUISIANA. OFFICIAL ORGAN OF 'LAQUEMINES PARISH POLICE JURY, O PLAQIuEMINES PARISH SCIooI. HOARI), PLAQUIEMINES 'ARISII EAST BANK EIv.E DISTRICT, GRAND PRAIRIE LEVEE D)ISTRICT, LAKE BORGNE BASIN LEVEE DISTRICT. IBURAS LEVEE D)sI'sr('TT TRMMS: $1.00 PER YEAR IN ADVANCE: Entered at the Pointe-a-la-Hlache, Post Office as second class L mail matter of SATURDAY MAY 15, 1909. lii The Rice Experiment Station at Crowley. r( The cooperation of our state and federal authorities in the in auguration of a Rice Experiment Station at Crowley has resulted tr in the opening of the station and, we believe, is the beginning of ei the most important advance in the rice industry thus far recorded n in the industrial world. The rice industry is probably one of the W oldest on earth and yet in the East Indies, where it is the chief in cereal crop, it is carried on in the old fashioned ways that have! n prevailed for thousands ot years. In South Carolina the rice in- e dustry obtained a very high development, the industry was carried h, on in very carefully dyked fields, which were very difficult of main- ai tenance with the light sandy soils of the coast lands of South Caro-tl l!ina and the crop was frequently injured by great storms. In tl Louisiana, where the rice crop has been raised generally on the tIt Mississippi River and Bayou Lafourche and supplied with water P, Sfrom those streams, the water supply has been under good control t\ and only occasionally have crevasses in the banks injuring the ad jacent crops. a In southwestern Louisiana and Texas with hundreds of thous- tc ands of acres of land 10 to 15 feet above tidewater, the soil has ir been found extremely well adapted to rice culture and the lop liftj has permitted the irrigation of the land from the adjacent streams, N while artesian water from cheaply constructed wells has also fur nished a very considerable supply, and now Southwestern Louisiana Sand Southern Texas have become the chief sources of supply of rice of the federal union. All this production of rice has been carried on in a general p way, following the old routine. The advent of harvesting ma- 1b, chines has aided the industry very much in Southwest Louisiana and also in Texas, but along the Mississippi River and Bayou La- la fourche their use thus far has not been general. The arrange- c ment of the lands for sugar cane culture differs from that neces- M nary for rice culture and this has led to the cutting up of the land B into small squares in which, thus far, harvesting machines have t not been satisfactorily worked. al In the new Experiment Station at Crowley, thirty-six acres of tl rice have already been planted, including 32 plots of an acre each si and a four-acre strip. About 350 varieties of rice have been col- s lcted by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and all of these it '*.ill be tested and of course there is no telling but among them may be fSund wmevyari ties better. adapted to. Lquisiana4 ons than we shave ete?:had before. . matter of the rotation of crops will be carefully experi- h vith and the determination made of what crops are best cl S(. ucee4 the rice crop. Nearly every one familiar with si ,ulture knows by-xperience that ordinary horse manare is very tt Iective in rice fields and wherever there have been any drop- g pirgs a spot of deep green rice, much taller and deeper in color s: than any of the rest will be found. Ammonia may be a very fugi tive fertilizer, butits value in rice culture ought to be very care- it fully determined, as enough data hqs already been accumulated to show thata crop of rice on any given area of land can probably be increased 50 per cent. and probably 100 per cent. by the use of the to proper ammoniacal fertilizer. It is understood, further, that the crops that produce seeds are very exhaustive to the soil in the mat ter of phosphorie acid and it will be probably found that after a C few years use with ammoniacal fertilizers, phosphate fertilizers d will be imperatively needed, either is vonjunctiqn with ammoniacal fertilizers, or alone, as the results at the Experiment Station may ti indicate. It is proposed this year to use nitrate of soda, phos- g phorie acid 'and potash. These prairie lands of western Louisiana o are presumed to have been built up geologically by the degrada- i, tion of the old bluff lands of the West bank of the Mississippi River, which, at an earlier geological epoch resembled the bluff lands at Baton Rouge, where the river was some fifty miles wide and extended from the bluff lands at Baton Rouge to those over at Opelousas and, as the river within recent years has extended from p the bluff lands in Memphis over to the bluffs in Arkansas, fifty .miles away. The alluvial lands in Louisiana are generally con- ÷ , uidered not to need potash. These prairie lands of Southwest iF o oisiana may, or may not, need potash, which fact may be de- S termined later on. f Efforts will be made at planting by the calender with the view t of determining whether or not the rice in the end cannot be har- F rested also by the calender, the maturities being so arranged as to g spread the harvesting season over a longer period. At the present o timo our chief two rices are the Honduras and the Japan varieties. t Of these 1 Honduras matures earlier than the Japan and thus v - divides the harvesting season into two parts wherever these two a rioes may be cultivated under one management. The situation 1i ,ould he improved still further if it were found possible to secure n p-certain periodicity in harvesting by a similar periodicity in 1 planting. 8 Prof. Chambliss of the U. S. Department of Agriculture will t - ave a force of observers on hand who will pay especial attention t to th0 rice breeding and selection of types. Artesian water will he I usd in the experimentation and the building will be promptly 6 vqoted. Prof. F. C. Quercan will have .charge of the station t gip-der Prof. W. R. Dodson, Director in Chief of all the Louisiana f i' tlons. Prof. Chamblissi also conducting some experiments on t Sbehaf of the U. S. Department of Agrieqlture at Lonoke, Arkan- t pas and alslo in South Carolina, and at Beaumont and Pierce, Texas C and Sacremento, California. I Heny ' Thr(Oueydan News. Ion..emry L. Gueydan, the editor nad general manager oft t aeydan News, was doWn for a paper on "Burning Questions" Sthe xmeal sesson of the Lousana Press Association, held at last week. He was not present, but in his absence the S as rai by Mr. Robinson of the St Francisville True. Dem ) May 7, of Mr. Gueydan's journal, the. Gueyr tells the story of hil inabilit.y to be at Coving- 4 It u "his valedtory as its editor, although still tre-1, e In the n .wspaper. Southwest LouInians owes t Gaqto, ,eyda~. and his father, who in the great/prairie, ayr areao alable land, which .T now producing b da~ f dollars worth of rice annually, andi ~ ~tetioof the state a very extensive systcnm mean. It used to be said that a cross roads blacksmith shop was the beginning of a new town; that the wagon shop soon followed and then came the store, church, and school house and the village was inaugurated, and the rest depended upon the availability of the adjacent lands in agriculture or horticulture, as the case might be. All this has occurred at Gueydan, Vermilion Parish, one of the most enterprising towns of the state and an excellent news paper, which, after this week, passes under the editorial control I of Mr. A. K. Ramsey, who for some time past has been the asso ciate editor. The Gazette at Covington. Last week we had the pleasure of announcing to the Louisiana Press Association, then in session at Covington, the advent of the Lower Coast Gazette into the ranks of the prominent newspapers of the state. The Gazette met with a cordial reception and the Louisiana Press Association at Covington was one of the most de lightful ever experienced. Many instructive addresses were made and in addition to this, the good people of Covington, who began receiving the visitors Monday night, kept them busy Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, so filling the hours with the many at tractions that the little' '"over the lake city" presents, that scarcely enough time was had for sleep. One day was devoted to the new town of Bogalusa, the great sawmill town of the country where the largest sawmill in the world has been erected and is now in operation. Where three years agostood virgin pine forest, we now found the town of Bogalusa, having a population of 5,000 equipped with a $35,000 hospital, magnificent commissary, $75,000 hotel, handsome quarters for the officers of the lumber company and comfortable homes for the employes. Mr. W. H. Sullivan, the general manager of the Great Southern Lumber Co., escorted the visitors through the immense works that have a capacity for turning out 600,000 feet of lumber per day and have storage ca pacity for an enormous quantity of lumber and are now carrying two million dollars insurance thereon. An afternoon was devoted to crossing Lake Pontchartrain and 1a trip up the beautiful Tchefuncta to Houltonville, where the Houl ton Bros. entertained the press party at dinner and, after combin ing three solid days of business and pleasure the . convention ad journed, those members passing through New Orleans being en tertained at a delicious breakfast at the St. Charles Hotel by the New Orleans Times Democrat. The Associated Branch Pilots. This well known organization, better known to us as the Bar Pilot's Association, and known generally as the most skillful, the best equipped and the most effective Bar Pilot's Association any wwhere on the coast from Maine to Texas, held its annual election last week at Port Eads, electing as its Board of Directors for the coming year, Captains Joseph Redman, John I. Williams, T. A. Wilson, George P. Hinds, F. McLaughlin and E. Anderson. Capt. Ben Michell was reelected president and the Association promises to go on winning laurels for its successful work, conservative man agment and general efficiency. The successful passage of the Bat tleship Mississippi over the bar and thence to the city, while as sured from the beginning, must be regarded by us all with extreme satisfaction, because of the recalcitrancy of the Navy Department in relation thereto. The reelection of Captain Ben Michell to the Presidency is, as isual, the recognition by the Association of good work well done, jand eertainit "Captain Ben"as his f rinds love to call him, has had i his hands full of work during the past year, work that required a clear head, tact, good judgement and a complete knowiedge of the situation. Some discontented parties are endeavoring all the time to break up the State Pilotage system and to turn it over to the general government as has been done with our river quarantine service, much to our regret. We who live here in the Parish of Plaquemines are very much Sinterested in the Bar Pilot's Association. While they form a col ojny to themselves at the mouth of the river, they have always co operated cordially in every good movement in the parish and can always be depended upon to put up their money and their work when such are needed. They have been an important factor in our parish life ever since the days of good old Captain Bradish and Captain Johnson who were the whole thing a century ago. We don't know that these good old captains that erected the famous Magnolia and Woodlawn sugar plantations early in the 19th cen tury, ever helped Lafitte in any way, as doubtless Lafitte was a good pilot himself, but some strange stories are told of the pilots of the good old days, as of the pilots or the pirates of Penzance, for instance, in Sullivan's famous comic opera of that name, A New Drainage District. A number of enterprising planters of the upper part of the pariqh on the East bank are having under consideration the organ ization of a new drainage district. As is generally known, the Poydras plantation lies largely on the Terre aux Boeufs Ridge and its drainage into Lake Lery. Similarly Carnaervon, Orange Grove St. Clair, Scarsdale, Stel!a, Mary and Promised Land plantations form the rim on the river of the Lake Lery basin. The problem that presents itself is that of securing for all of these plantations better drainage than now and at a less cost and it has been sug gested that a good canal along the rear of the less cultivated part of the plantations might le utilized with suitable outlets into the tide waters of Lake Lery andl 'nthis way secure all of the ad vantages of a tide water level and to whatever extent it was found necessary, to drain below tide water level, that drainage would have to be accomplished mechanically. So far as we have learned no particular announcement of the scheme has yet been made, but under the existing laws of the state it is possible to organize drain age districts and by the levying of special taxes on the land within the limits of the district to cover the cost of the work and its main tenance, The general difficulty thus far has been that the lands on Lower Coast are so nearly at tide water level that gravity drainage is, excepting in the front lands, impracticable. Most of the back lands and the low lands generally, are from less than a foot above tide water level to not more than a foot and a half above that level and to secure drainage to the extent of three feet below tide water level would require constant mechanical drainage, which, of course, is expensive and apparently unwise, unless the drained lands can be made to tarn at once some revenue and at least suffi cient to cover the cost of drainage. Anyway, the matter is now under consideration and we trust that those concerned in it will be successful in any venture that ,they may make in that direction. PARISH NEWS. Nairn. Miss Oneita O'Brien is spending a few weeks with relatives in New Or, leans. Mr. Elmer. -Brown of. uaran, tine'spent -several days last week' with. his parents Mr. and Mrs. Theo. Brown. He returned to Quarantinle Thurs. day. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Chltnvin had as their week end guets the following: Mrs. H. Dustm m ia j her 4aughtern, EIlo api Feda, Miss Chalona and Messrs. W. H. Dustman and Bour geois. :Messrs. S. Johnson and B. Bennen visited friends here Wednes day. Messrs. Meyer, Commander and Duffy were the guests of Mr. Kirby and Mr. Brown on Sunday. Miss Cora Stockfleth of Buras was the guest of the Misses Gauffray last, Friday. Mr. Jim Lincoln of quarantine spent sev eral days with his parents Mr. and SMrs. Geo. Lincln:,' Miss Louise Gauff rrny spent the w-eek in Buras, the guest ,91 Mrs, J, De A4rul and Miss Stock fleth. Mrs. S. M. O'Brien spent Sqn day in New Orleans. Miss Mary and Marguerite Lincoln attended the dance at Point Pleasant Sunday night. Little Misses Agnes Lincoln and An gele O'Brien spent Saturday and Sun day in New Orleans the guests of friends and relatives. Quite a crowd was at Dustman's Park Sunday to witness the game be tween the base ball teams from Home Place and Empire. The game resulted in a score of 11 to 2 in fAvor of the Home Place team. Mr. Hermann Johnson of Point Pleasant was the guest of the Mrs. Lincoln Saturday. Home Place. Quite a large and enthusiastic crowd journeyed down to Narin last Sunday to witness a game of base ball between Nairn and Home Place. It was a very happy crowd that returned for Home Place won the game. The score Sbeing 11 to 2. Home Place has played three games this season and won two. Keep on ' boys. They will cross bats with Buras' second nine next Saturday on their dias mond at Home Place. Last Thursday,the anniversary birth day of Edwin Giordano, he entertained some of his friends and the basket ball team. Ice cream and cakes were 7 served. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Henry and lit tie son, of Panama are here on a visit to Mrs. Henry's father, Mr. Charles Ballay. Among the many visitors here last week were Dr. H. L. Ballowe, Wal ter Richards, Albert Matilage, J. C. Ballay. Misses Annette Buras and Susan Hingle visited their mother and grandmother here last Sunday. Mrs. Frank Giordano, who has been - ill for some time is now speedily re covering. Miss Antonia Legier, after spending a month with her aunt, Mrs. Augustine Chatillion, has returned to her home in New Orleans. It is expected that a large crowd from this place will go down to Buras next Sunday to witness the great game r of base ball between the Jesuits' Bend and Buras teams. A new fence has been built around the schoolhouse and It adds to its pretty appearance. Bertrandville. On Saturday, the 8th, the first car S load shipment of cucumbers left here - for Chicago. The weather has been so cold that the movement of cucum bers has been very light the past week. The mercury was up in the eighties on Sunday and on Monday it had fallen t below sixty, a drop that would jar any plant. On Wednesday last our popular and r distinguished conductor, R. W. Smith, of the Louisiana Southern R. R., left { for N. Y. accompanied by his wife and, as the beautiful stesmcr passed Btr e trandville, they received a warn, fare well from the people here. Many guns were fired to show our conductor how Shighly we appreciate him and to Wish 3 him a pleasant trip. The gentlemen in charge of the canon were John Meyer Jr., Lucien Caro and Jack Brown. Hon. Simon Leopoid, visited this place on Monday and his friends were all glad to see him, as he has been r under the weather recently. k - SSte. Sophie. l Miss Emma LaFranice, of New Or Sleans, who has been visiting here some time, went to Myrtle Grove to visit relatives Monday, returning Wednes. Sday. Mrs. Leopold returned to the a city Tuesday morning after several a days visit at her country home here, r Dr. Richard Seagle, of Poydras, was in Ste. Sophie Tuesday. Judge A. Leopold, went to the city Tuesday, re turning the same evening. Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Weis, of Monticello, went to New Orleans by way of Belair, e Tuesday and returned by way of Ste. -Sophie Wednesday. Mr, Theophile e Ragas of Pointe-a-la-Hache, visited dPhenix lately, Mr. and Mrs. Dobson and family en. tertained a houseful of visitors last Sunday, from various places. Mr. Fair f banks and a friend were here Thurs s day and in the forenoon, Mr. Hill, of . Monsecour, made a business visit. Mr. M. C. Baker, of New Orlerns, was in Ste. Sophie on business, Thursday eve Sning. Hon. Simon Leopold went to the I city Thursday morning, returning Fri d day evening and went to Pointe-a-la d Hache Sunday, accompanied by Miss d Alice Dobson, who visited her aunt, Mrs. Hingle. It Mrs. Hatton and Miss Marguerite 1 Hill, spent several days in the city, re n turning Monday, on the El Rito. Mr. 1. Wadsworth, from the North, who con templates making this locality his home came to Monsecour by way of Ste. So Y phie lately" ap is visiting with friends. If Mr. Alvey Hingle and little brother, a Heard, visited relatives in Phenix !Sunday, Venice. Mr. and Mirs. Eugene de Armap en tertained their friends Saturday, with a basket picnic to Burrwood and Port Eads on the Launch Standard. The Sfollowing people were entertained: Mr. and Mrs. Jos. Clark. Mr. and Mrs. Os car Buras, Mr. and Mrs. Jos. lernard, Misses Amelia, Kate and Nellie Ber -nard, Irene and Doris Clark, Jeniie r- Buras; Messrs. Jos. and Leo Buras, B. Joe and Douglas Clark, E. Fallon, a- Thomas Chanova and Paul Guenna. The picnic was enjoyed by all who attended Id and Mr. and Mrs. de Armas' kindness >y appreciated. ra Misses Leona Buras and Stella Mar of shall returned to their home after r. spending several weeks in Pointe-a-la v- Hache. Mr.. Nichole Garquet visited id our place last week. Mr. D. Erncst i- of BRrrwood visited the Clark home on at Sundpy. Miss Julia Biaggini visitedi k- Mrs. J, Angelo Tuesday. Free! Free! Freil Free! Free! Freel Louis Leonhard & Son LOUISA AND DAUPHINE STREETS. Free Boat and Railroad Transportation. Freight Prepaid. New Methods, New Ideas. Come to New Orleans and return without One Cent Of Expense To You. On all purchases of $25.00 and over we will pay both your freight charges and passage way by either Railroad or Boat, between BURAS AND NEW ORLEANS Enabling you to get your goods to your house absolutely free of any charges and Visit New Orleans Without One Cent of cost to you. We have one of the largest and most complete lines of merchandise in the city. We have separate and distinct departments of :-: :-: :.: :=: :-: Clothing, Hats, Shoes, Mat= tings, Carpets and Shades, Millinery, Dry Goods, Fancy Goods and Jewelry. Each department by itself a store. We pay freight charges on every purchase from $5.00 upward ..............,........ Louis Leonhard & Son LOUISA AND DAUPHINE STREETS. On Sunday, May 9, the Misses Ber nard gave a party at their home. The spacious parlor was beautifully decor ated.with ferns, roses and lilies. 'The young ladies and gentlemen spent their evening very pleasantly playing games and singing. Misses Kate and Nellie accomppnied the singing with piano and mandolin. Misses Lizzie Kinkei!a, Julia Buras, Doris Clark and Julia Biaggini, and Messrs. Louis Bulot, Sigmund Schoenberger and Jos. Clark, SJr., were prestnt. After the party the young folks walked as far as Louis Buras' whi(re a dance was going on, each wearing a beautiful cluster of flowers, which helped to set out the dudes and dudeines; Mrs. Jos, Ber nard acted chaperone. Miss J. Biaggini left tere Friday for her home in Buras to meet her sister Corinne, who has been attending the L. S. N. Jesuits' Bend. The benefit given for the J. B. B. C.'s was a delightful success. Danc ing was indulged in until the we hours of the morning. The prize for the most popular player was won by Mr. Moses Grabert. Miss Leonide Pernot was the guest of Miss Ethel Perez on Sunday MrF.Ed. Galle and Miss Pernot are spending a few days with Mrs. R. V. Perez. Among the visitors to Jesuits' Bend on Sunday were Messrs. Edwin Galle, Frank Pernot, Chas. Thompson, R. Harding, Johp Switzer and Rene Perez. The Jesuits' Bend team anticipates a good game with the Burps team at their park on Sunday next. Bird Day was fittingly celebrated at the Ollie, Becnel ard Crouire schools. Owing to the children's close touch with nature, this celebration was among the most successful yet held. One more celebration lies before these dili gent little workers, then their well earned rest will begin. Pointe-a-la-lache. A call has been issued by Judge R. - Emmet hingle for a special jury term to be held the week begin ning June 14, 1909, or the subsequent week. The Grand Jury has been called to assemble June 7. River News The U. S. Dredge St. John's was ly ing at the Burrwood docks Tues day evening, having come over from South Pass to have some repairingdone to her machinery, by the machine shops e at that place. On the St, Jo!..n's hold ing a very important position, is a young and handscme fellow, who Sweers his hair trimmed one way and i his whiskers another, not bLcause he likes it, but because one young lady in Sparticular sang to him one evening last , week a few words of a very popular song which was "but because your I face is fair LOVE to see," and so it is. New this yourg lady has a small brother and we understand that all the cookies in the Port Eads store were purchased for him last week in order. -to keep him.in line, Now Port Eads, Ithe home of this lassie, has Icts of Sother pretty ones, and we wonder why some of the other boys on the dr dge !are not as fortunate. Maybe they are :not as handsonme w nmaybe they can not be the "cookie kid." Cadptain Ben Michel, Jr., with his in teresting little family is summering in Port Eads. l .iss William::, of New Orleans, is on a visit.tuo h r father Captain Wil lianms at Pi;,,t :taticn. Last EatuLrday was pienie day at the lows r nC of the rivt r. lThe Fort launch with a gay party aboard from Sthe for:s and vicinity passed down bound for the mouth of the river at Pilot Station anti were guests of the Bar Pilots ftr a few moments. The Stand ard cane al&ng a while alter, bearing a party from Venice. All appeared to be having a good time. Captain Ben Michel, is down at Pilot Station this week and as we parsed by we had the plkasure of shaking hands with him. The Capt. was a busy man so we did not get time to say much to him. Quarantine Station is showlngup to a point of 'vantage, everything is being painted and whitewashed and is looking neat for the coming seaso . Dr. R. H. VonEsdorf and his able assistants, Drs. Fauntelroy and Holt, are all able and trained men in the ser vice and the conditions of affairs exist ing there show their merit. Dr. P. D. Brown, with his family left Fort St. Philip on Wednesday, bound for Fort Sam.Houston, Texas, . where the doctor in future gill be statioped. The poctor is much pleased over his change, tho' he says he regrets to leave his many friends behind. We extend him God Speed on his journey and suc cess in his new post, Dr. Chase form erly of Fort Sam Houston, is succeed ing Dr. Irown at this tnd. From all appearanees the new doctor is all right. NOW'S YOUR TIME To make the most advan tageous combination of newspaper and magazine literature ever offered for the money . . . * * THE SEMI-WEEKLY TIMES-DEMOCRAT REGULAR PRICE $1.00 PER YEAR WOMAN'S HOME COMPANION REGULAR PRICG $125 PER YEAR q If you subscibe now you get both for $1.65 a vear, enabling you to keep posted on all the current news and choicest illustrated literature by great writers . . Ask your Postmaster saad he will tell you all about It, of address THE TIMES.DEMOCRAT NEW ORLEANS LA.