7/29/2019 Isle Brevelle Creole Language and Culture 1897

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LoISIA POPULIST.R ]TIREDT THE NATC'HITOCHES POST

OFFICE AS SECO\D-CLAiS MATTEYR.PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY MOR.I.. .

$. L. BRIAN, - - - Editor.W. H. AREAUX, - - - Publisher.SUdSCRIPTION--One Year.................$10" ixonths..............O

" Four Months.............0ADVBTISING BATES.

"s1nen. I1 s mos mol mo eor.1 inch 20nt500 50 11 00 15 002 inchis 500 00 050 1500 20 00Sinbches 7 00 11 0 12 0 100 25 004 ne s 1404 00 1500u 30 005 uhes 1000 100 17 0 2700 2s 0S inehes 1150 1900 1000 00 40 007 inshes 13 0 200 2 100 3 0 44 00S inches on00;2 00 4 00 SO 0 49 01 elanin 40 0 00 55 0 500 100 0Transient advertisements, $1per square first In-sertion; each subsequent insertion 50 entser

al or legaldvertfsements. f1 per squareAet nsertion; each ubsequent Insertion0 contsper square,Lorealdvertisement, 10 cents per line.Iditerial notices. flretnsertion. 15 cents perlines subsequently 10 centspr line.,CemounnlOatlons are solicited. but we wi notbeisponsibleor any iews therein expressed.Address all c~nmnications to the BusinessMnager. Communications must be sent in byCommunrations Intended for publication shouldaeeepnlepnied by the real as well as he assumedn;ne of the author. not for pqblication but as anevidenee of good faith on the ppt of the writer;Asltie too so will consign them to the wastebane.SitAY , February 26, 18g7.The Opera House in Monroe wasburned on the night of 23rd. In-snrainc $0000.Th e Supreme Court has not yet

habded down its decisions in heJones-Freeman and Whiskey Li-ceses cases.

Well. Well I The Enterprise hasfound out about the washout in theNatebitoches and t.B.V. ailroad,whi4b, we published on January22nd, and gives it as news to itsreaders this week, February 25th.

Presa dispatches claim that Con.sal General Le e ha s sent inhis ree-ignt fonfn Havana, becauseOleeland refuses to protect Amer.Smein COuba from wholesale batch.el Weyler.in ei descendesded from two I*Iets f the declaration of iide. Ia~aee, and thanks, to his line. IZag Ilaslittle patriotism left in Ibtlood.h'e E'i:terprise sase "a largemif ied lie waiting," att 3oret the repair of the rail,S--ransportaion here.,A: rartimeasuring cotton seed.0W~vrs million would be a':,r oyet there must be '. thati3 t a aingle ton. I

Aber isciple nf Fosterism ].oqp wit a large ehortage inip axmoney. This timee

;gedear to th heriet ofl

atturwrngthe-State

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~taZrttidticl4;

Correct It.There has arisen a misunder-standing of the methods of apply-

ing the $65,000 to the relief of thedrouth sufferers by the Millsapscommittee.This misunderstanding is gottenup and encouraged by papers thatknow better, but which are preju-diced against the Millsaps commit-tee and wouldn't approve anythingthat committee did.This misunderstanding is doingthe cause of the sufferers muchharm, as will be seen by the fol-lowing from the Franklin News, ofSt. Mary Parish:"People who were charitably in-clined, and who would have con.tributed largely in excess of theamount credited to this parish, ha dit not been for this traffic in mis-fortune. If it is proper to sellthe corn sent there for purposes ofrelief, the right certainly exists forthe sale of meal, meat, flour andother things contributed for thebenefit of the poor, for if Mr.Millsaps is clothed with the arbi-trary power to sell any one article,he certainly, under the same exist-ing conditions, can demand moneyor promises for anything that pass-es through his hands.This traffic in peop le's misfor-tunes will not do. The right tospeculate is not coupled with thecontributions sent forth. Everything sent to North Louisianashould be distributed among thoseWho need it most, in the samespirit in which it was given."This paper honestly believes thatdonations forwarded to the Mill-saps committee have been sold tothe sufferer, when nothing of thekind has been done.

A laree part of the $65,000 ap-propriated by the State wa s spentfor corn and meat, which was do-nated to the most extreme cases--we don't know just what propor-tion' was spent this way, about$1500 worth of it came to this par-ish. ,The balance of the appro-priation is being used to pay arearof the freight on corn pur-chased by the Millsaps committee,but with money raised by the suf-ferers and by those who choose toadvance it to them at a reasonableinterest not to exceed 10 per cent.

Corn can be secured in this wayby people, .who are absolutelywithout, but who have a credit, at I30 cent4 per bushel, whereas itwould cost them 60 to 75 cents inthe usual way.Nobody pretends that this is

helping the absolutely destitute,but it is helping thousands whowould soon be. destitute, and cut-ting the helpless down to the low-eat possible number, and these lat-tor ones are receiving all the dona-tions free without money and with-out price.Not only so, but in this parishIthe committees who have spentdays and even weeks in measuring,out and distributing such.donationshave done, so without charge, -al-"hough they did not share in the

La th papers correct this erwo-neonas fimpreseuonwhich is dhmpen-lng the arder of the good peopleof South Louisiaha, who havedone and are doing such noblecharity. __ .-______- - ' -

Foir-handred thoasand dollarsto Bayou Plaqwemine. The new'house appropria tion bill contains.ab e it(em, ,which will greatly~t avIgation when the Plaque.,romnpleted..-,SgarJournal, New Orleans.

ad amny re teertile.,oariver wouilds 1 at any theitt, of_~, $udawoot ovarflow*n 1ae toooish

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'4 .

Isle Brevelle.(Written for the Item.)

The person traveling up or downCane river, will observe 'the pecu-liarities in manner, dress and dia-lect of the mixed blooded popula-tion of Isle Brevelle. Here is apeople who form a society anda world of their own. Descendedrom the early French settlers,and Indian and negro blood com-bined, and here and there a dash ofSpanish, they live apart from allother people of their country.The mixed blooded Cieole of IsleBrevelle is as primitive a peopleas their ancestors, the Acadians,who were brought South by theBritish long, long ago. They areall ardent Catholics, and the churchat Isle Brevelle Mission is crowdedevery Sunday with them. In eve-ry community some patriach triesthe differences, and settles disputes;and no matter how the disputesare being waged, his personi is sa-cred, and his word law. Thehouses are mostly all adobe, ormud walls, white-washed. Theyare fond of dancing, music andgay dressing, and some magnificenttypes of brunette beauty are foundamong them. And they are, as arule, rigidly virtuous. At a dancewill be seen a big fire in the yard,and a big pot of gumbo on it,which, with cafe noir, is servedsteaming hot to guests at intervals,This gumbo is made from boiling

fresh meat or game with the pul-verized leaves and stems of a dwarfsassafras, which growson the hills,and whither these people go ingreat numbers at the proper seasonto gather it. The language spo-ken is a patois, or a dailect whichis a puzzle to any linguist. Fo r "Idon't know" the Isle Brevelle mit-ed-blood says: "Mo pas coinais."In "The Captain's Story" Mrs.Townsend displays a knowledge ofthis dialect. The finest cooks ofour State are in Isle Brevelle, andthey can beat the San Antonio Mex-ican making tamales. Thg IsleBrevelle tamale is made of highlyseasoned chopped meats, and mealmade from corn treated with lye toremove the husk and pounded in amortar. Their coffee is unexcell-ed and if you call at a house, thecoffee mill is promptly set agoing.and you are handed a cup of cafenoir, such as you will always re-member; that is, if you are ongood terms jwith Jean Baptiste.The Cane river lands are aboveoverflow, and this, with their greatfertility, has created a great de-mand for them, and with the in-flux of population great changes Ihave been wrought, but these pe-culiar people will not associate with lthe negro; do not wish, or try tohave any social communication withthe whites, and are as primitiveto-day as an hundred vears ago.Men may come, and me n may go,but no changes are recorded in thehabits and appearance of thesefolks. Bright strings of pepperand mats of plaited garlic hangon the walls, and the wooden mor-tar and pestle are seen at everyhome. Baptoche, the great hun-ter, lived in Isle Brevelle and hunt-ed' as the wildest and ;greatesthunter of his time. CarrollJones lived in Isle Brevelle; hewas an inveterate horse, racer.Carroll was. bdrn it slave andbought his freedom. His houseon Cane riverwas headlquarters forhorse drivers and race horse mentraveling through that country.Hle owned a fine plantation and agood and roomy dwelling on it.Horse racihg is indulged in to agreat extent in Isle Brevelle, andat the 24-mile ferry nearly everySunday are congregated hundredsof people. Stands are erected,and coffee, pies, cakes, pop, ani-sette and other refreshments aresold. loome of these Creole borse-es :are very fleet, and can beatgood hbrsees at short distances-three of four arpents are populardistances. Carroll owned manyfast horses in his day. 'He ownedthe noted sprinter Creole, and averyfast horse, which he sold toClayton, and Creoleproved a horseof rare speed. Carroll matched a

oion:thi. New Orleans track be-tWeen Creole and Nettie, the latterowned by a Kansas rlan The no-tedJian Jrown (since killed by thepolice 4t the famousnGarliel4,racetihck hidhesago), ptt uip a job onrlnd sutccteede' in puttinglider on who hal4 him andIcstb; .Carroll: ip a race:t *emi~I,.Mis .s.ort timedlm death.:. Tins race ,wai

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ins an(1d puttgin ppepper b.:neath aIcock's wings and sol),pinWhe nelfeathers to make the "hbill hlt"slip. The old sta. route rein upCane river and a strnl)ss at the 24mile fei'ry. The old saloon is in-t4act; the old billiard tuale, long in-nocent of baize, and the cushionsdead years ago, i, till to be seenat the 24 mile ferry. Old CharlieDupre lives at the 24 mile ferryand does the watch tinkering andgem fixing for the country. Hehas a collection of gems of everyconceivable ipattern, each with ahistory, anti clocks and watches,pistols and swords and knives ofall description, some of which sug-gest Lafitte's pirates. His shon isa veritable old curiosity shop.And old Charles tells many richtales of the people who came andwent, and the stage drivers; ofdeeds of daring done by ante bel-lum people in those old days ofklng ago. It is a beautiful coun-try, being the finest of alluviallands and above overflow. Thelong blue line of timber, risinglike a cloud in the dim distance, isthe pine woods beyond the Texasand Pacific Railroad. These peo-ple are, as a rule, honest, law-abiding and good citizens. Theyare a very emotional people, andare devoted to each other in sick-ness. They are wary of strang-ers coming in their midst, as the"red-necked Mexican" has taughtthem many costly lessons in ho,seracing and business affairs, too.Some large plantations have beendivided among heirs until stripsand gores of land 60 feet wideand a mile long are common. Fam-ily names ar3 multiplied until theyno longer use them except in legalprocesses. One woman goes bythe name of Madame Raoul; herhusband is known as Raoul Jerome,his real name being Raoul Sarpy;but is called by his father's givenname to distinguish the many bran-ches of the family name. As arule these people are a unit on allquestions, as well as polities andreligion. Many strange and inter-esting tales are told by the firesidesof these people, and handed fromfather to son. They are patrioticand by one of a like race the bulletwhich killed Parkenham at thebattle of New Orleans wa s fired.Although thrown in contact withother people for nearly a century,these people have preserved theiridentity, and one can go amongthem and imagine the villages ofGrand Pre are around him and thatbe is visiting the home of Evan-geline and Gabriel. So peculiarare they that I know that even ifblind-folded and transported there-in the old adobe house, the cy-press and other vines, the stringsof bright pepper and garlic on thewall, the old wooden mortar andpestle, and the pigeons circlingaround the buildings-I would re-cognize the abode of Jean Baptistein Islo Brevolle. J. E. 1)U''NN.

The National Reform Press As-soclation met at Memphis, Tenn.,or the 2~d inst, Mr. J; T.Howell of Baton Rouge, memberof the National Committee of thePeople's party, was in attendance,and kindly consented to representthe Louisiana Populist in the As-sociation, as well as the Populistsof this State in the conferencesheld. We could not have beenbetter represented, and we exipectto hear a very entertaining reportof the meeting on Mr. Howell'sreturn.TD G IIaIESTIP aLLEwlInma.

The IdealRemedy h*uharsh Ikwyea, keter, aaumaa wmaaf mt.waeo.

timsepMr asi)r. King'sRoyalGermetucrSnslsmur m sandnnelar.:illliIb ethIAItmasmtpEINal om.sSiI IIoIS .a.

puifii ,t,,,t:hsqi &,iwsm~pb,.gUS#,MEP Ih*A~iwsm~auoa&T 3:' i~d~tAii UIU--i

V -Il~~l~t'ttttll C~~kts

)4EW STORE,INEW GOODS.i54Q 'MNEW PRICES.

Having decided that Natchitoches needs a real live, hust-ling, all round Merchant-a man who wants trade, andwill work for it-we have put up a large stock of bran,new purchases, and adding to it every day.................... ........Dry Goods, Groceries,Hardware, Crockerywatc, Glass-:ware, Cutlery, Boots, Shoes, Hats,:Caps, hotions & Fancy Groceries.:We buy our koods for spot cash, and will ruin theman who under sells us.We buy country produce and pay cash or goods for it.We want your trade and will give you a bargain for it.F' Country Trade especially solicited.

LICIITENSTEIN BUILDING,rront Street. Natchitoches. La.J. C. BURNSIDE.ESTABLISHED IN 1889.General Insurance Agency.

U. P. BREAZEALE,Successor to

ALEXANDER, HILL & BREAZEALE.Representing FIRST-CLASS COMPANIES inLIFE AN D FIRE INSURANCE.

Representing also the UNITED STATES FIDELITY and GUAR-ANTY CO., of Baltimore, for Bonds and Securities.Prompt Attention to Business. Country Businessa Specialtye

Office on St. Denis St., Natclhitoches, La,Call on me before placing your insurance elsewhere.

U. P. ]BREAZEALE.

ONLY BU DIRECT OP MANUPAOTURRRaS.$40 BUGGIES, ROAD VEHICLES ndWAGONS, SURREY5 of AUl Kindseoupon Shipped anywhere to anyone at WHOLEALB PRICE.

OS 01POUR aXTRAaoDINARY 5*a la0 sRAD0 DoSo0IPTION OlAMPULLYPIANO OrCOBNINGBOD, END or BBaWTnR Spring8s r-4 bow LEAtHER QUABTEE Top, atent ourtaifasteners, head ining of est wool dyed cloth, cordedseams and losed dusters in quarters, Solu PANxLSPaetG BACK, cloth or fancy leather trimmings,wing cushions, Sarven wheels, with 16 spokes, ofN1 12 TOP BUGOGY 6 in, tread, 15-16 in. double collar steel axle,.swodged and fantail bed, 4 and 6 leadil-temperedsprings of best quality. Body is 22. in. wide by 52 in. long, made of best seasoned lumberash frame andpoplar panels, thoroughly glued, screwed and plugged. Double reohb, ironedfall length. All forgings, clips, bolts. etc., made of best Norway iron. Painting andrtafrst-elase throughout. .Bodies painted a rich black, gears Brewster green, black or earmine,handsomely striped. Each buggy complete with shafts, leather dash boot, storm apron,carpet, anti-rattlers, etc. A written Warradty with eaoh buggy.$45.00 is our SPECIAL WHOLEBALtBIic or thisda buggy.SNever before sold for less, but to introduce our work in yourCoupon No. 2761 locality we have deooded to make a sptcial coupon offer giving;every reader of this paper an opportunity to get a strieiy ft-GOD 1OB class $75.oouggy at the lowest price ever offered. Onreeip of" 0 $40.00 and coupon we will ship thiB handsome buggy, securelyQ'f e, packed and crated anddelivered on boardcs. Do not mirs thisopportunity to get a thoreoughly High Grade Up-to-Date Buggy atIt sent with Order the lowest price ever offered. Remembet we donotofteritluasfor "cheap bauggy," but as a strictbly high-grade vehicle. If ou wanteo. 20 Top Baggy * a heaper bunry or some other style, wrieforpou.l agill tratedor Iratalogue showing 0tooierent syles of Vehiles, arness to,We an sellou a op bgary as low as a.o00,etter ones for .MNe. 343 Road Wagon and upwards. Money refunded if not as represehted afterrrivl4 - and examination, Coupon must poitlyt s~ ooompran the derto obtain this special price.,, --------N

BOAD WAGONS-We have all styles,butthis one is the meost popular. Any dealer This Elegant Read Wa1es Aft0will ask you $45.00 for it. Our wholesale wITH coupnpoe s $80.00. 8endas $o5.00 and coupon ..and it is yours. Guaranteed to be made ofselected material thoroughly seasonedbest end or side sprinas, Barven anwheels, oloth or EvRan's leather trmmings,double reach ironed full length, 1-16 in.drop xles, patent leather dash, paintingbodblael gea Brewster reenorcarmine ,loely striped, and finely fnishedthrolrgh-nt. AwrLttenawrranty with each waagonand money efuanded if not as represented,.Order at onsa e. Prices will be higherne t No. .s oAD WAGO,season. Address ((in ftr,)CASIH BUYERS' UNION,18 W. an Burg. St., BX, 767,;CLb Ma1pt-

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Jno. M.. TUCEE, PLesidcnt. D. C. ScnRsBooUQr, SecretaryJNO. A BAtaLow, Treasurer and General Manager.

GIVYANOVICH OIL COMPANY, Limited.*-MANACURERs AND DEALEnS IN ALL KIND8 OF-

COT ON SEED PRODUCTS,rA c 'OCHEr, . ". LOU1SAINA.

The ONLY 2 OCaliblre Repeater on the market.f )Made in all lengths and styles, regular and TAKE OlR *.1ct , Sjri he .32-J and .11-55s the s~rougcst and best repeatermad" l nalifbwow. ~ Kri or talogliN to

j 'Z)JPiLn 1594 readr , THE MARLIN FIRE ARMS O.,In .e' so.ma a-40 and i,4l. Ne w Haven, Confi..Ty) IA 1i.N RUST REPELLLER to precsivo guns and all metal work, 15 OetS p., ttbS .tconad 1 a se in 6tamps and we will mail you a pack of higheit q2LltTI 1&csri~hSpo itIY:- L--' ...-