Show forester writes of louisiana trip C A mattsson former supervisor of the fishlake fishlike Fish lake national forest returned this week from a trip to louisana he made the trip with wm L nicholls salina camp engineer mrs airs nicholls their son donald and william and miss millie domgaard of salina mr air mattsson writes the following account of his trip for the reaper we were guests of mr air J al belisle and family of many la mr belisle is the mayor of many owner and publisher of the newspaper sabine sabihe index and he is also city judge mrs airs belisle is a sister of mrs airs nicholls we were treated royally and the noted gracious hospitality of the south was evident throughout our entire stay in a state having one of the most colorful and interesting histories of any state in the union through the courtesy of mr air belisle we met some of the most prominent citizens of louisiana among whom was mrs W M knott a sister of former governor huey P long trips were made to various places of interest through the state including a visit to eaton baton rouge the state capitol to new orleans reported to be the most interesting city in america to st martinsdale tm sdale the home and burial place of evangeline Evang elme and to barksdale airport field having an area of acres and where 1800 government officers are employed this is said to be the largest airport field in the world the state capitol building in baton rouge constructed under the administration of former governor long is considered the most state capitol building in the united states this building is thirty four stories high the highest building in the south and was constructed at a cost of the burial place of governor long is on the capitol grounds and each night a beacon light from the top of this capitol highly illuminates this burial plot and the surrounding grounds in the chambers of the state senate and house of representatives when the legislature is in session affirmative votes of each member are registered by green lights and negative votes by red lights these votes are similarly registered in the governors office and in addition this office is connected up with wires and a receiving set so that the governor at all times knows how each senator or representative is voting and can also hear the speeches and entire proceedings of both houses of the state legislature in louisiana there is a law which makes it compulsory to publish all minutes of parish commissioners ners city councils and town boards in local papers of special interest inte iest in new orleans in fact in the entire state is its historical background under the rule of the spanish french U S confederate and U S governments ern ments louisiana is the only state in the union where each county unit is called a parish instead of a county in traveling through louisiana one is particularly impressed with its high standard cement roads its bridges the mississippi and other rivers its cotton and sugar cane plantations its colonial homes its beautiful stands of longleaf and short leaf pines its hickory magnolia maple sycamore gum cherry ash and other specia of valuable trees the good road system and other improvements were largely constructed or construction started during the administration of governor huey hucy P long iong As a safety measure on the state road system continued on page 6 forester writes of louisiana trip continued from page 1 highway overpasses over passes or underpasses under passes are constructed at practically all R R crossings surrounding many school grounds high heavy net wire fences are constructed to confine school children to the grounds during school horns and to prevent school children during play pl ay periods from playing on adiol adjoining rung i streets of public highways in many parish or county sea seats ts the county jails consist of the top floor of the parish court house or are built on the top of the court louses houses inquiry was made why the jails were not on the ground floor and we were in informed formed that jails on the upper floor 0 of f the court louses houses make it almost almos t impossible for prisoners to talk to 0 friends on the outside or to rece receive 1 ve assistance from outside sources or accomplices during ow our visit in louisiana the weather was rather stormy warm rams rains oc curing nearly every day however in new orleans the nights were sufficiently warm so that the electric fans had to be umed turned on oil in the southern part of the state many flowers were in bloom abloom and many lawns were screen green the negro men call the various temperature of the weather by the number of shirts necessary to wear wear to 0 o keep warm if the weather is moderately cold it I 1 is s called two or three shirt weather and cold is called four shirt weather in other words if the weather becomes cold the negro puts on one or two or maybe three shirts instead of an overcoat in like ii k e manner the negro women designate the temperature of the weather by the number of dresses necessary to wear to keep out the cold we are greatly indebted to mr air and mrs airs belisle and family an and d to their immediate relatives for our enjoyable visit in louisiana during the christmas holiday season of 1938 |