Lots of great news for conservatives to discuss on FR tonight, let's keep it going! FReepathon XXII

Click here to pledge your support! ^ | May 8, 2012 | Jim Robinson

[DJ MacWoW]

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[The Cajun]

Oak Alley, about 15 miles due North of me.

There be *Haunts* there, LOL.

[DJ MacWoW]

I’m going to call it a night and post the “goodnight” graphics. :-)

[The Cajun]

Night, for real, not generic :)

[DJ MacWoW]

Night Cajun. :-)

[DJ MacWoW]

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[bd476]

The following excerpted discussion about political parties is from a book published 100 years ago.

---

A HOOSIER CHRONICLE
by
MEREDITH NICHOLSON

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY
The Riverside Press Cambridge

Published March 1912

Excerpt from

CHAPTER VI
HOME LIFE OF HOOSIER STATESMEN

. . .

"Parties are necessary to democratic government. I don't believe merely in my own party; I want the opposition to be strong enough to make a fight. The people are better satisfied if there's a contest for the offices. I'm not sorry when we lose occasionally; defeat disciplines and strengthens a party.

I have made a point in our little local affairs of not fighting independents when they break with us for any reason.

Believing as I do that parties are essential, and that schismatic movements are futile, I make a point of not attacking them. Their failures strengthen the party—and incidentally kill the men who have kicked out of the traces. You never have to bother with them a second time."

"But they help clear the air—they serve a purpose?" suggested Harwood.

He had acquired a taste for the "Nation" and the New York "Evening Post" at college, and Bassett's frank statement of his political opinions struck Dan as mediæval.

He was, however, instinctively a reporter, and he refrained from interposing himself further than was necessary to stimulate the talk of the man before him.

"You are quite right, Mr. Harwood. They serve an excellent purpose. They provide an outlet; they serve as a safety valve. Now and then they will win a fight, and that's a good thing too, for they will prove, on experiment, that they are just as human and weak in practical application of their ideas as the rest of us.

I'd even go as far as to say that in certain circumstances I'd let them win. They help drive home my idea that the old parties, like old, established business houses, have got to maintain a standard or they will lose the business to which they are rightfully entitled.

When you see your customers passing your front door to try a new shop farther up the street, you want to sit down and consider what's the matter, and devise means of regaining your lost ground. It doesn't pay merely to ridicule the new man or cry that his goods are inferior. Yours have got to be superior—or"—and the gray eyes twinkled for the first time—"they must be dressed up to look better in your show window."
CHAPTER VI HOME LIFE OF HOOSIER STATESMEN

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[bd476]

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[bd476]

Thank you for the tip, The Cajun. Oak Alley Plantation is a beautiful plantation & the stories about it are fascinating. It would be a wonderful place to visit someday on vacation.

---

The Shadows
of
Oak Alley Plantation
Vacherie, Louisiana

Are haunted houses for real? Do ghosts roam the earth and, if they do, what's the point? Why do some people experience them while others do not? These and other questions are often posed by Oak Alley visitors who seem open to the reality of a spirit world.

Old buildings appear to be particularly attractive to ghosts. These last are often alleged to be souls of former residents whose earthly mission was tragically cut short, leaving a frustrated spirit grasping at bizarre means to capture the attention and support of the living in order to resolve personal unfinished business. Of course, the older the building the longer the list of resident souls and the greater the possibility of drama.


It snowed at Oak Alley Plantation December 2008

No antebellum plantation home is without at least one ghost, running the gamut from wispy shadows to an assortment of aggressive, howling poltergeists. Oak Alley is no exception.





Generally speaking, Oak Alley is recognized more for the beauty of her setting than for mysterious disturbances, but tour guides, visitors and staff members alike have shared interesting experiences over the years. The following include some of the more obvious:

Upon closing the house one evening following a private function, Denise Becnel, assistant house manger, her daughter, Kaysha and tour guides Connie Donadieu and Billie Jo Bourgeois, were surprised to notice that the lamp in what is referred to as the lavender room was still on.

The four ladies each remembered clearly that all but security system illumination had been turned off prior to their leaving the house and heading toward the parking lot.

As they stood looking up in bewilderment at the light shining from the lavender room windows, they saw the shadowy figure of a lady closely resembling photos they had often seen of Mrs. Stewart, last resident owner of Oak Alley, gazing down at them from her pleasant bedroom lookout. Denise had no more asked, "What's that?", when the upstairs gallery lamps blinked once. That was enough!

All four took off toward their cars and lost no time in exiting the plantation grounds. Not until they were passing by the alley on River Road did they look at the house and saw to their amazement that all windows were dark and everything was as it should be.

Mitchell Borne, maintenance assistant, experienced an unseen, but definite presence and a touch on his arm when he was working alone at the mansion.

Juliette Temple, tour guide, saw a figure seated on one of the beds in the lavender room and, on another occasion, had an encounter in the kitchen area with a ghostly man in gray wearing boots.

Helen Dumas and Theresa Harrison, tour guides and family retainers for many years, claimed they often felt and heard "things," not the least of which was the sight of billowing dust and the clear sound of a horse drawn carriage driving up one of the plantation gravel roads, but nothing ever materialized.

Louise Borne, office worker, claimed to have seen empty chairs rocking in unison, things moved from table and desk tops, and both she and Peggy Rodrigue, tour guide and restaurant assistant, attest to the phenomena of the clip-clop of an invisible horse drawn carriage, and the sound of crying from somewhere in the mansion.

Then there was the time that a candlestick flew across the room during a tour conducted by guide, "Petesy" Dugas. This baffling occurrence was witnessed by some 35 Gray Line bus passengers who were visiting Oak Alley.

These and other eerie events have been recorded over the years. Real or imagined? Who can be sure? Nevertheless, those adventurous mortals interested in taking a closer look beyond the shadows are invited to visit Oak Alley just in case some daring and mischievous spirit might reveal itself, to the enlightenment of us all.

Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana

[The Cajun]

I know several folks who swear it's haunted as with most of the old plantation homes down here.
The stories are interesting, but never have seen such in my whole life, hope I never do, LOL.
The E.D. White house on White Plantation, historic site a few miles up the bayou from me, is supposedly haunted too.
Note: E.D. White was the ninth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

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