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The Daily Herald, Biloxi an jlfport, Mississippi Coast—SEVENTH!KN-A
Citrus Proving A Point
Percival Stern, whose twelve'
•—»	•	as much protection as the heat.
[j 3V I TTUS	Between	the	rows	of	trees winter
'	clover is planted and ploughed un-
der in the Spring to add nitrogen to the soil. Even the wood ashes are scattered over the grove to provide potash.
Last summer from his trees Mr. Stern gave away or sold over 600 I crates of splendid fruit. He cc*uld acre home and property (known as j have disposed of three times that Bay Citrus Grove) are located fac-j amount at $8 per crate for ship-ing the beach at 370 Beach Boule-ime^ as Christmas jgifts^ to ^the vard in Waveland, is proving that
of its
the Coast can again grow oranges, lemons and grapefruit as it did over a half century ago when practically every home had its orange trees.
Mr. Stern, now in his late seventies, came to the Coast oh the present Waveland property about 1944 and, although a complete amateur at citrus fruit raising, planted 26 orange and grapefruit trees for private enjoyment and consumption in 1948.
However, he became keenly interested in his trees and began studying the great amount of literature that is available on the planting and care of citrus fruits. His most important discovery was that the proper and prompt use of smudge fires protected his fruit whenever the weather bureau warned of an approaching freeze. Actually however it was necessary to take these precutions only 7 nights in the last ten years, five of them occurring during the last two years.
ENLARGED GROVE In 1953 Mr. Stern decided to enlarge his few trees to grove capacity and with the help of both the Louisiana and Mississippi Agricultural Extension services and the cooperation of Hancock County agent, Howard Simmons, in 1954 he proceeded to plant 1,600 trees, including oranges, lemons, satsumas, kurnquats and persimmons and grapefruit, both pink and white.
Bay Citrus Grove is an experimental project, a labor of love, to ation it prove that with the proper fer-as orig- t‘ilzat'ion' spraying against blight land insects, irrigation and protection against the sudden but short freezes the Coast has been experiencing the last two years, citrus fruit can be profitably raised. The best indication of the success of his experiment is that during the four most recent freezes, one of which went as low as 16 degrees, lor its Mr. Stern Jost only twelve trees out of his entire 1,600.
Mr, Stern fertilizes three times a year because of the sandy nature of the soil. From the one ar tegian well on the property he irrigates his entire grove with twenty-four lines. By irrigating three rows at a time the entire grove can be irrigated in four days. Mr. Stem says that when the water hits the trees in dry weather you can almost see the fruit growing.
WOOD IN READINESS |
In November the wood piles are placed in preparation about every fifty feet along the rows so thiy cian be promptly set afire when the temperature warnings come from the weather bureau. These . _w(x>4 piles are augmented with pld ')!£»■ .fees because,the heavy smqke *s
w~
eastern section of the United States. He sold many crates in 1957 to local and nearby supermarkets.
Bay Citrus Grove, however, is not a commercial project. Both Mr. Stern and the Hancock County agent working closely with him are interested in bringing back to the Coast the tasty, healthy citrus fruits that were once its crowning glory, and are willing and ready to pass on to others the vital information these last four wears have revealed. Last year at least a hundred people visited Bay Citrus Grove and went home to plant and properly protect their own trees.
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Bay St. Louis History
Continued From Page Four
not function throughout the war years.
During those trying times the beloved priest of Bay St. Louis, “Pere” LeDuc, and a former altar boy named Pierre Prudeaux, had a small schooner appropriately named “Hard Times” which frequently ran the blockade to bring in precious lood and supplies with Prudeaux at the helm. However, he made one trip too many and was captured by Federal gunboats, taken to New Orleans and imprisoned. Later he was released and returned to the Bay—without his boat.
THE WAR HERO OF BAY ST. LOUIS
The same “Pere” LeDuc has come down in Gulf Coast history as the brave priest who saved Bay St. Louis from destruction during the War.
In the Spring of 1864 a company of Federal soldiers landed from Fort Pike at Chef Menteur and were opposed by a company of Sibley’s Cavalry of Alabama. The Con federates won the brief skirmish and took a few prisoners which were removed to the home of Mrs. Giacomo Monti near the German settlement at Brown’s Vineyard.
A few weeks later 200 Federal troops came back in the gunboat
Commodore” to rescue the prisoners. It so happened that a Captain Marshal of the Grays was in town on a reconnoitering expedition and was caught by the Federal soldiers at the corner of Union and the beach, then called Front street. He was shot and wounded by a Union soldier and would have been finished off with the bayonet had not Father LeDuc intervened.
In the meantime the soldiers conceived the idea of burning the town in retaliation for the recent defeat and had already burned the Lockett l^ale properties \yhep Father Le
Due, then a young priest, again advanced unfraid on the approaching soldiers with their flaming torches. With nothing but the Crucifix in his hand he blocked their path and asked them to destroy no more.
Embarrassed by the Cross and impressed with the courage of the unarmed priest, they doffed their hats and turned back. In a short time they had retired to their ship and returned to Ship Island, leaving Bay St. Louis almost intact. BAY ST LOUIS BECOMES COUNTY SEAT From the time Hancock County was created in 1812 the site of the county seat jumped around erratically. At different times Court was held at Bay St. Louis and Pearlington, then at a place called Center, but mostly at Gainesville, which between 1812 and the War between the States was an important shipping center. About 1846 it looked as though it would remain at Gainesville.
But in 1853 the Court House at Gainesville burned down and court activities subsequently moved to Bay St. Louis, but not until 1867, two years after the war, was an official action taken. That was when the Legislature authorized an election to determine the permanent location of the County Seat.
There was intense rivalry. The Gainesville supporters claimed the most votes and the County Board then known as Police Board elected to stay at Gainesville. But the Circuit Court decided that Shields-boro had received the “majority of legal votes” — a wording which suggests ballot stuffing. Anyhow the County Seat came to Bay St. Louis then officially incorporated as Shieldsboro.
THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD In 1872, five years after Bay St. Louis became the County Seat, the New Orleans, - Mobile and Texas Railroad (purchased oy L&N in 1881) came through and from then on the little city was no .longer dependent upon the “Camellia” and “Heroine,” those faithful steamboats that plied between the Bay and New Orleans, landing their freight and passengers at Bucciline’s Wharf at Washington and the Toulme Wharf opposite the Crescent Hotel.
In the early 1880's Bay St. Louis acquired the G. W. Dunbar Oyster and Shrimp Canning Company at the north end of the Bay, a woolen mill at Nicholson Avenue in Waveland and a tannery right in town on the site of the K of C. Building on Main Street. In 1888 it adopted its first good road system —and in that year boasted 50 miles of shell roads.
In the Gay Nineties the famcyas L&N Excursion trains from New Orleans to the Gulf Coast not only stopped at Bay St. Louis to let off passengers but made a full twenty minute stop for refresh ments. In those days a full fledged restaurant was operated in the depot. And after the advent of the dining car obsoleted the restaurant the Bay St. Louis “fried oyster,r and “fresh fish" sandwich vendors who met the grains were local institutions. And. there were, in'those railroad day? before , the automo'
bile, at least fprty or fifty public hacks or cabs that met all trains.. Hardly had a passenger alighted ' before he or she were taken in V~ charge, bag and baggage, with .. competition so keen that often one driver would grab the passenger and another grab the bags and^ head toward different hacks. There ■ is no doubt but that the railroad 7 depot was the busiest place in town t ‘ all day long.	■
DAYS OF PICNICS	^
Those were the days of picnics, I; of Father LeDuc’s Annual Church ~ Fair, of playing auction bridge for ** cut glass prizes, of band concerts, of bicycle riding, of hayrides out to Brown’s Vineyard famous for its * scuppernong champagne, of danc-” es and masquerade parties, of theatrical performances (Cecil B. De- ^ Milie, of present Hollywood pronai- • nence, once played in Bay St. Louis * with a traveling troup of light* opera singers) and, of course, the boating and saltwater bathing for which Bay St. Louis was famous. ’ Just as the century turned and Bay St. Louis was heading into its second half of its century of coiv porate existence it dramatically de. . monstrated its civic growth and maturity with the organization of ' its first bank, The Hancock County Bank in 1899 — with the acquisi
tion of electricity in 1900 — with the construction of a new city hall ; in 1902 and the organization of its second bank, the Merchants Bank ■ and Trust Company in 1903.
But the great day for Bay St. * Louis was in 1928 when the ferry across Bay St. Louis was replaced ' with the wooden bridge across the *', Bay — built at a cost of $752,610.65 ~ of creosoted pilings and timber.
This project which was the re* ■ suit of the hard work ^nd energy ' of Horatio S. Weston of Logtown, - ‘ then President of the Board of Sup- ' ervisors, suddenly transformed Bay St. Louis from an independent and isolated resort town to the open western portal of the entire Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was then it -took its present recognized place as ' one of the Eight Sister Cities by the -Sea that now comprise the closest year round saltwater recreation land to the midcontinent of the nation.
Not even the seven million dollar steel and concrete low toll bridge opened twenty-five years later in ; . August of 1953 was as important ■ as this first highway bridge ac- ~ ross the Bay which first united ■ Bay St. Louis with the rest of the ^ ,•*. Gulf Coast.
That bridge ended its history as ' an isolated community. Today its story is merged and fused with the ' entire Mississippi Gulf Coast. It is the community where travelers.	/
coming east over the Old Spanish, -Trail or U. S. 90 on its long land bound trek from California,. first j catch sight of the beauty of the Bay of St. Louis and the Gulf of Mexi- ■' co beyond. Today as the Western : I Gateway to the Mississippi Gulf Coast it greets its visitors on the ce- • lebration of its 100th Birthday — . and as the western portal of. th«,.	,
fastest growing year round salt-" water recreationland Ui the nation ''— will start writing' its second cen-tury of history.