Statue

Down in Natchitoches, La., reputed third oldest city in the U. S.** Negroes lolled in the park and pointed to a little hillock. "Are yoh a good niggah, Sam?" asked one. "I sure am. What make yoh ask silly questions, boy?" said Sam. "Den, yoh goin' to have a statue on dat spot over dere." And at the base of that statue will be the inscription: The Good Darky of Louisiana. Erected by the City of Natchitoches in Grateful Recognition of the Arduous and Faithful Service of the Good Darkies of Louisiana. Donated by J. L. Bryan, 1927. Mr. Bryan, cotton planter and banker, had been lulled to sleep in his babyhood by Negro spirituals, and had played with little slave boys on his father's old plantation, so he recently felt the urge to do something big for the Negro. The bronze statue of "The Good Darky," completed last week by Hans Schuler, Baltimore sculptor, was the result. It depicts a Negro, old and stoop-shouldered, with shabby clothes, humbly and faithfully tipping his dusty hat. It will be dedicated in the spring. Perhaps, when the modern Negro sees it, he will be insulted. Perhaps some jester in Manhattan will erect a statue to "The Bad Darky"--a lusty Harlem syncopator, with mighty chest and shoulders, dressed in a tuxedo. ^

**St. Augustine, Fla., is the oldest; San Augustine, Tex., is the second.