The Tragic End of Last Island
THE PONCHATOULA TIMES, OCTOBER 23, 1986, PAGE
By BILL GRAZlANO
Special To The Time=
The story I am about to tell ts true, the names of persons I will use are of those
who llued at that time.
it was a strange moon that hung from an early August night sky. Michael
Schlatre had never seen the moon look so large, nor had he ever seen a
copper halo circle it before, nor had it cast such a sinister glow over the
Island.
The cottages that lined the beach lay llke gray shadows against the
southern horizon, the rippling wave= ran along the beach with a cinnabar
reflection.
Michael stood on the beach watching the fading lights of the blue
hammock as it made its run toward Shell Bayou. When the last light had
faded he turned toward hls house. Michael Schlatre was 37 years of age, he
was tall In stature. The fearsome summer Louisiana had burned his face into
an attractive reddish brown. The sharp facial outlines created a handsome-
hesS.
The year was 1856. The date was August 6. And nothing that came after
would ever stand out so much as the annihilation of all he knew and loved.
Fred Husser and I had flown to Last Island aboard a chartered seaplane for a day
of speckled trout fishing.
The plane had dropped us off at the island at seven that morning for a day of
fishing in the surf. It was to pick us up at three that afternoon. By noon we had all
the six and seven pound speckles we could jam into our ice chest.
Though I had fished the surf of the island before, I had never explored it, so
while Fred (who died some years ago) dozed on the beach I started to explore the
island. It was such a shabby little island, barren as a silent desert.
With my pants legs rolled up and barefooted I splashed in the surf. It was a
great feeling. I was a kid again. Kicking at the water, sending up a white spray.
Kicking and splashing I made my way toward the eastern end of the island a half
mile away.
Rounding the point I started back to camp. A short distance from the point a
brick lay embedded in the sand. I pried it loose. It did not have the coarseness of a
brick, nor did it have the sharp edges.
It was as smooth as flesh but still held its brownish color. When I reached camp
I showed it to Fred•
"How do you suppose this brick got washed up on shore, and where do you
suppose it came from?" I asked him. That's when I heard the story for the first
time: "My guess is that it was not washed ashore but brought here by boat for the
construction of a summer cottage. This island was not always as you see it now.
At one time it was a resort island for the very rich."
"But the island is not over a half mile long and not over 500 feet at its widest
point," I interrupted.
"Now, yes, but back in those days the island extended 25 miles or more
eastward. It was then known as the Isles Dernieres which means in French Fast
Island."
"How did you come to learn about the island," I asked.
"I read it somewhere or other some years ago and that's about all I can
remember."
We touched down at the Hammond airport shortly after 4 p.m. From there I
drove directly to the library. But of all the history books that I had leafed through,
none mentioned the island, nor did the librarians' files shed any light on the
history of the island. The search had come to a fruitless end.
In the days that followed 1 continued the search, consulting with historians who
were as much at a loss as I was. They had never heard of the island. It was just
possible that Fred was putting me on, but two weeks later the librarian phoned.
She had two manuscripts written by two survivors of the great storm that
thundered out of the South, ending the lives of all but a handful of the island's in-
habitants.
I devoured both manuscripts. One was written by Michael Schlatre Jr. In the
dark hours of Sunday morning Michael Schlatre's life as he had known it came to
an end.
This is his chilling account:
Of the 17 who had been in the house only he, Ceily and William survived. (In
the manuscript Mr. Schlatre did not state who Celly and William were, whether
they were his children or those of the house servants.)
In the explosive fihes of lightning, Michael saw the bobbing head,of his loved
ones. Then they weie no more. Tears stung his cheeks as he watched helplessly.
Smashing waves tore at his body as he held desperately to some heavy timbers as
the village and the island it rested on was annihilated. He could feel the breath of
death tear at his heart. Sobbing, he began to recite an Act of Contrition, "Oh my
God ! am heartly sorry." He called on God to receive his soul, that he might join
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those he Iovecl. But death was not ready to rec$ive him.
He was lifted from seething waters by what seemed to be the side of a h
and saved. The years that followed were filled with torment. Why God had
spared his life he would never understand.
Mr. Schlatre later married and fathered 17 children. By a strange coincidence
Mr. Michael Schlatre Jr. died in early September 1900 the same month and year
as the great .Galveston hurricane.
Mr. Schlaffe wrote that there were about 100 houses on the island and a hotel
and that there were trees, livestock, chickens and horses. He also wrote that his
house was a two-story affair and that it was located about 2 miles from Joe's
Landing. As soon as the storm had passed and the seas had settled the Blue
Hammack returned to the island with members of families who had been lost.
There were silent sobs and prayers for loved ones whom the would never see
again. There were cries of joy and a mist of tears when one sighted a loved one
miraculously saved from the storm. The storm left no signs that a village had ever
existed.
The second manuscript was written by the Rev. R.S. McAllister of Thibodeaux,
Louisiana. The reverend was a God-fearing God-loving man who had come to
the island for a short vacation and to meditate. He chose to stay at Mr. Llngard's
house. The household consisted of nine persons: Mr. Lingard, his wife, and three
children ages 10, 12 and 14; there were three young ladies, single, cultured and
beautiful; a Mr. Roland Delaney who was the cook and his son; and of course,
the Rev. McAIlister.
The Lingard house was located a half mile from the island's leading hotel (so
there was more than one hotel, there may have been three or four).
He wrote in his diary that for days the cattle had shown signs of nervousness
walking about their enclosure and lowing in a plaintive way which was an omen
that, according to the manuscript, went unheeded.
The first signs of fear were seen on Sunday morning when the guests looked
out of the windows at a dark sky that seemed to grow darker as they stood by the
windows. The wave crests were white with foam and growing higher and more
menacing with each passing hour. The torrents of rain driven by wild winds began
to flood under the door. Lightning which stabbed from horizon to horizon
crackled with a frightening sound never heard before. Thunder pounded the
island.
So forceful was the thunder that windows smashed, door frames twisted.
There was a massive shudder and the roof was ripped away. Water poured
down the steps from the upper floor in cascades.
Fear was in every face.
The wild winds tore at the house. With a thunderous crash the walls parted.
Those who had been within its shelter were swept away never to see each other
again.
Of the twelve only the Rev. McAIlister survived.
Te 00chers' union suggests
Board cut travel, not teachers
By BRYAN T. McMAHON
Editor & Publisher
School teachers and other school
employees told the Tangipahoa Parish
School Board Tuesday night that any
education cuts made here should come
from non-educational programs, not
out of teachers' salaries.
Speaking through their union spokes-
man, local school workers also went on
record opposing a shortening of the
school year unless it is the only alter-
native left the board due to state cut-
.backs.
The state is expecte(:l to order cuts in
this parish of $1,036,831 in the general
fund, $96,355 to the lunch program.
lna six point program proposedl
Tuesday by Tangipahoa Federation or
Teachers Doris Flanagan, the school
workers made the following suggestions
for saving money without damaging the
educational system here further;
@ Drastically cut back the lucrative
travel allowance enjoyed by members of
the school board. (Each member now
enjoys the state maximum of $800 per
month for mileage and per diem and an
additional $2,000 per year pure travel
expense).
• Tap'school administrators (but not
principals or the superintendent) should
go into the classrooms at least two days
per week to act as substitute teachers,
thereby saving over a quarter million
dollars put out annually to pay substi-
tutes.
• Classroom temperature should be
kept at 68 degrees this winter.
• The board's "internal services
budget" should be curtailed at least to -
last year's level.
• District Attorney Duncan Kemp
should be required to fulfill his respon-
sibilities under state law and serve as
attorney for the school board, thereby
saving needless legal expense.
• And Shop-At-Home campaigns
should be waged in and out of the
schools in an attempt to remind citizens
that for every dollar spent in Tangipahoa
Parish two cents goes into the educa-
tional system here.
The suggestions come in stark
contrast to those made by the other
teachers' union in the state, the
Louisiana Association of Educators,
which earlier this month threatened to
wage a campaign warning industry not
to locate in Louisiana, adding they
would encourage their union member
teachers to leave classrooms in this state
and move elsewhere.
"We're not leaving/Louisiana is our
state, Tangipahoa is our parish and
teaching is our profession," TFT Presi-
dent Flanagan told The Times Monday
foUowing a press conference at union
headquarters in Hammond.
Her union represents "about half of
all teachers in the parish."
She said that the result of the school
board not accepting the union's cost-
cutting program would be "layoffs,
schools closing, erosion of workers'
fringe benefits such as insurance. Deva-
stating is the only way I can put it, if
these recommendations are not
followed."
And the local teachers' union is not
the only entity concerned over cuts in
education made by the legislature (4.5
percent in the past session) and the
governor (a proposed five percent
general fund cut and a proposed 10
percent cut in the school lunch
program).
State Superintendent of Education
Tom Clausen has defied the governor
and has so far refused to implement the
PLEASE SEE PAGE THIRTEEN
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