Impressions Of New Orleans

Jackson, Fla., March 7, 1884. After one Las been n a strange city for a week he has cinised around it enouyh to have gained some general impressions of ita peculiaiities as eontrnsted with those in othcr parts of the countrv. I have gieatly enjoyed the opportunity of studying the various phaBes of Ufe in this, the most typical of Southern cities, and on the whole I can say I like the Crescent City. It is quite different from the other cities of tliis country in many respects, and in Mardi Gras week we see not only the city in its glory, but the inhabitants of the neighhorhood uow haTc brought along their gaping crowds. HULES AND CISTERN8. Mules seem to be used for hauling in the city more than horses, and a good rnule is worth ncarly twice as nmch as a good horse. Tliey will stand more hard work, rough usage and cussing than an equine, and they have the prestige of a tiadition that no one has everseen adead mule. This last settles it in favor of the long-eaied brute. One of tho curious sighls of the city is the apparently large Dumber of water tanks. Iu fact, nearly every liouse has alongside of it a tank about as high as the liouse itself. Upon inquiry I found they were in place of cisterns, for they i'ltIHkt lui T1lL.liitj-,.llw7 nu - . i' l._ water all unclerneath the city. Tliey are filled froin the roofs. TUE 0KMETERIE8. From tli is curlous condition of the grround arises anotlier strange custom. That is In the cemeteriee, where all the dead are buried above ground, in vaults. This feature gives their cemeteries i picturesque appearance, from the fact that many of the vaults look like little shrines or chapéis wlth minarets, stained glass windows and marble tesscllated fioors. Orange, aloe, myrtle, magnolia and palm trees are plantod in rows, while the century, cactus and oleander plants bloom with beds of tropical flower?. The cemeterle are musical with the birds, among which are robin?, thrushe., mocking-birds and wiens. They are not seen in the city, but come here finding safety from shootiiig. SPAN1SH FORT. Of course New Orleans must have a watering-place corresponding to the New Yorker's Manhatten Beach or the Bostonian's Nantasket. So that want is supplied by the Spanish Fort, nboutsix miles from the city, and accesible by small steam cars. Gardens, hottls, bath and boat houset have arisen from the ruins of an old fort eiected by theSpanish during 'ik ji ' ..iiv tuiiurais. iyuiujg me evcilings entertainments are given at a li.ttlc opera house, and the visitorg sit under the trees to enjoy the cool breezes from I.ake Pontchartrain. On the small narrowguage railroad the monotony of the engiueer's life is occasionaUy broken by a festive alligator which allows its curio8i(y to "t-ee the wheels go around " to draw it up on the track. The cow-catclier was not made for alligators, go, as the brute wi:i uot et ofl' the track, tlie engiue bas to. TUE rilENCII QCAnTEB. Many aio the slghts nf the Crescent Citv, yet to Korthem eyes the quaintest is tho old Frencb quarttr, oast of Canal etreet. Narrow streets, narrow banquettes, oi" sidewalks, Iiouse8 tightly elosed on the entresol, the naines of the streets, and most of all, the signa of the shops, teil of the formcr as woll as the modern reign of the Gauls. This ie the part of the city belonji iiij to the last century, and its old creóle iiiliabitants, French or Spanish by tradition, even yet are scarccly reconclled lo the governmeut of a Rppublic. Wil h us at the North a mistaken idea exists that a creóle must hare negro blood. It is not so, for a creóle is aii3r one born in New Orleana and descendant from foreiguer:. I met several who had the fair hair and complexión of a Saxon, with the politeness of tlie Frenchinan. They are kind and hospituble, and their old creóle pilde has underj;oiie such a change that now the younger of thein stand up and say: " 1 am an American." Several of the old houses that Cable tclls about are stül standing, and one can still see the former residence of " Madame John" and ''Madame Delphine." Near where I stopped were Jackson square, the old Cathedral, and the French Market. The Cathedral is guarded on either side bjr the old court houses built by a Spanish noble when the last century was quite old. It was in the square which these buildings face where the piratea were hung in the " good old colony times when we lived under the king." But it is to the French Market where one must go, and the time to see it is in the early morning hours when the good housewives and housekeepers are abroad for the day's provisions. There being few, if any, cellars in the city, fruit and lightgrocerieshave to be purchased daily. And as the grocery stores only have dry groceries, nearly every one goes to the Market, where meat, vegetables, fish, restaurant stinds, etc, abound. For nearly a halt-mile along the river levee it extenúa, and affords a scène such as cannot be witnessed elsewhere on this continent. Billingsgate in London and the fish market in Rouen perhaps it may be likened to. A French patois is spoken everywhere, and the incessant clatter of wooden shoes over the cobblestones makes one think he is in Frailee itself. All is so foreign. THE EADS .TETTlliS. Joining an excursión party one morning, I accompanied themby steauierdown the river a little over a hundred miles, to the jettics. The level of the river being quite a little above the land, it has to be protected by a strong levee. Along on or jsio- wnere is a national cenietery- The river is no wider tlian the Detroit river, and the current is about the same, I should judge, alUiough the "Father of Waters" can not give up to the sea sucli pure blue water as does the Detroit to the lake. It is a colfee color. At the mouth, wbere the jetties are, I was go fortúnate as to meet Mr. C. Donovun, assistant engineer of the U. S., supervising foi the government the contract of Mr. Eads. Mr. Donovun is well known in Ann Arbor, wbere he has lived and graduated. Eveiy rnoHtli he takes nieasiirements of the depth ot water through the South Pass and for a considerable distance out into the Gulf, to watch the eflecls of the current. The length of tlie jetties is 2L miles, and now a ves&el drawing 27 feet of water can sufely go through. So the woik, after several years of trial, is now very assuredly a success. CITY FEATURES. Of the open sale and advertising of the lotteries - tickets being in every cigar and liquor store and hotel stand- and of the gambling publicly carried on, too much can not be said to the shame of a city tolerating it. Imoiense crowds throng the gaming rooms, and their deuioralizing inlluences are exerted nnchecked. The people of New Orleani feel the disgrace, and change the subject when it is intreduced, but it goes on. To return to the city, before closing I must inake note of the system of drainage, which is entirely on the surface and flowiug from the river rather than toward it as one would expect. It has to be carried back into the country. Until this surface drainage is in soine way obviated I m afmkl the cttj vill nlwayS llave lo tiemble at the appioach of " Yellow Jack." If this can be done, tbere ought to be a good future before New Orleans when the Mexican trade is opened, as then it would bc the natural port of trade. Thcre are a few fine residrmces, but not the number there ought to be in a city as large as Detroit.