480 



LOUISIANA. 



opposite pick and bringing about the same 

 result. 



The device of Lyall is simply a carriage on 

 which the shuttle is drawn back and forth, 

 with rollers between the carriage and the shut- 

 tle, which allow the lower shed of warp to pass 

 between. The carriage is propelled on rollers 

 by a band over a raceway. The friction-roll- 

 ers on the carriage are placed outside of those 

 on the shuttle, so that the shuttle is held in 

 place and given the motion of the carriage by 

 the purchase derived from the inclosing roll- 

 ers. The shuttle is held down upon the car- 

 riage by a track above, upon which run rollers 

 placed on the top of the shuttle, the upper 

 shed of warp being held against the track so 

 that the rollers can pass over. 



LOUISIANA. STATE OFFICERS. Govern- 

 or, Samuel Douglas McEnery ; * Secretary of 

 State, William A. Strong; Treasurer, E. A. 

 Burke ; Auditor, Allen Jumel ; Superintendent 

 of Public Education, Edwin H. Fay ; Attor- 

 ney-General, James 0. Egan. United States 

 Senators (Forty-seventh Congress), W. P. Ke.- 

 logg and B. F. Jonas: Members of the Forty- 

 seventh Congress: First District, Randall L. 

 Gibson ; Second District, E. John Ellis ; Third 

 District, Chester B. Darrall ; Fourth District, 

 Newton C. Blanchard; Fifth District, E. W. 

 Robertson ; Sixth District, J. Floyd King. 



Members of the Forty- eighth Congress elect : 

 Carlton Hunt, William P. Kellogg, E. John 

 Ellis, Newton 0. Blanchard, Andrew Herron,t 

 J. Floyd King. 



THE OVEKFLOWS. The unprecedented flood 

 in the beginning of the year laid waste hun- 

 dreds of square miles of land, sweeping away 

 cattle and fences, destroying houses or mak- 

 ing them uninhabitable, tearing up and wash- 

 ing away railroads, devastating plantations, 

 and reducing several thousand people, white 

 and black, to absolute destitution. Fortu- 

 nately, the loss of life was inconsiderable. 

 It is estimated that 585,000 acres of land 

 203,000 of which were in Louisiana were 

 overflowed. The damage to the sugar dis- 

 tricts was not so great as to cotton - lands. 

 The pecuniary loss by the overflow in Louisi- 

 ana amounted to upward of $2,000,000. When 

 it occurred there was no money in the State 

 Treasury which could be used for the relief of 

 the sufferers ; and had not the Congress of the 

 United States been in session and with laudable 

 promptitude and unanimity made provision for 

 the immediate relief of the distress, thousands 

 must have perished from exposure and starva- 

 tion, the liberal contributions of the people of 

 New Orleans and other places being quite in- 

 sufficient to meet the emergency. The United 

 States Government furnished 1,966,000 rations, 

 costing $218,630, which were distributed 

 among 130,000 of the most necessitous, made 



* Elected Lieutenant-Governor : became Governor on the 

 death of Louis A. Wiltz. 



t Died at Baton Eouge, November 27th. Vacancy to be 

 filled in February, 1883. 



liberal appropriations of money, and also sent 

 a number of tents for the shelter of those who 

 were made houseless. The flood extended over 

 thirteen parishes, to a greater or less extent. 

 Notwithstanding this calamity, the people have 

 cause for thanksgiving in the good state of the 

 public health during the year, owing, it is be- 

 lieved, to the wise and efficient measures 

 adopted and rigidly carried out by the Board 

 of Health. By this system of quarantine not 

 only has the health of Louisiana been pro- 

 tected, but that of the inhabitants of the entire 

 valley of the Mississippi. It is claimed that 

 the absence of yellow fever, caused by the 

 vigilance of the authorities, goes a long way 

 to prove that the disease is imported and not 

 indigenous, and that the city of New Orleans 

 is not the hot-bed of pestilence, from which it 

 is communicated to other places, as many have 

 hitherto supposed. 



FINANCES. The unsettled condition of the 

 finances of the State for several years past has 

 seriously impeded her growth and prosperity, 

 causing a universal distrust, which has not 

 merely affected the credit and honor of the 

 Commonwealth, but has also, to a great extent, 

 affected injuriously individual credit, prevented 

 investment of foreign capital, and excluded 

 immigration. The bonded debt of the State, as 

 reported by the State Treasurer and Auditor 

 in May, 1882, consists of: 



Seven per cent consols, unstamped $11.322,900 



Four per cent constitutional bonds 198,750 



Bonds stamped two per cent, three per cent, and 

 four per cent 265,200 



Total bonded debt $11,786,850 



In 1879 the Constitutional Convention en- 

 acted what is known as the " Debt Ordinance," 

 which was subsequently ratified by the people. 

 This ordinance offered to the public creditor 

 who held a 7 per cent bond 2 per cent interest 

 for five years, 3 per cent for fifteen years, and 

 4 per cent from that time to the maturity of 

 the bonds, giving the bondholders, however, 

 the option of scaling their bonds 25 cents on 

 the dollar, and receiving 4 per cent interest. 

 The creditors^ declined to accept these terms, 

 as is shown by the fact that only $186,150 

 have been funded into 4 per cents, and only 

 $237,000 have been stamped as accepting the 

 2 per cent offered. In the mean time, the in- 

 terest fund has been collected from the tax- 

 payers and amounts to upward of $1,000.000 

 lying in the hands of the fiscal agent, and tied 

 up by injunctions issued by the Federal courts. 

 The bondholders have made the following 

 proposition to the Governor : 



To his Excellency Samuel D. McEnery, Governor of 



the State of Louisiana. 



EESPECTED SIR : The undersigned holders of bonds 

 of the State of Louisiana known as consolidated bonds, 

 bearing 7 per cent, who have declined to accept the 

 propositions contained in the debt ordinance, and be- 

 ing deeply interested in the welfare of the State, beg 

 leave most respectfully to suggest to your Excellency, 

 and to request that at the approaching meeting of the 

 General Assembly it may please your Excellency to 



