NEW ORLEANS 



4178 



NEW ORLEANS 



ville; Texas & Pacific; Yazoo & Mississippi 

 Valley; Queen & Crescent; Frisco Lines; New 

 Orleans & Northeastern ; New Orleans Southern 

 and Grand Isle; New Orleans Great Northern; 

 Louisiana Southern; Morgan's Louisiana & 

 Texas (controlled by the Southern Pacific^, and 

 Louisiana Railway & Navigation Company. 



Direct lines of steamers communicate with 

 New York, the West Indies, Central America, 

 Europe and the Orient. The route to the 

 Orient was shortened about 8,500 miles by the 

 Panama Canal. As New Orleans is a seaport, 

 nearly all nationalities are represented among 

 the people, with considerable French influence. 

 The population increased from 339,075 in 1910 

 to 371,747 (Federal estimate) in 1916, making 

 the city sixteenth in rank among the cities of 

 the Union. Portions of the east bank of the 

 river are the Fifth District and the fifteenth 

 ward of New Orleans, and were formerly known 

 as Algiers, though the legal title, before annexa- 

 tion to the city in 1870, was "Parish of Orleans, 

 Right Bank." 



Location. The city lies about ten feet below 

 the level of the Gulf, and so far below the high- 

 water level of the Mississippi River that levees, 

 twenty feet high in some places, have been 

 constructed to protect it from overflow. It 

 occupies a strip of land between the river and 

 Lake Pontchartrain, with which it is connected 

 by two canals. Formerly the trend of the city 

 followed the curve of the river, and conse- 

 quently it became known as The Crescent City, 

 but since the inhabited portion has been ex- 

 tended its shape more closely resembles the let- 

 ter "S." Until recently, the problem of drain- 

 age and sewerage has been a difficult one, but 

 by the expenditure of about $15,000,000 on the 

 construction of pumping stations, the laying of 

 many miles of sewer pipe, and the building of 

 miles of canals, both of these systems have 

 been made complete. Buildings may now be 

 constructed with cellars, and the use of cypress 

 piles and reenforced concrete in foundations 

 has made the modern "skyscraper" possible for 

 New Orleans. The waterworks plant, using 

 water from the Mississippi River, is one of the 

 largest of its kind in the world and one of the 

 most efficient in the United States. 



Description. New Orleans resembles a sort of 

 pictorial book, which tells an historical story 

 extending through many periods. There are 

 the old Spanish and French quarters with their 

 timeworn buildings and narrow, cobbled streets, 

 and the busy, modern city which represents 

 the best in architectural skill and construction. 



To visitors, the French Quarter, locally called 

 Vifitx Carre, is always interesting, though it is 

 unsanitary and congested. Here are found 

 nearly all of the historical buildings and land- 

 marks decadent old mansions with their odd 

 latticed windows and courtyards, in a setting 

 of semitropical vegetation; old-world antique 

 shops, and famous old cafes, conducted by peo- 

 ple who speak French almost exclusively. Here, 

 too, may be seen Old Absinthe House, former 

 headquarters of Jean Lafitte, the "patriot- 

 pirate," and the Haunted House made famous 

 by George W. Cable. 



In strong contrast is the business section, 

 with its modern office buildings, large depart- 

 ment stores and handsome public buildings. 

 This section forms the connecting link between 

 the French Quarter and the Garden District, 

 the latter the residential section of the wealth 

 and the aristocracy of the Crescent City. This 

 latter district is distinctly Southern in charac- 

 ter; it has broad parkways and palatial homes, 

 with wide verandas or galleries, set in bowers of 

 luxuriant, semitropical foliage, fragrant jasmine 

 and magnolia. Saint Charles Avenue in this 

 locality is the chief residential boulevard. It is 

 seven miles long and in some parts represents 

 the highest art of the architect and the land- 

 scape gardener. 



No description of New Orleans is complete 

 without reference to its social life. The world- 

 famous carnival, the Mardi Gras (which see); 

 the French Grand Opera Company, an organi- 

 zation that was established forty years before 

 the War of Secession ; and also the horse racing, 

 yet a most alluring sport, attracts throngs of 

 visitors to the city during January and Febru- 

 ary. In 1917 a two-mile speedway was nearing 

 completion, on 360 acres of land fronting on 

 Lake Pontchartrain. 



The parks of New Orleans occupy more than 

 700 acres; of these, Audubon Park and City 

 Park are the largest and most interesting. Orig- 

 inally they were plantations ; the latter was the 

 scene of many duels and the former marked 

 an epoch in the industrial life of the city, as 

 here, in 1796, Etienne de Bore made the first 

 successful attempt to granulate sugar. Jackson 

 Square (formerly Place d' Armes) is one of the 

 most beautiful public squares in the United 

 States. It was the scene of the triumphal entry 

 of General Jackson into the city after the Bat- 

 tle of New Orleans (which see) in 1815, and 

 of the two transfers (in the Cabildo) of the 

 province in 1803. Beauregard Square was the 

 old-time resort of slaves. Other features of in- 



