so 



LOUISIANA. 



sure that Vermont, Teniifssoe, Indiana 

 and Texas have each of them envhible 

 reputati'ons for healthfuluoss, and a 

 favorable comparison of Louisiana with 

 any of the four would undcubtodly ex- 

 cite derision. 



What are the facts? Vermont has a 

 white mortality of 15.13 per 1000: T'-n- 

 iief5see, 15.21; Louisiana, 15.45, Indiain, 

 1.>.8S, and Te.xas, 1.5.86; or. in this group 

 of known healthy states, Louisiana stamls 

 superior to two and present.s only a very 

 small fractional inferiority to the others. 



The hishest on record of percentage of 

 deaths from malarial fever statds Flori- 

 da, with .5.3 per cent of its total mor- 

 tality from this disease: the lowest Rhode 

 Island, with only .08 per cent. In be- 

 tween these two extremes come the 

 other states, those adjacent to cur great 

 streams showing a higher rate than the 

 others. Arkansas has 7.65 per cent, Ala- 

 bama 7.85, Mississippi 7.00, Louisiana 

 G.06, and Texas 6.04. Our own state 

 showing more favorably than any of her 

 neighbors, save one, in a mortality 

 springing from a disease largely pre- 

 ventable by ordinarv attention, by the 

 mass of the people, to the plainest and 

 simplest laws of hygiene. 



The least infant mortality is exhibited 

 in New Hampshire, which has 20.88 per 

 cent of infant to the total mortality: 

 Maine, 2.3.57; Vermont. 24.10; California, 

 25.31; New York, 25.39; Connecticut, 

 20.75; Massachusetts, 20.21; Ohio, 33.30: 

 Rhode Island, 33.60; Oregon, 34.99; New 

 Jersey, .35.52; Wisconsin, 35.61; Pennsyl- 

 vania, 36.15; and then Louisiana, with 

 38.05, the list ending with Kansas and 

 Nebraska, the highest rates in the union 

 —Kansas with 47.56 and Nebraska with 

 49.12 per cent. 



In this list Louisiana is not preceded 

 Dy any southern state. And should thi. 

 ?alculation be based on the white pop- 

 ulation only or on an eijual oercent of 

 colored to white which exists in each 



of the northern states ahead of her, her 

 rank would not be fifteenth, but third 

 or fourtii. The infant mortality among 

 negroes is enortnously large, as from 

 their habits it must - be. Siibstitute a 

 comparason between the whites in the 

 rural sections of the union, north and 

 snuth, and many of our southern states 

 \\iiuld show that our people cared well 

 for their young. 



The mortality from consumption, that 

 dreaded universal and almost hopelessly 

 fatal disease, can in the country, where 

 (he close confinement of people engaged 

 in sedentary occupations, in lil-ventil- 

 atod, crowded apartments docs not ex- 

 ist, may be taken as a fair criterion of 

 tlie actual influence of climatic condi- 

 tions on the inhabitants. Arkansas en- 

 joys great exemption from this disease 

 with percentage to its total mortality of 

 6.42; Texas second, with 0.05 per cent; 

 Nebraska third, with 6.93; Kansas fourth, 

 with 7.54; Louisiana fifth, with 7.41; 

 Florida sixth, with 8.14; Oregon twen- 

 tieth, with 12.12 per cent; California 

 thirty-third, with 1.5.80, and Maine the 

 very last, with 19.16 per cent. 



From the foregoing facts we may con- 

 clude with certainty: 



First — That Louisiana enjoys relatively 

 to her neighbors a favorable position iii 

 regard to mortality from malarial fevers, 

 being superior to Arkansas, Alabama, Mis- 

 sissippi and Florida, and only a small 

 fraction inferior to Texas. 



Second — That her percentage of deaths 

 of children places her above any of the 

 southern states, and, if like population 

 be compared with like, her position will 

 be third or fourth among all the United 

 States. 



Third— That her position In reference 

 to lowest rate of deaths from consump- 

 tion, a disease very dependent upon 

 climatic conditions, is fifth. 



Fourth— That her percentage of deaths 

 of old people places her second among 

 the states for possibilities of long life. 



JjrjljIjtJJJjIJEI3^3BLJJw!lJAAJEEEOI3:.JE^ 



Cities and Towns of Louisiana. 



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'^^^^(S)!^'- 



The city of New Orleans, the great 

 commercial metropolis of the southwest, 

 siiuated upon both banks of the Missis- 

 sippi river, is too large and important 

 for a full description here. Hand-books 

 iif the city have been compiled by the 

 Young Men's Business League of New Or- 

 leans, and Captain .7. F. Merry, assistant 

 general passcugcr agent of the Illinois 

 Central Railroad. Manchester, Iowa. 



Copies can be obtained by addressing as 

 above. 



This city lies near the mouth of thi> 

 Mississippi river, und sliould be the gate- 

 way of exports and imports for the entire 

 Mississippi valley, which contains a 

 population, according to last census, of 

 over 27,000,000 of people. It has an 

 aggregate of over .30 miles of river front, 

 along the wharves of which the largest 



