New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-09-19

lDARf1 rrNnhinp, No believe, h"Ht ~ 49,
nil tho vsy 70 10 Viek .bura 400 mii9s. Ia
man, plaoos this log'e is Twelve or hftee' 1901
L,sb and from TOO dock Of a steamer ~ look
down open tho pisotation' strotch'"g a'"s 'a'
,,,., nm. 4, Lotb aides IA { 20 narrow STRIPS, dS-
.c,od,ns fro,n the rigot bank back fro % haW
10 ono sud a hhlf milcsto deep cypfe" s4S"''
Tbi. ia The case nj Now Orleans. The hIgas's
part Of tho town.blot, and TIN only p'r' AZ OIL
N to live on, IL a strip Of pc -bap' ono thousand
feet wldo aOnq the riyer protector from ''e'-
aov by a broad bank serving tho double pnr-
pose # leyee and aqusy, upon "'ich al neon
cei,able great amOunt Cf business Is tranS'c e''
If our memory serves, hga water IN tue river
il tgelye feet above the level Of the lowest part
of the town, which has been most inJu'lciod'y
extended back iGto tho swamp, "nither poor,
;oporant strangers are mutltudn9noiy duped
during Winter, and build houses to coilia taem
daring the bot weather Of the first year. ID
thi, loo .lty, only fiji for aig,tors, greedy Had
lords build tensnt-h0uses, hPProacoaoie only
upon long plank. wsAs, which aie rented Tor deata
TO 90 his work in. The cite of New-Oreaus, 10
fact, never Wa, designed by Nature for city.
IL could have answered for q village, whi'h
could have been confined TO the river oind.
TIE general course OF the river for htty Or sixty
miles above 70 some twenty miles belO" tue
city is east; and between the river ana Lake
Postchartraln the land is some SIX III les "iso,
and nearly all deep swamp.
Through this, in two places, canals have
been dug and in another railroad built over,
and ia another a carriSse-road, principally oy
means of earth taken from the new canal, when
is covered by deep cOas OF shells ground down
sud rendered compact, 40 as 10 form carriage
WY as smooth as the Russ pavement aid ldst IS
dusty. Oser this road travel the great mass OF
mortality to their vatcry graves; Tor In no place
can hole be dug in the ground deep enough to
hide coffin, which will not ill with water.
TIE surface of the earth is all clayey allavion,
in wet weather forming tic sucSlest mud,
whose depth and strength can only be apprecia-
ted by those who have ridden or driven upon 1t
over much.traveed road. Below all Is black,
fetid swamp-detp deep, deep-filled with veg
etable remains.
OF course there are TO springs aud no we'll
water. For all purposes, the river furnishes
supply of water, which sometimes il so sur
charged with earthly matter that 1t Is impossible
TO see an uch into its depth. a tumbler indeed
nay contain tesspOonful in solution Inc de-
posit forms break in the leyee, sometimes COW
eripr scres of lAud foot or two deep of earth
ip few weeks. Tnis is the drinking "aso:.
Those who use it say il Id wholesome. 80 they
say the country is. We doubt it.
How city situated upon made land by the side
of such a river surrounded with swamps, without
foot of earth not liable to overflow, and without
sny ADEQUATE drainage or health commission to
enforce sanitary laws can be healthy, is past our
conception. 1t is still more past conception that
men who know how it is situated should rush on
every Winter to fill the gap made in summer by
deaths army. Why should men risk life In the
desperate scramble for chance TO make a Little
mole money, or rather to accumulate 1t little
Gaster in New. Orleans than in regions OF sa-
lubrity!
A Boston medical journal advises the people OF
New Orleans to keep the cellars and Easements OF
their houses dry and clean. There ia no reason
why it should not be done, as these are all above
the surface, and generally along the river. The
usual plan of building dwellings there is to elevate
them upon pillars five six feet, leaving the space
open, because floors near the ground are cOnsid-
cred unwholesome, owing to the dempness Of the
earth. There can then be no cellars, base
ments, as we understand the word. Yet in the
city there are many floors so near the surface that
the water sometimes gets above the boards; and If
not, it is such close proximity that they are con-
tinually damp.
In q word, unless sanitary measures upon
grand scale are adopted for rendering tho place
healthier, New Orleans perhaps has reached It's
maximum size. Plastering over the Stignant
waters Of the swamp with thin layer of earth,
or covering up the seeds Of death with build
iDgs, will not keep mortality away. Tune, and
great expenditure Of money may make the
place healthy. Let all who would 90 thsher
Judge whether it is 60 in its present state. Ii
is q city in swamp, and that undraned; and
when not still in state of nature, 1t Is In
worse condition.
When the town WAS first settled there was
but little occasion for levee, but as the cOua-
try was peopled above, and levees were bulls in
the most overlooked parts, it became necessary
to construct them in other places, and finally
along the stream up to the highlands Besides,
it is Necessary to keep continually raising every
ear tie height of these artificial banks, because
the vast body of water which for nerly flowed
of lsterslly into the swamps, is now confined
to the channel, and the deposits are filling mp
the bed 60 that water is rising higher aud