New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1873-03-30
THE STREETS OF THIS CITY.

THE STREETS OF THIS CITY.
Landing of the First Street Survey0r-A
Pavement of Good Neutrality-suspicious.
ing up Of the Names-Dismal Drainage
Condition-The Prospect for the Future
Growing No Better Fast.
FOOTPRINTS.
Ii has been some two hundred years
since the French explorers COMMENCED
begging around in our swamps three hun
dred from the time Ponce de Leon fiat
boated it down in a cypress dug-out for
coffin. and commenced making out their
plans and specifications for the future
Crescent City. AT the time when the street
surveyor selected the site of Crescentia
(the nearest point Gapasi for river and lake
navigation) it was pretty much such
swamp then altogether as is to be still seen
Immediately around its suburbs. The cypress
stumps, which may remain in the ground
a hundred years more, were then cypress
trees, with a snbstrdtum then as now be-
low the soil OF fallen logs sufficiently tar
removed from the light OF day to puzzle all
the biologists as to the creation and exist
ence of this part Of the world from Lyell
down.
PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS.
There were about twelve times twelve
streets laid ont in those days, whose names
are 10 a considerable extent indicative o.
their history: Cont and Condo and Char
tres. after the French mobiles who figured
when they were christened; DaUphine, after
Louis XIV, the French Sardanapalus, and
Royal, naturally enough because it was
thought to be the biggest thing on ice in
the cypress swamp metropolis. Rampant
IN those days was rampant, with pail
SADIE on Esplanade and Canal 10 keep out
the carpet-baggiDg Yankees and Havages.
and o canal on the latter to float OFT their
dead bodies, and thus save street survey
0r's burial expenses TO the city.
POLITICAL PUZZLE.
Bat the Spaniards and French, Il should
here be observed, were continually swap
ping OFT the Crescent City along with other
chips and whetstOnes, and people in those
days could no more tell whether they
should write a street with its Spanish or
French termination than they are certain
now as to the French form or English. or ia
the NEUROLOGICAL region between Triton
walk and melpOmene, whether the names
should be pronounced with modem accent
or as in ancient Latin and Greek. There
would be marching and pranclng around
OF some procession or another, with big
drum major at the head and d lower
ing of tags, which people at first blush
would think might be that of ReN-some-
thing like the Mardi Gras or the
Voksfest but which would really be
the trading off of the city by one low flung
king to another; ard for those politicians
who were too patriotic, who sat on the
fence too long, or, in short, who did not
show prompt alacrty in stepping up to the
captains office and settling their taxes,
things were made extremely lively. Seri.
Ously speaking. in the same locality which
witnessed a month ago the last emute and
blood-spilling, and in the same building at
tackled, then a court of Justice, five OF Lou
isana's noblest sons were condemned to
death. Crimson flowers in jackson square
now spring from the ground fertilized by
their blood.
ACCOUNTING FOR APPEL ATOMS
But at the commencement of the century
the O'Reileys had busted from the cOun
try to Havana dining of fifty cent
peaches apiece sent from this city when
last heard from year ago., and the Amer
cans entering the palisaded street of Canal
promptly decided to erect the VourO,
Moody's and other buildings, which if good
Tor nothing else might at least be sued for
in the Gaines suit 1t was not, however
for some years after that the Clay statue
was erected; not, in fact, until Harry of the
West had been born and gone dead; nor. in
fact, too, untilJaCksOn had fought, bed and
waded around, Chock up to his thighs in
heather and mud. and until a good thing
had been made. out of patriotic citizens by
having a bCazen statue put up Of him in
jackson square. This event, it should also
be remarked, preceded the erection of the
Franklin statue in Lafayette square.
a very heavy carpet-bag immigration hav-
ing set IN, the city grew apace above and
L.,
erty holders and nOmeuclatists to a fearful
extent TO discover appropriate names. One
ingenious idea, hit upon by the wealthest
of the downtown real estate owners. was
70 cbristen some OF the tAOrUughldres after
his mistresses, when he was having de-
hauch. and the balance when suffering from
reruor,e by such names as Grandchildren. |
Virtue. etc The same difficulty arising in
the INNER portion of the town, lnythOlog-
irai dictionary came in play, and such |
names as Thalia, MelpOmeue, Ierpslchore, |
and other OF the ancient goddesses, muses..
nymphs, and classical guttersnlpes. were
brought into play. \ third Gr&dgrlnd
idea of leaving out all romantic nonsense
about names and sound. was 70 call the re
manning up town bAtcR ny numerals a.
FIRST Second, etc.
There are supposed to be some 5000 streets |
altogetber rs laid down on the city map. |
runninr some fifteen miles up ana Gown |
the river and five miles. luo squares oach |
ID the lake. About one-third OF the iu.vVo |
squares are inhabited by other citizens than
a.irators and catfish. A singular paucity !
of names of old residents and promlDeh, |
citizens, aside from lew Spanish anu
Erancb Governors, prevails, considering |
+ba efficiently the street-namers apparently |
G I11 of it in finding titles, and seeing. too;
that Xenophon, Napoleon and all tnat crow
y W., rrg not forgotten. In fact, TO take gen
r ~aIS Vow Of our public localities through,
ont the State, it would seem that we nave
either never had any men worthy OF having !