St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1882-08-05
SOUTHERN GLEANINGS.

New Orleans is reported to be in ex-
cellent sanitary condition, and the doctors
think there viii be no yellow fever this sum-
mer. There are now three bodies working
tremendously together to keep the city free
from disea>e-the Board Of Health, Santa
nv Association and city authorities. The
Administrator of Improvements has doubled
his street gangs, and has now over twelve
hundred hands and carts working in the
streets and cutters, against an average force
formerly of seven hundred. The Sanitary
Association is well supplied with money,
which it is using literally for sanitary pur.
poses. It's chief aim is to keep the cutters
clean by fushes, to see that all the vaults
and yards are in perfect order, and to pro-
vide an abundant water supply for the city.
Two big flushing pumps with a capacity OF
six million gallons each are forcing water
through the cutters OF every street running
toward the river. Finding recently that
small portion of the city was not benefited
by this flushing process, the association
spent $4,000 to erect a pump there so that
this section could also be thoroughly cleaned.
The three draining canals Of the city were
cleaned early in the spring, deepened, and
line with wood at the joint expense of the
city and Sanitary Association, and are now
in good order. This cleaning had not been
done hitheAto for eight or ten years. A
special ana thorough inspection has been
made OF all closets, stables, and yards, and
those needing cleaning have been put in or
der. In cases where yards were low. mud
dy, or dirty, the association has contributed
disinfectants, sand, and whatever else was
needed. Recognizing the deficient water
supply Of New Orleans, the Legislature at
its late session passed an act requiring every
house to be supplied with water at a rate OF
two hundred gallons to each inhabitant.
This law is being strictly enforced.
Recent investigations have shown thai
he crocodile is to be found in the less fire.
luented parts Of Florida, where it has long
oeen confounded with the alligator, and
single specimen is now among the collection
Of reptiles at he Smithsonian Institution.
The great point Of difference between croco-
diles and alligators is that the former live in
salt water blyous or creeks near the sea,
while the latter are to be found only in the
tresh-water streams. The crocodile, cay
man, gayia, and alligator are all types Of one
group, the Crocodilia. In these reptiles the
heart resembles that of birds more than that
Of any cold -blooded animals. The ventricle
S completely divided by a septum into two
chambers; the venous and arterial blood
Join outside the heart, and the brain is bird
ike. The muzzle of the alligator is in
,tr iybt lint hat ~ he 10 IL
much narrower behind the nostris. There
are also other anatomical differences. The
crocodile is known among the Indians as the
'long- alligator" The Florida croco-
die is the crocodius acutus of Cuyier, and
is entirely identical with the Jamaica
species, but entirely different from the cay
man of Guiana. South America. Nne OF the
most interesting characteristics OF the
American crocodile is the care that it takes
of its offspring. During the breeding sea-
son especially the reptiles utter loud cries
or shrieks that have been compared to the
ye!ping of hounds or puppies.
A North Carolina paper says: "With
the present year is inaugurated new era
in the South, if we are to judge by the mag
nitude OF the new manufacturing enter
prises that are springing up all over the
land. Old mills have been revived aud hum
dreds OF new ones are already built or are
in the course of building. During the
month of June twenty-five carloads of
machinery were shipped from Boston to
points in the South, over the Richmond "
Danville Railroad, distributed as follows:
Fourteen carloads for PeiZer, S. c.; six
for Concord, n. c.; one for Hickory. n.
c., and one for Clifton, S. C. This is the
of machinery for one month
alone, and though it may be considered
pretty fair showing it is nothing at all COM
pared to what is to come. The Boston ma
chine shops have notified the Southern
transportation lines that they are now work
ing to fill orders for three hundred car
loads OF machinery, all of which is to be
delivered at the mills in the South by early
fall. In bringing the mills to the cotton the
South has at last struck the key note to
prosperity"
The Austin (Texas) Triumph says
that 10, 800 packages of fruit and vegetables
have been shipped from there this season.
Almost all kinds of fruit, both wild and cu'-
tivated, have been shipped with considera-
BILE profit. "We can average these packages
at at least 81 per package, for strawberries
sold at the first of the season for W. per case
and early peaches brought 500 per box
and good peaches are still bringing IL per
box. Beside strawberries and peaches,
which we call staple crops, we have shipped
plums, pears, apples, blackberries, rasp-
berries, whortleberries, peas, potatoes, rhu-
barb, cueumbers and tomatoes"
A Richmond editor thinks there
never was a more favorable year than this
for holding State Fair by the virginia
Agricultural Society. With fine crops OF
grain, fruit, and vegetables, the farmers Will