The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-12-16

Of course, this system is out of question if
you are married Under the latter clrcum-
stances you will find it more convenient to fol
low the plan of going to the hotel first and then
making arrangements for board in some private
family. You will find this generally more con
venent than boarding house. The cook
ing will be good but the rooms
furnished rather scantily, from a Northern
stand point Bath rooms are infrequent carpets
very law. The houses are not as closely built as
in the North, and great deal of wind viii slip
in under the door, and through the windows,
but you are not likely to suffer much from this
or from the cold as a New Orleans winter is
mere mockery free from snow and ice. and with
less than a dozen chilly days in it,
great many families having been ''bit' by
adventures representing themselves as exposi-
ton people there is very decided movement In
favor of paying in advance, and great many
persons are enforcing this system. There is not
likely to be any extortion tried The prices OF
the rooms are fixed on the books OF the accommo
daton bureau and cannot be changed. AS for the
restaurants, the newspapers keep strict look
out on them and expose every overcharge they
are guilty Of. One of the restaurants attempted
to swindle q stranger some days ago. 1t was
promptly exposed and published, and although
The restaurateur has brought suit for libel he is
suffering severely from his mistake.
CRESCENT CITY RESTAURANTS.
There is no lack of restaurants at New Orleans
of every variety. There will be nearly dozen
on the exposition grounds itself, while those in
the city can feed between 20, 900 and 10000
persons a day At the frst-cass restaurants
you can order good dinner by the carte, for
81. 80, and fine one for S. 90, wine included in
both cases; and genuine wine it is. You will find
the cooking thoroughly French. Next come the
second class restaurants, with cheaper prices and
not as good appointments You will find plenty
Them with French names, and run on French
style in the creole portion of the city, below
Canal street You get good meal there
for 80 or GO cents, and a bowl of win ordlnalre.
These places are best in prepared dishes They
are strong iii gumbo. either crab, oyster or
simple eumbo aux herbes or gumbo file. You
can make meal on this creole plat, the national
dish of louisiana and everybody relishes it,
even the first time he eats it. You will find the
bisques good. the courtbouillon or bouileabaisse
of fish excellent. The fish will always be good,
and of such variety fresh and salt water, as can
be found nowhere else in the world. But
perhaps to try them it would be best to take
trip to Lake Pontchartrain, six miles from the
city, and enjoy fish dinner at one of the nu-
merous restaurants or hotels that fringe the lake
shore They claim down there that the pompa-
no is the finest eating fish in the world. Next
comes the Spanish mackerel Bende veese,
you have the red. red snapper, blue, sheepshead.
sea mulet founder and croakee to choose from,
each with its special good features. OF she'll
! fish you have crabs, shrimps, of both river and
lake-the former having considerable resem
| bance in appearance and taste to the celebrated
whitebait Of the Thames-and oysters. The
| Barataria and Bayou Cook oysters are smaller
| than those coming from the East or the Chesa-
| peake. but better raw. You can get them at
| any of the ten thousand oyster saloons TO be
| found on every street corner, and attached to
every bar room in New Orleans, for 20 cents
| dozen. The vegetables here are good, and the
! bread splendid light, white and crusty. Inc
| meat, however, is Indifferent The best beef
comes from the West. The mutton, with few
exceptions, is poor, and the pork worse. Butch
ers meat does not keep well here in consequence
| of the moisture of the climate, and is
not in great favor Game, the other hand is
abundant and ridiculously cheap Teal ducks
are from 10 to % cents pair; large mallards, 40
| to 50 cents; canvas backs, rs cents-they are
| So. so to 81 in Washington Snipe, woodcock
pigeon, robins, papabottes are abundant, and
| quite a large amount of venison Is brought to
the New Orleans market The poultry (chick-
ems and turkeYs) comes almost wholly from the
West and seldom arrives here III good condition.
Finally, the milk, with very rare exceptions, is
poor and not to be recommended The coffee,
on the other hand, Is pure, not aduterated and
properly prepared-which is not by boiling it.
| In speaking of restaurants, the account would
be very incomplete unless description was Civ
en- of the free lunches The free-lunch system is
peculiar to New Orleans and San Francisco. In
order to accommodate their patrons the bar
rooms set out each day free lunch for which
nothing is charged-that is, you get your lunch
free and pay the ordinary price for your drink
10 or 10 cents. Here you can get lunch that
would cost you at least so cents in
any restaurant, with drink thrown in.
The bill of fare changes every day
and includes Soup-oyster or gUmbo-roast beef
or mutton sometimes turkey, sausage, ham,
corn beef, two or three side dishes, salad, bread
and butter pickles, &c. There is no limit as to
quantity and you can eat there all day if you
wish to- The system costs the saloon men quite
a sum, and they have been trying to get rid of
it, but it has become an institution here and
defes all their efforts.
Finally, in the list of eating houses, are the
market restaurants There you can usually get
good cup Of coffee or chocolate, but nothing
else that be recommended. AS however,
they keep open all or nearly all night, they are
very often Ravens in the storm for hungry way
farers after midnight.
There is an abundance of street railways in
New Orleans The city boasts of twenty six dis
tinct lines Of cars with over two hundred miles
of track. Everybody rides in New Orleans, and
no one thinks of walking, if the distance is only
three or four squares, While running in every
direction, and for this reason a great conven-
ience the street cars of the city are open
to many objections. They are small
drawn by one mule, bobtails, and without CON
ductor You must fight your way to the box
and drop yonr fare in. The cars travel very
slow and the tracks are very rough. There are
five lines to the exposition grounds, all bearing
that emblem, so that there can be no mistake
about them. The ST. Charlesavenue line makes
the distance in the shortest time, about thirty
minutes, but it charges ten cents for the trip
the others only five.
If you are near the river, and you are not
likely to be very far from it, for New Orleans is
all front running back but short distance
from the Mississippi, you will find it most con-
venient to 60 to the exposition by boat Regular
boats will be running there, making the dis
lance, whichis six miles, in thirty minutes. 1t
will give you opportunity of obtaining com
plete panorama of New Orleans. as the city is
spreat out on the river, and as that stream is
higher than the streets you can look down on
it and obtain complete view of everything and
you directly iii front of the exposition park
This trim is best taken in the evening or at
night The river front of New Orleans is beau
tifully Illuminated by electricity and presents a
brilliant appearance. The river rate is twenty
five cents for round trip to the park and back
The Buildings and Grounds.