Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1885-02-05

for kindly courtesies and welcome ia /
! vors granted the inquisitive visitor, the |
citizens of New Orleans arc unsurpassed |
Many of them can give You information
in their particular line of occupation
only, showing at once surprising lack
of information about other things with
which they come in daily contact, and
on which an inhabitant of one of our
Northern towns will always be found
well posted. In talking with gentle
man who had the supervision of some
important work, he incidentally re-
marked that he chad been in that posi-
ton for five years, and in all that time
he had never gone to the Exposition
once" If he doesn't go this year, am
afraid he will never see it. The man in
charge of jackson Square, policeman,
knows nothing whatever of the beautiful
hgure of Andrew Jackson mounted on
his horse, the chief attraction of the en-
! tire square, and can tell nothing at all
about the attractive plants and shubs
that ornament the grounds. The police
throughout the city seem TO be the most
Indifferent and least informed men with
whom you will meet In New York,
| Chicago or any of our Northern towns,
the policemen are the ones TO whom it is
best and safest TO apply for information
concerning the city, but down here you
can not rely on what policeman will
tell you about things outside his own
beat. Feeling the need of few grains
of quinine to help ward off the malaria
that on sultry days seemed everywhere
abundant, inquiry was made as to the
whereabouts Of drug store. A police
man told us that he did not think there
was one in the immediate vicinity, and
if there was it would be closed as il was
Sunday. Now, if there is anything that
the majority of business men in New Or
leans don't do, it seems to me that it is
to close their shops on Sunday. espec-
tally in the forenoon. Drug stores are
always open, and there were four almost
within sound of this mans voice.
asked one as to the distance and direc-
ton of a particular church in his imme-
date neighborhood. He could give us
nothing definite. and we found our way
! by asking others. Another time asked
to be directed to some public school.
Three policemen happened to be talking
together, and although there was a fine
/ school not more than six or eight blocks
away no definite direction could be got
/ ten from them And so il was, the city
over, at least SO far as my experience
was concerned. There is nothing of that
curiosity about Southerner that is usu-
| ally SO noticeable in Il Yankee, and
which induces him to find out all, and
sometimes more too, about anything and
everything with which he comes in con
tact. Spanish Fort, on Lake Pontchar-
train is rather pleasant summer re-
sort, some seven or eight miles from the
city. 1t is well worth the time and
twenty-five cents Ground trip, that it
will cost you. Here you will see seven
or eight good-sized alligators, that a very
leisurely-motioned boy viii stir into life
for your edilcation and nickel The
fort is in the midst of swamp, and is
about two hundred years old; but as
usual we wanted 10 find out all about it,
Several were asked, but without success,
until we came across n cadaverous but
animated specimen Of the genus homo,
who looked equal to the task of giving the
/ desired information. In answer To in
/ quiry, he said, swell, can't Just tell you;
it mus be putty old. Use done been heah
twenty-five years, and it was heah when
came. | thanked him, subsidized
gracefully. but did want to laugh Just
/ once. This was white man, very
clever and obliging; but doubt if he
had ever seen the inside of school in
his life la Algeria, just across the
river from New Orleans, you will find
/ poverty and ignorance in all their glory.
/ Many people cannot comprehend the
simplest question when asked for infor-
formation, and doubt If one-half of
them can tell where the postoflice is,
since they never have any occasion to go
there. Very few of them can read, and
schools are of little rloment to them
/ The newsboys frequently cannot read
the papers they sell, and are by no
means as quick as their brother profess
/ SIGNALS in the North One of our party
always put them off with the phrase, 81
can't read. They always seemed to
take it all right; but when the same
dodge was tried on little chap in Chi
cago he quickly replied, "Then you can
look at the pictures. ! went down to
the Illinois Central depot, one afternoon,
to check large valise filled with fruit.
Now, no one need carry his valise if he
does not want TO; for there are always
negroes and boys on the lookout for a
JObs duu tucJ Will garry ~ lOl q CouSitt-
Grafton This valisc was very heavy,
and slightly built lad, with more en-
terprise than muscle, ran up. "Tote yer
baggage" Certainly" | said, and he
tried it, but was just barely able to lift
it from the platform. The look of dis
appointment that crept down over bis
features was so lu9crous that smiles
were in order just as the street-car
stopped at the place, policeman, aided
by large negress, brought a stalwart
drunken negro out of the crowd. The
negro had just fired his revolver at the
woman, whom he claimed for his wife.
She was evidently bound to see him
locked safely up, for the time at least.
Shooting and stabbIng ARRAYS are of fire.
quent occurrence but perhaps not more
50 than in any other city of the same
size and character. The unsatisfactory
part Of the thing is that the guilty par
ties so generally get clear if they are
caught and are 50 frequently not caught
~.