The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-05-02
PLACES OF INTEREST.
In the sunny South..Our Cor.
respondent Visits Many
interesting Places.
wDnnuSIo,

New ORLEANS, April 23.-In COM
pany with an Iowa friend, and others,
your correspondent boarded a little
steamer at the foot Of Canal street.
and after a few minutes sail down
the river, was landed at Chalmette,
six miles below the city, and the site
of the battle of New Orleans, fought
seventy years ago, the history OF
which is too well known to be here
repeated. The ground is a wide
level plain, now occupied by few
farm houses, most of them are of de.
cayed and tumble-down variety, gen
orally occupied by colored people,
but in other years by wealthy plant
ers. On the line nearest the city
stands an unfinished granite monu-
ment. rising sixty feet high, which
the state many years ago undertook
to erect to the memory of General
jackson, but which has never been
completed and is rapidly falling to
decay. From its uncomfortable top,
reached by a winding stairway with
in, clear and extensive view is OBJ
tanned of the old battle ground, in
Guiding the earthen breastworks,
which were repaired and used by the
confederates during the later unpleas-
antness. Not far from the monument
still stand the houses, said to have
been occupied by General Jackson,
prior to and during the progress of
the engagement, as headquarters, al
though chs headquarters was gen
orally in the saddle" and where fight
ing was going on. The house is an
old, unoccupied frame building, in a
sorry state of dilapidation. Midway
ON the site of the ancient battle
ground is the National cemetery.
where sleeps the dust of nearly 49,
900 Union soldiers, who fell in the
war yet so sadly remembered by the
living. The grounds are very pretty,
well-kept, and are ornamented with
beautiful evergreen trees and shrub
berry, with long, broad walk run
ming the entire length, the multitude
of graves occupying either side,
headstones marking them, with names,
states and regiment of the deceased,
engraved upon them. 1t is a quiet,
dreamy spot, such as any one might
covet as final resting place; scarce
ly sound being heard within the
enclosure, save the twittering of
birds among the trees, while the wat
ers of the great river flow peacefully
by, forever chanting a requiem for
the brave who sleep undisturbed upon
its shore. Two blocks below the
Cemetery are shown the great live
oaks under which the British Gen
eral Packenham, died, shortly after
receiving his death wound, so that
every foot of beautiful Chalmette is
hallowed, or historical ground, and
is also calculated to make one hate
and abhor war, and we return to
scenes celebrating the triumphs of
peace and brotherly love, in the Fair
Grounds.
1t is sometimes amusing to stand
near the Florida exhibit, and witness
its effect upon Northern visitors.
This was especially so in "the dead
of winter" when they had just ar
rived from sections where the mer-
curry marked 25 to 40 degrees below
zero, and where no green thing was
visible to the naked eye there to be
ushered in a space where the most
tempting fruit, just plucked from the
trees in a climate Of eternal spring
or sunshine, and "where storms do
never come" where vines and trees
stand forever "dressed in living
green" and where planting goes on
the year round, such visions of beau
ty and genial warmth burst upon
their storm accustomed eyes as to
fill them with most pleasurable as
constituent. And such oranges
great, lucious, golden balls! No
wonder so many people are seeking
homes in that romantic state, where
the most ordinary industry suffices
to supply ones daily wants, and
where half the labor required in the
north is sufficient to secure luxuriant
homes. The exhibit here is one of
the most interesting in the entire
collection. Samples of hundreds of
varieties of useful woods, pine being
most abundant; wheat, corn, oats;
oranges, figs, dates, grapefruit, very
large; pine-apples, of the very best
quality, and from the growing of
which, next to the orange, are derived
the greatest profits, yielding within
Is months from planting, a crop
readily worth one to five or six hun
dred dollars per acre. Those who
wish to raise oats, corn, grain of all
kind or stock can find an unsurpass-
ed territory in the north western
part of the state. The business of
"truck gardening" to which but lit
tie attention has been given, yields
as high as from $500 to $1,000 per
acre, in tomatoes and cucumbers,
alone.
Among the States most interest
ing exhibits.is an immense relief
map, in plaster of Paris showing
the landscape of the country, from
which the spectator may, almost at a
glance, obtain an accurate knowledge
of the topography Of the State, and
select its most favorable localities.
Her educational institutions are not
neglected, neat pagoda containing
samples of the work being done at
Lake Fundiac by the famous CHATEAU
qua Association, while her public
schools are we'll ranraeantnd in sta