Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-12-24
" people of French and Spanish descent.

oy people of French and Spanish descent.
Inc African peryades all parts OF the
LOWE, except the new residence por ion OF
Tue American qnsrter. This, which &C.
cupies lac vast area in the bend of the
river west OF the business blocks as far as
Carlcuton, Is in character q great village
rather han a city. Not all its broad ave-
nues and handsome streets are paved
ana tnose that are not are in some sea-
sons lmpassaole), its houses are nearly
ali OF wood, most of them de-
tached, with plots OF ground and gardens,
ana as the quarter is very well
snaded;s the effect is bright and agreeable
In II aremany stately residences, occupy.
ing square or half square, and en-
powered in foliage and flowers. Care mas
oeen given lately to turf culture, and one
sees here thick-set and handsome lawns.
The broad Esplanade street, with its ele-
CANT old-fashioned houses, and double
rows of shade trees, which has long been
the rural pride of the French quarter, has
now rivals in respectability and style on
the American side.
NEW ORLEANS is SAID TO BE DE-
LIGHTFUL
in the late fall months, before the winter
rains set In, but believe it looks its best
In March and April. This is owing to the
roses. Ii the town was not attached to
the name OF the Crescent City, it might
very well adopt the title OF tue Guy of
Roses. SO kind are climate and soil that
the magnificent varieties OF this queen of
flowers, which at the North bloom only in
hothouses, or with great care are planted
outdoors in the heat OF our
summers, thrive here in the
open air in prOdigal abundance and beau
n mn IL
powered in them; they fill door-yards and
gardens, they overrun the porches, they
climb the sides of the houses, they spread
over the trees, they take possession of
trelllses and fences and walls, pertaining
the air and enhancing the heart with
color. In the outlying parks, like that of
the Jockey Club, and the florists gardens
at Carrollton. there are fields of them,
acres of the finest sorts, waving in the
spring wind. Alas! can beauty ever sat-
lsfyy This wonderful spectacle fills one
with l know not what exquisite longing.
These flowers pervade the town, old
women on the street corners sit behind
banks OF them, the florists windows
blush with them, friends dispatch to each
other great baskets of them, the favorites
at the theatre and the amateur performers
stand behind high barricades of roses
which the gOod-humored audience piles
upon the stage, verybody carries roses
and wears roses, and the houses overflow
with them. In this passion for flowers
you may read prominent trait of the
people. For myself l like to see a spot
on this earth where beauty is enjoyed for
itself and let to run to waste, but if ever
the industrial spirit Of the French Italians
should prevail along the littoral of
Louisiana and Mississippi, the raising of
or hnt 1fu,, tI1,,a of finn
would become most profitable industry.
ONE MIGHT MAKE VARIOUS STUDIES
of New Orleans; its commercial life;
it's methods, more or less an
tiquated, OF doing business, and the
leisure for talk that enters into it; its
admirable charities and it's medieval
prisons; its romantic French and Span
ish history, still lingering in the old
houses and traits of family and street
life; the city politics, which nobody can
explain, and no other city need covet; its
sanitary condition, which needs an intel
lgent despot with plenty of money and
an ingenuity that can make water run
uphill; Its colored population-about
fourth of the city-with its dis
tinct social grades, it's superstition, non-
ohalant good humor, turn for ldling and
baskIng in the sun, slowly awaking to
sense OF thrift, chastity, truth-speaking,
with many excellenG order loving, patri-
otto men and women, but q mass that
needs moral training quite as much as
the spelling-book before it can contribute
to the vIgor and prosperity Of the city;
It's schools and recent libraries, and the
developing literary and art taste which
will sustain book shops and picture gal
leries; its cuisine, peculiar in its ming
ling OF French and African skill, and
determined largely by market unex-
celled in the quality OF fish. game, and
fruit--the fig alone would go far to recon-
ollie one to four or five months Of hot
nights; the climatic influence in assimi-
lating races meeting there from every
region of the earth.
BUT WHATEVER WAY WE REGARD NEW
ORLEANS,
it ifs1a its aspect, social tone and char
aoter sui generis; it's civilization differs
widely from that OF any other, and it re-
mains one Of the most interesting places
in the republic. OF course social life in
these days is much the same in all great
cities in its observances, but that of New
Orleans ls markedly cordial, ingenious,
warmhearted. do not imagine that it
could tolerate, as Boston does, absolute
freedom of local opinion on all subjects,
and undoubtedly it is sensitive to criti-
cism; but believe that it is literally true,
as one of its citizens said, that it is still
more sensitive to kindness.
The metropolis of the Southwest has
geographical reasons for great future.
Louisiana Is rich in alluvial soil, the
capability OF which has not yet been
tested, except in some localities, by skill
full agriculture. But the prosperity Of
the CITY depends much upon local condi-
tons. Science and energy can solve the
problem OF drainage, can convert all the
territory between the city and Lake
Pontchartrain into a veritable garden,
surprising in fertility the fiat environs of
the City of Mexico. And the steady de-
yeIopment OF common school education,
together with technical and industrial
schools, will create a skill which will
n.ta indt1GfriaI q N