News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1888-08-16
Letter from Florida.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla, July ~.
'to.,o ATo,,,o M, y Tst.uo.,

station of Galveston, Tex, late one
July afternoon, we boarded a train
bound for New Orleans, and in few
minutes were summing through the
back yards of suburban residences,
emerging later on to the inevitable
Texas prairie not, however, wild
west prairie, populated with gore low
ing cowboys. Eastern Texas has
none such, but rather a docile and
civilized prairie, most of it cut up in
to farms and presenting thrifty APP
pearance. On reaching Houston we
made change of cars, after having
first come in contact with the all prev
alent railroad restaurant, thereby re-
lieving our stomach of dizzy feeling
and our inside pocket of IS cents.
We then fell aboard Southern Pa
cific train and were soon whirling
eastward again. AS the shades of
evening fell with a sickening thud we
caught relief in sleep. By early morn
ing light we peered out of doors to
find ourselves rolling along through
the Louisiana low-lands. The scene
has changed. Now we run by field
of sugar cane and off at a distance
the high chimney of the sugar-house
is seen. In the fall all this region
will be dotted with the glare of these
chimneys as the cane juice is boiled.
Here we 60 through a rice field and
now into bit of swampy forest, with
foliage so dense and vine woven as
to form an almost solid wall on either
side. The trees are hung with festeons
of Spanish moss and the depths have
an uninviting appearance and sug-
gest snakes. We now run along by
some quiet water scene, startling fish
and fowl; all vegetation wears deep
shade of green and the growth is very
rank. The scenery Of Southern Lou
isiara in midsummer is peculiar and
can hardly be found elsewhere. At
last we arrive at Algiers, on the west
bank of the Mississippi and directly
opposite New Orleans. Here we
transfer to one of the enormous ferry
boats capable of floating a train, and
after churning the father of waters a
few minutes we land in New Orleans,
city with a life that is distinctly its
own; as dirty as Constantinople, as
cosmopolitan as London and as gay
as Paris, it is indeed an interesting
city. Situated on a neck of land be-
tween the river in front and the
swamps in the rear, the levees On
both sides have the effect of raising
the waters of this point above the
city. The sewers of the city are the
cutters on either side of the streets
and heavy shower converts the city
into sort of Venice. The draining
is done by machinery, wheel lifting
it four feet, which allows it to flow in
to Lake Pontchartrain. There are
several of these wheels, but at best it
is slow work bailing out the city after
a heavy storm. AS we went up town
we stopped for lunch and sip of
coffee at the famous old French mar
ket. 1t CHANGED to be Sunday morn
ing, when the market is seen in its best
and liveliest mood. Every race Of
people, seemingly, were represented,
making purchases for Sunday din
ner. The foreign factors, negro lin
go, the different styles of dress, the
bright bandanas of the negresses, the
babel Of different languages, all COM
bined, really makes one wonder if he
is in the United States. We stroll
along the levee toward Canal street.
The bank is lined with craft of all ma
tions and among them some of the old
time river steamers, whose shadows
are gradually growing less, can be
seem On one wharf we nearly stepped
on the corpse of drowned negro, or,
as longshore- man standing by called
it, ''a niger stiff" He was stretched
out in the hot sun with q gunny sack
thrown over his face. Canal street is
a wide boulevard which separates the
old, or French quarter of the city
from the new, or American portion.
Thus the two sides of the street are
as different as New York and Paris.
Here is the head of the horse car lines
and the steam cars for the West End
and Spanish Fort, two resorts on
Pontchartrain; here are the principal
stores and the fashionable promenade,
always thronged. The streets, even,
have names out of the usual run, such
as Carondelet, Cont, Bourbon, Bien-
vile, Burgundy, Tchanpitlas, etc.
The cemetery is well worth visit.
From the nature of the ground they
do not bury the dead, but instead,
build tombs and vaults, which are all
whitewashed and laid out in regular
streets, and is, in reality, the city of |
the dead. Around through the French |
quarters at night are lively scenes,
which do not reach their height until
midnight. In the Rue de Royal are
the restaurants, saloons, gambling
houses, concert halls, etc., ever fire.
quented by crowd. Gambling, how
ever, is not as open as formerly, but
still exists. Halls of wine, women
and song are numerous and until the
wee small hours of morning are in
full blast. Wander out into the little
portion of these narrow
south side streets at night and you
may feel the caress of sand-bag and
be relieved of your surplus, for some
Of them have a rather unsavory repu-
tation. Much more could be said of
this, the Crescent City, the heart of
5he South. At every turn there is
something to interest, something to
attract. But we must eastward no,
so to New Orleans we will say good
BYE. The United States has other
md larger cities, but she has but one
Orleans. We take with us pleasant
of the characteristics
If so mixed people.
We were soon Aging over the marsh
IS on the Mobile ''cannon ball." past
he pleasant villages Of Bilaxi, Pass
Christian, Bay St. Louis and others,
Ill pleasantly situated on the gulf
shore. The road runs in sight of the
gulf all the way to Mobile, which was
cached in the evening. After short
stop we pushed on to Flamaton juno
ion, Ala, where for two long hours
If the night we lay waiting for train
o which we lad to change for Flori-
la, whittier we were bound. By
morning we were in the pine lands of
Western Florida. Soon we passed
through Pensacola. beautifully situat-
ID on fine bay. We breakfasted at