The Press., 1889-03-14
LETTER FRoM CALIFORNIA.
NOTES OF A JOURNEY WESTWARD.

Pomona, March ?, 1888.
 Chattanooga is on the Tennessee river, and has a population of about 5000, fully half of whom are colored. The river is navigable for steamers the larger part of the year, which, with the four railroads that center here, afford easy communica- tion in all directions. The region is rich in coal and iron, and while there is con- siderable manufacturing done, there is an apparent lack of northern skill, capital, and enterprise. At this point, in October, 1863, occurred one of the most important conflicts of the late war of the rebellion. The confederate army. under Bragg had seized several points on the railroad, and entrenched themselves On Lookout Moun- tain, which commands the river, and is only about a mile from the city, and thus had succeeded in cutting off the supplies of the. union army in that direction.
 On the 25th of November the battle ragged from daylight till dark. Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain top, and all the rifle pits in the valley were carried by des- perate fighting. The confederate army were routed by Sherman and Hooker, and driven back to Georgia. The union loss was from six to seven thousand, while the confederate loss was about 2,50O killed and wounded, and 5000 prisoners.
 The effect of this battle was to cut off Bragg from communication with Long, street, and force the latter to abandon the siege at Knoxville and retreat into Virginia.
 As we stopped at Chattanooga nearly two hours, found it very interesting to look over the ground, and in imagina ton place the contending armies in line of battle, it being the first place l had ever visited where the two armies met in mortal combat in the rebellion. Tuscaloosa is city of about 5000 in. habitants in the northern part of Alabama, but it has none of the push and enterprise of a Yankee town of that size.
 Birmingham, also in Alabama, is large manufacturing town, with several rolling mills, which turn out vast quantities of railroad and other iron, and, with it's nu. merous smoke-stacks and the rumble of its ponderous machinery, it has the apparent life and vigor of northern town, but the moral character of its people could and should be greatly improved. We passed through part of Mississippi, where the race war still continues, and where every man takes the law in his own hands, or disregards it entirely. They seemto think that Judge Taney's decision l in the Dred Scot case, in which he said ACEAON0 AnA AO A4SAtS "AASAA WAAkO AACA were bound to respect, is good enough law for them, and the wild, barbaric and desc late condition of everything you see indi oates this state of things, and if the in l coming administration will remedy the evil the people will rise up and call il blessed. .,:~ -.- 1 Our government resents any indjgnity offered against our flag. or few of our cit izens in Samoa, or any other foreign port and, if need be, will build navy and send it to the ends of the earth for their protec tion, and it is the right thing to do, yet al the same time there are hundreds of thous ands of our citizens living at home who art left to the mercy of the mob, and the au thorities at Washington seem to sit per; fectly passive and lift neither hand nol foot for their protection.
 The last of the cotton crop was being gathered, and the work was mostly being done by the women and children, but the crop usually showed poor culture, as the fields were almost invariably encroachee upon by scrub oak, which comes up among the cotton, and no one ever seems to take the trouble to remove it. . | Z We passed through the northern part o. Louisiana in the night, and the early I:morning reached Lake Pontehartrain (which is about forty miles long and twen ty-four wide. It lies few miles north o New Orleans, and connects with the Gull Eof Mexico on the east and with Lake iMaurepas on the northwest. The rail road passes through the lake on trestle work for seven miles, and there are three draw bridges for the accommodation o vessels from Lake Maurepas to the Gulf. I We stopped in New Orleans four hours and had a chance to see something of thu city, which is mainly built upon the Jeff l bank of the river hundred miles from its mouth. The city is built upon land lowel than the high water level of the river, and is protected by levees or embankment. which extend for hundreds of miles or both sides of the river to the swamp, ant the drainage is by canals which open into Lake Pontchartrain, which is on leve with the Gulf of Mexico. It is the grea Eport of transhipment for about half the cotton crop of the southern states, the su gar crop of Louisiana, and the produce O the vast region drained by the Mississippi river and it's tributaries. Four ponderous iron steamers from Great Britain lay at iti wharves, and ships from all nations were taking in or dlscharging freight.
 The custom house is one of the largest buildings in America. There is branch mint, 55 hospitals, infrmaries and asy lums, Catholio cathedral, 150 churches and vast ware houses. The soil is full O water, and no excavations can be made The largest buildings have no cellars, anl the cemeteries have no graves, but tht dead are placed in tombs above ground I don't thing there is another city on ths globe that sustains such 8 heterogeneous population as are met with in New Or leans, and if there Is any nationality ol mixed race not represented there they are few and of little account. The condition of the soil makes it necessary that all the streets should be paved, and the gutters are always full of filthy stagnant water, from which the casual observer would in fer that it must be very unhealthy city but the vital statistics compare favorably with other cities of its size, except when il is visited by yellow fever. They now have system of locks and canals by which they flush the streets from the river and carry the accumulated filth from the streets and gutters by other canals into Lake Pont. chertrain.
 l New Orleans is the tenth in size and the second in extent of commerce in the Unit. ] ed States, and only regretted that bur stay was so short, as there is so much that is foreign and different from cities in the east or west, it.makes it very interesting field to visit and investigate.
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