Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-02-17
HOMEOF THE CREOLE
HOW THE CITY or NEW ORLEANS I'M
PRESSED A DISPATCH MAN.
Narrow and Dirty Streets, But Pretty
City-The People Pleasant and Hospi-
tabie-Many Quaint Customs.
ls,aff correspondence OF the Richmond Di
pntch.l

Il
finger down the meandering course of the
mighty Mississippi described on the map
and halt at the little circle with black dot
in the centre which represented New
Orleans. Somehow the city always had
fascinations for me. In those days asso-
ciated it with heavenly molasses and
mountains of snow-white cotton. Az l
grew TO sentimental age l always thought
Of tho dark, handsome, dreaIny-eyed
Creole maidens. who were said to form q
large proportion Of Its population. In
later years, however, when my fancies took
q wider scope, conceived of the Crescent
City as the Paris of America, the eye of
the. South, and the garden-spot of these
United States.
Such l found her week ago, when for
the first time / steamedinto her antiquated
| suburbs on cloudy, sticky day.
THE SOUTH WAS SUNNY.
The weather was disagreeable in the ex-
treme. for in less than three days by the
| celerity OF the trains on the mighty Dan
vile system and the flying wheels of the
Queen and Crescent road, we had sped
! from land then stiff and rigid with cold
to n region of warmth and fowers-a
veritable Sunny South" The change
was very sudden. and hence not altogether
| pleasant.
Grasping the carpet-bag and white cot
| ton umbrella which invariably accompany
me on my travels, leisurely sauntered up
q narrow, muddy street not knowing where
/ was and caring still less where landed,
for / was nterested-enchanted, in fact.
And yet the average person would say there
was nothing particularly enchanting about
the scene, unless muddy, narrow streets,
miserably paved and q dirty, motley crowd
| lend enchantment 10 the scene, L
had landed in the French quarter
of the city--the quaintest and most an
| tique portion of New Orleans. To be more
precise, think it would be best TO call it
the foreign quarter, for here there are also
hundreds of Spaniards and Italians, to-
gether, too, with q nice little mixture of
Chinese, and even a few Indians, hear.
NY companion and myself proceeded
slowly up the street, doubtless creating. by
our inquisitive glances the impression that
| we were members of that now popular or
ganization the "hayseed fraternity.
THE NEGRO SPOKE FRENCH.
We had expected TO hear for the first
time some beautiful Creole speaking
French. but, pshaw the first. we
heard of Racine's and Rosseau's beau
tiful language was from the thick
lips of a negro girl. This knocked
poetry In the head, but we soon got used
TO it, for all the negroes in this quarter
speak the euphonious language, or rathera a
pdt0is. A few days later | asked bright.
eyed little Creole whom | met at a ball II
this miscellaneous crowd in the foreign
quarter did not abolish the conservative
influences which tend TO maintain the
pure languages. She said it did and that
some of the French spoken here was
simply horrible, or rather only dlalect,
differing materially from Partisan French.
The educated Creoles called the pdtois of
the lower classes "'Gumbo French"
NARROW. DIRTY STREETS.
The streets in the foreign portion of
New Orleans are execrable bevond the
abuse of any pen. In the first place they
are exceedingly narrow, rarely being over
twenty-five feet in width and otttimes
ending ir mere alleys and courtways
scarcely wide enough TO admit the passage
of o wagon. This was pardonable, how
ever, and certainly had much to do with
the quaintness of the city. 1t IS the evil
odors pervading the atmosphere OF which
l complain. Virgil would undoubtedly
have described this section as he did
1.-THE ill-smelling .Avernus." The stencil
seems mainly to be caused by the stagnant
waters in the cutters. which are paved and
constructed throughout the whole of New
Orleans lust as if they were small canals.
And then these dirty foreigners seem to
take delight in throwing all their waste
matter right in front of their houses.
Dirt pervades everything here-the streets,
the honses the garments, and the very
features Of the inhabitants.
Nearly every house in the foreign sec
tion has balconies in front Of each story,
and on these the citizens lounge continu-
ally and gaze down upon the streets be-
low.
HOW DEATHS ARE ANNOUNCED.
If you have plenty of time to loaf and
observe everything that passes before your
gaze you will notice on nearly every post
in the French quarters there are little
hand-bills tackled up and bearing the head
ing "Decede." Beneath this there Is addi-
tional printing, all, however, in French.
These are death notices, which seem to be
used instead of the newspapers to an
nounce the invincible hand of dtrd Mors.
They state the hour of the funeral, etc. and
the name of the deceased. As general
thing these notices are tackled up all over
the French section in an hour after the
person has died. | noticed several upon
which the printers ink had scarcely dried,
and which announced the demise of some
unfortunate which had taken place only
few minutes before.
THE PRINCIPAL BUSINESS STREET.
Canal street, which is the leading bust
ness thoroughfare Of the city, divides the
foreign quarters from the rest of New
Orleans. and here the architecture of the
city changes completely. This street is
very broad, being considerably wider than
Broad street in Richmond. The street.
cars have tracks in the centre of it, and
those of different lines are separated by
turf. On each side Of the tracks there are
also little walkways, but the street-cars
pass so close to them that one Is apt to get
his head bumped.
The rest Of this thoroughfare, after
what hos been allotted the street-cars (and
their share is q generous one), is reserved
entirely for vehicles.
LARGE PGvrNG-sToNEs.
It is paved, as is almost the entire city,
with blocks of stone about eighteen inches
square, and these, on account OF the ma
tnre of the soil, soon become exceedingly
uneven and rough, thus causing every one
to comment on the poor streets.
Some of the buildings on Canal street
are exceedingly handsome and tall, and
while there is perhaps the usual southern
irregularity in architecture, the street is
beautiful one and looks decidedly cosmo-
politan.
But, however beautiful and grand this
street may appear in the daytime, one
should not judge by its appearance then,
for when night comes it is truly inspiring.
Then il seems as if the entire population
of the city comes out and the thoroughfare
is literally jammed. Almost every shop
window is beautifully illumined, while
hundreds of saloons and restaurants cast
forth their alluring lights and tend to give
the city its reputation for vice, which, 1t
must be confessed, il certainly deserves
and has always maintained. Nearly every
body drinks, and Louisiana whiskey. is said
TO be good, but at any rate, despite the
quantity and quality of the article drank,
the CTescent-City people can certainly hold
heap without getting intoxicated.
Canal street not only draws distinct
and remarkable line between the two sec
tions of New Orleans as tar as architecture
is concerned. but also as regards senti-
ment. Some of the French people never
leave their quarters TO cross beyond this
line. and years and years often roll by
without their even knowing how the city
looks ia the American section.
WHO ARE THE cREoLEs?
The party of Richmonders with whom
bad the pleasure of iourneying to New Or
leans ali looked forward with more inter-
est TO seeing the Creoies than anything
else. TO tell the truth. none of us knew
exaetly what the Creoies were. ne oil ex-