The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1891-05-08
NEW ORLEANs. Nav

trade Tor week. we are nero lIoh Maitlc
to Colorado and Michigan to Texas. We
have met many old friends and made many
new ones and feel amply repaid for the
time and trouble our journey has cost us.
In some respects this old city is very
charming one, nesting In semi-s0mnam-
bulant condition In an elbow of the great
Father of waters. There is such general
air of ease and enjoyment about 1t, such
marked absence of business strife and bus
tie, such a suggestion of dangerous relaxa-
ton I'm its very appearance that II seems 10
present to northerner perpetual invita-
ton to the pleasures and enj0yments OF life,
as though it was about to pin rose In your
button hole, pnt a palmleaf fan In your
hand and say: "Come, let us be happy for
life is made for enjoyment, come 10 the
dance, the bal masque, and the carnivM ana
forget that life has cares and sorrows"
You half expect in your ranoles TO come
upon troop of Spanish maidens dancing
i'm an orange grove to the music of the gui-
tar and the clanking of the castanet, and
would not be surprised at some scarcely
modest prank by some grisette from Paris.
The whole appearance OF the city is per-
petual invitation to rest and take life easy.
1t lies here i'm the warm sunshine as though
taking a perpetual sesta, along the banks
of the great yellow colored river that dallies
by her side In great crescent like curve,
anxious to linger by her and caress her with
its shifting eddies and currents, last mo
ment of happiness before it rushes on to be
lost in the salt waters of the gulf
When one first arrives In New Orleans he
is apt to be disappointed. He has travelled
for miles and miles through barren pine
lands and over great marshes, he is hot,
physically and mentally, the sudden change
i'm, tam frrro hoe
he has become sticky and sOiled with
the dust and dirt of long travel and prOvok-
ed over the needless discomfort of the train
service; but nights rest and good bath
do wonders, and sOOthe his ruffled spirit.
The next morning he finds himself i'm the
midst of tropical city. The air, soft and
balmy, blows over him rich with the odors
of the blossom laden gardens, the magnolia
tree with its waxy leaves is covered with
great white flowers, palm trees lift their
heads above the garden walls, and the plan
tains raise their great leaves in the air. All
this is so new, so strange, that one Is for
time delighted.
This is the most composite of all Ameri-
can cities. With the settlement that follow
ed the coming of old Ponce de Leon, who
sought to find in tie pine barrens and cy-
press swamps of the south the fountain of
perpetual youth, it was Spanish. 1t has
been English, French and American and
contains traces of all its political vicissi-
tudes. 1t is European in its narrow streets
and odd old buildings, French and Spanish
in many of its customs, while large part
of the population still speak French. This
is old New Orleans. There are two distinct
cities here i'm one. Canal street divides the
city, the half down the river called the
French quarter in the old part, the other
half is more American. We very naturally
wander through the old quarter and long to
climb over the high garden walls that we
know hide from us a glimpse of paradise.
These old gardens are all the more attract
i've because Of being SO closely hedged about
from the eye of curiosity. Inside the stone
work is covered by running vines, tropi-
ical plants grow in profusion and flowers
are always in bloom. This is the home of
the Creole, that romantic product of Louisi-
ana. They are the blooded aristOcracy of
the city and are as exclusive as royalty.
They worship blue blood and a long pedi-
gree more than they do the almighty dollar.
Some of them trace their ancestry to the
families of kings and queens. Behind the
iron lattice work of the stored portico
above the street we know are rare speci-
mems of that Creole beauty that has become
world famous. We catch occasional
glimpses of dainty toilets and more neglige
costumes and then we cross narrow dark
alleys where the stiletto of the Italian
Malta has done its deadly work. We saun-
ter lazily along these old streets and enjoy
all of it that is unusual.
have said that New Orleans looks quiet
and seems bent only on happiness, but that
is mistake as more careful observation
shows. She is great business centre, has
Iau<- Ix.~. Il A.~I0 Il
able foreign commerce. Large ocean
steamers sail up the Mississippi and tie at
her docks. Her broad levees are covered
with cotton, sugar, molasses, rice. rosin,
tropical fruits, and literally swarm with the
Afro Americans, who, together with the
mules, are the burden bearers of the country.
She is busy, but i'm an easy way. She does
her work without fret or worry and is ex-
citable and hilarious only in her pleasures.
Everybody who visits New Orleans visits
the market-the old French market-and
those who desire to see it i'm its glory go i'm
the early hours of the morning. 1t is hard
work to get up at five when you have
danced the night before until twelve, but
we do it. If you ever 60 there do not go to
see the meats, vegetables, fish, fruit and
jimcracks of tradesmen, or even to take a
cup Of famous market coffee, for the sur
IOuuutuBS WOuiu SpOll cNcu DtlulOniCOS
meal, but go to observe the people. Here
is the Creole, stately and comedy, the SER
wants of wealthy mansions, the Italian, the
old negro aunty, the restaurant manager,
the steamboat steward, all sorts of people of
all chimes, jabbering all sorts of tongues and
cOrrupti0ns of foreign languages motley
mass of humanity. The viands in the mar
ket do not look particularly attractive, but
later in the day when they are served up i'm
New Orleans restaurant, they are certain
Iy palatable enough to suit the taste of an
epicure. New Orleans is a city OF restau-
rants. The hotels are mere travesties on
the name, dirty, greasy, disagreeable, with
exhOrbitant rates and proportionately poor
service. We had rooms and foraged
the restaurants for meals. We were i'm all
sorts, from the lunch counter stand up to
aristocratic places on Canal street where we
were mulct three dollars and forty cents for
very moderate breakfast.
Many of you are wondering, dare say,
as to the meaning of the term Creole. Many
of you perhaps think I'm common with a
large proportion of northern people. that
the Cre0les have negro blood in their veins.
That Is quite common impression and a
mistaken one. The Creoles were the de-