The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-11-23

/ WHICH Is exported lOT CdLIIe Ieeu dIt
sometimes ground into meal for the
same purpose. Soap Is also made from
the residuum OF the oil. This oil 1.
shipped to Europe. there refined, sem
back to America after being mixed will
the crushings of olives, as "deliciou.
French and italian sweet olive oil.
The hulls are sometimes used for paper
stock, also a fuel to run the works and
the ashes as fertilizers.
LEvEES.
TO the northerner, perhaps no sight
is more characteristic of the south
than the "levees" OF New Orleans and
the high pressure. double decked Miss
issippi river steamboats, that crowd the
wharves. These fat-bottom floats
loaded tier upon tier, with bales of cot
ton. sugar cane and tobacco leaf. etc,
appear to the beholder from the streets
many feet below the river bank. like
floating battlements along the river
front. Both side wheel and stern wheel
craft with their swivel-acting gang
panks, are seen, ever pursuing their
crooked and devious channels way
down the Father OF Waters" In the
shallow places of this great shallow
stitution of utility and Importance. AS
the bed of this great river Is slowly ris-
ing from the deposits along it's entire
course. ii became necessary to add to
the height ana strength of the levces.
The course of the river, too. is con-
stantly shifting. flowing as it does,
through a soil which has largely been
deposited by it and the towns along it's
1,,,, fad
ment. as it were. deserted by the
stream. Near the river. the land nat
urally is somewhat elevated and slopes
gradually on either side TO the swamps
and Lake Ponchartrain. lying to the
rear of the city. In order to protect it's
overflow. in early times, a levee or
dyke was built and gradually raised
and levelled. until today it forms a
large plaza. several squares wide-fol'
the river since the city was located on
its banks, has, along most of the front,
withdrawn itself a good ways from the
original channel-so that many soil |
blocks of buildings stand where TIL"
river once flowed The constant adli-
tions made to the levee, give 81 gradual
slope up several feet to the river front.
the slope beginning Il great distance
back from the river. the stranger can
hardly realize the fact, he is going up
hill, or an incline, to the river. even if
he sees the water in the cutters flow
ing away from til" liver instead of to-
ward it--and at high water, the steam-
ers at the wharves seem on a level with
the second story of the buildings. pre-
senting novel appearance.
The river here is from half to three
quarters of a mile wide, much narrower
than above or below the city and varies
in depth from 90 to 250 feet, enabling
the largest vessels to navigate it's wa
ters and land at it's wharves. The dis
tance to it's mouth is 107 miles. All the
landings along the front of the city are
called "levees." This great landing, or
plaza, is divided into three levees--the
Grain levee." the Cotton levee" and
the Sugar levee." On these levees
goods are Ian led and sold, and during
the busy season, .he levee presents a
bustling scene. sights which interest
the visitor who is at all conversant with
commercial matters Here are thou
sands of bales of cotton. thousands of
hogsheads and barrels of sugar, also
tobacco. rice, -four, lumber and fruit
of every known kind. In cases of floods
and overflow of the river, there are
'protection levees'' inside, that let's the
river surplus into canals leading to
Lake Ponchartrain which is some 20 to
25 feet lower than the Mississippi. In
early years the city was marked by
frequent and destructive inundations
of the Father OF Waters The levees
of the city are built mainly of concrete
instead of earth alone. These huge
walls along the river front which here
forms Il letter $ for some twelve miles
average from 20 to % feet in height and
graded UP for several hundred feet, so
that the rise is hardly perceptible. Since
the dyke or embankment system was
first inaugurated over $150OO0,0 900 has
been expended by the people of the
lower Mississippi valley for their pro-
lection. At the present day the levee
system has beel perfected to a degree
that eXctes the wnnoer and admiration
of engineers. Along t:Is immense plaza
extends an almost uninterrupted stretch
of wharves and warehouses with hun
dreds of ships and steamers unloading
or receiving caC&oes.
CREOLES-NATIVE POPULATION.
The population of New Orleans is
about 100000. composed of various ele-
ments and llCes; about 40 per cent. are
white. ole fourth cOOred and the bal
ance or the strangest mixture on earth
The moss interesting class to us was
the native &c, cole"
Strangers often make a great en-
rOr in suoposlnS that the Creole popu-
lation is a mixed race of whites and
blacks-a people of rich olive complex
ion, with a strange pedigree dating
back to French and negro origin, or
colored people, partially of African de-
scent, when in fact, it is the reverse
and the name signifies only one of pure
and unmiXed European blood: the de-
scendantS of the ancient Franch and
Spanish population of Louisiana. The
Creole" is Il white native of the south
and in beauty uneXcelled; charming
and cultured with all the grace and
dignity of manners: equal in birth and
bearing to the most distinguished of
the southern people. One says there
never was a nobler or purer- blooded
race than the Creoles of Louisiana who
are proud of their descent from the best
families of France and Spain who
themselves applied the term Creole"
to distinguish the "old families" of the
state from the families of emigrants of
other nat'onaiities. In this sense Of
the word the Creoes are the Knick-
erbockerS of louisiana" and the Puri-
tans of New England The word Gre
ole'' assumes IL broad signitlcation, it
means all that is born, created, manu-
factured and produced within Louis
lana limits, be it animate or inuni-
mate objects. Everything that is good
in New Orleans is Creole" The high
est praise that can be bestowed upon AN