The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1912-11-14
DOWN IN DIXIE.
BN :. MCk. I


in many respects, when You realize
that the city is nearly 200 years old
and will celebrate this anniversary
in 1918, Tor the first settlements were
made here in lis by the French.
No doubt the descendants of these
early settlers may be found in the
French Quarter which is the
oldest part Of the city. This is one
Of the first places the tourist usually
visits. Down in this section the
streets are paved with cobble stones,
which are said to have been used as
ballast when the ships returned from
Spain and France. The streets in
this section are very narrow, and
one thing that especially strikes the
tourist is that the window shutters
are always closed In the front of
the houses. There is always one
gallery, and often two. upon which
the families probably take an airing,
for there is no possibility that they
would get any In the house.
In some OF the streets you see both
white aud black with various grada-
tons Of color occupying houses side
by side and associating In most
neighborly fashion. 1t is said that
some OF these people are so set in
their ways and devoted to their own
section, that they have never even
to be the dividing line between the
old and the new city. The French
| Quarter has it's aristocratic section
AS well as the modern New Orleans,
and there is still decided grandeur
about some of the large old man
si"ns, with their high columns reach
ing to the roof with galleries built
in the second story, and as you pass
/ you catch a glimpse of beautiful
gardens of tall palms aud ferns.
This section of the city has been
witten up many times in Cable
novels of Southern life, and the de-
scription OF some of the houses Is
so accurate that they can be easily
located. One of the places usually
visited in this section is the cele-
brated French Market. The new
health commissioner of Louisiana
has made most extraordinary ef-
fort to put the entire city in SAN
itary condition, and he considered
the markets very proper place to
begin. am very glad never saw
the markets In their previous UNI
sanitary condition, for they are
neither u pleasure to the eye nor
| sense of smell. | declined to go to
the French Market, for ] had been to
two others up town which had been
pronounced sanitary, and had no
relish for seeing anything worse. II
the contestants in the St. Louis Star
"Swat the Fly crusade had been In
either market, they could have cap
tured million at one fell swoop.
Enough of that
To one who is accustomed to look
upon palm with four or five leaves
as fine plant, Ii Is wonderful to
see the gigantic palmetto and date
palms which line the streets aud
ddorn the yards, which are also
filled with Towering plants of all
kinds. st. Charles is the principal
residence street, and for many
squares of its seven miles is lined
on each side with magnificent resi-
dences and public buildings, all Of
which have these palms growing,
some of them as high as the houses
themselves. Between the street
cars going each way, there is a park
like place, green with grass and
palms, The traffic laws are so
strict that there is little danger in
crossing the streets, even in the
congested business section, provided
you keep your eyes opened to the
right direction. In the first few
days while riding in the auto
mobile down town, had to brace
myself steadily to keep from being
afraid of running over people, but |
soon found that there was scarcely
any danger of this.
| had always heard of the New Or
leans cemeteries where people were
buried on top of the ground, but |
never had the slightest conception Of
how this was done until | visited
them. They are truly the "City of
the Dead, f" for cities always imply
houses. and the little houses are the
tombs and resting places of the dead
Some of them are very ornate and
some only blocks of fine marble
with the door to open and place the
collins on the shelves inside. Many
of the cemeteries contain beautiful
works of art in the form of scnlp-
tured figures and statues. An i'm
posing one is life-size horse with
the figure of General Albert Sidney
Johnson surmOuntiug n large mound