French Quarter, on one side and the New Town, or American Quarter, on the
other. This is the main thoroughfare of the city. It is a wide street,
well-kept and busy. Here are many of the great retail stores, and to this
street comes every car line. From Canal Street one may take a car to any
section of the city, and a car taken in any part of New Orleans will
sooner or later bring one to Canal Street. On this street are handsome
stores, club buildings, hotels, railroad stations, and the United States
customhouse. The upper end of the street is a beautiful residence
section, whose houses are surrounded by spacious lawns and fine trees.
Almost all of these houses have wide galleries, or verandas, upon which
their owners may sit and enjoy, all the year round, the balmy air of the
southern climate. Very seldom does the temperature drop below 30 degrees
Fahrenheit. Usually it is between 50 and 60 degrees, and even in summer
it varies only between 75 and 90 degrees. New Orleans is really cooler in
summer than some of our northern cities, being so surrounded by river and
lakes.
[Illustration: A CREOLE COURTYARD]
The old New Orleans lies northeast of Canal Street. Here the early
settlers established their homes, and in this French Quarter the French
language is still in common use, and many old French customs are
observed. The streets, many of which bear French names, are narrow and
roughly paved and are closely built up with old-fashioned brick buildings
ornamented with iron verandas. Open gateways in the front of many a
gloomy-looking house give us a glimpse of attractive interior courts, gay
with flowers and splashing fountains. Many other courts, alas, are
deserted or neglected, for this is no longer the fashionable section of
New Orleans. Most of the city's creole population lives in the French
Quarter. These people are the descendants of the early French and Spanish
inhabitants.
[Illustration: JACKSON SQUARE AND THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. LOUIS]
In the French Quarter is Jackson Square, which was the center of
governmental life in the early years of the city. Here are the
Cabildo--the old Spanish court building--and the Cathedral of St. Louis,
an old and beautiful church. On Chartres Street is the Archiepiscopal
Palace, said to be the oldest public building in the Mississippi Valley.
[Illustration: BAYOU ST. JOHN]
The French Market is one of the world's famous market places. In the long
low buildings occupying four city blocks may be found fruits, vegetables,
meats, fish, and game in wonderful variety. To the Oyster Lugger Landing
come the oyster boats, bringing from the bays of the Gulf coast some of
the finest oysters in America. Other points of interest in the French
Quarter are the Royal Hotel, formerly known as the St. Louis Hotel; the
United States mint; the Soldiers' Home, whose gardens are noted for their
beauty; Bayou St. John, a picturesque waterway; and Jackson Barracks.
[Illustration: ST. ROCH'S CHAPEL]
Two other places must not be slighted. In the Ursuline convent stands a
statue before which, on January 8, 1815, the nuns prayed for the success
of the Americans in the battle of New Orleans. Then there is St. Roch's
Shrine, a chapel built by Father Thevis. Each stone in it was placed by
his own hands, in fulfillment of a vow that "if none of his parishioners
should die of an epidemic, he would, stone by stone, build a chapel in
thanksgiving to God." This ancient shrine is visited by thousands of
people every year.
To the southwest of Canal Street is the American Quarter. This was
originally a tract of land, known as the Terre Commune, reserved by the
French government for public use. But after a while the land was laid out
in streets. Soon the merchants of this section began to trade with the
North and West. The river boats landed in front of the Faubourg St.
Marie, as this part of the city was then called, bringing tobacco,
cotton, pork, beef, corn, flour, and fabrics. Commercial buildings sprang
up, and as the trade was distinctly American, the district came to be
known as the American Quarter.
In the days when the French Quarter was all there was of New Orleans, the
city was in the shape of a half moon or crescent. The newer part of the
city follows the course of the river and makes the New Orleans of to-day
more like a letter S.
[Illustration: ST. CHARLES AVENUE]
St. Charles Avenue is the most beautiful residential street in the
American Quarter. It is a wide avenue with driveways on either side of a
grassy parkway. Rows of trees, many of them stately palms, border the
avenue. Here are splendid homes, each with its flower beds and gardens of
tropical plants.
Churches and charitable institutions abound in New Orleans. One of the
latter, Touro Infirmary, covers an entire city block. This infirmary was
endowed by Judah Touro, a Jew, and is supported by Jews, but receives
sufferers of any creed. In its courtyard is a fountain erected by the
Hebrew children of New Orleans.
Tulane University is the most renowned educational institution in the
city, and is noted for its medical and engineering departments. On
Washington Avenue is the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College for young
women, which is the women's department of Tulane University.
The great hotels and many restaurants of the city are noted throughout
the United States. The creole cooks have made famous such dishes as
chicken gumbo, chicken à la creole, and pompano.
The country around New Orleans is one of the richest in the world. Within
a few hours' ride of the city are great fields of cotton, sugar, and
rice. Two hundred miles from the city are immense deposits of sulphur and
salt. Oil fields are within easy reach, and coal is brought by water from
the mines of Alabama and even from Pennsylvania. Great forests to the
north furnish lumber which is transported by water to the city, making
New Orleans one of the foremost ports in lumber exportation.
The immense sugar-cane fields of the South look very much like the
cornfields of the more northern states. Negroes cut the cane close to the
ground, as the lower part of the stalk has the most sugar. After the
leaves and tops have been trimmed off, the stalks are shipped to the
presses, cut into small pieces, and crushed between heavy rollers. The
juice is strained, boiled, and worked over to remove the impurities, and
then, in a brownish mass called raw sugar, is sent to great refineries to
be made by more boiling and other processes into the white sugar we use
daily. This sugar industry is very important, as figures show that each
American, both grown-ups and children, consumes an average of more than
seventy pounds of sugar a year.
[Illustration: A SUGAR-CANE FIELD]
[Illustration: A SUGAR REFINERY]
Away down South is the land of cotton as well as the land of sugar, and
there is no more beautiful sight than a field white with the opening
bolls of the cotton plant. Between the long white rows pass the
picturesque negroes with their big baskets into which they put the soft
fleecy cotton as they pick it from the bolls. The raw cotton is then
sent to the cotton gin, where the seeds are taken out to be made into
cottonseed oil. The cotton itself is shipped to factories where it is
made into thread and cotton cloth of all kinds. In addition to the
immense quantities sent to the mills in various parts of the United
States, New Orleans ships to Europe each year over $100,000,000 worth.
When the cotton reaches the city it is in the form of bales covered with
coarse cloth and bound with iron bands. The great steamers waiting at the
dock must fill their holds to the best advantage in order that they may
carry as large an amount as possible on each voyage. The cotton as it
comes from the plantation presses occupies too much space. It is
interesting to stand near the steamship landings and see the workmen cast
off the iron bands and place the bales between the powerful jaws of huge
presses which seem, almost without effort, to close down upon the mass of
fleecy whiteness and cause it to shrink from four feet to about one foot
in thickness. While the cotton is still under pressure, iron bands are
once more placed upon it, and the bale is then taken from the press.
After this process four bales can be loaded on the steamer in the space
which one plantation bale would have occupied.
[Illustration: A BANANA CONVEYOR]
The location of New Orleans near the mouth of the Mississippi and close
enough to the Gulf of Mexico to be called a Gulf port makes it naturally
the great port of exchange of all the products of the Mississippi Valley,
the islands of the Gulf, and the countries on the north coast of South
America. It is the second largest export port in America and is the
world's greatest export market for cotton. Oysters and fish in abundance
are brought to the city from the Gulf, making New Orleans one of the
largest fish-and-oyster markets in the United States. More bananas arrive
at New Orleans than at any other port in the world. The great bunches of
fruit are unloaded by machinery, placed upon specially designed cars, and
sent by the fastest trains to the various parts of the United States.
With the sugar-producing districts so near, New Orleans is, of course,
one of our country's chief sugar markets. The largest sugar refinery in
the world is located here.
We have already mentioned the water front, but this important and
interesting part of the city deserves more attention. For fifteen miles
along the river, the port of this great city stretches in an almost
unbroken line of wharves and steel sheds. The steamboat landings are near
the foot of Canal Street, and here may be seen the river packets from
Northern cities and the little stern-wheelers which run up Red River.
Above is the flatboat landing, and further on still are the
tropical-fruit wharves and miles of wharves for foreign shipping.
Just below Canal Street are the sugar sheds, where barrels and hogsheads
of sugar and molasses cover blocks and blocks. At Julia Street are huge
coffee sheds where more than 80,000 bags of coffee, each bag holding
about 138 pounds, can be stored in the large steel warehouses. At
Louisiana Avenue are the huge Stuyvesant Docks, which cover 2000 feet of
river frontage. One of the big elevators here will hold 1,500,000 bushels
of grain, another 1,000,000 bushels. Each one can unload 250 cars a day
and deliver freight to 4 steamships at the same time.
[Illustration: MARDI GRAS PARADE]
While the people of this interesting Southern city are great workers,
they are quite as fond of play as of work. Their love of music is shown
by their fine opera house, where celebrated French operas are given.
Because of its gayety, which attracts many visitors, especially in
winter, New Orleans has been called the Winter Capital of America.
The city's great holiday is the Mardi Gras carnival, which is celebrated
just before Lent. The keys of the city are then given over to the King of
the Carnival, and all day long high revelry holds sway. Brilliant floats,
representing scenes of wonderful quaintness and loveliness, parade
through flower-garlanded avenues thronged with people who have come from
every quarter of the globe. Carried away by the spirit of the fête, these
guests join with the citizens in turning New Orleans for the time into a
fairy city of wonder and delight.
=NEW ORLEANS=
FACTS TO REMEMBER
Population (1910), nearly 350,000 (339,075).
Fifteenth city in rank, according to population.
The natural port of export and exchange for the Mississippi Valley.
The second largest export port in the United States.
The world's greatest export market for cotton.
The center of a great sugar industry.
A great import port for tropical fruit and coffee.
Splendid harbor and shipping facilities along the river.
Excellent communications by water and rail with other great American
cities.
Protected by great levees from overflow of the Mississippi River.
Holds annually a great Mardi Gras carnival.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND STUDY
1. Tell briefly the story of the settlement of New Orleans.
2. Can you tell why it was important for the United States to own
New Orleans?
3. Describe the city's part in two wars. What wars were they?
4. What great natural disadvantages were overcome in improving the
city of New Orleans, and how was it done?
5. State some facts about the principal business street of the city.
What unusual arrangement of street cars is found in New Orleans?
6. Contrast the French Quarter of the past with the same section as it
is to-day.
7. What is interesting about Jackson Square?
8. Tell what you can of the river front.
9. What are the chief imports and exports of New Orleans?
10. Give a brief account of the preparation of cotton, from the field
to its being loaded for shipment to foreign lands.
11. Do you know why so much cotton is sent to foreign countries?
12. Tell how sugar is made from the sugar cane. Do you know from what
else we get sugar?
13. Tell what you can of the Mardi Gras carnival.
14. Find by reference to a map of the United States the great cities
which may be reached by river steamers from New Orleans.
15. Why was New Orleans called the Crescent City?
WASHINGTON
THE CAPITAL CITY
Washington, the capital city of our nation, is the center of interest for
the whole country. Every citizen of the United States thinks of the city
of Washington as a place in which he has a personal pride.
Here one may see in operation the work of governing a great nation. The
representatives whom the people have chosen meet in the splendid Capitol
to make laws for the whole country. The home of the president is here,
and here are located the headquarters of the great departments of our
government.
The capital city is a city of splendid trees, of wide, well-paved streets
and handsome avenues. At the intersection of many of the streets and
avenues are beautiful parks and circles, ornamented by statues of the
great men of the nation.
"How," we are asked, "did it happen that the capital of a great nation
was built almost on its eastern boundary?" The distance from Washington
to San Francisco is 3205 miles. In other words, Washington is almost as
near to London as to San Francisco. The answer is simple. The site was
chosen when the settled part of our country lay between the Allegheny
Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. At that time most of the land west of
the Alleghenies was looked upon as a wilderness whose settlement was
uncertain, while no one dreamed that the infant nation would extend its
boundaries to the Pacific Ocean.
"And why was it decided to build a new city as the nation's capital, on a
site where there was not even a settlement? Why was not some city already
established chosen to be the chief city of the nation?" The story is
interesting.
Before the Revolutionary War the colonies were much like thirteen
independent nations, having little to do with one another, but during the
war a common peril held them together in a loose union. With the danger
passed and independence won, this union threatened to dissolve, but
thanks to the influence of the wisest and best men in the country the
thirteen states finally became one nation and adopted the Constitution
which governs the United States to-day. Then discussion arose as to the
site of the new nation's capital. Several states clamored for the honor
of having one of their cities chosen as the government city. The men who
framed the Constitution were wise enough, however, to foresee difficulty
if this were done, and insisted that the seat of government should be in
no state but in a small territory which should be controlled entirely by
the national government.
After much debate the present location was chosen, and the two states of
Maryland and Virginia each gave to the federal government entire control
over a small territory on the Potomac River. The two pieces of land
formed a square, ten miles on each side. The territory was named the
District of Columbia, and the city to be built was called Washington in
honor of our first president, whose home, Mount Vernon, was but a few
miles away. Later, in 1846, the Virginia part of the District was given
back, so now all the District is on the Maryland side of the Potomac and
is no longer in the shape of a square.
[Illustration: MOUNT VERNON]
A firm belief in the future of Washington led to the making of very
elaborate and extensive plans for laying out the city. But as the public
buildings began to rise, with great stretches of unimproved country
between them, many thought the plans much too elaborate and feared that
the attempt to build a new city would end in failure. It was in the fall
of 1800 when the government moved to Washington. Then, in 1814, when
things had taken a start, a dreadful misfortune happened; just a few
months before the close of the war of 1812, the British attacked the city
and burned both the Capitol and the White House. In spite of these early
discouragements and years of ridicule, the capital has fully justified
the plans and hopes of the far-seeing men who built not for their own day
but for the years to come.
[Illustration: THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA]
Perhaps one gets the best idea of the city to-day from the height of the
Capitol's beautiful dome that rises over three hundred feet above the
pavement. There is a gallery around the outside of the dome, just below
the lantern which lights its summit, and from here one can see for miles
in any direction.
Our view of the city from this height shows us that most of the streets
are straight and run either north and south or east and west. The east
and west streets are lettered; those running north and south are
numbered. One might easily imagine four great checkerboards placed
together, with the Capitol standing at the point where the four boards
meet. I say four checkerboards, because from the Capitol three great
streets go to the north, the south, and the east, while a broad park runs
away to the west, thus dividing the city into four sections. Running
across the regularly planned streets of these checkerboards are broad
avenues, many of which seem to come like spokes of wheels from parks
placed in different sections of the city. These avenues are named for
different states.
[Illustration: LOOKING WEST FROM THE DOME OF THE CAPITOL]
Close about us is a splendid group of majestic buildings. The Capitol,
upon the brow of the hill overlooking the western part of the city, is
the center of the group. To the north and south of the Capitol rise the
beautiful marble buildings for the use of the committees of the Senate
and the House of Representatives. To the east is the Library of Congress,
the most beautiful building of its kind in the world.
[Illustration: THE CITY OF WASHINGTON]
Toward the northwest and southeast runs Pennsylvania Avenue, one hundred
sixty feet wide, the most famous street in the city. About a mile and a
half up Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol is another imposing group of
public buildings. Here are the Treasury Department, the Executive
Mansion,--the home of the president,--and the State, War, and Navy
Building. Pennsylvania Avenue leads past the fronts of these buildings
and on for more than two miles to the far-western part of the city.
[Illustration: A VIEW OF PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE]
Directly west from the Capitol we look along the fine parkways which
divide the city in that direction just as do the main streets which run
from the Capitol to the north, east, and south. This handsome series of
parks is called the Mall. In the Mall are a number of public buildings
placed in an irregular line stretching west from the Capitol, with
sufficient distance between them to allow spacious grounds for each
building. Here we find the home of the Bureau of Fisheries, the Army
Medical Museum, the National Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the
Department of Agriculture, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and the
Washington Monument.
As we walk around the gallery of the Capitol dome, we see that almost
every street and avenue is lined on either side with beautiful shade
trees which give the city a gardenlike appearance. And looking toward the
south we see the eastern branch of the Potomac meeting the main stream
and flowing away in a majestic river, over a mile in width. On all sides
of the city the land rises in beautiful green hills, guarding the
nation's capital as it lies nestled between the river's protecting arms.
Having this picture of the general plan of Washington, let us visit some
of the buildings; first of all the Capitol, for it is the most imposing
as well as the most important building in the city. For a good view of
the building, walk out upon the spacious esplanade which extends across
the eastern front. Even here it is hard to appreciate that the Capitol is
over 751 feet long, 350 feet wide, and covers more than 3-1/2 acres of
ground. The eastern front shows the building to have three divisions, a
central building and a northern and a southern wing. Each division has a
splendid portico with stately Corinthian columns and a broad flight of
steps leading to the portico from the eastern esplanade.
[Illustration: THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL]
Every four years a new president of the United States is elected, and
March 4 is the day on which he takes office. On this day a great stand is
put up over the steps leading to the central portico of the Capitol, and
upon this platform a most imposing ceremony takes place. Here the new
president, in the presence of all the members of Congress, the
representatives of foreign nations, many distinguished guests, and an
immense throng of people, takes upon himself the obligations of his high
office. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court holds a Bible before the
president, who places his hand upon it and repeats these words: "I do
solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of
the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect
and defend the Constitution of the United States." After the president
has delivered his inaugural address, a splendid procession escorts him to
his new home, the Executive Mansion.
[Illustration: WHEN PRESIDENT WILSON WAS INAUGURATED]
Above the central division of the Capitol building, which for many years
served as the entire Capitol, rises the imposing dome from which we have
just come. It is crowned with a lantern upon the top of which is placed
the statue of Freedom.
Across the western front of the Capitol is a marble terrace overlooking
the lower part of the city. Though the western front is ornamented with
colonnades of Corinthian columns, it lacks the splendid approaches of the
eastern side.
This immense building, representing the dignity and greatness of our
nation, is given over almost entirely to the work of lawmaking. In the
central part is the large rotunda beneath the lofty dome. The northern
wing is occupied by the Senate of the United States, while the southern
wing is the home of the House of Representatives. We enter the rotunda by
the broad stairs leading from the eastern esplanade and find ourselves in
a great circular hall, almost a hundred feet in diameter, whose walls
curve upward one hundred and eighty feet. At the top a beautiful canopy
shows the Father of his Country in the company of figures representing
the thirteen original states. About these are other figures, personifying
commerce, freedom, mechanics, agriculture, dominion over the sea, and the
arts and sciences. Encircling the upper part of the walls, but many feet
below the canopy, is a frieze of scenes from the history of the United
States.
Around the lower part of the walls are eight great paintings. Four of
them are the work of one of Washington's officers, Colonel John Trumbull
of Connecticut, and are of great interest because the figures are actual
portraits of the people represented. These paintings show the signing of
the Declaration of Independence, the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga,
the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, and the resignation of General
Washington at the close of the Revolution.
[Illustration: STATUARY HALL, IN THE CAPITOL]