New Orleans

New Orleans has a number of excellent hospitals : the Baptist; Charity; City (for mental diseases) ; Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat; Hotel Dieu; Presbyterian; Soniat Mercy ; and the U.S. Marine and U.S. Veterans' hospitals, the St. Rita Surgical and Touro infirmaries. Practically all of the charitable institutions of New Orleans receive contributions from a community chest. In 1935 these amounted to $590,976.

Over so newspapers and periodicals are published in New Orleans, including two morning and two afternoon papers. The New Orleans Picayune was founded in 1837, the Daily Times in 1863, the Daily Democrat in 1875. The two latter formed the Times-Democrat in 1881 and this and the Picayune became the Times-Picayune in 1914. The Daily Item began publication in 1877; the Daily States started in 1880. The Morning Tribune was first published in There are some 30o churches in New Orleans, representing dif ferent denominations. Roman Catholic churches are the most numerous.

The French opera house, designed by Gallier, was erected in 1859 at the corner of Bourbon and Toulouse streets. It was a distinctive and widely known centre of artistic and social life in New Orleans for many years. The Mardi Gras balls were held there until the building was destroyed by fire in 1919.

The carnival season extends from Twelfth Night to Lent, and its climax is reached in the festivities of Mardi Gras, the eve of Ash Wednesday. The ancient custom of celebrating the car nival was brought to New Orleans by the Latin peoples, and especially by the young creoles who studied in Paris and returned to live in New Orleans. Beginning with Twelfth Night there is a series of brilliant balls, and during the last week the balls of Momus, Proteus and Comus, preceded by gorgeous pageants, bring the season of mirth to a conclusion. On Mardi Gras Rex parades the streets and at night the final parade is that of Comus.

Among writers and historians of note associated closely with New Orleans should be mentioned : John James Audubon, C. E. A. Gayarre, Alcee Fortier, Grace King, Mary Ashley Townsend, Lafcadio Hearn, George W. Cable and Mollie Moore Davis.

Government.

The city government was at first carried out by a mayor and administrators, seven in number. Finally, in 1912, by act of the legislature, the commission form of government was adopted; the mayor became commissioner of public affairs. Four other commissioners have charge of public finances, public safety, public utilities and public property. At the first regular meeting after the election, the commission council by a majority vote as signs one of the councilmen to each of the above named depart ments.

History.

The city of La Nouvelle Orleans was founded by a French governor of Louisiana, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, and was named in honour of the Regent, the Duc d'Orleans. The island of Orleans was chosen for the site, on an elevation along the east bank of the river and about 107 m. from its mouth, between the head of Bayou St. John and the river. Among the advantages of this site were the higher land, accessi bility by two main waterways (the Mississippi and the lakes), and by Bayou St. John for the small craft of that day. On the other side of the river it was not far to Bayou Barataria, which later was destined to become the rendezvous of the famous pirates, Jean and Pierre Lafitte, and which offered access to the gulf without stemming the current of the Mississippi.

There is some doubt as to the exact date of the founding of New Orleans, but it is generally given as 1718. It was then proposed that John Law's famous company, which had obtained charter for the territory from France, should move its head quarters from the barren coast country to the new site. New Orleans thus became the capital of the Colony in 1722. At this time the city had but 10o houses and soo inhabitants. It was laid out in approximately a parallelogram, 4,000 ft. long on the river by 1,800 ft. in depth, divided into regular squares 30o f t. on each side. In 1724 the streets were named. The houses were rude cabins of split cypress boards, roofed with cypress bark. They were separated from one another by willow copses and weed-grown ponds swarming with reptiles. Two squares on the river front near the centre of the city were set apart for military and ecclesiastical uses. The front was the Place d'Armes, now Jackson square; the rear one was early occupied by a church. In 1726 a monastery was erected to the east of the church for the Capuchin monks, who had arrived two years earlier. A company of Ursuline nuns came to New Orleans in 1727. At the same time the Jesuits arrived and received a large tract of land from Bien ville, the French governor. This tract, bounded by what is now Common, Tchoupitoulas, Annunciation and Terpsichore streets, was later added to by donation and purchase and extended to Felicity street. Here the Jesuits cultivated myrtle, the wax of which was then a staple article of commerce; the orange, the fig, indigo and probably sugar-cane. These became staple crops. The Order was suppressed for political reasons in 1763 and its great plantation confiscated by the king of Spain.