Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/334

 322 NEW ORLEANS Lake Borgne and of the Rigolets, stands Fort Macomb. Near the western border of Bayou Chef Menteur stands Fort Wood. Fort Pike is in lat. 30 10' N., Ion. 89 38' W., about 30 m. from the centre of the drainage sections of the city. Fort Wood is in lat. 30 8' N., Ion. 89 51' W. Fort Macomb is about 6 m. S. E. of Fort Pike, and is virtually if not actually aban- doned. Fort Pike, being surrounded by salt water, is healthy, while Fort Wood, standing in the midst of marshes, is very insalubrious. From the western boundary of the city to the northeastern (that is, from Carrollton upper line to Bayou Chef Menteur) the distance is about 22 m. ; greatest breadth, at the N. E. ex- tremity, nearly 10m.; breadth from the lake to the river, in the drainage sections, Y m. ; least breadth, from Lake Pontchartrain to Bayou Bienvenu, about 5 m. ; total area of the pres- ent statutory city, about 150 sq. m. The actual city, however, is comprised within the drainage sections, of which not more than one half is closely inhabited, while the other half comprises much that is but barely redeemed from original swamp. These sections cover an area of 26,026 acres, or about 40$- sq. m. They are bounded by lines which have been run for a contem- plated protection levee, and by the river. The W. line is the upper line of the city from the river to the lake, a distance of nearly 5J m. ; the N. line skirts the shore of the lake for nearly 4 m. ; the E. line is irregular, running from the lake to the river, a total distance of about 7| m. It is proposed to make this pro- tection levee sufficiently broad at the top to form a good road. On the lake shore consid- erable progress has already been made, the levee along the river having long since been built. The region enclosed by these lines is lower than the surface of the Mississippi at high water, and besides has a slight general declination toward the lake. Somewhat further back than its centre it is crossed by an irregu- larly curved ridge, called the Metairie ridge on the W. side of the bayou St. John, and the Gentilly ridge on the E. side. Along these ridges run a bayou and a road bearing the same name, but the bayou Gentilly is better known, at least in its eastern course, as the bayou Sau- vage, the name originally given to it. The bayou St. John, running southerly, from about the centre of the protection levee line along the lake, for a distance of nearly 4 m., is contin- ued by the Carondelet canal some 2 m. further in a southeasterly direction to what is known as the Old basin, which stands at the end of Toulouse street, at a distance of about half a mile from the river. About two fifths of a mile from the W. extremity of the lake pro- tection line the New Orleans canal, generally called the New canal, starts parallel to the bayou St. John, and runs S. and S. E. about 6|- m. into what is known as the New basin at the end of Julia street, about three quarters of a mile from the river. Connected with these bayous and canals are a number of others by means of which the city within the limits we are considering is drained. Many new ones are contemplated, several have lately been con- structed, old ones have been lengthened, deep- ened, and otherwise improved, and some use- less or objectionable ones have been filled up. By the bayou St. John and the New canal small vessels bring large quantities of articles from Mobile, Pensacola, the lake shores, and their vicinities. These are, besides some cot- ton, principally lumber, shingles, sand, shells, bricks, tar, oysters, wood, charcoal, fire clay, and garden produce. As many as 50 or 60 ves- sels have been seen in the basins at the same time. Some of these are large schooners, and a few small stern- wheel steamboats have plied among them. North of the Metairie bayou, near the western protection levee line, was the famous Metairie race course ; and south of the bayou, somewhat nearer the levee line, is the Oakland race course. On the same ridge, be- tween the New canal and the bayou St. John, somewhat nearer the latter, is the old city park. Here are numbers of fine large oaks and other trees, as there are also around the race courses and more or less along the whole ridge. This park has never had any proper attention paid to it, and is now but little frequented. A little east of the bayou St. John, on the Gentilly ridge, is a spot called the fair grounds, where periodical fairs, generally annual ones, are held. There is a race course here also. The streets of New Orleans, in width, length, and general appearance, are second to those of no city of its size. As far back as Claiborne street, those running in general parallelism with the river and with each other present an unbroken line from the lower to the upper limits of the city, a distance of about 12 m. Those at right angles to them, or rather to the levee, run from the Mississippi toward the lake with more regu- larity than might be expected from the very sinuous course of the river. Claiborne, Earn- part, St. Charles, Elysian-fields, Esplanade, and Canal streets are about 200 ft. wide, with a banquette or sidewalk about 12 ft. wide on each side, a central portion 25 ft. wide bor- dered on each side by a row of trees and a side- walk of ample width, and a wide road between this central ground and each of the main ban- quettes. On the central portion railroad tracks are laid for several lines of street cars. In Canal street there are many very fine stores and some fine private residences. A number of streets are substantially paved with oblong granite blocks about a foot square by two feet long. Some of them are shelled, and afford very pleasant driving ; but many are unpaved and in very wet weather scarcely available, and in dry weather intolerably dusty. S.ome of the finest streets in the city are in this condition, as Jackson street, and St. Charles street in the greater length of its upper portion. There are ten public squares in the city, counting as such Tivoli circle and the polyhedral oblong Coli- seum place. With the exception of Jackson