The railway lines from New Haven to New York City are the only ones of consequence that have been completely electrified.
New Haven is an important industrial city and has considerable commerce. The harbor has a jetty and a breakwater surmounted by a lighthouse, and the port has a large coasting trade. But it is of more consequence as a manufacturing town, employing many thousands of workers producing hardware, wire, locks, clocks, cutlery, firearms, corsets, india-rubber goods, carriages, furniture, paper, matches, musical instruments, etc.
New Haven was settled in 1638 by a company chiefly from London. In 1639 a government was established under a written constitution, and Theophilus Eaton, the pastor of the colony, was chosen and continued in the governorship until [606] 1658. Church membership was a qualification for suffrage and eligibility to office. The New Haven colony was founded in 1643 by the union of Milford, Guilford and Stamford with New Haven. In the same year it became a member of the confederacy of the United Colonies of New England. The charter of Charles II. for Connecticut (1662) included the New Haven colony, but the latter, supported by Massachusetts and Plymouth, stubbornly opposed absorption and was only forced to accede in 1664. Yale College, founded in Saybrook, was removed to New Haven in 1717. The town was captured by the British under Tryon and Garth, July 5, 1779. It was incorporated as a city in 1784. Joint capital with Hartford from 1701; the government was removed from New Haven altogether in 1873.
New Orleans (nū ôr’lē-ănz), La. [The “Crescent City”; its name is a translation of the French name Nouvelle Orleans, given by them in honor of the Duc d’Orleans, then Regent of France.]
It is the chief city of Louisiana, a great port and mart, and is situated on both sides of the Mississippi River—the greater portion on the east bank—one hundred and seven miles from its mouth, and one thousand one hundred and ninety miles southwest of New York. The Mississippi makes two bends here, whence the city was called “The Crescent City,” but it is now shaped like the letter S. The river is from six hundred to one thousand yards wide, and sixty to two hundred and forty feet deep. The bar at its mouth was removed in 1874-1879 by the Eads jetties in South Pass, and vessels of thirty feet now easily reach New Orleans.
A great part of the city is below the level of the river during the high flood tides, which last for a few days each year, and is protected by a levee or embankment, fifteen feet wide and fourteen feet high. The city is laid out with considerable regularity, and many of the chief streets are wide and shaded with trees. The most important business thoroughfare is Canal Street, which runs at right angles to the river and divides the French Quarter, or “Vieux Carré” on the northeast, from the New City, or American Quarter, on the southwest. The finest residences are in St. Charles Avenue, and in Esplanada Avenue, where the wealthy Creoles have their homes. Of the total population about one-quarter are negroes, while the remaining three-fourths include large proportions of French, German, Irish, Italian and Spanish blood.
While it possesses few imposing buildings, New Orleans is a picturesque city. There are several parks, little improved, but with handsome monuments or statues of Jackson, Lee, Franklin, and others. The custom house of granite cost four million five hundred thousand dollars, and is the largest and most imposing building in the city. It is a large granite building in Canal Street, near the river, and contains a large Marble Hall.
Just below the Custom House, Canal Street ends at the Levee, which extends along the west bank of the Mississippi for about six miles and presents a very animated and interesting scene. At the left is Jackson Square, the old Place d’Armes, which retains its ancient iron railing, and contains a statue of General Andrew Jackson, by Mills. It is adjoined by the Cathedral of St. Louis, a good specimen of the Spanish-Creole style, built in 1792-1794, on the site of the first church in Louisiana, but altered in 1850. It contains some paintings and interesting tombs.
The buildings to the right and left are Court Houses, that to the south having been built for the Cabildo, or City Council of the Spanish régime. In it and in front of it were held the ceremonies attending the cession of Louisiana by the French Government to the United States in 1803.
In Orleans Street, near the east end of the Cathedral, is a Convent of Colored Nuns, which contains what was formerly the famous Quadroon Ballroom, mentioned by Cable, the scene of many celebrated festivities.