Other Landmarks in New Orleans--A Beautiful Ceremony and an
Unfinished Monument.

New Orleans is known throughout the world for the splendor of its
carnivals. As one of the great Creole cities of the world, it has for
more than half a century made merry once a year, and given quite a
business aspect to carnival festivities. The Creole is one of the
interesting characters to be met with in a tour through the United
States. As a rule, he or she is joyous in the extreme, and believes most
heartily in the wisdom of the command to "laugh and grow fat." The
genuine Creole scarcely knows what it is to be sad for more than a few
hours at a time, a very little pleasure more than offsetting a very
great deal of trouble and suffering. A desire to move around and to
enjoy changes of scene is a special feature of the Creole, and hence the
spectacular effects of the carnival procession appeal most eloquently to
him.

Many Eastern and Northern people confound the term "Creole" and
"Mulatto," believing that the former name is given to the offspring of
mixed marriages, which take place in spite of the vigilance of the laws
of most of the Southern States. This is entirely a mistake, for the
genuine Creole, instead of being an object of contempt and pity, is
rather an aristocrat and of a higher caste than the average white man.
Strictly speaking, the term implies birth in this country, but foreign
parentage or ancestry. It was originally applied to the children of
French and Spanish settlers in Louisiana, and in that application
applied only to quite a handful of people. As time has worn on, and
French emigration has ceased, and the Spaniard has been gradually pushed
south, the number of actual Creoles has of course diminished rapidly.
The name, however, by common consent, has been perpetuated and is
retained by descendants in the third and fourth generations of original
Creoles. Some of the Creoles of to-day are very wealthy, and many of the
others are comparatively poor, changes in modes and conditions of life
having affected them very much. Although the very name Creole suggests
Spanish origin, there is more French blood among the Creoles of to-day
than that of any other nation. The vivacious habits and general love of
change so common among French people, continue in their descendants. The
old plan of sending the children over to France to be educated has been
largely abandoned in these later days, but the influences of Parisian
l