USA > Louisiana > Orleans Parish > New Orleans > Standard history of New Orleans, Louisiana, giving a description of the natural advantages, natural history settlement, Indians, Creoles, municipal and military history, mercantile and commercial interests, banking, transportation, etc. > Part 45
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THE PRODUCE EXCHANGE.
Until the year 1883 the merchants of New Orleans were without any building specially devoted to the purposes of a Produce Exchange. In that year the dealers in Western produce came together and determined upon the purchase of the old St. James Hotel, on Magazine street, near Natchez, in the rear of which they have caused to be constructed a spacious and well-lighted hall, where, at all hours of the day the produce merchants congregate for business.
LIBRARIES.
According to tradition the first public library of New Orleans was established about 1801, but no reliable data concerning it is obtainable. The New Orleans Library Society was incorporated in 1805, with an unlimited capital, the shares being $25. The mayor and recorder of the city, with the treasurer of the territory
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and three other gentlemen, were appointed as commissioners to take subscriptions, and as soon as fifty shares should be disposed of the subscribers were to meet for the purpose of electing seven of their number as trustees, said trustees to remain in office until the third Monday of January, 1806, when their successors, who would have been elected on the previous Monday, were to assume control. In March, 1816, a supplementary act was passed providing for the sale of forfeited stock, no sale being valid unless the amount realized should suffice to pay the arrearages on the shares sold. This does not indicate a very prosperous state of affairs for the society. The same act authorized an annual lottery to be held for ten successive years for the benefit of the institution. The capital stock of the lottery was not to exceed $2,000, and the directors were allowed to retain not more than twenty per cent of that amount. The ultimate fate of the society is involved in obscurity, but it is probable that it died of inanition.
Eight years seem to have elapsed before another attempt was made to estab- lish a public library. Finally, April 10, 1824, upon petition of a number of prominent gentlemen, the Touro Free Library Society of New Orleans was incor- porated. It was called for Judah Touro, the philanthropic merchant who gave away over. $400,000 in charity, and who is credited with the intention of erecting a building for it. There is no record of the building having been constructed, but the library is said to have existed for six years.
The State Library was established under an act of the Legislature approved March 12, 1838, beginning its existence with about 3,000 volumes, which increased within a short time to 6,000. It was designed for the use of citizens, strangers and members of the Legislature-chiefly for the latter. With the transfer of the State capital to Baton Rouge, the library was also removed to that city. In 1861 it contained 50,028 volumes, including duplicates and State publications. Many of these were of great value. During the war the State House was burned, greatly to the loss of the library, the remnant of which was removed to the City Hall of New Orleans. In 1864 the librarian, Mr. J. B. Carrigan, reported the number of volumes to be 24,120, which he recommended should be removed to the Tulane University building, corner Tulane avenue and University place, which recommen- dation was adopted and acted upon. In February, 1896, it was again removed to its present quarters in Tulane Hall, on University place, near Canal. The library at present contains something over 20,000 volumes, among which is a collection of works in French-about 5,000 in number-relating to the history of the State, many of them of great value.
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A private library, known as the "Commercial Library," appears to have come into being about 1838, and to have endured until 1842, when B. F. French, a public-spirited citizen, bought it and threw it open as a free library. In 1846 it occupied two rooms in the Merchants' Exchange on Royal street, and numbered about 7,500 volumes. This, too, lived about six years.
The Young Men's Free Library Association, instituted about 1842, and opened at the corner of Custom House and Exchange place, contained a well-selected collec- tion of 2,000 volumes. It seems to have vanished, leaving "not a rack behind."
The Lyceum, or Public School Library, was inaugurated in 1845, through the efforts of Mr. Shaw, superintendent of the public schools; Samuel J. Peters, and others, as an adjunct of the public schools of the second municipality. It numbered at first some 3,000 volumes, and by 1848 had increased to 7,500. A monthly subscription of 25 cents entitled the pupils of the public schools to the benefits of this library, while a fee of $10 made the subscriber a life member, without further charge. In 1850 the library was placed in the still unfinished City Hall, and soon afterward became the property of the city.
The Fisk Library was founded in 1849 by Mr. Alvarez Fisk, who in order to carry out the wishes of his deceased brother, for the establishment of a library which should be free to all, bought the old "Commercial Library" from Mr. French, and offered the entire collection, then consisting of 6,000 volumes, to the city, with "a building on Custom House street for their reception." A singular apathy seemed to prevail in the community with regard to the handsome gift ; no adequate provision was made by the city council or the public for its acceptance, although it still continued to increase under the generous zcal of its custodian, Mr. French. Finally the use of it was granted to the Mechanics' Institute, and subsequently to the Louisiana University, and to its successor, Tulane, the city continuing prac- tically without an entirely free public library until January, 1897, when the doors of the present "Fisk Free and Public Library" were thrown open.
This library has been formed by the consolidation of the Lyceum Library- the volumes of which circulated only among life-members and teachers of the public schools-and the Fisk Library, which was almost exclusively a reference library. In February, 1895, the city council took under consideration the subject of providing a building for the reception of these two libraries. The court build- ing on Camp street, opposite Lafayette square, having been determined upon, the two libraries were given over to the control of the city in 1896, the newly appointed library board meeting for the first time in December of that year. Mr. William
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Beer, librarian of the Howard Memorial Library, who had been active in urging forward the movement of consolidation, was appointed librarian, and under his energetic and sagacious management the new institution was rapidly organized and put upon a working basis.
The fund for the organization, equipment, and support of this library for 1897 was $17,000, including interest and unexpended balance from the Fisk en- dowment of $2,000, the rental of stores on the ground floor of the library building, and an annual appropriation by the city council. For this first year this appro- priation was $1,500; for the second year $7,000, for $1898, $48,500. The annual appropriation will doubtless increase as the library becomes more and more ap- preciated.
About 28,000 volumes were received from the two libraries, each contributing an equal number. Of fiction only 250 volumes were available, and as this class of literature is always and everywhere in demand, nearly 8,000 volumes were immediately added, including a considerable number of volumes of French fiction, and about 800 books for children. From the day of opening the circulation of books has been very large, indicating the crying need for a free circulating library. The conditions governing the drawing of books bring them within the reach of all classes of people.
The number of cardholders is 10,200, which does not include children who draw on the cards of their parents. The average monthly circulation is 6,800 volumes for home use, and 500 for library use, and the number of cards issued monthly is 400. The highest circulation for one day is 504, and the lowest, 140. The staff consists of the librarian, six assistants, one boy and two porters. Nearly one-third of the issue is to children under fifteen years of age.
The library is on the second floor of the building in what was formerly known as St. Patrick's Hall, the dimensions of the floor space being 80x100 feet. Ad- joining the large room on the southeast side, and opening into it by a wide double door, is a room of 1,200 square feet reserved as a reading room for ladies and children; and at the west end, is the room occupied by the board of education. The large room is well lighted by large windows on the north side, and smaller ones on the other sides. At night electricity is used for lighting at a cost of $72 for 112 lamps.
This library has on file nearly 300 of the best current periodicals,-American, English, French, German and Italian publications being represented. Thirty daily papers from different sections of the country are also taken, as well as one from
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each of the great cities of London, Paris and Berlin. It is the intention of the library to circulate most of its books and bound periodicals, and those over two months old are allowed to be taken out. Valuable works may also be drawn by making a deposit.
As soon as funds are available it is the design of the directors to convert the large gallery of the main room into a special study room for teachers and pupils, and to make generous loans of books to schools. The facilities of the library will also be rendered more accessible to the public by the establishment of three delivery stations in different portions of the city. And thus in every way possible the library will become more and more influential as an educational factor in the city's lifc.
The Howard Memorial Library, at the corner of Camp street and Howard avenue, was erected in 1888 at the expense of Miss Annie T. Howard, now Mrs. Walker Parrott, at a cost of $115,000. It was presented on the day of its opening to a board of trustees consisting of the most prominent men of the city, with a sum of money which has grown to $200,000, and which is invested for the maintenance and increase of the library. The original 8,000 volumes have also (1899) swelled to 40,000 books and pamphlets, and the library has become an exceedingly valuable institution to the citizens of New Orleans, and to all who have occasion to visit it, and avail themselves of its advantages. All departments of learning are repre- sented, and in many languages. Encyclopedias, dictionaries, works on religion, and philosophy, sociology, political economy, law, naval and military science, edu- cation, customs and fork-lore. Works on the history and development of the Anglo-Saxon, Teutonic and Eastern languages, as well as on history of the early French, and on the sciences, including mathematics and chemistry, medicine and agriculture. Literature in all its phases is well represented, including general and local history.
In the basement are sets of New Orleans papers in occasional years to 1873, and regularly from that date to the present time, with numerous governmental publi- cations. The library is one of the congressional depositories, and has a fine collection of publications of the Smithsonian Institute, and a large number of the publications of the different departments of the United States Government.
The building, which is unique in appearance, is of rough brown stone, and was designed by Richardson, the celebrated architect, being the last plan he ever drew. The interior is beautifully finished in polished hardwoods, and is divided into numerous alcoves for the reception of books, an alcove being devoted to cvery
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branch of learning, and a large circular reading room abundantly lighted by broad windows. Mr. Frank T. Howard, brother of Mrs. Parrott, has devoted much time and attention to the enlargement and perfecting of the library, which reflects great credit upon its managers.
The Howard Memorial Hall is the gift to the city of Mr. Frank T. Howard. It was erected in 1889 from a design by Sully, as a depository of objects of historic interest, and relics of the Civil War. It is of red brick, and is finished on the inside in the same manner as the library, with the addition of a number of glass cases ar- ranged about the walls, and filled with documents, swords, pistols, muskets, and other relics of the "late unpleasantness." Battle flags adorn the ceiling, and beneath their dingy folds Confederate veterans often assemble to fight their battles over, and to dis- cuss the affairs of their various camps. The Hall is under the management of a board of governors, composed of five members from each of the four camps of veterans forming the Louisiana Historical Association, and five from the board of directors of the Howard Memorial Library.
The Memorial Hall adjoins the Library on the north side, and is entered . from Camp street. It was dedicated January 8, 1891, and transferred by Mr. Howard to the Louisiana Historical Association. The original cost of the building was about $40,000, which has recently been increased by the addition of an orna- mental portico to the Camp street front.
On September 19, 1899, an interesting ceremony took place at this entrance. The occasion was the presentation of an historic gun, formerly belonging to the Fifth company of the Washington Artillery to the Louisiana Historical Association. The gun was called the "Lady Slocomb," in honor of the wife of Captain Cuthbert Slocomb, who commanded the Fifth at the time of the surrender, April 4th, 1865. It was in use at Spanish Fort at that time, and lay buried in the earth until 1890, when it was resurrected by surviving members of the company. It was presented to the Association by Colonel J. A. Chalaron, the last remaining officer of the company. Colonel Edward Palfrey, president of the Association, introduced Rev. A. Gordon Bakewell, Chaplain of the Artillery, who offered the opening prayer. The gun, an eight-inch columbiad, was unveiled by order of E. P. Cottraux, commander of Camp No. 15, U. C. V., the veterans who unveiled it being under command of Corporal Charles W. Fox, who commanded the gun in action. Colonel Chalaron delivered the presentation address, Colonel Palfrey the address of welcome and Rev. B. M. Palmer, the oration of the occasion.
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HOSPITALS.
The Charity Hospital takes precedence over all the charities of New Orleans, both in point of age and in the munificence of its far-reaching benefits. Its original dates back to the very early years of the colony, and was the gift of a humble sailor, Jean Louis by name, who, having acquired by some fortunate com- mercial transactions what for one in his station was a competency, bequeathed his whole estate for the founding of a hospital. The precise date of this bequest cannot be fixed, but it must have been many years anterior to 1737, at which time Bienville mentions it in one of his reports to the home government as having been already applied to the designated purpose. The sum was not large,-only 12,000 livres,-about $2,500-but it sufficed for the purchase of a house "situated upon a vast location at one of the extreme limits of the city," and for the necessary repairs and furnishings, leaving even a small balance, which was held in reserve for future necds. This humble precursor of the splendid institution which has grown up in the course of something over a hundred and seventy years, was known as the "Hospice des Pauvres," and stood on the west side of Rampart street, on the square bounded by St. Peter and Toulouse, as Miro says, "upon a portion of the grounds allotted to the city's fortifications." The situation was far from favorable, the ground being low and marshy, and therefore insalubrious, but this did not prevent it from becoming an important factor in the municipal economy of that early day, when the city's population hardly numbered 5,000 souls. The fallacious inducc- ments to immigrants held out by Law's Mississippi or East India Company brought over scores of penniless adventurers who were infallibly destined to become a charge upon public charity, and who doubtless swelled the list of patients in the hospital to a number quite out of proportion to the legitimate population. The hospital withstood the hurricane of 1778, which brought such desolation to the colonists, but a similar visitation in 1779 converted it into a heap of ruins, leaving only the kitchen and storehouse standing. In the universal distress nobody was able to offer any assistance to the unfortunate patients so summarily dis- charged from the shelter of their wards, and Governor Miro describes them as "wandering through the city in quest of succor and shelter," and "hourly exposed to perish upon the very streets, or in some obscure by-corner."
The frequent and lengthy conferences between the Governor and the Cabildo resulted in nothing, and matters were at a desperate pass when Don Almonaster y Roxas, the good genius of the city at this period, stepped forward with offers of relicf. His proposition was to rebuild the hospital at his own expense, and to
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appropriate a yearly revenue for its support. Strange to say, this generous proposal, instead of being gratefully accepted, was met with much carping and criticism on the part of certain members of the Cabildo who had never been able to reconcile themselves to the Spanish domination. Don Almonaster was not in the least deterred, however, by the adverse comments of his opponents. Having secured the king's approval of his enterprise, he set about the work in 1782, and in 1784 the new institution, called in honor of the King of Spain, the "New Charity Hospital of St. Charles," was completed. It stood upon the site of its predecessor, "a commodious, substantial edifice, built of brick and mortar, surrounded by suitable dependencies, and provided with a chapel." At the time of Charles' death, in 1785, this chapel was the only house of worship standing in the city, and it was here that the Requiem Mass, and other religious ceremonies in his honor, were performed.
So far Almonaster had carried out his purposes and faithfully fulfilled his promises, and his hospital was doing good work. But a change of administration now oceurred. Miro, who had stood his advocate and friend through all the opposition raised against his project, was succeeded by Baron de Carondelet, a stranger to the colony, who knew not its "Joseph." Quick to take advantage of the new state of affairs, his opponents now set on foot a struggle for supremacy in the management of the hospital which resulted in the total dispossession of the founder of the controlling power he had heretofore exercised. Almonaster, however, who had by this time entered the Cabildo as Regidor Perpetuo (Life Councilman), wasted no time in seeking redress at the hands of the provincial government. He wrote to his King, making a full statement of all his grievances, and when, on a certain day in October, 1793, the members of the Cabildo assembled in their "Salas Capitulares," he had a nice little surprise for them in the shape of an address from "their Lordships, the Governor and Intendant of the Province," enclosing a Real Cedula, making known the fact that the Royal Supreme Council of the Indies approved of the founding in the city by the Regidor Perpetuo, of the "New Charity Hospital of St. Charles," and declaring Don Almonaster to be the "founder, patron, and endower" of that institution. The Council, having heard these documents read, kissed them and placed them upon their heads, "as is done with a letter from the King, our lord and natural master," and pledged themselves henceforth to rceog- nize Don Almonaster as directed. This submissive attitude, however, was not altogether sincere, and many ways were found to hamper and annoy the generous Don in the prosecution of his charitable work. Not only was his demand to be
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installed as Patron of the Hospital complied with tardily and with an ill grace, and his appointment of a physician rejected, but he was subjected to pecuniary loss from unjust lawsuits brought against him in the course of his purchase of grounds facing the Place d'Armes for the parochial church, now the Cathedral, and the Government house he was about to build, and no redress was granted him, when in open audience he had applied to the Governor. He went again to the King, who again interposed in behalf of his faithful servant, and Almonaster, no doubt, felt himself fully recompensed for all the indignities he had suffered when he was able, in November, 1796, to present to the Cabildo two royal "Cedulas," or let- ters patent, the first of which ordered that the physician appointed by him be put in possession of his office with a monthly salary of $30, and that henceforth no confirmation of appointments made by him should be required, it being only neces- sary that notification be sent to the Governor with a statement of the circumstances prompting the action ; and furthermore, that the said Don Almonaster should be re- lieved from the obligation of accounting for his administrative acts in said hospital. The second conferred personal prerogatives which were no doubt dearer to the recipient than even this autocratic power. He was authorized to occupy the most prominent seat in his church, second only to that of the royal vice-patron of the province, and to receive the peace embrace (la paz) during the celebration of mass. It was also ordered that whatever he might undertake, or whatever might occur, he should be treated with distinction, greeted with solicitious regard, and given aid and support, and the Governor of the Province of Louisiana, the Intendant of the Royal Exchequer, the judges and justices of the above mentioned province; were strictly commanded to comply with the royal decree, without contravening it.
Don Almonaster did not long enjoy the honors accorded by the "Royal De- cree," On the 26th of April, 1798, he was transferred to another sphere to which the authority of the King of Spain did not extend, but he still continued to be "treated with distinction" in the city for which he had done so much. He was in- terred in a vault beneath the floor of his own church, where a large marble slab in front of the altar of the Sacred Heart, and of Saint Francis of Assisi still preserves the memory of his honors and of the deeds of which they were the reward. For many years, as the sun went down on Saturday evening, the bells were tolled, and before the altar prayers were offered for the repose of the soul of Don Almonaster-y-Roxas. This custom is, for some reason, no longer observed.
. In 1803 occurred the transfer of Louisiana to the United States and with this event the hospital passed from the jurisdiction of contending Cabildos and Gov-
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ernors into that of practical, matter-of-fact mayors and councilmen, who seem to have been able to "get on" more harmoniously. Nothing worthy of note appears to have taken place during the first two years of the new régime, but in 1805 the struggle for control again broke out in a new form. The widow of Almonaster, who had become Mrs. Castillon by a second marriage, assumed as tutrix of her minor daughter, Micaela, the title of Patroness of the hospital, with all the privileges and authority which had belonged to her former husband. Intrenching heself behind the alleged immunity conferred by the title, she resisted any interference in her management,-or rather, mismanagement,- and all attempts to reform the abuses of authority on the part of the director and subordinates of the institution. Through her attorney she threatened to foreclose and sell at auction the property of the hospital, if the least infringement were attempted upon her exclusive right and privileges, by any one, no matter how high his position, or what his authority in the community. In justification of her attitude she cited the article in the constitution of the hospital, as originally submitted to the King, and approved by him. The men with whom she had to deal, however, stood in no awe of the King of Spain, and were perhaps rather glad to have the opportunity of demonstrating the fact by ordering an inquiry into the provisions of that Royal Charter upon which all these extravagant pretensions were based. The investigation, which was conducted by Mr. Peter Pedesclaux, notary public, and former clerk of the Cabildo, developed some surprising facts. It appeared that the lady, so far from having formerly exercised sole control in the affairs of the hospital, had always been obliged to allow the Governor of the province a share in its management ; and furthermore that Don Almonaster had left no instructions which could in any manner justify her actual pretensions to the direct possession of the patronage. Her name was not mentioned among those recommended by him for this office in the event of his dying without issue, these rights being conferred upon his sister's children, and preference being given to those of the male sex. Failing these, they devolved upon the colonel commanding the militia forces of the city, who was also made the patron's representative in case of his illness or absence from the city. It was also alleged that during her widowhood Madame de Almonaster had made no pretense of controlling the affairs of the hospital in any other capacity than that of tutrix to her minor daughter, an office which, it was claimed, she had forfeited by her second marriage. The Governor was therefore requested to assume the authority over the hospital formerly exercised by the Spanish rulers, and to have the title of patron conferred upon the colonel
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