Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/675

LOUISIANA 669 U. S. CENSUS. White. Free colored. Slaves. Total. 1810... 84,311 7,585 84,660 76,556 1820 73383 10476 69,064 153407 1830 89441 16 710 109 588 215 739 1840 1850.. .. 158,457 255 491 25,502 17,462 168,452 244,809 852,411 517 762 1860 857 456 18647 331 726 708 002 1870 362,065 364,210 726,915 Included in the last total are 71 Chinese and 569 Indians. In aggregate population Loui- siana ranks 21st among the states, the gain since 1860 being 2*67 per cent. ; in white pop- ulation, 27th, gain 1*29 per cent. ; in colored population, 7th, gain 3'95 per cent. Of the total population in 1870, 665,088 were native and 61,827 foreign born ; 362,165 were males and 364,750 females. Of the natives, 501,864 were born in the state, 31,628 in Mississippi, 30,033 in Virginia and West Virginia, 20,446 in Alabama, 15,969 in Georgia, 10,838 in South Carolina, 8,320 in Kentucky, 7,283 in North Carolina, 6,864 in Tennessee, 6,486 in Mary- land, 4,709 in Texas, 3,913 in New York, 3,747 in Arkansas, 2,925 in Missouri, 1,698 in Penn- sylvania, 1,499 in Ohio, and 1,497 in Florida. Of persons born in the state, 63,133 were living in other states and territories. Of the foreigners, 18,933 were born in Germany, 17,068 in Ire- land, 12,341 in France, 2,811 in England, 1,889 in Italy, 1,772 in Cuba and other West India islands, and 1,130 in Spain. Of the colored, 307,610 were blacks and 56,600 mulattoes. There were 159,007 citizens of the United States 21 years old and upward. The number of families was 158,099, with an average of 4-6 persons to each; of dwellings, 150,427, with an average of 4-83 persons to each. There were 257,184 persons 10 years old and over unable to read; 276,158 were unable to write, of whom 268,773 were natives and 7,385 for- eigners, 23,888 white males and 26,861 white females, 109,463 colored males and 115,530 colored females; 46,878 were between 10 and 15 years of age, 45,227 between 15 and 21, and 183,637 were 21 years old and over. Of the last number, 12,048 were white males and 76,612 colored males. There were 447 blind persons, 197 deaf and dumb, 451 insane, and 286 idiotic. The number of persons convicted of crimes during the year was 1,559; num- ber of paupers supported, 590. There were 256,452 persons 10 years old and over (198,- 168 males and 58,284 females) returned as en- gaged in occupations, of whom 141,467 were employed in agriculture, 65,347 in professional and personal services, 23,831 in trade and transportation, and 25,807 in manufactures and mechanical and mining industries. Among the special industries represented were : agricultural laborers, 97,783 ; farmers and planters, 41,672 ; domestic servants, 26,833 ; laborers, 25,525 ; clergymen, 404 ; lawyers, 663 ; physicians and surgeons, 939 ; teachers, 1,570 ; traders and deal- ers, 7,797; clerks, salesmen, &c., 7,157; carmen, draymen, &c., 2,021 ; sailors, steamboatmen, &c., 2,176; blacksmiths, 1,483; boot and shoe makers, 1,594; masons and stone cutters, 1,135 ; butchers, 1,110 ; carpenters and joiners, 4,578 ; coopers, 1,141 ; painters and varnishers, 1,020 ; tailors, tailoresses, and seamstresses, 2,559. Among the descendants of the French settlers in many portions of the state French is still the vernacular. The surface of the state is generally low and level. In the S. part nearly one fourth of it lies but 10 ft. above the sea, and is liable to frequent inundations from freshets in the rivers. Much of the delta of the Mississippi is occupied by swamps, and the coast is lined with extensive salt marshes. N. of these, on the W. of the Mississippi, are vast level prairies, having but little greater elevation. The W. margin of that river is also low, inter- sected by numerous streams, and liable to inun- dation. N. and W. of these two tracts is a re- gion occupying about half of the state, some- what broken and diversified by low hilly ranges, nowhere rising above 200 ft. The E. corner of the state, lying between the Mississippi and Pearl rivers and Lake Pontchartrain and the state of Mississippi, resembles the region last described in its general features. In ascending the Mississippi, the E. bank first rises to form a natural barrier a few feet above the highest level of the river, at Baton Rouge ; at Port Hudson, 25 m. further up, the bluffs are nearly 100 ft. high ; and at Natchez they attain a height of 200 ft. Below Baton Rouge on both banks, and on the W. bank throughout the state, the country requires to be protected by levees. More than 1,500 m. of these have been built on the Mississippi, the Red, the Laf ourche, the Atchafalaya, the Black, and the Washita rivers, and on numerous important bayous, at great cost. Occasionally they burst, and great damage is caused by the overflow. One of the most extensive inundations ever known was occasioned by crevasses in the levees in the spring of 1874, when in Louisiana alone 31 parishes were wholly or partially overflowed. The damage to crops and property was very great, and ^thousands of the inhabitants were preserved from starvation only by the bounty of the government and the contributions of" the benevolent. Louisiana has a coast line of 1,256 m. on the gulf of Mexico. This includes the many irregular bays and other indentations, but not the islands belonging to the state, which have an aggregate coast line of 994 m. Toward the S. E. extremity lies Lake Borgne, which is properly a bay, communicating by two channels with Lake Pontchartrain, and open- ing into Mississippi sound. S. of Lake Borgne, and separated from it by the peninsula of St. Bernard parish, is Isle au Breton sound. Swan bay, Black bay, and Oyster bay are inlets of this sound. Bay Ronde and West bay lie on either hand of the delta of the Mississippi ; and on the S. coast are Barataria, Tirnbalier, Terre- bonne, Caillou, Atchafalaya, C6te-Blanche, and Vermilion bays. Although the entire coast except in the S. W. part is exceedingly irreg-