2
NEWS
EDITION
Vol. 10, N o . 1
New Orleans to Be Host to A. C. S. T H O S E OF OUR MEMBERS who a t t e n d the spring meeting of t h e AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY in New Orleans, March 28 t o April
1, 1932, will find that much o f the romance and glamor commonly associated with N e w Orleans is d u e t o its port. For the person tied to home and family responsibilities i t is a disturbing a n d unsettling experience t o stroll along t h e docks sniffing the aroma of t h e coffee from Brazil, jute from Calcutta, bananas from Honduras, molasses from Cuba, oil from Progresso, olives a n d lemons from I t a l y , nitrates from Chile, and pineapples from t h e Hawaiian Islands.
UPPER LEFT. GRAIN" ELEVATOR A N D C O T TON WAREHOUSE
CENTTER.
AIRPLANE
V r s w O F THE M I S S I S SIPPI R I V E R W I N D I N G A R O U N D N E W ORLEANS
Opposite the Congress Street Wbarf, i n the bend of t h e river ahead, one sees an a l m o s t complete panorama of N e w Orleans, showing i t s new skyscraper hank "buildings with their pointed towers, and its m a s s e s of lower and less modern structures. T o t h e right is a mass of greenery, flanbied on each side with two red buildings exactly alike, and at the back a church spire with a cross o n t o p . Tiiat i s Jackson Square, th.e heart of the old quarter of 3STew Orleans. Near the foot of Esplanade .Avenue those coming up the river will g e t a glimpse of t h e old gray mint building and a view down a tree-lined street on w h i c h once lived the aristocracy of New Orleans. Extensive wharves with their huge white lettering proceed i n an onbroken line t o Canal Street. The thickest and most interesting spot in t h e river traffic is just below Canal Street. Big freighters a n d passenger ships m a y b e seen going u p or down t h e river, o r lolling a t their wharves, ferries weaving back and forth, and tugs hooting and hustling, handling the traffic of the day. An excursion steamer with amusement features aboard shows visitors t h e sights of t h e port- Ships flying the port flags o f almost aaiy country will be seen a t these wnarves. Looking down Canal Street the visitor will see that i t is very modern after i t s recent repaving and relighting at a cost of S3,50O,000. Justjabove Canal Street is t h e new 2-miUion-dollar coffee terminal, where as m a n y as 4 5 0 m i l l i o n pounds of coffee are received annually. Every third CUD of coffee eons u m e d in the U n i t e d States comes through the Port of N e w Orleans. Above t h e coffee terminal is the wharf of the U n i t e d F r u i t Co., plying with 4 0 "Great White Fleet" steamers between New Orleans and t h e t r o p i c s ; the Cotton Warehouse, which can handle half a million bales of c o t t o n each year; the grain elev a t o r , w h i c h cost the
LOWER RIGHT. CELOT E X P L A N T AT M A R RERO, L A .
There are 5 2 miles of ship space in this port, including the 1 1 miles of the Industrial Canal, a n d of course both sides of t b e Mississippi River. Within t h e c i t y proper, however, are 7 miles of covered sheds, with space allotted to ninety steamship lines making sailings regularly from New Orleans. N e w Orleans' position a s t h e second largest port in America i n foreign i m p o r t and export tonnage, a s well as a great exporting and importing city, is due largely to t h e building o f the famous Eads jetties at t h e mouth of the river fifty years ago, opening a deep channel to t h e Gulf. T h e first indication of t h e approach to the port for a n y o n e coming u p the river and entering t h e Port o f New Orleans for t h e first time is t h e tall sugar refinery at Chalmette, built almost o n the site of t h e Battle o f N e w Orleans. Here 1500 m e n a r e e m ployed i n granulating sugar. Nearer New Orleans i s a large a l cohol manufacturing plant, one o f many o f the kind along t h e river, which converts blackstrap molasses into alcohol. Tank steamers from Cuba bring molasses to the plant. Sometimes a s much as a million gallons of the h e a v y black sirup i s brought i n one steamer. T h e next point of interest is t h e great Todd & Johnson d r y docks. T h e n comes t h e Industrial Canal, which connects t h e river with Lake Pontchartrain, a n d i s expected some day to b e the shortest c u t t o the Gulf of Mexico. Efforts are being made to have t h e Federal Government m a k e it a part of the Intercoastal Canal, which i t is hoped ultimately will extend from t h e Atlantic Coast to the Rio Grande. The quarantine station i s on t h e left bank of t h e river, as is also t h e Algiers Naval Station. Continuing u p t h e river, t h e wharves, where ships from t h e tropics u n l o a d their cargoes of bananas, a r e impressive. N e w Orleans is t h e largest banana port in t h e world, handling a s many a s 23 million bunches of t h e fruit a year. Three great buildings, standing side by side near t h e river, will be sure t o attract the visitor's e y e . These triplets, as alike a s three peas, were built b y t h e Federal Government a s a n army supply base during the war, and cost 15 million dollars.
state 9.5 million dollars and has a storage capacity of 2,600,000 bushels; a n d still higher u p t h e river, t h e coal tipple where such cargoes as bauxite o r e are handled. T h e right bank of the river (when facing downstream) is less busy and colorful, b u t still interesting. Several small towns are situated along t h e bank opposite N e w Orleans. There is located t h e Celotex company, that makes insulating board from bagasse; t h e Penick and Ford plant, t h a t cans cane sirup; t h e Wesson Oil and Snowdrift factory, which puts up vegetable oil compounds; the Johns-Manville roofing plant; a n d others. Numerous alcohol distilleries, fertilizer factories, and shipyards line t h e river front. There i s the town of Westwego, with its tank gardens for oil storage, the towns o f Marrero, Gretna, and Algiers. T h e river boats furnish droll touches t o the picture of the modern Port o f N e w Orleans, b u t it i s such matter-of-fact things a s oil tankers, grain barges, banana ships, and freighters that really cover the canvas. Yet even here may be found sparks of romance t o fire the receptive imagination. Within a few months the $14,500,000 bridge will begin to rise across the river, just a few miles above N e w Orleans, making possible t h e unification of all her port terminals and charges.
