The French Market is one of the world's famous market places. In the long low buildings occupying four city blocks may be found fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, and game in wonderful variety. To the Oyster Lugger Landing come the oyster boats, bringing from the bays of the Gulf coast some of the finest oysters in America. Other points of interest in the French Quarter are the Royal Hotel, formerly known as the St. Louis Hotel; the United States mint; the Soldiers' Home, whose gardens are noted for their beauty; Bayou St. John, a picturesque waterway; and Jackson Barracks. [Illustration: ST. ROCH'S CHAPEL] Two other places must not be slighted. In the Ursuline convent stands a statue before which, on January 8, 1815, the nuns prayed for the success of the Americans in the battle of New Orleans. Then there is St. Roch's Shrine, a chapel built by Father Thevis. Each stone in it was placed by his own hands, in fulfillment of a vow that "if none of his parishioners should die of an epidemic, he would, stone by stone, build a chapel in thanksgiving to God." This ancient shrine is visited by thousands of people every year. To the southwest of Canal Street is the American Quarter. This was originally a tract of land, known as the Terre Commune, reserved by the French government for public use. But after a while the land was laid out in streets. Soon the merchants of this section began to trade with the North and West. The river boats landed in front of the Faubourg St. Marie, as this part of the city was then called, bringing tobacco, cotton, pork, beef, corn, flour, and fabrics. Commercial buildings sprang up, and as the trade was distinctly American, the district came to be known as the American Quarter. In the days when the French Quarter was all there was of New Orleans, the city was in the shape of a half moon or crescent. The newer part of the city follows the course of the river and makes the New Orleans of to-day more like a letter S. [Illustration: ST. CHARLES AVENUE] St. Charles Avenue is the most beautiful residential street in the American Quarter. It is a wide avenue with driveways on either side of a grassy parkway. Rows of trees, many of them stately palms, border the avenue. Here are splendid homes, each with its flower beds and gardens of tropical plants. Churches and charitable institutions abound in New Orleans. One of the latter, Touro Infirmary, covers an entire city block. This infirmary was endowed by Judah Touro, a Jew, and is supported by Jews, but receives sufferers of any creed. In its courtyard is a fountain erected by the Hebrew children of New Orleans. Tulane University is the most renowned educational institution in the city, and is noted for its medical and engineering departments. On Washington Avenue is the H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College for young women, which is the women's department of Tulane University.