T HE Secretary of the Louisiana Histori cal Society takes great pleasure in pre senting to the members of the Society and historical readers generally the following report, written at her request, by Mr. William Price, the learned and accomplished archivist who was engaged by the Society to perform the very necessary, if not imperative work of rescuing from impending destruction the papers contained in the familiarly designated "Black Boxes," confided to the care of the Society by the State of Louisiana. Mr. Price's work has unfortunately been discontinued for lack of funds; but what he has accomplished speaks volumes for the indefatigable zeal and industry that he devoted to his arduous task. The excellence of the card index system has never been more brilliantly illustrated than in this work, or emergency, as we may call it. Each card contains a clear, concise, condensed statement; a matchless résume, in short, of the contents of some long, intricate, faded document whose worth to the historical student is like that of light in darkness, or a trusty guide in a labyrinth. GRACE KING. WORK OF INDEXING LOUISIANA "BLACK BOXES." Those members of the Society who are interested in the "Black Box" records, need not be reminded that the work of preparing a card index of their contents is already fairly started. More than half the years of the French régime (1718 to 1769) have been covered; namely, 1717 to 1743 of the early period, and 1763 to 1769 of the later French rule. The papers for 1717 have reference to Mobile, Biloxi and Isle Dauphine, and center chiefly on the affairs of the De Lauze estate; the De Lauze family originating, it would appear, from Limoges or vicinity. Humble though the scope of a card index be, some practical uses thereof are obvious and respectable. Before this work started, those eight Black Boxes which it represents at present, were like sealed material to all practical intent. The records themselves were jumbled together in great confusion; possibly some orderly hands had packed them in tentative sequence, but certainly some disorderly hands afterwards undid the attempted serial arrangement, because only by blind accident were the papers in this or that box found rationally sequent: Box for 1767 being a modified exception, in that its papers occurred grouped by the month, although not always in either logical or strict chronological order within that month. This actual report, indeed, must be acknowledged an open question as regards a complete showing for each year noted. Many later Spanish records, and also not a few documents reaching all the way down to 1855 of modern Louisiana, were packed carefully mixed with totally unrelated papers of original French Louisiana; so that no finite forecaster may deny that possibly some of the early French papers are lurking displaced in one, ten or fifty Black Boxes yet unsorted. For instance, quite a handful of papers for 1723 and 1724 came to light in Black Box for 1765-1766. To consider a few direct and indirect advantages of the cards already filed. First, somebody might wish to know, what was recorded of Louisiana Province in A. D. 1722, or 1725, or 1730, or 1765? So far as Louisiana is on record by the acts of its governing body the Superior Council during the French régime, a very brief glance will tell the tale in a nutshell, by inspecting these cards for the year at issue. Indirectly, some inquiry might be forwarded: was this or that matter noted in the records of New Orleans in 1740, or between 1720 or 1740? The cards would probably answer a brief yes or no: barring the proviso of a displaced record, containing the desired reference or allusion, but not hitherto unearthed or reported. Likewise, the multitude of topical inquirers may learn at a glance, is this or that special interest of theirs on record among acts of Louisiana between 1718 and 1743? Nor is it unduly appreciating the cards to add, that in a very large number of instances they will possibly satisfy the wants of at least informal inquirers more conveniently than resource to the frequently faded or now and anon verbose originals. Or, if the originals were also in requisition, the cards will still save much groping and fumbling by pointing succinctly to the embodied matter, or by presenting it in outline for ampler accretions by the supposed researcher. In a word, this index will supply diversified, concrete particulars to the analytic inquirer in widely different directions. The great bulk of the matter, of course, is legal procedure, civil and criminal; but this procedure embodies manifold human interests, and affords intimate sidelights on the French Colonial manners and customs; quite a wealth and range of economic data; quaint medical treatments; picturesque incidents of the dugout and fur trade era; some first-hand experience with Gulf pirates as they really cruised and operated; familiar weather phenomena, such as |