Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1857-04-11

LOCAL NEWS.
orR NEw COURT HOUsE.

storms political as well as physical, Of many win
ters, succumbei to a fell destroying demon, calle
fire: together with a collection Of old buildings Il
the shape of shops, taverns, groceries, SC, &c.
ahich the earth was well rid of by the raging ele
st. Truly FIRE is a great purifier, as its mans
sd imply. The room those old buildings oecu
pied was in this case much better than their com
pany.
From the ruins Of these old roOkeries a collection
Of buildings are srringing up, which will be very
handsome and welcome addition to the nor small
number Of that class of elegant store buildings al
ready built, but which, thanks to the progressive
spirit Of some Of our city merchants are getting to
be, not such rare prodigy as Of old. These build
ings are to be occupied by some of our most liberal
and public spirited merchant kings, and are chiefly
intended for the wholesale dry goods trade, which is
getting to have an almost preponderatng influence
over the branches Of industry. But on the other
hand what can be said, by way of approval of the
imBgegsasHts? Heaven save the mark!) now being
carried forward by county authorities in the cen
tire Of the Square? Nothing, as our short witted
common Council viii find out, by biding their time.
Not many days after the burning of the Court House.
the County court met and had a deliberation on the
subject: truly del5aton, for they delibsrated on
it eight or ten months without coming to any just
conclusion; thereby wasting very large amount of
deeply profound or profoundly deep County court
wisdom on the subject The generally expressed
wish, at the time, that the old market house should
be torn down. the Court House built in the centre of
the Square; and the rest of the ground with the ex
ception Of a street 30 feet wide, all around, made
into park, ably expressed to the County court
and Common Council at various meetings, by two of
our ablest, most enlightened and liberal men, AND.
Ewing and NELL S. Brown, Esqrs without the hope,
expectation, experience of reward while the oppo-
site party had employed counsel and paid him very
literally.
These gentlemen 50 far overcame the objections Of
the County court to the project that they agreed
the proposed improvements and presented them for
acceptance to the City Council The Council accept
ed them with amendment which amendment the
County court seized on as pretezt for Withdrawing
their proposition and quashing the whole thing,
glad to get an opportunity to do so. The County
court finally determined to put the Court House in
its old position.
The well known wishes Of a majority of the citi-
zens Of Nashville, as expressed by many well writ
ten communications in the daily papers at the time,
on the subject, was that the new Court House when
built, should be a capacious elegant and enduring
structure, credtable specimen of Nashville archi-
tsctural design, and city, as well as county, pride
and ornament. stranger from distant State or
cline, after viewing our other handsome public
buildings, especially our Capitol would surely ez-
Pect something handsome from a so wealthy and i'm
portant county Davidson is generally and rightly
believed to be- There were several very handsome
and crcditable designs sent in, by number Of our
'ity architects, land from the county at large,
which provided a series Of stalls with hay, fodder,
set for country vsitors) for their worshipful con-
liberation and action; almost any of which,
would have fulfilled the highest expectations of our
.itizens. But out Of their abundant wisdom and the
great beraly Of their SOULS they could not find it
n their hearts to plumber the poverty stricken peo-
lie of the county of 50 many hard earned dollars by
,doptng such eztravagaBt and costly designs they
Considered those which were presented to them for
heir approval They were even startled out Of their
-ual stod comPosure, at the idea Of such awfulez
ravlgance-such a waste Of money for so useless
hing as a fine Court House
So the mountain, after immense labor and great
ain, lg94s-.t lgIi4 piginy, even smaller thaR 2
lou-e. 1t was long time, even unto many months
eorc our citizens could adjust the lenses Of their
ius to contemplate the Liliputian production with
omFosure. This animalcular Pigmy under the
aaest critical magnifying microscope Of the COM
.ylest observer, became a perfect monster Of
iIegus uglincss and CHEAPEEss.
But let US put step to these very disagreeabe |
l9ughts, and see what the building has to say for
self DomuS loqUitw!
81 am plain parallelgram Of building, three |
cries high. My sides are represented by the ig |
e. Is by us, being feet one way and IA feet |
lo.her way, larger than my dear venerable and |
.aIsome old predecessor, who met such an une1pect-
and untimely fate. Ny height is about the |
me. say Go feet, as the old building. l have no
p or dome of any kind. Every one of my brother
,uses around the Square viii be higher and few
far from twice the height. Indeed / am an
5kward, disjointed, ugly boy. On two Of the
-gcst of my fronts for contrary to the usual prac
%. hvs-4our fronts there are two porticos 81 feet
I- oud projecting from me ID feet, composed Of
lr rIsicated piers, properly my legs, with the en-
nee doors, feet WIDE between, supporting a
aI collonade Of four Ionic columns, feet 3 inch
wIie by 80 feet long, which, in their turn, are
mounted by heavy entablature, and ballustersd,
.eaing course Gaping the climax. The entabla-
re- without the ballusters, is carried all around
-noIy. On each side of my Porticos, there are
o tiers Of windows, perfectly plain, feet wide,
divided into two parts by column in the centre
each. They are respectively Q, y and II feet
Oh IN the several stories. Ny end fronts per-
rv plain, without porticos, capped with pedi-
ar or gable. You reach my first floor on the end
MIS- by small fight of steps rising from the
rud 4 feet to platform 10 feet inches long and
.ecting from me feet The entrance door
side is 6 feet wide The windows on my end
urs are only 4 feet wide, except the centre win
r- in each story, which are about feet wide.
The plan is excellent, very simple and convenient.
outside walls are feet and feet inches wide
IGereut points; my inside walls are feet and
tai nchgs wide at different points. In entering
from INC side fronts you come into passage run
rga.ross me- % feet wide, intersected in the cen
Iv another passage running the length Of me 10
wide. On this floor are all the rooms for the
,rrnt Clerks Of the various courts and other
tnrr officers There are rooms for the Register,
lr,v court Clerk, Circuit court Clerk Chancery
~. Clerk. Sheriff, Trustee and Collector, County
ireand Criminal court Clerk, each room 20 by 20
e. You reach the second floor by a flight Of steps
the centre of the main cross passage feet wide
.~aoms on my second floor will be occupied by