New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1858-08-03
rRaTrLTNa coRREsPoNnENoE.
ApoAaD sraAslrR III GnlsDE,

Dear Crescent Once more on the f'red Alabama"
must sGrbhle little, as usual. Yesterday after
noon deserted Central Mills, and spent few pleas
ant hours in Cahaba. 1.-THE inhabitants now drop
the &c in spelling the name Of their town.
II is quiet and rather pretty place, Of 1900 or
1000 inhabitants with remarkable air of freshness,
attribatable to its heavy china tree Shades and the
numerous artesian wells which gush the liquid crys
tai in its different quarters.
The Canadians brag, and with Justice, about their
artesian wells. There are sixteen in the town. of
average depth of GOO feet, and all yield large
quantities of thepurest soft water They were dug
by Reed, of whose untmely death and blighted am
bition the weedhidden box in Canal street, New Or
leans, is the melancholy monument mean the box,
opposite Holmes covering the well which never came
to anything.
Ny closer inspection of Cahaba was limited to the
newspaper Office, hotel cofeeh house, barber shop and
steamboat landing. The editor of the Dallas Ca
zette" wasn't in, and missed the pleasure of seeing
him. As to the hotel, the Booth House D." 1 found
the house oldfashioned but comfortable and the
Booth, Jolly old codger Of the Fallsaian pattern,
so much like Dr.. R, of New Orleans, that made
his acquaintance right on the spot. The BARRIERS
razor was excellent and the eauderie of the coffee
house very fair. You may Judge much of the civil
/
brandy the natives put up with. This was what l
tried the brandy for Gypsy fats, short sleeves, and
hoops, were the rage with such of the girls as
in cireulaton-some of them (the girls being de-
cidedly pretty OF the male population, one.third
appeared to be asleep another third reading, and the
last third talking railroad and sheriff OF active bust
ness there was no sign anywhere, though the stores
made a goodly show, and a wonderful number of
lawyers shingles stunned the streets The town front
is steep grassy bluff cleft by little stream called
the Cahaba river, and ribbed by the usual wooden
railroad Of the Alabama landings, for communication
with the steamboats,. The view up and down the
river is very pretty aud big echo lives on the oppo
site shore. On the whole, in its different outward
aspects, I was pleased with Cahaba.
From the sheriff talk found that tn re were about
dozen candidates for the one fat office, and that
lively if not a hot time was looked for on election
day-Monday. From the railroad talk ! discovered
that the Canadians had determined to give their
neigbbors Of Selma a tug for the immense cotton
trade of the back Countrywide great cotton garden
of Alabama which is the great cotton State of the
Union.
The Selma people are just finishing railroad to
Marion, So or 40 miles back. The Canadians are
building an opposition road to the same place; and
though they don't expect to finish it till next winter
they have got lick ahead Of their competitors by
finishing fifteen miles of road the other side of Ma
riOn, and putting it in operation to begin with. At
Cahaba the road is built q mile or so out from the
river, and the work progresses brayely. Whilst in
the town, went down to the railroad, where quite
crowd OF people were assembled 10 witness the put
ting up OF splendid ne" locomotive, when had
Just arrived. Ihey STOOD around the machine, con
temphtlng II ana taking aoouI IL us II tney eIt mat
n 1 II, n IL
the future late OF Cahao% huhg upon II. oh Ihe
eastern side OF the river sneFe Is lhueh lax aoont
railroad south from Montgomery 70 Pensacola, RIO
rlda From all this you wan apprehend tnat the
railroad spiIlt Is thoroughly aroused ~ AI&0ana'
AT ~ oclock laSI AiSht the welcome "hlsvie ana
ring oil the lie Grande. saluted Cahaha, and bid
the town an aneetionate goodbye VI course sat
up awhile to enjoy the beautiful river scenery by the
bright moonlight soon we arrived at that sublime
ok'ng eHt1 ycIept White bIuh-ot which We spoken
before,
Whlflh8 loren az lhe 1901 OF IhaG Ie&tlm railway
calls the boat and she sends in her stern without
rounding, with coquettish airt. creaking and
grooming away up cut of sight asserts that the car is
coming down with freight, and the boy with the
torch further asserts that the freight is one of Ous
cotton gins. The car comes out of the dark hole
creaks its slow way down the unsteady tmbers-is
half way down-when crack, bang, smash, it goes
1t bolts through the tresework and spreads itself
aud freight the side of the hill, where nobody can
get down to it from above, or up to it from below
The boy with the torch climbs up as far as possible,
takes long look, and proclaims, III tones of horror
that the gin is smashed all to finders The poor in
nocent does mt think with our unfeelug bar-keeper
that it's nothing but an ordinary gn,snash though
he remains staring at it as if would comfort him to
swallow 1t. The LIE GFande paddles on in disgust :;
and as we round the bend, we can still see that mel
anchoIy torch and that brokenhearted boy, keeping
guard oyer that stupendous smash which can't be
swallowed on the side OF that romantic moonlit hill
Inc thcldent interested me not little. Suppose
bad embarked there where got oti.-a thing ser-
oasy thought OF IN the morning would certainly
nave come down on tue car with the gin, and might
now, instead Oh serpbng these lines be the subject
OF somebody eSes scrtoollng, in touching obituary
way wen there's a DIVINITY that shapes our
ENDS, eIe.' ahd, 10 parHphrase little
e Z thou T@ndst yeg air Whit Blai aEsbt
l's ~ lSnos - p'e''5 anu very eonllo'Iaole
80 '% a'l'li,. oLl 'ue lilo8le one i,aS
ssOu' Jun o'Nlns captain, looAn8 30 from MS
l9ls "sso9si1aon wan TUE pious Oh sLe Alabama
Sty.N VIZ Nv" 99s'Heeell years si9'lus at tne
iaU,eS Gnu u tu9 toos aboard ooatS ioohs IKE cut
tb bnn nv u9st9 VI 1y ~, on'.hses5 "no Is
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