Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-07-12
CONDITION or AFFAIRS IN NEW
ORLEANS.

MDANHO WH al ~ NE "
ORLEANS.
From the following paragraphs, clipped from
the New Orleans DeL,q, Of the 81 inst, may be
discerned the bLghting influence shed upon the
city by Federal occupation. While the people
are on the verge Of starvation, business Of all
knds is lsnguishing and dead:
THE FOOD QUESTION.
There is no denying the fact that people here
are reduced to the utmost straights to procure a
sufficient supply Of wholesome food. Flour is at
a fabulous pTico-s quantity having been sold at
over thirty dollars per barrel, and bat little to be
had at that. We know Of numerous families who,
before the war, lived comfortably and even lux
uriOusly on the rents Of property, whe have not
had a loaf Of wheat bread for weeks past. These
manage 70 exc ont a subsistence by means Of
corn meal and pOtatoes-which are scarce and
highland other articles. The lsboTing poor
cannot, in some instances, getanything, and this
class daily bes-ige the office Of the United States
cOmmissary of subsistence for charity. From
this source as much as has been done for them as
practicable, but the relief is but temporary, and
cannot be general. Some assistance has been
afforded this class Of people through means
adopted by the military authorities. About two
thousand labOTers have been employed in clean
ing the streets and making city improvements,
and this feeds perhaps ten thousand people.
The merchants and men of wealth DO nothing
for the poorer class, but lay back in cushioned
seats aud enjoy the hOrded wealth amassed by
means Of speeulatiOns and war contracts.
TRADES AND PROFESSIONS.
Lawyers and mechanics are doing nothing, or
next to nothing, and have to live on their little
means saved during seasons OF prosperity and
when this resource fails, they are reduced to the
,1e.--.kg.,. % k.--,-s-- ---ns.- Ill -
properties. There are 10 buildings being erect
ed, nor any repairs being made, and houses and
fences 90 to wreck in consequence, The courts
are all closed, and judges, lawyers, sheriffs,
clerks, etc, can dream only OF salaries and fees.
The supreme court does not sit, and the judges
receive 10 pay, for the State treasurer, who has
the discussing Of their salaries, has gone off with
the governoT-and where be keeps his courts is
not known TO the wisest.
MERCHANTS.
These drive only q small business, Of a retail
character, and their sales are confined mostly to
goods Of prime necessity for all articles OF lux
uTy are dispensed with, for lack Of means in the
consumer TO purchase them. Wholesale houses
DO no business; for the country trade is entirely
shut of, and the city business amounts to a.
most nothing. On POydTas, TchoUpi.oUlas
Magazine and Levee streets, the principal marts
" P4OUUS0' ~ ~ AA'o'-J 0U5 eUu "a
owners Of the buildings do not take the trouble
to put " to let on their doors, for there is no
one to rent them. In these streets, the grass is
growing in many places, and the whole district
bears the deserted air of death and dssolatiOn, IS
in the sorrOwful days when the yellow scOurgs
was upon Us.
u EVE
Here, where formerly all was life, hustle and
animation, nothing is doing, and embryo crops
of oats are springing up through The whsrves.
Formerly the whaTves were piled with cotton,
and the products Of the great West, but now not
a bale is visible, and only now and then a solita-
ry vehicle is 10 be seen, engaged, perhaps, in DO
ing small services in the way Of transporting
COVE nment soc. The pace locks as if it had
been swept bya plague.