The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1862-07-31
From New Orleans.

Used the Budding for Wlat they istt
Behind in their FhgLt- ContraJaHds.
New OaLEASs, July 10, 1862.
livery reluctantly attempt to give you
any idea Of what il called the Custom
house Of New Orleans. There is no such
building anywhere else on earth, and
possibly not one its equal as an evidence
Of the waste Of Government money, bad
taste and inutiity. When ! look at this
pretentious conglgmeration Of labyrin-
thine cellars, cocklofls, narrow winding
stairs, dark and mysterious passages,
and in addition comprehend its vast
size, | am especially struck with the lavish
expenditure shat has for years character
lied the Government in fostering every
thing South, for here is a building so
large in IFS proportions that the Custom
house of New York could be slowed
away in one Of its corners! To form
come idea Of the magnitude, you may
| imagine one and half of the largest
| squares in New York occupied by one
ediGcc, and then you fall short Of the
proportions, for the building is nearly
square, is 33I feet front on Canal street.
| The collectors or "marble-room," as il is
termed by the architect is in proportion
large. The floor contains almost the
area Of public square, and the ceiling
| is intended to be one hundred and forty
feet high. If ever completed, it will be
not unlike the interior Of somo of the vast
temples in Egypt for there is no archi-
tectural parallel in Greece or Rome.
Pursuant TO an act Of Congress, a Gus
tom honse was to be built in New-Or-
leans, and the matter was intrusted TO
Hon. ROBERT j. WALKER. This gentle
man was then Secretary of the Treasury,
and in the full tide of his Southern pOpu-
larity As might have been expected,
| VIM. Nj. GwN was on hand as chief of
the Commissioners The start was aus
picious of the subsequent history. The
architect was one A. 4. WooD, and if l
mistake not, he conceived the design
while incarccrated in the State Prison,
he spending his leisure hours in making
the model. For - years this monstrosity
has been in progress and what alhistory
of waste and political corruption would
be developed if the country could be fur
nished with all the details of appropria-
lions and get at the real facts of their
| utSAlIdilOls 4nDIC GtlN Ut &c WtttttOto Npt y
lars have been expended and presume
that private enterprise would put up for
all practical purposes better building,
to its present point offnish, orfve hun
bred thousand. The granite composing
the walls is of the plainest workman
ship there is not a bit of carving or
ornamentation anywhere any of the
buildings on Blaekwelrs Island being
more handsomely finished, and more
rchitecturally beautiful. Mai. (nowCon
federate Generai) G.. u. BEAUREGARD, it
seems, along with HARDEE, MAGRAUDER
and other southern officers, divided up
the choice places in the gift of the Sec
rotary of War, BEAUREGAnD being such a
fayOrite that he could resign the Superin-
tendency of West Point Militry Academy,
prefening TO superintend the construc-
ton of the edifice. Mentime, WORTH,
SUMNER, MARCY, and other men Of North
ern birth, were kept on the frontiers,
fighting Indians or laying of, in hostile
countries, military roads.
Fixed up inside the building on the
main wall, as swallows nests on the side
of hill, are innumerable rooms, which
have been appropriated within the last
two or three years for the Collectors
and Postmaster departments. Hunting
around diligently you will find a large
room devoted to the United States District
Court, and small rooms devoted to Heav.
en- knows what. These rooms are under
roof, but the centre part of the building
mainly occupied by tho "marble ROOM
is open to the blue sky and the storm, anC
the consequence is, that what little labor
has been bestowed on the caps, columns
and walls, is now we'll nigh ruined by
dust and dampuess
Throughout the year and a half the
rebels held official possession Of thi,
place, Git had been secretly their head.
, quarters in Louisiana for many years
previously the utmost destruction ensued
I The lower story was turned into a vas
Confederate gun-carrage shop. The sol
. diers were CHARTERED throughout the up
, per or half finished rooms, and erected
; their camp BEETLES. and built their fire,
! in the marble hall, thereby adding smok,
10 the numerous stains Of time The TOT
a of the walls of the building were sur
4 mounted by eight large pieces of cannon
4 which the rebels, when they left spiked
I with cut nails The place was also useC
4 as a depository of rich contributions {,
the Confederate cause. Here were fOunC
the arms gathered up from the surround
ing country, a collection Of old double
q barreled guns, lOcklcss stockless o
a worthless, such as the world never saw
a before. Here were deposited the bell
\ contributed from the plantations, to max
q brass cannon-bells weighing from 81,
= ounces TO a thousand pounds, all of whicl
B have finally reached Boston, and in tn
language of secesh friend Of mine
H, "will be secured up by the Yankees, ant
! brought back here, and sold for new,"-
- a most likely contamination. Here wa
!, also piled up "cord or more of bras
= candlesGcks, bureau and door knobs ant
y handles, together with tun of cope
= sheeting, torn from the vessels in the har
IN Dor, intended for percussion caps, all O
- which are now in Boston.
Q Here was also found a large quantit,
!, of what the National soldiers calle
~ "scrub beef the same that created
mutiny when the Commissioner" at
3 tempted TO distribute IL among the starv
inc poor. There were also in the build
inc and outside several hundred gu
carriages of the finest live oak, wit
brass mountings, intended for sea an
land service; also a great number q
pieces of artillery, some mounted an
some left on the ground by the destruc
p ton of the carriages by FIRE. There wa
also valuable amount Of seasoned liy
u oak timber of the best quality, and pile
~ of iron bars, torn up from the railroad
10 leading into New Orleans; also SON
y valuable machinery for rilling large can
p non. In addition there were the priyal
49,. Al. .I.tL;,s tho gido arrua an