The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1863-01-30
A Peep at New Orleans.
correspondence of the Boston Post.

Correspondence of the Boston Post.
New ORLEANS, January 8, 1868.
How the mighty have fallen in two short
years! This city, once so gay and DASH
ing, luxurious, fashionable and attractive,
is now sober and sad, and hungry and cold.
The rich are poor, the poor are beggars !;
Che great storehOuses are closed, the small
ones do no business Gold and silver,
| which used to be so abundant, are gone
from sight, and in their place we have a
paper currency which an enlightened horse
would reject. Instead of healthy Ameri-
can population, speaking the language of
Webster, we have gouging Jews, dark
Spaniards, treacherous Sicilians, rat-catch-
ing Cinnamon, lurking Creoles, lazy ne
grOes, and sprinkling of Yankees, who,
many of them, are bent on making for
tunes, and are Indifferent, if they succeed
in this, about which side triumphs in the
great battles now going on for nationality
and freedom, and the continuance Of the
American name and the perpetuation of
American fame.
see, even in the shattered appearances
Of things about, evidences of a once supe-
rior class; educated gentlemen, who en-
joyed books; cultivated women, who used
to be happy, and cheerful, and hospitable.
Where are those men and women now !?
Why did they fly from these attractive
homes-where, at this season of the year,
certainly, pleasure used to lie so care
lessly ''smiling at fame" There was nought
in the character and trappings of our Amer
ican soldier to bring terrors to them. But
they have gone and left their great man
sions, their gorgeous furniture, their rich
| libraries, their music and pictures to be
the sport of slaves. No one knows-not
in your section of the country-what sac
rifices the Southern people have made {;
how they have thrown everything into the
scale, and offer up all their fortunes and
their manhood in the wild cause in which
they are engaged.
There are none of the leaders of fashion
here. The ladies who moulded society
have moved into the Confederacy,-their
husbands and sons" in the ranks of
death you will find them - Many merchants,
to be sure, have sat out the rebellion with
folded arms, waiting patiently for the So
luton. Mr. John Burnside is one of these.
He is, presume, the richest man in Louis
lana. He owns numerous plantations, and
his mansion on Washington avenue-with
its Park, as large as your Public Garden,
| and its pictures and marble illustrations of
taste and wealth, and its ever blooming
fowers-is one Of the loveliest homes in
America. 1t was erected for James
Robb, but when he failed it fell into
the hands Of Mr.. Burnside. 1t is palace,
and it's possessor is king. He is an
Irishman and bachelor, with ways
80 winning, hospitable, SO bountiful,
that the mystery is, he is still a
bachelor. He is a retired merchant :;
still he finds much odo to keep and save
what he has, during life Of honorable
venture, gained. Already hundreds of
his negroes have been enticed away from
his cotton and sugar fields; and the que
rillas have destroyed one of his plantations
the finest one on the abundant banks of
the Mississippi. Mr.. Burnside's expert
ence is the experience of all the planters in
the South. He has too much wealth to
be impoverished but those who had at
the beginning of the war their entire for
tunes staked in landed estates, are ruined
for ever. This is pity, for the planters
had nothing to do with bringing on the
rebellion. To be sure, they have since
been forced into it, and have contributed
literally to its support. This they were
obliged to do. But of this moral no more.
Bring the war to close. Let that be
your glory, and the glory of your paper
and your party.
Gen. Banks does not rule with so firm a
hand as Gen. Butler did, but he is begin
ming to understand this people better. The
suppression of old Jacob Barker's paper
was Butlerism which did the hearts OF
the Uniohists good. Old Barker repeated
his old trick Of parading his printers, and
played the philanthropist, and told the
General that all these men would be
thrown out of work if the Adcocae were
to remain stopped. He tried this dodge
effectually twice on Gen. Butler; but we
do not learn that Gen. Banks yielded q
hair. Barker's real object in publishing q
paper is to control the money market, and
this he has done most effectually since
June last He is an old sinner, and you
should pray for him.
There is nothing of the anecdote order
so popular in camps as stories and recitals
OF the demeanor of soldiers in time o1
danger. There is very good joke told
OF the Major Of - Regiment. When
the steamer bearing his regiment was
coming through the Cult, she was signal
lied to stop by one of our gunboats She
refused to do so, and thereupon the block
ader fired at her three times but she was
miles out of range. This harmless can
nonading frightened some of the men and
officers, and the Major was quite beside
himself He rushed down into the bowels
of the ship and implored the engineer to
do something to remove his military ap-