Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-04-24
DAILY LEADER.
FROM PETERSBURG.
GastOnOmy in southern AOtels'' How
Petersburg LOOks-sIhe news OF Ine
Presidents Death at the South.
Special Correspondence oLHvILAND LEADER.I
PxrERsRuae. AnriI 18th. 1868.

rsoeeial Correspondence CLEvELAHD LEADER.l
PETERSBURG, April 18th, 1866.
DINNER AT THE GUNTHER HOUSE.
In the days of luxury and epicuranism it
is always supposed that people are good
natured after dinner provided, Of course,
that John likes the soup, and Jane don't
want to go shOpping) but one day st the
Gunther House viii reverse that maxim,
even in the minds of Grahamites. have
Just had dinner, and am ready to pitch
into anything except peanuts. We live
on them at the Gunther House, cooked and
raw, but always peanuts. Here's our bill
of fare; Peanut soup. Vegetables, As
parsgus and peanuts. Pastry, Peanut
pie. Desert, Peanuts in the she'll. Mark
this internal barbarian, and this too, in
reconstructed" Virginis, and smcng the
now fossil aristocracy. MY companion, not
feeling satisfied with his lunch, thought
he would lubricate his stomach with sup
Of the ardent. Upon requesting the pro-
prietor to produce he, wss informed that
none of the moist was to be found in Pc.
tersburg. "Hotel man." exclaimed my
friend leaning heavily on the of1cs coun-
ter, "repest that s,O'Oly if you please"
The landlord did so. HVender of pea
nuts, resumed my companion, "briefy tell
me what my name is, and what sgeof the
world live in, that may be assured this
is not sll troubled dream" The land
lord said something about guards, but be-
fore he had finished the sentence we moved
quietly out to take
A STROLL AROUND PETERSBURG.
This is indeed beautiful little city, with
its handsomely paved streets, broad, neat
sidewalks, substantial business houses, and
superb private residences. Beyond the
commercial portion of the city the streets
are lined with shade trees, more than q
hundred years old, that have grown so
large that almost every avenue is COM
pletely srched over with the magnificent
foliage these showery and sunny days Of
April have brought forth. Gardens, too,
in abundance, filed with the choicest ex-
otics, are in full bloom, lending to the up
per part of town the appearance Of q for
est Of flowers. 1 visited the Oldest church
in this country, which was built nearly
two hundred years ago, Of sun-dried brick,
brought from Dover, England. It seems
not only to have resisted the storms of two
centuries, but to have escaped tia fercer
storms of Wsr which have tust passed over
It. This church has the highest steeple of
any in the place, the top of which was
decked with statue of the goddess of lib.
erty when the siege began. The right
arm of this statue, holding the scales, was
cut off by cannon ball just above the ell
bow during the first days battle. Was it
not fitting reproof to these people, who
ornsmented the sacred house Of God with
symbols of liberty snd justice, but fought
for tyranny and slavery?
THE CITIZENS
all appear 20 be well disposed and perfect
ly satisfied with the change that brought
them into the Union again. / hear q good
deal Of talk among such men as Roger A.
Pryor sbeut reconstruction. They are evil
IDENTIFY anxious to "get their rights" as citi-
zens of the United States since the Con-
bubble has exploded. Stores are
sprnging up everywhere under the inevi-
table Jews control, whose unmistsksble
greet you at each street
corner. The colored population who, dur
ing the first few days of this newborn
freedom, ran wild with Joy, are beng
cared for by the military
TWO HOURS ALONG TIE OLD LINE.
We only had two hours to look at the
works we have been watching so vigilantly
for nine months past, from our dens Of
dirt over the way. But thst was only an
outside view. 1t is wonderful to notice
how soon nature removes the msrring
effects of barbarous war. Already the
forts are SO nicely coated with green you'd
hardly notice them, and embrasures-
through which hostile cannon peeped three
weeks Rgo-are now half filed with trem-
bling blades of oats and corn. On the
bOmb-proofs grow an assorted crop con-
sisting of tobacco, wheat, clover and rye.
In front of the works saw q tiny bunch
Of violets bursting up through bullet
hole in an old csnteen, and near by it q
perpetual rose rested its crimson blossom
on a shell that had crushed its stem.
Peach trees pier ed and shattered with
musket balls were in full spring dress, and
one bough reclined its hoWery head on
The grave Of some fallen warrior. Nature
will Oblitersts all indications of the terrible
struggles enacted here in brief period,
and the vast Notifications of Petersburg
will only be known as q historical truth.
D.
CRY PorNT, April 17tb, 1856.
Firing of half hour guns by sn up bound
steamer gave us the first intelligence of
President Lincoln's assassination. Gloom
prevails everywhere. All seem 10 feel that
.he heaviest blow which has ever fallen
upon the American people has descended.
The death of the Chief Magistrate of the
nation at any time is an event which pro-
foundly affects the public mind, but the
time, manner, and circumstances Of Presi-
dent Lincoln's decesse render it the most
critical, the most painful, the most disss-
trous calamity which has ever befallen any
nation or any people. This awful event
has created the deepest sorrow where all
an hour ago was hope and che erfulness =
No one had hrmer hold on thr popular
heart than he, and no man on earth could
be so lily spared this moment. After four
years of unremitting toll, after advancing
civilization full century, just IS his her
culean task was performed, and the fruits
of his labor becoming appreciated, to per-
ish by an ssssssin's hand is terribly appal-
ling beyond contemplation. What 3 de-
prsved villain, what observation-disclosures
the brute who performed this internal deep
must have been.
While I write, the solemn booming Of
half hour guns comes from all quarters,