The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-06-06

SHOWN bnolf gOoQ sense W Aob attempting
TO grade the streets t. q dead level. Like
those of Baltimore they are easily kept
clean, and the residence portion of the city
presents avery neat honelike aspect The
houses are generally square and substsn!'
ti.Iiy built without extravaganza of orns-
meut, and the yards and gardens look well
kept and Inviting Shade trees abound,
and the pavement and sidewalks are in
very good condition. Out Of the burnt dis
trict but few marks of war and the pro-
trscted siege are to be seen, save in the
general cuisines that reigus, the m4rked
absence of white male citiz ms, and the
~requent senyinels in blue.
Not SO along the river, canal, and what
Was fOrmsly the business part of Rich
mond. Here the retrestirg rebels left q
broad tract of devastation. By order of
General Breckinridga allthe bridges, most
of the immsnse warehouses, some of the
famous Touring mills-ons of the de-
stroyed towering thirteen stories high on
the river iront-and the business blocks
and dwellings oomPsctly built on all the
streets back to Capitol Square, were laid
in ruins. Many acres were n sea of
fame, and but for the timely arrival and
energy of Our troops in arresting the work
Of obstruction, the entire city would have
shared, whether deservsdly or not, a SOdom-
81 - nba nice o.v.r q N .zos Iarnar
than the main business portion of Cleve-
land, the only building unsssthed being
the FIRE proof Custom House built by
Uncle Sam, and already bearing his sign
of "First National Bank" The property
wsntonly destroyed by the rebs amounts
to many millions, aud Breckenridge is Bit
terry execrsted in Richmond. His incen-
diary torch beggsred q host of c~itizens, and
will greatly resard the prosperity attend
ant upon peace. As yet only a few
gangs Of negroes have been set 10 cleaning
bricks and removing rubbish, and but two
or three small, temporary buildings have
been put up. Rebuilding must go on very
slowly, as the owners OF real estate are
without means, and seem to have been
seized with the insane idea that Northern
capital will rush in to cover the burnt dis
trict with greenbscks and grand edifces.
Lots in eligible locations, sill buried in
ruins, are held at higher prices than the
same lots, with buildings, were before the
war. We met today some heavy Cleve-
aland capitalists who had been l~oL-lookiDg,
and the best offer they could get in desir-
sble localities was land at one thousand
dollars per foot frontl 0lelet Of fifty feet
front was held for sale st $50 600, AID
smother of twenty five feet At S25, OO0I OF
course they mace no investments in Ricn-
nond real estate. Eastern cspitsIists have
been looking round here with like results.
In sight seeing, the STEPS of the "Ysn-
kee' hsvufzlly turn TO Libby Prison and
Castle Thunder, located IN the vicinity of
the river below the burnt d strict. Libby
Prison before the war was d very large
' tobacco warehouse, bounded on all sides by
streets, consequently without any Yard
room. The fret story of the river front is
quite damp and dark, with cobble stone
snd dirt flooring. One large division of
this basement was the prison cook room,
the flthiest of Kitchens. Across the base
ment rear are prison pens of rough boards
so foul and disgusting rs 10 create = shudder
IN entering. From one of these the infa-
nous Dick Turner, 3 cruel keeper # LIBBY
in rebel times, Wss aided by Confederates 10
escape by removing an iron window bar
which separated hin from the back street
- II 81 - -
prison. He wss one Of The most brutal
IN the murderous treatment of Union
prisoners, and every Effort to Tetske Tu n
ar and put him back on the same fare he
gave Others, has SO far proved abortive.
Visitors are permitted TO inspect every
portion of LIBBY except the room Occu-
pied by Judge 0uld and Osptsin Hatch,
the rebel Commissioners of Exchange of
prisoner, the only parsons now confined
there. Everything goes to confirm the
tales of horror so often told By the surviv-
ora of Libby. And yet we have heard
intelligent ~sgrsybScks" in Richmond as
sert thatthe starved prisoners there had
precisely the same rstlons as the Confeder.
ate soldiers, and nat they were as humane
ly treated as rebel prisoners at the North
=; p Castle Thunder Is not so large ss Libby,
but presents Similar barred windows and
repulsive prison look. Visitors are ex-
clude1, the Castle being now used by TIE
United States military authorities for
Jail purposes. Castle Thundsr and Libby
Prison are located II 4 business part OF the
city on frequented thOroughtsres, and the
shocking condition Of our poor boys must
have been generally known 10 the people
as 1~ell as the rebetoficials.
Belle Island, the Olher slaughter pen, is
in Iulf visW f ON the city, n also from the
rebel Capitol. FROM the Hail of the rebel
Congress JEFF Davis, Vice President
Stephens, and Members, could look direct.
ly upon the unsheltered and starving thou
sands who sickened and died on Belle
Island. The locality is 81 the foot Of the
fails ia James River, and the up-
PSF portion of the island is elevated,
pleasant and healthy. F.om all this DIR
ton the Union prisoners were vigorously
excluded by rebel guards and guns, and
we're huddltd together on the hSt, sandy
point below the hill, a ditch cut across be.
ing the 'dead-line.P The records Of r ch-
mOnd prisons, written in blood and sealed
with death, will stand in terrIOle judgment
against treason and traitors forever.
Capitol squsre, its Monuments, STATE
House, and, Governors Mansion, is a D ,iut
Of beauty and interest. The Squ4re covers
The rounded summit OF a hill OveTloOking he
valley of the james and much OF kIch
mOnd. It's monuments do credit to old
Virginia TASTE and pride. The central
one Is in front Of the Capitol and is a sub
stantial pile Of granite surmounted by u
splendid broT zs equestrian statue of WASH
ingtun, the best 10 The Union At proper
distance below, six granite pedestsls sur
round the centre figure. On three of these,
in appropriate sttitu es, stand fine bronze
ststues Of Henry, Mason and Jefferson.
Patrick Henry faces the West directly in
'front.' of Wssbing ton, and Is giving utter
ance to one of his grand o%atbursts of patri.
otism. Mason, a distinguished Father Of
the Stste, fronts the Capitol with q volume
OF the Constitution and LsRs in his hand;
and Jef5rson stands next, his face marked
by deep thought, oDehsnd bearing the pen
and tie other the. immortal ID -clsraIion
# Independence Hos. could Virgini4ns
plot treason beneath such augasG pres
encesl Il is designed ITO fiji eaCh # tbe
pedestAb with sin.iisr ststues of The most
deserving sons Of the Old Dominion, and
slso 4 still lover and more NUN erous range.
The Monument is one Of happy commemo-
ra4ive Thoughts and wien fully completed
will he eminentlV worthy of the redeem. ID.