New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-06-22

say ID SHOWN by the presence hsuorc Vi anGhoi ;
chains, iron bars and other sush tricks thongi
a long blue boat hauled up on the &ano' ana oar
stacked around the house maphaVa Ead somethh
to do in assisting them to land. So Bilty SITS con
tentedly in his door crosslegged smokes his placf
pipe, and Hospitality receives whatever Nsptun
sends him. So mnch for Castle Kohlssen NOV
for sketch of forlorn and be-pillaged Bagdan
The place was founded during the Mexican war
when the United States government had bar
racks and supply depot on the tongue Of land OF
p0site wk ere Clarksvlie now stands. Gambling
and tipping being prohibited there, the sport:
and suffers r ut up, on the opposite shore, six OF
| eight pine @,anties, all whisky and gambling
shops; and here they made a good thing Of it out
of the officers an d soldiers on the other side.
The place went by the fitting name of Grogtown
Pokeryle, and others of like style, and when thai
war ended went fnto liquidation.
! Duing the long interrel n m OF peace, the shan
ties were inhabited only by torpid greasers and
fiddler crabs. During Gortna's reign, it went by
the name of Villa del Cortna.
| When the late unhappy war broke ont, and the
feecy stream sought a contrabaHd outIet on 8
foreign shore, some one came and named thf
place Bagdad and the only ching pqrhaps, in it
| that justified a thought of the Bagdad Of Arabiar
| Nights fame, and the WoDdsgful thjnga done
around there, was the almost magical celeriJ
| with which If was built up. The town stands OF
2 saudy plateau between the sandhis and the
sea and the river, and at high tide is only some
two or three inches above the TateF level. When
the winds force tie tide higher than lsull the arat
big wave that rolls over mandates the whole tswn.
TItis has happened since my arrival kere, for tie
first time, however. in nearly two years.
,1r.5. -
ana story has a lookout On top from whish to scau
the sea. Alb viewed from any Or these lookouts
Bagdad Is certainty curious town to look at. L
is completely constructed of rough pine plank
bepring every evidence of the breakneck haste
with which twas put up; crooked streets, running
+, every way; plank sidewalks on one or both sides
great warehouses aud big hotels two story allj
one story houses, shanties Of all styles, crowded
together in the most awkward and irregular man
ner-nothing to be seen but pine plank and sant
aud water no verdure Of any kind save tbs
patches Of stunted grass scattered over the dstan
sandhIls. The town is larger than ! had fancied
and must comprise over 20OO houses, counting al
kinds.
All the hotels, save oue. are banquet halls de
serted,' Nearly all tAe coffeehouses and billiart
saloons yet remain open; also number of gro
4
shop, etc, But cannot see What keeps them go
ing. The town seems 10 be almost entirely de
serted Two-thrds Of the houses are empty AM
closed, or occupied by gressers who pay no rent
You may now buy house, lot aud all, for les
than what the lumber originally cost and event les
than the sum formerly commanded as d month
rent All bears the mark of a once prodgou
run of business, and Of the unhealthy ard fctitou
u prosperity springing out Of . state Of war.
Most vessels that arrive here cannot cross til
bar at any time. Consequently, large numbers
= lighters, such small luggers, sloops, and til
y like, are employed in transferring merchandise an
~ passengers to and from the shore The roughnes
t Of the bar and the sea outside renders this diff
cult aud precarious business. This business wi
the transportation Of goods on steamers for Mat
j moros, and the mendiDg of small craft at Cooper
. ship-yard, is all that is doing Al Bagdad.
Communication with Matamoros is constant al
g regular, and ean 4ail news Iettnra,Iere to II
e a date az car. from Matamoros.
% Billy is now taking up dinner and / must clos
- More anon. l, G.
lie The officers of the steamship Florida have 0,
y thanks for late Tallahassee papers.
r. For latest Mobile papers we are under oblig
le tons to the officers of the Louise.
I'd The steamship 1. C. Harris brings us full files
ID IndianoIa and Galveston papers.
~ The clerk of the Yicksburg packet steam
re Fashion has our thanks for river favors.
d. To the Southern Express, for latest Missssip
a, and Cincinnati papers.