New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-10-06
H.ETrER FROM MOBILE.
Special Correspondence of the Crescent
4 q

Special Correspondence of the Crescent
MOBILE, Oct. T. 1866.
Thecool and bracing weather that has recently
paid number of fieetiug visits, prolonging its
stay each time progressively is bringing back the
idlers who have Rhiled away the sultry summer
days among the pleasant retreats of the Eastern
shore and at far away watering places. The city
of Mobile resumes, in some measure, the appear
ance Of animation and lgaiety, and the semb1ance
of business that belonged to it in the prosperous
years that are gone /; but one cannot forget that
there is nothing now to speedily restore that lost
prospeEity--no adequate base whereon TO build
up domestic trade and foreign commerce. almost
nothing to stimulate to energy and enterprise,
save the sharp necessity and the instinct of the
speculator, the human jackal, who fattens upon
the misfortunes and missries Of his fellow crea-
turess
Exuberance Of animal spirits and unquenchable
hope and rustn the future are certainly among the
best gifts of the Creator to man These enable the
Southern communities to bear up eheerfully and
hopefully under all the discouraging circum.
stances of their situation, but the spirit of gaiety
eyinced through sballs, concerts, theaters, ETC.,
seems something akin to the reckless hilarity in
which many poor devil in great city, without
home, friends, money or credit, forgets his woes
i
however, to be merry over the misfortunes that
befal ourselves and others, or to seek brief and
sometimes, eternal oblivion Of them; striking
illustration Of this, was the CHASTITY merrment Of
the Partisan populace during the bloodiest days Of
the reign of terror, when the seventy theaters of
the great French metropolis we're crowded every
night.
Notwithstanding the condition of poverty to
MI
amusements and their newspapers viii be the last
Injuries given up, should fate ordain for them q
yet lower deep of impecuniosity Theatrical
managers, wen aware Of this weakness Of human
nature, seldom take in sail for either financial or
political storms, and for aught can see the
newspapers thrive and flourish almost as they did
when the country sent up its tale Of four million
cotton bales and we had specie currency and no
internal revenue collectors. Here the theater of
Messrs. Roig q Macdonough has opened with
! what is said to be q very good stock company,
and those gentlemen have made engagements
with an unusual number of G stars,n to appear
during the season. Another theater is to open in
few days, in Odd Fellows Hall The prospect
seems to be that both will drive lucrative bust
ness and this in city with white population
Of not more than forty thousand, and at a time
when one meets idle men everywhere on the
streets, who declare that they can get nothing
to do
Justnow the neEspape business is, Think being
rather overdone here. We have four large daily
papers--the Times, Advertiser, Tribune and Ga
zette-three Of which publish weekly and evening
editions. These journals presentan unusual array
Of editorial talent. 10 persons acquainted with |
newspaper men in the South, such names as John |
Forsyth, Majors Walthall and Hatcher, Henry st.
Paul, Mason, Ballentyne, Capt. johnson twho |
commanded the ram Tennessee in the battle of |
Mobile Bay), Eggleston, and last but not least
the immortal Admiral semmes, suggest at once
rare Journalistic abilities and high scholastic at
tainments. The minor departments are also well I
conducted, much better in fact than many in
pretentious metropolitan sheets. It is to me,
however, an unsolvable mystery how four such
expensive establishments manage to thrive in
city Of the dimensions of Mobile, whose progress
and prosperity are SO sorely hampered by monopo.
lies and unWise municipal legislation, that her
people suffer continually the most monstrous i'm
positions and exaetions
The Times Of this city laid before the public, a
few days ago, o chapter Of these impositions and
exactiOna anent the enormous charges made upon
articles Of prime necessity shipped bither from
New Orleans, The public have no election but to
submit to the most outrageous extortion on every
hand, as the market is an unyielding, remorseless
monopoly. and the butchers and other retailers
combine to keep everything at famine prices. If
a majority Of the municipal council were not com
posed of the veriest asses the expose made by the
Times would have convinced them of the folly of
prohibiting the retailing Of any articles Of prime
necessity except by certain privileged parties,
who, if they do pay into the city treasury little
extra revenue, enrich themselves an hundred
fold in proportion from the pockets Of the people,
whose whole substance is swallowed up by taxa
ton and extortionate prices of food and rent.
don't know whether this prevails to quite such
an extent in other Southern cities, but doubtless
tits bad enough in all. G. W.
[From the New Times