New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-08-16
FRonE me RHO oRANDE.


Grande beats this, l believe if it were omptied
Of the last drop Of WATER its bed would keep on
wriggling, fronl its very crookedness. The river
has bends which are not bends, hut elbows
rather angular and abrupt, the land on the inner
side coming to a sharp rght-auglsd point
The last time went up and came down on the
Antonio, when The river was full and booming,
saw what fancy time steamers some times have
of it. The Antonio went up in twenty-five hours
and came down in six and half. I could see
that it was not in the power of Storage to keep
her from running into the banks in many places,
both ascending and descending. But as the banks
are soft and sandy, and as the Rio Grande steam
ers have stout and heavy hulls, no damage results
from these collisions further than the jolt TO
those unprepared for it. In mentioning the time
made by the Antonio, should state, as we'll as TO
Illustrate the toruosty of the river, that the dis.
lance from here to Matamoros by the river Is
ninety miles, whilst by stage route, on the Texas
side, it is only twenty-four miles, and on the Mex
lean side thirty. AS no stages are running yet,
the river at present is our only channel Of com
munieation. speaking Of the steamer Antonio,
must mention my Obligations to Capt. Sam. Dali
zeIl for his courtesies to the CRESCENT as repre-
scented by me; also to Philip Adam, the steward
who, seeing me to be in bad health puts himself
to extra pains to render me comfortable. May
their shadows never grow less y
1t seems that the butting Of the river banks by
the steamers is so customary, that they claim it as
right, For stance, the steamer Col. Holcomb,
ascending the river recently. had her bow swept
round by striking the heavy cross current at one
Of the sharp angles above described. Her steer
age way was gone, and she struck the Mexican
bank precisely at the spot where q sail-boat was
| properly and legitimateiy moored, at the landing
/ place i'll front Of a rancho. The sail-boaE was
| crushed like an egg-shell, and utterly de
stroyed. The question of damages | heard
discussed the other evening" by crowd Of
steamboatmen and others. On one side it was az
gued that small craft running on the river had the
| right to moor wherever convenience dictated;
that the destroyed boat certainly had the right to
tie up at the rancho where her owner had bust
ness; and that said owner was entitled to compen-
sation for the full value of his boat. The steam
boatmen on the contrary maintained that small
craft had no such right; that the place for them to
tie up was on the still or shallow side of the river
under some point, and not in the center of a bend
where the current dashes against the bank full tilt
from the opposite points that it was impossible to
prevent steamers from giving way to the current
at such places; that the affair under discussion
was an accident beyond the power of those on the
steamer to avoid and that no damages for the
loss of vessel at such an anchorage could ever
be recovered in any court of law, etc, etc. The
pros. reoined, that steamboats, that could not run
river without tearing the banks to pieces and
smashing vessels at anchor had no right to the
river. When | left, the steamboatmen were
warmly maintaining their right to have the bends
| Of no riv ant oil md ny m n
other river, perhaps, could the occasion arise for
such disputes as the above. So much for the
crookedness of the Rio Grande.
Bagdad is thinning out more and more, and is
now, doubt not, the most deserted place of its
size on the whole Mexican Gulf coast. The change
of government here has stopped the tide of com
merce that kept the town awake under the Impe-
rialrule Only one vessel is atanchor in the roads.
The French man-of-war passes up and down be-
tween Vera Cruz and Brazos, in full view of Bag
dad, but never notices said town stops in front
of it as of yore. Her first appearance after the
Liberals got in created an alarm; her subsequent
appearances have created a mysterious twitter
among the Bagdadders, something like that Of
chickens when they see hawk in the sky. They
don't know how far the ugly thing isto be trusted
Oh, that had Aladdins ring IwouId buy up
frame houses here, and transplant them in a
twinkling to the suburbs of New Orleans. There
was great excitement in The real estate market last
week. The barber shop adjoining Barney Moneys
hotel, and opposite the now deserted St. Charles
neat frame house of three rooms and a kitchen,
good single roof, glass windows, painted shutters
and doors, well fenced yards, etc-was
put up at auction. After some brisk com
petition among the bidders, it was knocked
off, ground and all, at $35. Another house
similar to the above sold at private sale for
$40. Another frame house of two rooms and d
kitchen, and all the conYeuiences for q small
family, Though until then used as a dry goods
store) also created lively bidding and was finally
knocked down at SIS. All you have to do is TO
buy the house; the ground and the fddler-crabs
are thrown in, as matter of course.
1t has become question of frequent discussion
who will be the last white man left in Bagdad-for
there must ere long be last one, if they keep on
leaving as they have been doing for some time
past. 1t seems to rest between Barney Mooney
and joe Cooper-the former, the solitary hotel
keeper; the latter, the owner of the ship yard,
and most of the lighters, with shares in the steam
ers, and consignee of all vessels, and transaeter
general of all the business now coming to Bardad
In speaking of the people of Bagdad, I always
mean the white people. There are copperheads
and greasers enough, but as they are indigenous
to the soil or rather the sand with the sand crabs
I never deem them worthy of mention.
The wrecks of the Angelina and Ada, the brig
antine and schooner washed ashore three miles
from here during the late gale, were auctioned off
piecemea few days ago. OF course the pur
| chasers got fat bargains. All the sails of the
brigantiue, put up in one lot, brought $ll5 her
mainsail alone cost $500. A seventy fathom chain
cable was only strong enough to pull up SIS; and
everything else went in proportion The net re-
suit of the entire sale was $1,000. Thirty tons of
coal on the Angelina, in one lot, brought s..
For yariety's sake, Twill give youa snake story;
but don't ask you to believe it, for don't be-
lieve it myself, only give it because Ibave heard
several persons say it's so. 1t is, that in certain
interior districts in Mexico, there abounds a spe-
cies of large snake, similar to the anaconda, which
the rancheros, or farmers, train and domesticate,
and render exceedingly useful. One Of these
snakes being trained to remain within the limits
of a garden or field remains there faithfully,
driving out all ntruders, from a man to a mouse.
and the whole feathered tribe to do which, he
has only to raise his ugly head to a sufficient
height from the ground, and start in serpentfne
pursuit. Whilst thus terrible to strangers ANA to
beasts and birds he is said to be as dociIe and
afactonate to his master and family as it is posi-
HE for suake 10 be- There-What do VIM think