The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1869-08-24
CHARLESTON.

| ed and while the pure atmosphere halloWed
everything, We strayed hither and thlther over
| the dear old place, and could not but think
| that in spite Of war and fire and the negro po-
lice. there was all aspect OF Improvement visi-
| BILE on all sides. TIE streets we're clean, the
| sidewalks smooth, the buildings neatly arrang-
| ed, and even the ruins picturesque. Nothing
can take away from Charleston certain pro.
priety of demeanor. Even its brick, mortar
and wood work are highly respectable, and we
petition all whom it may concern to permit the
Circulai Church to remain just as it ls, with
its crumbled wall, Its mysterious hooks, and
the pigeons wheeling in and out OF the belfry
tower. We could have watched the blithe
birds aud their graceful gyrations, by the hour;
but our plans prevented, and, With reluctant
adieux to
Who dwell up in the steeple
All alone"
PORT ROYAL ISLAND.
There used to be, under the regime dncien,
a superb shell road leading from the ferry to
Beaufort; but it has been long neglected, and
n now churned into an ordinary track OF sand.
At Yemassee We had been joined by Mr.. Gads-
den, Superintendent OF the Charleston and Sa-
yannah Railroad, q most skllful engineer and
noticeable man. He was fsmiise with every
foot of land hereaoout. and enllvened our jour-
new when it grew tedious by "reminiscences,
anecdotes and suggestions or pith and value.
Port Royal Island, as ls commonly known,
was 80 long occupied by Federal troops that it
became sort OF Yankee empire. AT present
1t ls very much 10 the slmilitude OF an Elmo,
plan province. thanks to that great, good and
tender-hearted man, General W. Tecumseh
Sherman. It was he, We believe, who instigated
the parcelling Of the abandoned lands among
the negroes; and it was mainly through him
that Congress passed law bearing ON the d.
rect tax, which has suddenly, aod. for very
little cash in hand: enriched mu!titudiE GUS
blacks and, 30 we learn, sundry Dowp-East
suffers et id o7nne genus This grand domain
has been turned over t. late slaves and the
trooly Ioil who followed the drum in some ca
pacity or other. These Northern gentry have,
in some instances, behaved with much discre-
ton; very badly Ii obers. We heard, ior e1-
ample, that opportunities were given the Tor,
mer proprletors to repossess themselves OF
siderable sums. Others of this class, howe er.
did not behave with equal amiability, asserting
in defence OF their despicable N sanness, that
the id rebels and traitors ought to be made
to pay dearly for their dwellings," Let us hope
that such deviltry was exceptional. The
houses held by government were the only ones
secured by their old owners. Those sold bef re
the termination of the war, to satisfy the impo-
sition of direct tax. are, In majority OF cases,
still held by those who purchased them at some
r1dlculously low figure. Elegant residences,
costing some $40 0C0 IN gold. have been bought
for $500 IN greenbacks, and sometimes Tor
much less. General Rufus Sa1ton, the mo-
torious negrophilist, is the possessor OF q W.
600 house, which cost him only months pay.
And 30 1t is in a marked degree in oil the Town
OF Beaufort. The war proved decided bless.
ing to many Door fellows who never dreamed
OF such luck, lang syne, 10 Connecticut, Mas.
sachusetts and Vermont. They are civil, aud
try to initiate Southern manners; but tue effort
is not always graceful, and none that met
as they avowed, it was 'such darned sticky
stuff They are not absolutely satisfied
with the tenure of.H1heir property, and
the old proprietors steadily reject all
application for ''quit CLAIMS" Some among
til I'M are satisfied that they ore founded in the
matter of their new acquisitions as firmly us
the true church is founded on rock. Some
think Uncle Samuel will. some Gay, vote the
dispossessed parties bonus OF $500, 600. This
they consider an ample amount, although the
Port Royal Railroad terminus may net the
lucky loyal holder some fabulous amount OF
.demnitlon c ,sh." We saw the former OVID
ers of one Of the probable termini OF the road.
he was an elderly gentleman, plying hither
aud thither, like Old Mortality; and the shrewd
bargain is o very important parsonage, as
times go. There Is another old gentleman
in Beaufort, who whiom had q munl6-
cent income accruin2 from his plantation. He
wandered back 10 Port Royal, after the war,
and his former slaves "magnanimously" gave
him. or lent him, fifteen acres OF his own soil:
Every morning this venerable but unconquered
patriarch trudges, hoe over his shoulder,
towards his little patch, which he works him.
self; and, every evening, hoe over his shoulder,
he plods YEARLY blck to Beaufort. We are
dispose to be as charitable as We can to our
Northern brethren. 30 suddenly made rich BY
the possessions Of others; but oh friendsl
there is something that makes wrath drive out
meekness when wo witness sights like these.
The Younger members of the outlawed propri-
etory families take matters with charming
philosophy; for usage has turned great
wrong into great burlesque. But we saw the
water come into the eyes of more than
one youngster as he gazed on the house
where he was born, now turned into den OF
negro prostitution, or convenient negro rem.
devious Such has been the fate OF the capa-
clous Barnwsll mansion, conspicuous land
mark for the region all around. II case ls
ever me de up for the repossession of the Port
Royal property, the Barnwell estate will proba-
bly, be the test. This we'll known family re-
ceived their grant from the British Parliament
before the United States existed as such.
Democratic Congress- will simplify matters e1.
ceedingly, and we do not despair Of seeing that
sort Of Grand Council before our hairs grow
gray.
q general thing, they are poor, being cultivated
almos, entirely by the black owners. These
blacks did not seem very thrifty, but starya-
tion is out Of tue question while fish, oysters,
crabs and shrimp are 80 abundant in all the
waste of waters. They seem to have come
down considerably from the "high horse" OF
politics, and are quite incensed with their me-
gro legislators because Of their taxes, and IN
one notorious instance, because the big-bug
buck of all has played them, 1t is said, some
scurvy trick in the sale Of their commodities.
BEAUFORT.
1t is pretty place yet; but its interior life
and society are no more like the Beaufort OF
1860 than Beast Butler Is like the Apollo BelUi-
dere. The people who once made elysium Of it
ceptlops, IN their old haunts of delight. The
buildings are left. somewhat the worst for
wear; and the moss.grown old chapel, where
the darlings of the land came to make the
Sabbaths more holly beautiful, stlll stands.
But the Down.East gentry live uuder the
orange and the fig trees they used to read
about in the bleak shadow of the White Noun
tains; and the choir in the old church, no
doubt, reverberates with nasal psaImody un-
known once to those who slumber beneath the
grouping trees, or those who rest on distant
battle-ields or those lovely and beloved ones
who dwell in poverty afar. Dear Godi we
co1ld preach pathetic sermon In the vestl-
bule OF that gray pile; but our space forbids 1t
in these columns.
Perhaps the most striking contrast between
old and new Beaufort may be found In the