The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-02-16

marble block, surmounted jg capital and
rudely shaped urn, the whole not over eight
feet high 1t Is impossible to read the inscrip-
tion from the street, and the graveyard is
fenced In and locked from public resort.
The Charleston Orphan Asylum, capable of
accommodating six hundred children, is one
of the finest and best institutions on the con-
tinent. In appearance it is handsome, yet
utility is not subordinated to architectural et-
feet, and it js well managed and kept up as a
matter of city pride.
What is known as the 'Burnt District lies on
the Ashley River side of the city, and was the
aristocratic quarter. The ruins of the stately
mansions and magnificent churches, including
the splendid Catholic Cathedral, stands scat
tered over space large enough for "city of
the second-class," and sadden the heart to
look upon.
The artesan well is an object of interest,
although no effort has been made to invest
the feature with architectural attraction. It is
twelve hundred and forty feet deep, and sup
plies the city with magnesla water good for
oil household uses except cooking.
The residence of eX-Secretary Memminger,
of the Confederate service, on Wentworth
street, Is pointed out as sample Of the archi-
tectural magnificence in which the Charleston
nabobs lived before the war. 1t occupies The
greater part Of a very large square, and is fur
nished with extensive verandas, balconies
and corridors The grounds are filled with
choice growths, indigenous as well as tropical.
But from thissas from all the objects Of in
dvidual interest in the place, the glory has de-
but certain decay peculiar to the atmosphere
OF the Southern Atlantic coast, unchecked by
hands paralyzed by the effort to destroy the
government
CHARLESTON HARBoR.
The first object that meets the eye from the
ocean approach In the Charleston harbor Is a
long, low pile that looks like church with
stumpy spire, sitting down in the water as if
partially submerged. Between 1t and the
white beach of Morris Island, lying away to
the left, there is about miles distance. That
Is the ruins Of Sumter, with lighthouse on
the extreme ocean point. Farther in toward
the city is Sullivan's Island, with the ruins Of
Fort Moultrie, mere parapet work Of earth
with inside facings of brick.
The readers Of the Commercial would all
like to visit these historic remnants of the
war, and they shall therefore accompany a par
ty of Green Line eXcursionists, with the Louis
vile delegation largely In the majority, In the
effort to crafty the most justlfable curiosity.
tug is chartered, and party Of forty people
leave the Atlantic docks for Sullivans Island.
A walk Of five minutes from the landing,
through sand knee deep, and past houses in
ruins-the summer resorts of the Charles
tonians before the war, and here we are on the
parapets of Fort Moultrie. There Is Colum-
blad en- 6drbette, and here Is Parrott, sweep
ing o vast stretch of ocean, but now pointed
at Sumter. Sight the gun and it covers the
that's easy enough. and you see that you can
put your head into either gun without dis
turbing O hair or rubbing the rust of their
unused muzzles. There are the bomb
proofs and covers, and the brick furnace for
heating hot shot, and the wOrm-eatcn Flagstaff
halyards still clinging to the top. Cut piece
Off the staff with your penknife, for momen-
to; no watchfu sentinel will forbid. Shapeless
heaps OF sod-(aced sand, with here and there
the merest suggestion Of The mathematical
regularity Of those defensive lines which the
skill and bravery OF a great people constructed
and fought in, are now all that remain to give
tangible evidence OF the mighty struggle that
shook the continent, and echoed throughout
the world. A beautiful sandy beech slopes
down from the fort on the Sumter front. A
few shells are gathered, and q handful Of the
white sand, still wet with the ebbing tide, and
the Cincinnatians return to the waiting tug.
Now, for Sumter, captain"
~! Glght, gentlemen; but the party Is not
blow his whistle t5 iT4ff THffy mt asgsras
tience seizcs some, for dinner hour is long
past and the pure sea air sharpens tile appe-
tito to insuflerable keenness. Others care
nothing for dinner in the great desire to visit
Sumter. In the meantime the captain Is in
teryewed," and q lot of war talk imparts the
information that the four wrecks lying little
off Sullivan's Island were English blockade
runners, sunk by the batteries on Morris ls-
land, and that, he says, pointing to vessel
tno oR q
man. -of-war in quarantine, with yellow fever"
We were told marvellous stories about the
siege of Chareston-the wonderful sacrifices
the people made to defend the place. One
statement is worthy of repetition, inasmuch as
the same was made in Charleston, namely,
that the boulders of the streets Of Charleston
were taken up and shipped down to Fort Sum-
ter in the night to fill the gaps battered in the
fort during the day by Gilmore's guns. Enor-
nous quantities of sand were shipped down
for the same purpose, the people Of the city
engaging all day in loading the ships and bar
ges, to have them ready for use at night. This
will account for the almost incomprchensible
replacement of the gaps and breaches made in
the fort each succeeding day Of the siege.
At last the Louisville party appeared, and
now VIC are bound tor Sumter. There 1t Is,
only q mile or so off, and we shall enter the
grand old fortress and see the broken flag stan
and the very spot where Anderson stood to
salute the flag as he passed out.
'Helo there, captain, aln't you taking lis to
Sumtcr!'
mo sir; the gentlemen for'ard there says
they want TO so ashore, and that's where we're
bound.'
And so IL is, the Louisville delegation squan-
dcrcC their time away OH Sullivans Island,
and must hurry ashore now to pay their re-
spccts in n body to Trenholm, who receives
them with distinguished consideration at his
luxurious residence in Charleston.
The Cincinnati party are sold out, but there
is no help for il, and no time left to make
wiser effort The golden opportunity to be-
come familiar with the most historic spot In
America is sold for u mess of pottage, and 1t Is
useless to lament.
Sumter stands on five acres of stone. dump
| ed into the harbor for q foundation. Every
thing valuable and useful was removed at the
close of the war, and the place put III charge
of a veteran soldier. The lighthouse, on the
extreme ocean point, was erected since to
warn scafarers OF danger, and suggesting to
all who see it the mighty events evolved by
hurting ball against the once impregnable
walls over which II sheds Its peaceful light
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5cwing 1tlarhlnes.
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