The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1880-01-11

n big eympathiea and an active member Of

! the Confederate Guards.
When Butler landed on May he sent a
! messenger ahead 10 the hotel to AJAX for
! rooms for himself and his staff. He soon fol.
lowed himself. accompanied by q large mill
tary guard. Mr.. Hiidreth firmly but eril-
, phaticaIiy dacllued to admit him to tho build
ing, announcing that he had shut up bis hotel
J and was 10 longer Keeping au inn. Butler
thprenpDn demanded the Keys, which were
refused him. In the mean while D large Gro wd
or angry lookprs-On had gathered In the ST.
Charles and ths neighhoiiug Streets wbu
hooted at Butler aud threatened him with
personal violence. The crowd gro wing still
more excited, attempted to interfere with the
off ers, who were endeavOring To force their
way into the building, but WAS finally dis
persed and u number of them arrested.
Butler took refuge III ths meantime down
stairs 10 the bar-room. now Lacoumes. which
his men hal sncceeded In breakiBg into 1t
was there that he held bis conferences with
Mayor Monroe and the City Council, who
promised to Do all In their power to restore
peace and quiet In the city and prevent u
bloody conflict between the troops and the
citizens which seem d almost inevitable.
Butler flnaiy succeeded In getting posses
sion OF the 81. Charles, which he threw open
as hotel for his army officers. acting AS
| manager OF the establishment himself for
| several days. The ladies' parlor was occupied
during this period by Mrs Butler. and a gen
eral invitation extended to the ladies oil New
| Orleans to visit her. It Is needless to say
that none except Il few wives OF the off GERS
| ever presented themselves.
/ few days afterwards Butler took possess
| sion OF Gtu. TwgGs'S house, which he OccIl-
| pied as his headquarters during the remain
| der Of his stay, and the hotel was surrer-
dered to Its lersees.
During the remainder of the war. tho St.
Charles was kept open, but rather as a board
| ing house than hotel. as the travel between
this and other places was very slim.
/ AFTER THE WAR.
In 1866, after the city was filled with returned
Confederate soldiers, thousands of whom
came back TO their old homes without a cent
| Ia their pockets, and with very scauty sup
ply Of clothing to their backs the whole
population Of the city went earnestly to work
| TO make them as comfortable as possible, aud
| all kinds of charitable schemes wera devised
| to aid them. The hotels did their share OF this
| good work, for they threw open their doors
and welcomed home these long-iOst sons of
| Louisiana with the understanding that those
| who could pay should do SO, but that those
| who could not should be entertained Free
| Both the st. Charles and City Hotels thus
gratuituusly entertained several THOUSAND
ex-Confederatee, and the books of the former
establishment show bills amounting to S3O, 900
that were never sent In or collected
With 1866 prosperity again came to New
| Orleans. The city WAS fall OF people aud the
hotels did rou5tDg business. This era Of
| business revival, however, was short aud
| lasted only two years. In 1868, soon after the
| inauguration OF d Republican government In
IhlS otAttr Hhiu times came again. There
| has been but little improvement since.
During this period several other changes
| had taken place In the management IF tho
| hotel. Hidreth sold out his interest to Hull in
| 1865 In 1s69it was leased to Rivers IL Foley
They were succeeded by Rivers Il Lousdale
and afterwards by Rivers lS Bartel, who have
| the hotel at present under their charge.
1t Is useless to go over the history of the
hotel since the war. Il has during that De-
Rod been the central point of our very storm v
SfntA D.,En to
republicans, memberso OF every political party
have met to exchange views and discuss the
affairs of the State and the nation Parlor 2
alone has made for itself q national reputa-
ton. 1t has been occupied by no less than
six congressional Investigating committees,
trying TO understand that chaotic condition
OF affairs which became known over the coan-
try IS the Louisiana question" There Mad
Wells, Jim Anderson, the fair haired Ana
ntas OF Pennsylvania, Kellogg. and a host of
Others who have made undying names for |
themselves as annihiators of veracty, have
met ths honorable gentlemen from Washing
cal history alone that Pdrlor Is famous
Countless other associations, 10 discuss great
questions Of trade and commerce. have been |
held there; railroad meetings to build new |
railroads (tlas still incomplpt sd). and meet |
ings OF ladies to solve great problems OF b Ills |
ami dress. Here, too, comes Rex when
visitor 70 our city, Parlor 2 being his recog-
MID official headquarters for his short
reign OF two days during the carnival
REPAIRS.
IN 1873 1t became evident that the hotel
needed repairing. 1t had been hastily con- |
struc ed after the fire OF 1851, and the upper
rooms did not enjoy enough light. The build
ing had not been improved, moreover, for |
twenty years, and hotel-buildfng had made
great strides during that period. The falling
OF some OF the plaster work on the front has |
tened this work, and the vt. Charles Hotel |
Company ordered the building thoroughly |
repaired.
The lease OF the lower portion of the build
lDg as 9 bar-r0om prevented the original de-
sign for these improvements being carried |
out. 1t bad been Intended to move the office
downstairs to where the bar-room Is, and |
convert the r0tunda Into a diniugroom. This
proposed change had to be abandoned The
repairs that were made, however, were con-
siderable and cost over $50, 900. They were COZ
Quoted under the care and supervision OF the
we'll known architect, Henry Howard and
Frederick Wing, builder. It Is impossible
and embarrassing to recapitulate them
here. at length. The old ranges In the
kitchen were taken out and replaced with
Vans new patent ranges from Cincinnati,
the kitchen wall repaired, the old ovens In the
bakery rebuilt, the courtyard paved. new
erected, the cornces and front por-
ttcos taken down and rebuilt with brick and
cement work, the bakery and kitchen re-
paired, the lower story over the main dining
room destroyed and new one erected In its
Itself was entirely remodeled,
the flor, which had been crooked, having been
out and lowered In the centre by
cutting off The columns supporting it In La
ooumes billiard room. Anew ladies ordinary
was opened on Common street by cutting
away the partitions and other works which
formerly divided this portion Of the building
INTO parlors and bedrooms. In fine, these
improvements supplied every portion of the
building with water conveniences, provided a
large numbpr Of bathrooms, attached to the
suites, destroyed all dark rooms and thor I
,ughly ventilated the whole building. Another
Improvement that should not be overlooked {
was the sewer constructed on Common street,
ind which ernpties the refuse Of the hotel |
INTO the river, thus establishing the practical {
)ility of sewers In New Orleans.
THE BUILDING AS IT Is TO-DAY
The hotel, as 1t stands to-day, contains !
lbout 400 bedrooms, and can Comfortably
accommodate between 600 apd 700 guests, !,
There are besides 80 pariors and 100 bath .
ooms. The lower or ground floor contains a .
lumber of fine SfDrpS frnntinv on ST CharIac | I