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Sam,
What a disaster! I fly the same kind of plane, though not for that airline. I'll try to take a stab at what's going on. First, you probably flew on a CRJ-900 operated by US Air regional partner Mesa airlines. The -900 model is the newest, largest, nicest variant of the type and seats 86 in the US Air all-coach configuration. It's bins, while smaller than those on larger planes, should be just large enough to stow a standard roll-aboard that has not been over-stuffed.
Bags that do not fit inside are gate checked and normally stowed in the belly cargo compartment beneath the floor and forward of the wings. Alternately they may be stowed in the main cargo compartment behind the passenger cabin. These bags will, of course, be left outside for some time and exposed to the elements. If it was raining in Memphis I would expect this as your culprit. Neither cargo compartment has a source of condensation or water leakage that I am aware of. The cold air supply is routed through the passenger cabin via the wall ducts at foot level, not through the cargo area. It is very possible for rain to be blown into or drip into an open cargo compartment. The water tanks and supply lines are located far away from the cargo pits. Perhaps another passenger had a water bottle in their bag?
Good luck fighting US Air in this case. You have your work cut out for you. Among other things, pretty much all airlines have legal contracts that limit liability for damage. When you buy a ticket you agree to a "contract of carriage." It could be worth perusing, it will be on their website. In general all baggage not carried in the cabin is given the same treatment that a parcel shipped UPS would be: it is expected that items shipped will be exposed to elements, handled roughly, stacked below other bags, and dropped from a few feet. It is the senders responsibility, not the carriers, to make sure their bag is sufficiently sturdy to survive. Nearly all are not. (If it is made of metal and armored it probably is. TV crews and pro-musicians often ship their equipment in these cases).
As far as the cold cabin, the situation you describe is unacceptable. The airplane's automatic temp control tends to pour freezing air out at foot level, and if the pilot is not correcting it you can get quite cold. This is not a mechanical problem, though, and a quick call by the Flight Attendant should result in prompt action. No single failure should result in an inability to control temperature to everyone's satisfaction. In flight I've seen temperature modulating valves freeze in the full cold position - a little moisture in the air, cold temps, a little ice builds and there's not enough air pressure to break it. Perhaps this happened? A quick dip to lower altitude (and not even much lower) will usually break this. I've only seen it once in 9 years, not sure if it is more common on the -900 variant which I rarely fly.
Ignore the evil people. If they work in an airport they're too far down the food chain to accomplish any good. Write a complaint letter. A real one, with postage, not e-mail. Airlines are required to report complaints to DOT. They're rare enough that it only takes a few letters to skew their stats badly. Try to bypass as many layers of lower management as you can. They sound like they're trained to deny everything. If you can get the CEO's e-mail write him directly (try douglas.parker@usairways.com). Use names and ID numbers of the evil people. I expect you'd get a form-letter apology and a voucher for future travel. Not much. Consider sending your story to consumerist.com, which loves to lambaste airline customer service. Consider writing a popular anti-US Air song and posting it on youtube.
Next time ship your equipment. FedEx doesn't loose bags, route them to Manila, or mangle them. And you can insure them. Perhaps not as convenient as carry-on, but far more reliable than checking. I think our bins are 8-9" high. Keep bags smaller than that if you can.
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