Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1862-10-29
LRrrRR FRom RICHmoNp.
Special Correspondence Of the Memphis Appeal
RICHMOND, October 20, 1862.

a lONbLlcI uhJ hn1u bHdb nAAtCA AoR otuAACb
upon Richmond was never seen. in Italy itself
The sky wears a tender blue the atmosphere,
soft and delicious, hangs q haze over the hOri-
zon which idealizes distant objects and gives a
certain mysterious charm to the vanishing silver
line of river the forests that skirt the city on
the northeast are assuming their autumna hues
of scarlet and saffron, and the few clouds that
float overhead but indicate by their absolute rest
the dreamy reposs of the elements, In the
streets all is l~istlessness and quiet, and the only
animation visible is around the hotels and the
departments. A squad of soldiers under a cor
poral, here and there; a group of mules ard
children around the Washington monument a
line of wagons tOiling slowly up the hill from
the quartermAstsr's warehouse to the depot half
a dozen men lszily reading the last dis
patch on the bulletin which tells them
nothing such are the outward afternoon
aspect of the capital. Strangers and citizens
profit by the glorious season to visit the fOrtif-
cations at Drewry's Bluff, and the little steamers
that ply between the landings, make their daily
trips crowded with passengers, who ramble over
the hillside and stare at the big guns, now as 81
lent as the dismautled hoWitizer in Landsee's
beautiful picture Of Peace. The echoes of the
river heve not been startled by = report from
one of these guns these six months-indeed, we
have become all unused to the sound of artillery,
so recently familiar thunder TO our ears. Are
we surely st war; To make the fact real, we
have but to turn from the bearteous serenity Of
the landscape and the slRmberous %quietude of
the city to the hospitals, where the wounded
soldier still occupies his couch, or hobbies out in
the grounds attached to the building to bssk
in the pleasant sunshine or it may be re-
called to Us strongly enough in the priva-
tons of the household and the enoTmities OF
the butchers bill from which painful con-
Eiderations spring up Of what is likely to
be the condition of many in the scarcity of
wood and fuel during the winter which sp-
proaches. The scanty supply of coal has al
ready deprived US of gaslight in the streets and
t~horoughfares, and the desrth Of provisions is
attested in the almost fabulous prices of all ar
ticles of daily consumption. Flour is con-
stantly going up, meats and poultry are higher
at the end of every week than they were at the
end of the week previous, and the poor maE
will soon find himself reduced to that distress
ing condition in which q days marketing will
cost him a weeks wages. Something of this
extrsvagsnt rise Of prices is due to the initiation
of the currency in the excessive over-issue Of
Confederate Treasury notes. matter upon
which there should have been legislation in Con
gress before its adjournment. Let US hope that
some of our lsw-givers viii avail themselves of
the three months vacation to study the subject
of finance. We are sadly in want Of a Lord
Overstone to supply the shortcomings Of Nj.
Memminger.
By the way, I have just heard two facts men,
toned which would seem to show that no pause
in the utterauce Of Treasury notes is contem-
plated by that officer. A gentleman tells me
that 8 contract is pending between the govern
ment and the Richmond Paper Mill for a hun
dred and fifty thousand dollars worth of bank
note paper on which to print new fives, tens,
flty's and hundreds, and I am informed that
fifty new female clerks, in addition to one hun
dred already employed by the Treasury Depart
ment, are about to be appointed to number,
sign, register, divide and clip the small notes
(the ones and twos) Of which myriads almost
are already in circulatiSA. It may not be gen
orally known, but it is q fact that viii he inter
esting to some readers, that the 81 and 81 bills
Of the Confederate States, those which are en-
beIished with badly engraved lkenesses of Sec
Rotary BeDjamin and Mrs. Governor Pickens Of
South Carolins, are all signed by young ladies,
of whom many are beautiful and accomplished
girls, ornaments Of the society Of the capital.
Each clerk is required to sign two thousand
notes a day. The salary OF these gentle en-
ployees is 5000 per annum, but will soon be
raised fifty per cent. Mr.. Memminger, in max
ing appointments in the Female bureau, has
been very properly guided, other things being
equal, such as fitness and responsibility, by tbs
need and circumstances of the applicants, recog-
MIXING in the young widows or the orphaned
children Of soldiers killed upon the battlefield
{ peculiar claim upon his at iention.
The news of the day hss somsWhs t depressed
the public min d. General Blagg's retreat to-
ward Cumberland Gap was but a sad finale to
a campaign from which had bean expected the
redemption Of Kentucky. That the fight at
PsrryviIle was a victory We may believe from
the direct accounts of our officers and the sd
of the Tribune, but of what good result
are such victories productive, if straighsway we
must relinquish the State 10 the occupancy snd
possession Of the enemyl We know not here
to make of sffairs. The intelligence from
the North is not altogether clear as to the conse-
quences Of events. Pennsylvsnia, Ohio and
Indiana have been carried by the Democrats,
but what does this bode VIII not Lincoln
his repudiased policy as suddenly as
he adopted it, and thus acquire new strength in
the conduct of the war; Or viii he reck-
lessly insist on carrying it out at the risk
OF being oUsted from the Executive Chair
by a Military Dictator I In the midst Of
these doubts it is cheering to ba informed that
the Confederate steamer 300, uoder its gallant
commander Semmes, is carrying destruction far
wide to Yankee commerce on the high seas.
Vigorous exertion like this will do more to break
the blockade than commissioners to the Euro
courts.
General Loring has been Withdrawn from the
command in Western Virginia and arrived here
this morning with his staff officers. The army
viii be transferred to General Williams, and
have been Issued for their return to
Charleston, in Kauawha. General JEFF Thomp-
left town this morning, and General Magru-
der goes tomorrow.
Another Gag Of truce left for Aiken's Landing
to-day at u O'Clock, carrying two hundred Yaa-
kee prisoners. DIXIE.