Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1864-02-12
NO. 46.


in conversation with confidential members
in the 50 called Government, declare frequertl
ls that Firginh had been used for all it W,
W worth that it had proved a shield o! in
al nense value, in Tending the devastation of We
n from the rice and cotton States-which wer
o the natural heart and body polite Of Ii
t new Government. Steps have already bee
d taken on various Preiexts Of their labor bein
G needed on the public work TO send all the abl
I bodied negroes and breeding negro wome
e from Richmond along the railroad to Lynch
5 burg, and also south into Georgia, which Mr.
e Davis declared 10 be the next base of opera
} tions. But GeneTalLee, whom jim describe
! as being very old, with his hair snow-white, il
peremptorily opposed to the abandonment o
|, Virginia, and declares that Virginia soldiers
will lay down their arms, il their State is
given up to the Yankee despotism. Jim does
not give these points as rhey are here stated
The following being about fair specimen oi
his style ofinformation:
The cupola roof Of the Presidents house
leaks badly, he says, so that during the recent
rain-stOrm all the tubs from the kitchen had
to be taken up to save the ceiling Of the low
er floors. Mrs. Davis, who often says that If
they had known how it was going, they never
would have left Washington with her consent,
was calling Massa Davis attention 70 the
slate of the roof and asked him to send to the
Quartermaster's Department and lhave it re-
paired Massa Davis, who has grown very
petulent and irritable of late, replied al
reckon we will be out OF thiS before another
rain storm. Don't fuss yourself and fret nae
about these trifies,"
The talk is not about going to Columbia,
South Carolina, but TO some city in Georgia
Jim heard gentlemen ask Mr.. Davis at the
table, where Alexander Stephens was, who
has not attended Congress this session. and
who is said not to have visited Mr. Davis
house or Office for over year. Davis replied
that that he had heard that Stephens had |
gone to Europe, but had not thought it worth |
while to inquire what ha ! become of him.
Jim accompanied Davis in his recent tour
around the Confsderacy, and describes the fol- !
lowing scene as having occurred on the sum-
NIT of Lookout Mountain. Looking down,
one bright Gay from the lofty eniinence com
manding clear view into four States aud |
very distant view into the fifth, Davis saw the |
Yankees almost beneath his feet, across the
valley, working like beavers on their fortifca- |
tions. L have them now" said he. 81 in Just |
the trap set for them" To which Lieuten-
ant General Pemberton. who was setting Oh |
horseback beside him, replied, Mr. Davis
you are Commander-in-chef, and you ace here
You think the enemy are in a trap, and can
be captured by vigorous assault. have been
blamed for not having ordered general at
tack on the enemy when they we're drawing
around me their lines of decentralization at
Vicksburg. Do you now order an attack up
on those troops down there below us, and
will set you my life not-oue Cd d--m
man of the attacking column will ever come
back across that valley, except as prisoner"
When Davis was passing through North
Caroiua, he only stopped at Wilmington to
consult with General Whiting. While there
he was pressed with a numerous delegation Of
Confederate Office holders to stop in Raleigh
for consultation with Governor Vance This
be angrily declined. 1t appears that the
health OF Mr.. Davis is rapidly breaking down
under his neuralgia attacks in so much that
be can no longer use his only good eye by
candle-Iight. He continues his old habit ar
ter dinner OF stretching himself on the carpet
before The fire ia room otherwise unlighted,
and il is fast becoming dangerous for any one
TO approach him.
Always Of violent and fretful temper, this ]
is becoming greatly aggravated by his misEor-
tunes, and Jim describes him Oh one occasion
as ainging about the chairs and furniture
when disturbed.
About four weeks ago pistol exploded in
his room when he was loading it, and the
whole family rushed up feeling confident that,
as they had long dreaded he had committed
suicide 4
jim says that Mrs. Davis, in conversation
with female friends, frequently talks Of the =
Confederacy as hopeless, and is loud in regrets !
for the lost pleasures Of Washington.
There is no forage except in the Mississip- !
pi Department, and the allowance Of Mr.. I
Davis two horses is two quarts Of corn each {
per day, on which, says Jim, they grow
ing thin. Net long ago Mr.. Davis received
q present Of twenty turkeys, the food fer {
which now comes from the corn rations of the
quadrupeds, making them still thinner. A
turkey, Jim says, last the family three days l
roasted or broed the first day, cold the next, s
and hashed the third.
Mr.. Davis receives no company, has no
wine in his cellar, but has several kegs of G
brandy sent from blockade-runners at Will
nngton. Jim says that Mr.. Davis told him J
that the Yankees had killed all the people s
whom they iouud on his Mississippi panta- {
lion, and that they we're all found lying hg
yledy piggledy in hole, their arms cut of,
and, in some cases, their heads bloody and
beaten, prolruding from the ground. Jim
says he believed this story, until one of his
elbow servants, who could read told him it :
vas a lie to deseivs them. Then Jim deter
mined to leave.
When he did leave, he was hidden in a hole =
n the earth at Charleston City for three
lays before he was found by his wife, the last : !,
emale servant owned by Mr.. Davis in the =
Presidential Mansion. Jim wore an over
;Oat, and in it the autograph name Of Mr..
Davis and the date 1860. How do you
Ieep your coat so good ?" we asked him.
He answered, oh, golIy, Massa Davis give !,
1 to me year ago, and | knew ! might not
yet another, so l took care Of it," He had :
IN his feet new but coarse brogans Of untan-
ned leather, which Nassn Davis got from the
Quartermaster, and he told me to take care OF
hem, for they cost 800"
The utmost distress prevails ia Richmond !
or food, there net being more than two or A
three beaves killed in the city per day, for ;
private consumption. Fresh beef was about !,
iour dollar. per pound when he len. For a =
string Of three perch, weighing less than a
pound each, he paid $l3. Oysters were $25 ),
! quart, as they could only be obtained in the y
night, on account Of the Yankee occupation =
Of james river with gunboats. =,
Great Eaters W