The Washington herald., 1915-01-31

fuel, the people of Richmond saw no
hope in the immediate future of an
alleviation of their woes. The loss (on
January 15) of Fort Fisher, guarding
the Cape Fear River. by which block
ade runners brought in supplies from
Europe. had closed the port of Will
mington and virtually cut off the Con-
federacy from the outside world.
The news from Fort Fisher. at first
suppressed. but eventually given out in
guarded dispatch from Gen. Lee. had
produced the gloomiest forebodings
among people already detected by
want.
What had been to close observers
for year. that the Confederacy was
doomed. was now evident to the slow
est inteIIects in Richmond. and people
living on short rations without sufi-
cient money to buy the barest neces-
saries of life. knew not which way to
turn.
Flour at $I,25O n Barrel.
More eloquent than any general de-
scription of conditions at Richmond
are the brief daily entries to be found
in diary kept by a clerk in the War
Department, ]. 3. Jones. A close OBJ
server. Mr.. Jones noted from day TO
day not only economic conditions, but
political as well.
He had followed the march of Sher-
mans army, noted the course of events
at Petersburg. and made daily COM
ments on the downward course of the
Confederate government at Richmond.
On January ~ he had noted that
Gen. Lee wrote for the Secretary OF
', ar's sanction to send officers into the
country in Virginia and North Caro-
lima to solicit food from the farmers.
Lees dispatch stated that he then had
not two days rations in hand for his
army.
The next day. the weather being
clear and frosty" Jones noted that
beef was selling at $6 a pound. meal at
$50. and white beans at $3.50 a bushel.
And yet" he wrote, Congress is
fiddling over stupid distractions. I"
great panic still prevails in the city.
arising from rumors of contemplated
evacuation. The President Jefferson
Davis), I believe, is calm. But
he is aware OF the crisis. l think his
great reliance is on Gen. Lee, and
herein he agrees with the people"
On January II the diarist noted that
a government order had been issued
to impress -four wherever found, large
quantities of it having been secreted
by spectators. On that day -four sold
at $1,000 a barrel in Richmond. The
on their meager salaries. appointed an
agent to buy flour for them, but the
agent was stopped when making the
purchases.
On January IS, with the news of the
closing of Wilmington. flour sold at
$3.50 barrel
Wood S5 n Stick.
Subsequent Improvement in the sit
uation as to food appears to have
the reception of supplies from the
weather brought on new sufferings,
26 wood sold at $3.50 a cord. Jones
Il am out of wood and must do my
little cooking in the parlor with the
coal in the CRATE. This is faminei"
By some shift he succeeded in Sc
curing a little wood, for on January 81
he made this entry in his diary: My
woodhouse was broken into last night
and two (of the nine) sticks of wood
taken. Wood is selling at IS a stick
this cold morning; mercury at zero"
Thence on until the approach of
spring the daily entry in this diary is
never without a reference to suffering
in Richmond.
Yet the writer found comfort in the
statement that there are no beggars
in the streets except a few women of
foreign and Northern birth" adding:
What a people, II our affairs were
managed properly. subjugation would
be utterly impossible"