Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Diary of John Beauchamp Jones: April 22, 1863

The President is reported to be very ill to-day — dangerously ill — with inflammation of the throat, etc. While this is a source of grief to nearly all, it is the subject of secret joy to others. I am sure I have seen some officers of rank to-day, not fighting officers, who sincerely hope the President will not recover. He has his faults, but upon the whole is no doubt well qualified for the position he occupies. I trust he will recover.

The destruction of the Queen of the West, and of another of our steamers, is confirmed. Is not Pemberton and Blanchard responsible?

The loss of two guns and forty men the other day, on the Nansemond, is laid at the door of Major-Gen. French, a Northern man! Can it be Gen. Cooper (Northern) who procures the appointment of so many Northern generals in our army? I cut the following from the Dispatch of yesterday:

Produce, etc, — Bacon has further declined, and we now quote $1.25 to $1.30 for hog-round; butter, $2.25 to $3 per pound; beans in demand at $20 per bushel. Corn is lower — we quote at $6 to $6.50 per bushel; corn meal, $7 to $9 per bushel — the latter figure for a limited quantity; candles, $3.50 to $3.75 per pound; fruit — dried apples, $10 to $12; dried peaches, $15 to $18 per bushel; flour — superfine, $31 to $32; extra, $34; family, $36; hay is in very small supply — sales at $15 per cwt.; lard, $1.05 to $1.70 per pound; potatoes — Irish, $3 to $10; sweet, $10 to $11 per bushel; rice, 25 to 33 cents per pound; wheat, $6.50 to $7 per bushel.

Groceries. — Sugars have a declining tendency: we quote brown at $1.15 to $1.25; molasses, $9 to $10 per gallon; coffee, $1 to $4.50; salt, 45 cents per pound; whisky, $28 to $35; apple brandy, $24 to $25; French brandy, $65 per gallon.

SOURCE: John Beauchamp Jones, A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, Volume 1, p. 297-8

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