January 10th.—Rained hard all night. House leaking badly!
We have nothing new in the papers this morning. It is said with more confidence, however, that Butler’s canal is not yet a success. Daily and nightly our cannon play upon the works, and the deep sounds in this moist weather are distinctly heard in the city. The amount of requisition for the War Department for 1865 is $670,000,000, and a deficiency of $400,000,000!
Mr. Hunter had his accustomed interview with Judge Campbell this morning in quest of news, and relating to his horoscope. His face is not plump and round yet.
A Mr. Lehman, a burly Jew, about thirty-five years old, got a passport to-day on the recommendation of the Secretary of the Treasury, to arrange (as agent, no doubt) for the shipment of several thousand bales of cotton, for which sterling funds are to be paid. No doubt it is important to keep the government cotton out of the hands of the enemy; and this operation seems to indicate that some fear of its loss exists.
Some 40,000 bushels of corn, etc. were consumed at Charlotte, N.C., the other day. A heavy loss! Both the army and the people will feel it. There seems already to exist the preliminary symptoms of panic and anarchy in the government. All the dignitaries wear gloomy faces; and this is a gloomy day—raining incessantly. A blue day—a miserable day!
The city council put up the price of gas yesterday to $50 per 1000 feet.
