March 20, 1863, The Charleston Mercury
(CORRESPONDENCE OF THE MERCURY.)
RICHMOND, Monday, March 16.
A curious wrangle has been going on in the Virginia Legislature about salt. Certain patriots own certain salt works, and out of the same have coined abundant money; wherefore certain other more patriotic patriots propose to turn the owners out of their works and supply salt at reduced rates – a cool and sline proposition, which has been defeated so far.
Rosecrans has gone into the pen and ink business. Having dosed the Legislature of Ohio, he now doses that of Indiana, and lambastes the rebels most unmercifully. Wheeler and Van Dorn have made him […..] mad.’
It appears Hooker has been receiving reinforcements. Hence the late stir in his camps. Seventeen deserters from his army swam the river the other night, and say the rest will never fight; for they are too dissatisfied and in too bad a fix. More than eighty converts have been made by the revival in Lee’s army. Rev. W. H. Carrol, of Selma, Ala.; Mr. West, Chaplain of the 13th Miss, and Messrs. McDaniel, Green and Pettigrew, privates of the Thirteenth and Eighteenth Mississippi Regiments, are among the officiating ministers.
The disaster at the Laboratory is more serious than at first supposed, if we except the street rumors the morning the explosion occurred, which put the loss at between two and three hundred. The list this morning foots up thirty-four dead and twenty-nine wounded, of whom a number are mortally injured. Subscriptions for the sufferers are being taken up.
The Whig continues to hold the hand of the South out to the Northwest; and the Enquirer this morning has a letter from the army denouncing such overtures as prejudicial to the cause and the spirit of the troops.
Floyd’s command has dwindled to a mere handful. He will turn over to the Confederate army not more than a few hundred, out of 3000 on the rolls and 1500 in the field, whose cost to the State will be nearly ten millions of dollars.
Ayres & Wade, of the Illustrated News, have gone regularly into the book and job printing business. They will have in a short time six or eight power presses running. An order from Tullahoma for 4000 copies of their paper, received a week or two ago, could not be touched for lack of paper.
A machine for making cotton cards will be at work here in a few weeks. One firm alone in this city makes $1200 a week on envelopes of their own manufacture. A negro woman sold at auction last Friday for $3080. Last night we had a thunder storm and sleet combined, or one right after the other. Rich climate!
HERMES.