JANUARY 17th.—There is nothing new to-day. The weather is pleasant for the season, the snow being all gone.
Custis has succeeded in getting ten pupils for his night-school, and this will add $100 per month to our income—if they pay him. But with flour at $300 per barrel; meal, $20 per bushel, and meat from $2 to $5 per pound, what income would suffice? Captain Warner (I suppose in return for some writing which Custis did for him) sent us yesterday two bushels of potatoes, and, afterwards, a turkey! This is the first turkey we have had during our housekeeping in Richmond.
I rarely see Robert Tyler nowadays. He used to visit me at my office. His brother John I believe is in the trans-Mississippi Department. My friend Jacques is about town occasionally.