SUNDAY
NOVEMBER 30, 1862
THE DAILY PICAYUNE (LA)

The Iron-Clads at Pittsburgh.—The Pittsburgh Gazette has the following particulars regarding the new iron gunboats 

of the Monitor pattern, which are building near that city:

They have a length of 172 feet, with 50 feet breadth of beam, and 7 feet depth of hold. In appearance, when finished, they will differ materially from any war vessel afloat. After looking at the plans we should say that, were one of our large canal barges made quite sharp at the bow, and then covered with a flush deck, through which we will suppose the usual Monitor turret protruding, it would not be a bad representation of what these batteries will be when completed. The sides will not be so perpendicular as those of a barge, and the depth of the hold will, of course, be greater; but, in other respects, the illustration will be found a good one, sufficiently good, at least, to enable the reader to form a tolerably fair idea of what they will look like when ready for service.

Though the first blow upon them was struck August last, so tedious has been the process of their construction that but for their iron bows, pointing high into the air, you would find some difficulty in determining what the immense iron surfaces which greet your vision as you enter the yard are intended for. The bottom of each will be entirely flat, the hull rising out of the water and becoming quite sharp as it nears the bow. The hull is being made of boiler iron, and is being bolted and riveted together in the strongest manner. There are over one hundred men employed on these batteries now, and the riveting, pounding, punching and hammering, kept up from early morn till night, seem enough to deafen the neighborhood. Compared with the noise here, the din of a dozen boiler yards sinks into insignificance; yet no one seems to mind it, and everything works as smoothly and with as little interruption as though the strictest silence prevailed.

Thus far the bottoms have occupied the principal attention of the workmen. They are firmly braced, so that it will be next to impossible to strain them. The ribs to receive the sheeting for the sides are now being bent, and as soon as they have been got in place the work will go rapidly forward. It was first intended to make them of T iron, but it was found impossible to bring it to the proper shape, and angle iron had to be substituted. It is the intention to plate the hull with 4-inch iron, we believe, two feet below the water-line. The deck is to be made of wood, covered with iron, and will, to a certain extent, be bomb-proof. The turret will also be of iron, six inches thick, with the pilothouse on top, and carefully protected. Each boat will be propelled by four engines, will carry two of the heaviest guns, and, when loaded and ready for action, will not draw more than five feet of water.

It is the intention to have them ready for service by the 1st of February; but, looking at matters as they now stand, we doubt the ability of the contractors to finish them so soon. The turrets are well advanced toward completion; but we understand that as yet the first plate for mailing the vessels has not been rolled. This does not look as though they were to be finished by February; but the contractors are men of energy, and when they put on steam they are capable of making great headway.

These boats, it is evident from their build, are intended wholly for river service. In connection with this article we may state that the contract for a third Monitor has been given out here, and arrangements for her construction are now in progress. She will be 260 feet in length by 60 feet breadth of beam, with 11 feet depth of hold, and will be far more powerful than either of those above mentioned.

Not Joking.—A correspondent of the Chattanooga Rebel is responsible for the following good ‘un:

The other day at Knoxville, my exceedingly good looking and urbane friend, Hon. Wm. G. Swann, was hurrying to the railroad station to bid adieu to a lady friend who was on the eve of departure to a Southern city. When he had neared the depot, and at the moment that his glance met that of the lady in question, two stalwart men, William Murphy and Zeke Gilliam, of Rucker’s peripatetic “body snatchers,” accosted him—

“Well,” said one of them, "You can’t make the trip this time, we want you up at Col. Blake’s, where they provide quarters for conscripts.”

“Ah!” answered the smiling Congressman, “I am the representative from this district in the Confederate States Congress.”

“You can’t come that game,” said Gilliam. “We have already sent to the camp of destruction upwards of fifteen bony fidy Congressmen.”

“Well, but I’m not joking,” said Mr. Swann.

“Nor are we,” said Rucker’s men. “You must march.”

A distinguished lawyer and a great railway king came to the rescue of the Congressman. All without avail—Mr. Swann travelled to headquarters, more than a mile, was there identified and dismissed.

He hardly knew whether to laugh or swear as he moved himself down the street. He would indulge in a sort of smile now and then, but instantly would clench his fist and stamp his foot when he reflected on the disappointment to which he had been subjected at the depot, by the operation of that pet measure of his, the conscript act.

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The November fogs and storms bring out the suicides in Paris. An amusing case is related of a melancholy citizen of Havre who went a little while before high tide to a post set up by the sea. He had provided himself with a ladder, a rope, a pistol, a bundle of matches and a vial of poison. Ascending the ladder, he tied one end of the rope to the post and the other end round his neck; then he took the poison, set his clothes on fire, put the muzzle of the pistol to his head, and kicked away the ladder. In kicking down the ladder, he sloped the pistol so that the ball missed his head and cut the rope by which he was suspended; he fell into the sea, thus extinguishing the flames of his clothes, and the sea water which he involuntarily swallowed counteracted the poison; and thus, in spite of his precautions, he remains unhanged, unshot, unpoisoned, unburned and undrowned.

MONDAY
DECEMBER 1, 1862
THE RICHMOND DAILY ENQUIRER (VA)

Mississippi in Full Motion.
THE SIRES ABOUT TO ASSIST THE SONS.
To The Conscript Fathers.
An Appeal to the Old Men of Mississippi.

Fellow-citizens: To meet the emergency of the present invasion, our patriotic Governor Pettus has agreed to accept as many companies of old men in the State, who are, by their age, exempt both from the conscription and militia duty as will tender their services; such companies to serve without pay, to be furnished with tents, subsistences and arms; and when mustered into service, to be subject to the command of the Confederate general commanding the department of the State. It is evidently believed that a brigade of the gray-haired sires of the land, who would be efficient in battle though incapacitated for the ordinary duties of a soldier, can be raised for the purpose of driving back the ruthless invaders who now pollute our home.

Let the old men in each county in the State act upon this matter at once. Where a sufficient number can be raised in any one county to form a company at the minimum standard, according to our militia laws, let them organize at once, and report to me at Terry’s or to Col. Oscar J. E. Stuart at Jackson, Mississippi. Where they cannot raise the requisite number, let them report at once the number they can raise. When all are raised that can be raised, we can then meet at some place to be designated by the Governor for the purpose of completing our organization.

Fellow-citizens: A powerful, haughty foe, distinguished for all the heathenish brutality of savage war, and every vice of evil devils—confident in their numbers and  their superior military appointments for warfare, now threatens the destruction of your firesides, the spoliation of your property, the overthrow of the government of your choice, consecrated to you by the death of your children who have died to maintain it, and by the sufferings of your sons who are now toiling in the tented field to uphold it. The rapacity and depredation which has marked the march of their armies in Tennessee and Arkansas, indicates to us what we may expect in case of their success in overrunning our State. They say that they have handled Tennessee and Arkansas with gloves, but that when they get to Mississippi, they will handle us without gloves. Let every man who is afraid our State will be overrun, and is able to fight, shoulder his arms to prevent it, and we will, by God’s help, drive them back.

A.G. Brown,
Jackson, Miss., Nov. 18, 1862.

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Old Things as Good as New.—Superannuated furniture is at a premium, and old clothes are worth their weight in shinplasters. The auction houses are stocked with them daily, and no how great the supply, every article commands a sensational price. Happy the man who has an old coat or a dilapidated stove pipe that he doesn’t want, and thrice happy he that has a house full of rubbish. Golconda does not offer a more inviting prospect. At the last [auction] it was our happiness to visit, the prices ran as follows: A leg of a chair, $2.50; a piece of an old coat, $15; a wash tub, $5; a pair of tongs, $6; a coal scuttle, bottom out, $4.50; a table on two legs, $10; a venerable hoop skirt, $16; Methuselah’s table cloth, $12; a bucket containing a gimlet, a curry-comb, a brick-bat, and a piece of chair, $7.50; a broom, $3; a brass watch chain, $5; an old hat, $6; a stick of wood, 50 cents.

The Paper Famine.

The Yankee newspapers are beginning to feel the effects of the war, for we are told by Yankee correspondents that the paper famine promises to produce serious embarrassments to such of the daily journals of the North as are affected with a large circulation. Should the present exorbitant price of the raw material continue, an advance in the price of the printed sheets or a curtailment of their dimensions seems inevitable. The New York Evening Post, in order to show how the matter works at present, says that:

“Such of the morning journals of this city as have a circulation daily of fifty thousand will lose by the recent rise not less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year. If a New York daily has a circulation of one hundred thousand copies, its loss, if rates continue at present prices, would be at the end of the year not less than one hundred thousand dollars. Of course this would be ruinous to any business enterprise. No doubt the morning journals dislike to raise their price, but they must do so, unless some change takes place to bring paper back to its old price.”

The paper famine is also prevailing in New Jersey. A special meeting of the New Jersey Editorial Association is to be held at Lower Temperance Hall, Trenton, on Thursday, December 4th. The call says:

“The late extraordinary rise of 75 per cent in the price of printing paper, and a heavy advance in the price of printing materials generally, demands some action on the part of newspaper publishers; and hence, at the request of several members of the association, this meeting is called to the purpose of taking the matters into consideration together with other business as may properly come before the association.”

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The Rule of Reckless Driving.—The circumstance of war has upset the rule of order and propriety among the miscellaneous Johns of this city. There is now no right and no left, driving has evidently gone mad. The streets are kept in a constant jumble, dangerous to cross and frightful to look upon. The drivers of those hideously noisy vehicles call Government wagons seem to take a particular delight in rushing their teams through at a furious rate, to the jeopardy of property and humans, and the consternation of the small fry toiling population who flourish in furniture wagons and market cars. Many accidents have already occurred from the carelessness and recklessness of teamsters, and it is full time a stop was put to the style.

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From Fredericksburg.

There were rumors of fighting in Fredericksburg in circulation here on yesterday, but no intelligence came to us of any such event. The enemy are still engaged actively preparing to cross the river at several points, and have already received a large number of pontoon boats and other material essential to the success of their purpose. Our army is in fine condition and spirits and fully prepared for any emergency, come what may.

TUESDAY
DECEMBER 2, 1862
THE BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISER

Matters before Fredericksburg.

The New York Herald’s dispatch from the Army of the Potomac, dated Sunday, says:

“The rebels are working with redoubled vigor on their fortifications, and their cavalry have of late been very active and have captured a number of our pickets along the fords of the river, besides the two companies of the Third Pennsylvania cavalry at Harwood Church, seven miles from Falmouth, on the road to Warrenton.

“Longstreet commands the right and Hill the left of the rebel forces confronting us.

“The officers and soldiers have been greatly cheered with the authentic information that they are to be paid off at once. In fact, this long-suspended operation was commenced yesterday, and the army will soon be again in a healthy financial condition.

“There is considerable forage throughout the country below here. On one farm near our encampment are seventy-five stacks of grain, a quantity of corn, and quite a large herd of fine beef cattle, the property of an officer in the rebel army.

“This morning there was a general inspection of the cavalry with the view of detecting and punishing such officers as have not paid proper attention to the condition of their horses.”

A dispatch to the New York World, dated Falmouth, Nov. 29, says:

“Two deserters from the rebel army came across the river into the picket lines of General Burne’s division before daylight yesterday morning. They had been discharged from the hospital in Richmond on [the] 18th, and had surgeon’s passes. They are from Virginia regiments, and report that General Lee is in command of the rebel forces opposite us, that yesterday they began to retire upon Richmond, and that last night a large force of the enemy were engaged in tearing up the railroad tracks. Furthermore, that when General Lee issued the order for falling back, he notified the citizens that if by any indication whatever they gave us information of the movement that he was going on, he would burn the town. A close inspection of the enemy’s position yesterday showed them busily engaged on lines of works, probably as feints to conceal their real movements. They have abandoned their first line and were yesterday constructing a second line farther from the river, connecting their redoubts by traverses, and had a very large force at work.

“The completion of the railroad to the Rappahannock is a matter of much congratulation, and relieves the army of the great difficulty in regard to getting supplies. The bridge over the Rappahannock will be at once commenced and prosecuted under the protection of heavy guns. Matters are growing decidedly interesting, and but a short time will elapse before you will have stirring news from this vicinity. It is reported this morning that a brigadier-general of engineers has been arrested and sent to Washington for inexcusable delay in forwarding materials.”

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Federal Victory in Arkansas.

Springfield, Mo., Nov. 29.—Gen. Blunt, with 5000 Federal soldiers, attacked and routed 8000 rebels under Gen. Marmaduke at Cone Hill, Arkansas, on the 25th inst. Sixty rebels were killed in the engagement and the balance driven some 12 miles. Gen. Blunt telegraphs that the rebels are badly whipped and will probably not venture north of the Boston mountains again this winter, and that as they consumed al the subsistence in the valley of the Arkansas, they must soon retreat into Texas.

Negro Officers.—Gen. Butler has moved his military headquarters from the New Orleans Custom House to the commodious residence formerly the princely bachelor establishment of Corney Fellows, a rich rebel merchant. The correspondent of the New York Times speaks of a visit to the place, and says:

“Coming down stairs from the audience chamber I met three officers, two captains and one first lieutenant, all three remarkable for their fine figures and neat military dress. They passed quickly upstairs, and had the appearance and air of men whose presence was officially demanded. The crowd mad way for them, and they disappeared in the Commanding General’s room. These men thus dressed, with shoulder-straps, swords, and martial air, were Negro officers of the First National Union Regiment of Louisiana. In all the changes wrought by this rebellion, this spectacle speaks to me as the mightiest and most wonderful. I can scarcely believe my eyes when I witness a spectacle like this, and that one not in Massachusetts or New York, but in Louisiana, and in the ‘imperial Southern City of New Orleans.’ ”

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A plate is being engraved by the Treasury Department, the first of the new issue of notes to replace the New York currency by better ones, and such as will not be easily counterfeited. It is a fac simile of the painting in the rotunda of the Capitol of the Landing of the Pilgrims. Each note will have one of these pictures upon it, engraved in the most elaborate style.

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Stonewall Jackson’s Movements.

The New York Tribune’s correspondent with Gen. Sigel’s corps reports an important reconnoissance by Gen. Stabel through Aldie’s and Snicker’s Gaps to ascertain the truth about Jackson’s movements. Gen. Stabel scoured the country almost to Winchester, and found that Jackson had certainly gone South. At Snicker’s Ferry Gen. Stabel fell upon a large force of rebel cavalry, routed them, captured numbers of horses and cattle, pursued to Berryville, broke up their camp, chased them to within four miles of Winchester, captured all the officers and 40 privates of White’s battalion, and altogether cost them a loss of 50 in killed and wounded. Our side lost 15 in all.

A Harper’s Ferry dispatch of Sunday states:

“We have news from Stonewall Jackson’s headquarters by three different messengers to Saturday morning. Jackson is in full retreat, horse, foot and artillery. At Surry, on Friday, he continued his retrograde movement from Winchester, passing through Strasburg. Friday afternoon and Saturday morning his rear guard and himself passed through Woodstock, and his whole column was moving steadily up the valley turnpike.

“By forced marches his command was progressing from twenty to twenty-five miles daily. He was going toward Gordonsville, by Harrisonburg and Staunton. Yesterday the last of the rebel cavalry pickets were withdrawn from our front, and today the coast is entirely clear. There is every indication that Jackson’s retreat this time is real, he having failed to draw our generals here into a snare.”

WEDNESDAY
DECEMBER 3, 1862
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PATRIOT & STATE GAZETTE

What the Soldiers Say.—The public has not been permitted to know the real feeling of the army in relation to the removal of Gen. McClellan, nor the effect it produced upon the minds of the soldiers. But private letters from the soldiers to their friends are telling the story as it is. They all tell the same tale. They tell how finely every thing was going on, and in what excellent spirits all were, up to the time of that unfortunate and criminal act, and what a paralyzing influence the news of that event created. And they at eh same time predict misfortune to the army—a repetition of Pope’s experience, as the inevitable result. The facts they state are undoubtedly reliable, for nearly all concur; but it is to be hoped that their predictions will not be verified. As a sample of scores of these letters received by persons in this vicinity from sons in the army, we refer to one now before us from a son of Mr. Joseph Carpenter of East Concord. His representations fully confirm what is above stated, and in addition he states that many officers were resigning and “the privates would if they could.” And after referring to the enthusiastic reception given Gen. McClellan on his appearance to take leave of the army, he says, “if you hear any one say anything against Gen. McClellan, please knock him down three or four times for me. Such a man would not be safe among the soldiers.” We refer to this to illustrate the real feeling of the soldiers, and it is proper to say that this young man is not governed by political feeling, as he and his father have been Republicans. There is no doubt that the removal of Gen. McClellan has operated very injuriously to the country, by discouraging the army and greatly delaying its operations.

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“Another Scare.”—There has recently been another great “scare” at Washington, or rather a pair of them. Gen. Sigel was driven back near Washington, and in such haste that many of his soldiers threw away their arms to facilitate their retreat; and he lost twenty-eight car loads of baggage and supplies. The rebel cavalry have been making daily raids close to our lines in front of Washington and have made important captures—so say the letter-writers. And a few days ago about fifty rebel cavalry crossed the Upper Potomac into Maryland and visited Pooleville. These things are said to have greatly alarmed the authorities, and we wonder they did not order the whole of Burnside’s army to hasten to the defence of Washington.

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Newspaper Reader at the War Office.—A person is employed at the War Department to study the reports of military movements which appear in Southern papers, for the purpose of discovering the plans and objects of the enemy. Of course such officers are in like manner employed at Richmond, but probably with far easier tasks that their opponents, such is the recklessness of Northern papers in revealing military secrets.

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Among the officers recently dismissed from the service for being absent from his command without leave is Capt. Thompson of the 22d Massachusetts regiment. He was a brave and gallant officer, fought heroically in the battles on the Peninsula, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Malvern Hill, and died on the 4th of August! Under these circumstances it seems to us that his absence ought to be excused!

Atrocious Conduct.—Some folks think it is strange that so little Union feeling is manifested by the people of such portions of the seceded States as have been visited by our troops. After perusing the following, and reflecting that these cases are but specimens of the doings of our armies, such people will think it very strange that there is to be found any Union feeling where our troops go. A letter to the Boston Traveller, giving an account of Gen. Foster’s recent expedition from Newbern, North Carolina, thus notices the doings of his troops at Williamston:

“This is a small town, having before the war from 500 to 700 inhabitants. We found it almost entirely deserted; one or two white men being all we saw in the place. Our halt here was about three hours, and at the end of that time the town was thoroughly pillaged. Not only were useful and ornamental articles taken from houses, and horses, harnesses and carriages from barns, but stores were entered and sacked, and with the “apple jack” discovered and the whiskey dealt out by order, not a few were dead drunk, and many more partially frenzied. When we moved, a considerable number had to be urged almost at the point of the bayonet, while others were loaded into ambulances and baggage wagons.”

Of the doings at Hamilton, a village of 300 or 400 inhabitants, the writer says:

“But instead of marching into the town, we were encamped in a cornfield just outside of it. The order was that two or three men be sent out to forage provisions for each company, and no others allowed in town. But whether by open disobedience, or by the connivance of those who should have enforced the order, the town was soon, in camp language, “cleaned out” even more completely than Williamston. Not only were houses sacked, and everything portable and desirable carried off, but valuable furniture dashed to pieces, beds dragged into the streets and burned—in one field I myself counted eight or ten—but nearly or quite a dozen houses were needlessly, causelessly, barbarously burned. It is little wonder, if such be the conduct of our forces everywhere, that we should acquire an unenviable reputation.”

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Foreign Intervention.—By recent advices from Europe it is learned that France has proposed to England and Russia to join in an offer of friendly mediation in our quarrel; but the English Government declines, and that of Russia objects to it also. We judge from the correspondence that intervention is only postponed—until both parties have become somewhat exhausted, so that they may be inclined to listen to almost any terms by which the war may be closed.

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The redemption of Postage Stamps.—The Post Office Department is reported to be making arrangements for redeeming stamps circulating as currency. All stamps, no matter how defaced they may be, will be redeemed, with the exception of those that have evidently been used upon letters.

THURSDAY
DECEMBER 4, 1862
THE LOWELL DAILY CITIZEN & NEWS (MA)

From the Thirty-Third.—Since this regiment left Alexandria we have heard little of its movements. From a private letter just received here from one of Colonel Maggi’s staff, we find they have encountered some rainy weather, and made some long marches. The letter is dated Germantown, near Fairfax, Nov. 21st:

“Here we are again almost back to our starting-point, Fairfax Court House, which is only about two miles from where we are now encamped. We started from Thoroughfare Gap, Monday night, about dark, in a “right smart” rain storm, marched to Haymarket, some five miles, in the almost Egyptian darkness, and bivouacked. After a sleepless night in the open field, in the cold rain, we started at daylight and marched all day, and bivouacked again in the rain, but slept soundly. Again we were on the move at daylight, still raining, and mud and “slosh” getting worse and worse. This day we passed again over the Bull Run battle-field and through Centreville, arriving where we now are in season to pitch tents before dark. And at this moment (Friday, 3 p.m.,) there is, for the first time since we left the Gap, some little prospect of a lull in the storm. Everything soaked and muddy again. Some three or four rivers of no contemptible pretensions having established a line of communication directly through my tent, myself and lieutenants have vainly undertaken to amuse ourselves, watching sticks and chips sail through, and betting (in jest) as to the relative rapidity of the different rivulets. In fact, we have had a most disagreeable, unpleasant march or near a week’s duration. How long we may stay here is of course unknown. But all will give thanks when we do get sufficiently settled to have some faint idea once more of what a partially civilized existence may prove to be. This severe storm must put a stop to all operations in this immediate vicinity I think, as the roads must now be almost impassable on account of the mud. Since we started on the march we have lost about all of our little camp conveniences. My tent, which at Fairfax and Alexandria could boast of a respectable and comfortable set-out in the shape of bed, stools, desk, writing materials, floor, &c., now presents a sort of “break-up housekeeping” appearance, and if you should look in upon me at this moment, you would see—well, I will give you a description as I now survey it: Imagine, if you please, a tent pitched on a side-hill, just at the edge of what was, when we first made our appearance, quite a thick woods, but, alas, the woodman’s (or rather soldier’s) axe has not spared the trees, and hundreds of majestic ones have fallen victim to the camp-fire; in front of the tent a large fire, at which two industrious contrabands are trying the double experiment of cooking dinner and evading the some; inside you would see the floor of hay (very damp too) covered with blankets; along the front of the tent are ranged two small trunks, also a rude box used as a mess chest, in which, should you look, you might discover the grand secret of economy of time—“a place for everything, &c.”—boots and bread, butter and blacking, sugar and soap, and so on, ad infinitum. Ranged along the top, on a pole placed there for the purpose, you would see swords, pistols, haversacks, boots covered with mud, saddles, spurs, &c. In one corner sits a demure lieutenant, who, for the first time, has undertaken to sew buttons on his shirt, and I much fear, from the frequent unchristian-like exclamations from that quarter, that he does not succeed very well. Another lieutenant lies by my side smoking, and still two and two others are seated in the other corner, endeavoring to create for themselves something of a reputation as euchre players, while your humble servant is, at last, flat on the ground, after shifting for a better position no less than a score of times, inditing (in a necessarily bad hand) this epistle. How do you like the picture?”

Thanksgiving in Washington.—Thousands of New England men, in the camps and hospitals in and about Washington, observed our Thanksgiving day, and many a sick soldier was gladdened by friendly visits and timely gifts from kindred at home. At the contrabands’ camp was a festival, and John Pierpoint, Mr. Channing, and the President’s Secretary were present. Commenting upon one of the speeches, favoring colonization, the Boston Journal’s correspondent has these remarks:

Listening, I trust with all candor, I yet failed to be convinced that it would be well for our nation to export its laborers and thus drive from its shores the producing classes. And yet, for more than a year, I have been in favor of colonization from this country, and compulsory colonization at that. I am in favor of colonizing, anywhere but in this country, the rebel slaveholders who have reared the flag of disunion and of treason and made the North mourn and the South desolate. Yes; let it be said of each of them, though in an opposite sense to the first application of the words:

“He left his country for his country’s good.”

Shame will it be for us if we depopulate the South of its almost only loyal men, the now enslaved people there; double shame will it be for us if we do not banish from our borders the leading traitors and conspirators who have well nigh ruined their native country, and these are-not the blacks, not the poor ignorant whites, but the dominant class in the South—the slaveholders.

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Foreign News.—By the steamer City of Manchester, some additional news from abroad is received. The French journals reproach the English government for holding back on the mediation question. It is reported that there is much disappointment at the course of Russia; the proposition was sent to London. The ascent of Russia was relied upon and was expected to weigh upon the decision of England. The London Times, Daily News, &c., think subsequent events, including the democratic successes, confirm the wisdom of the British cabinet. The Morning Post says the question, in view of all three powers, appears to be simply one of time. The Herald thinks nothing could have been more graceful or more opportune than the Emperor's proposal, and nothing more churlish or illogical than Earl Russell’s reply. The Herald asserts that the relations of England and France have assumed an unsatisfactory character, but the Globe, in response, ridicules the idea that cabinet councils were of frequent occurrence. The Daily News thinks the democratic successes signify a disposition to let the republic wallow again in the old mire of slavery. The Star thinks the effect may be to protract the war. The British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society have issued an address to call forth the public sympathy of England with the emancipation party of the North.

FRIDAY
DECEMBER 5, 1862
THE CALEDONIAN (VT)

Newspapers.

The Boston newspapers have advanced their prices from two to three cents a copy. The New York newspapers will do the same thing just as soon as they can make up their minds that the world is large enough for all of them. Up to the present time each seems so fearful of losing its own position, that they all prefer giving for two cents what costs them four or five, to running the risk of making any change.

Every article that enters into the composition of a newspaper costs much more than it has ever done before. White paper, which is the most expensive of these articles, now sells for 18 and 20 cents a pound—while ten has hitherto been the outside price. A ream, consisting of 480 sheets, weighs 50 pounds, and costs $9 to $10; and brings back, at the wholesale price of a cent and a half per sheet after it has been printed, precisely $7.20. On the cost of white paper alone, therefore, there is a clear loss of over $4 on every thousand printed—which, altogether with the cost of type setting, correspondence, reporting, editing, telegrams, &c., is to be met by advertisers. The result is that the advertising community furnish the reading community with newspapers at less than half their cost.—New York Times.

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Save the Paper.—Wrapping and writing paper has been cheap, and therefore it has been used profusely and wastefully. The time has come to economize. Let the half sheet be used when it will answer the purpose intended. Turn the envelopes, and use them a second time. Pick up the scraps and save them to be made over. Paper has advanced 50 per cent chiefly because the material for making it is scarce. Save all such material you can. If this kind of economy should be generally practiced it would not fail to considerably modify prevailing prices, and be of immense advantage to the reading and publishing community.

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Small Change.—People should remember that copper cents, nickel cents and three cent pieces are all of them of much less intrinsic value than the sum they represent, and those who are hoarding them up are losing the interest on them. We must have more pennies, or shinplasters of small denominations. Unless we do, it will be impossible to do away with postage stamps.

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A Word with Candid Men.—Such paper as the New York Tribune is printed upon has, up to within two months, cost eight cents a pound. It cannot be bought now for less than sixteen cents a pound, and is steadily advancing in price.

Our paper bill last year was $782.25. With the same number of subscribers, and at the present prices of paper, this year it will be $1,516.50. Thus with the same source of revenue, there will be a deficit of $758.25 on the article of white paper alone.

So much for the advance upon paper. With everything else that we buy at an advance of from 25 to 100 per cent, and a currency that is worth only 70 cents on a dollar, can our subscribers ask or wish that we should furnish them our paper at the same price as we have heretofore?

Strong brown paper is now manufactured at the Salisbury Paper Mills, in Orange county, N. Y., from cat-tails, the product of the wild flag growing in low grounds all over the North. The proprietor, Mr. Oakley, is experimenting with a view of making white paper also, from the same material.

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Papers and Newspapers.—The extraordinary rise in the price of paper—more than seventy-five cents within the last few weeks—together with the burdens of the internal revenue taxation, and other accompanying difficulties, have placed newspaper publishers in a serious quandary. To go on as heretofore is simply to involve themselves in steady loss and ultimate failure. Either they must reduce the size of their papers, or advance the rates of subscription, or else stop publication. Some have resorted to the first of these modes—a not very satisfactory one to their readers. Some few, probably, will have to suspend publication and give up their business. The greater number, however, will advance their rates; and this, doubtless, is no more than what their reasonable subscribers expect and will cheerfully accede to.

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Fatal Carelessness.—On Saturday evening, Mrs. Trainor of White Plains, N. Y., was shot dead while on her way to Tarrytown, in one of the cars of the Hudson River Railroad. This was the result of the gross carelessness of a soldier at a recruiting station in the neighborhood, who snapped his musket for the purpose of knowing whether it was loaded or not, without troubling himself to see which way his gun was aimed.

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Starved to Death by the Rebels.—There died in this city, on Tuesday, a man named Edgar B. Trumbull, of starvation. We relate his story as told just before his death: He belonged to the 1st Cavalry, was taken prisoner at the same time as the lamented Brodhead, and was sent, along with 5000 others, to Belle Isle, N. C., where they were confined in a space about as large as two ordinary city lots. All the food allowed was five ounces each of musty bread per day, washed down with an equal proportion of miserable water. Under this kind of treatment his 180 pounds of flesh wasted away to seventy-five pounds of skin and bones, when he was exchanged. By taking large portions of whiskey and quinine he succeeded in keeping body and soul together until he reached this city, where he died in a few hours.—Detroit Advertiser and Tribune.

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Twelve members of the sophomore class in Yale college have been suspended for abusing a freshman.

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Some of the young people of Cape Neddock, Me., attempted to serenade a recently married couple on the evening of the 12th ult., when the bridegroom discharged a musket charged with peas, wounding several persons in the face. Served them right.

SATURDAY
DECEMBER 6, 1862
THE SPRINGFIELD REPUBLICAN (MA)

Hanging of Union Men in Texas.—The accounts of the hanging of scores of Union men in Texas are confirmed by the rebel papers of that state. The following account of the matter is from the Houston Telegraph:

“We have been permitted by the governor to look over the official accounts of the discovery of the secret abolition organization in Northern Texas, and the quick justice meted out to the traitors. The organization appears to be one of recent date. It purports to have been started in the North, and to embrace numbers of the northern army in its fold. It also purports to extend to at least several companies of the organized militia of Northern Texas. How far it extends in that direction we are not prepared to say. The bulk of its membership in Texas is in Cook, Wise, Denton, Grayson, etc., counties. It also reaches down to Austin. Its first pretended object is to resist conscription. Its chief object is to keep up a spy system for the northern army. It has a grip, a sign, and a password. In case a member divulges, he is to be hunted to the ends of the earth. In case of a draft of the militia to meet a northern invasion, the members are to go along and desert when the battle comes on. The testimony elicited also points to an invasion of Texas from Kansas. It refers, moreover, to a concurrent invasion by way of Galveston, and that both armies are to meet in Austin.

“The organization has been found to extend to all classes of the community: clergymen, professional men, farmers, etc. Among the number we are pained to find the name of Dr. R. T. Liveley, of Sherman, a member of the Masonic Lodge of this state, and heretofore most highly esteemed, having enjoyed some of the highest offices in that body. The whole substance and machinery of the organization have been discovered. A jury of twelve good men are empaneled in each county, and the guilty parties are brought before it and the evidence is taken. It is in every case so conclusive that there is no getting around it. Several of the guilty have, after examination, made a full confession, and while under the gallows declared that they deserved death. In Gainesville twenty-two have been hung. Trials are now going on in all the counties. The testimony goes to show that most of the initiated have joined the society since the 15th of September.”

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The Regeneration of Florida.—Eli Thayer is at Washington, earnestly pushing his scheme for the reclamation of Florida to the Union by armed colonization. He has interested Gen. Hunter in the plan, who considers it quite practicable, and believes that a few emigrants can accomplish the work, and that it will be a great assistance too him in his military operations in the department of the South, to which, it is understood, he will return as soon as he can take with him sufficient reinforcements for an active campaign upon the main land. It is said that several thousand men have already offered themselves to Mr. Thayer as colonists, and are ready to embark whenever the government shall signify its approval of the enterprise. The colony of white refugees lately established on the St. John’s river, at Pilottown, will form a nucleus for the new settlement.

Florida offers many inducements to industrious and enterprising emigrants. It is fertile, healthy, easily accessible, being only sixty hours sail from New York, easily defended on account of its peninsular position, produces the tropical fruits but has no tropical maladies, is rich in the finest ship timber in the world, and is the key to the Gulf of Mexico, as Gibraltar is to the Mediterranean—all which are reasons why the United States should hold on to it firmly, and why hardy pioneers who seek to better their condition beneath more genial skies should seek new homes there. Success to Eli Thayer and his scheme for reclaiming Florida.

Reunion by Expansion.—Elihu Burritt, the learned blacksmith, is again pressing upon public attention his scheme of the “United Nations of America” as a basis of settlement of the present controversy. He publishes a long article on the subject, in which he argues that since the announcement of his plan in December last, nothing has occurred to make it less appropriate to our condition; but that on the contrary much has within the past year happened to commend the proposition to favorable consideration. He concludes that, while the relative positions of the hostile parties are substantially the same—we being no nearer Richmond than then—very serious divisions are arising in the North in reference to the conduct and objects of the war; its sacrifice of blood and treasure beginning to weigh more and more heavily upon the country; and that a winter of discontent is, therefore, before us, with the imminent danger of a hostile collision with European powers, who will almost inevitably justify themselves by pleading the general interests of civilization, for armed intervention to terminate the war, if it threatens to enter upon the third year of destruction. He therefore considers it a suitable time to press his scheme, which is, to add one more circle t our federal system, and make it a union of nations as well as of states, consisting at first of the northern republic, the southern confederacy and Mexico, to be joined afterwards by the British provinces in North America; each republic to have its own congress, retain full enjoyment of its own laws and institutions, and be reciprocally as independent of each other as before, except in certain prerogatives specially delegated to the nations’ union. Mr. Burritt closes his appeal with these words:

“Now, at this most critical juncture in the destiny of this great continent, with such magnificent materials ready to our hands for the structure of ‘The United Nations of America,’ cannot this awful, blasting work of destruction be stopped short, and these titanic energies be devoted to the upbuilding of a hemispherical nationality that shall bless, to all generations, a grateful and admiring world? And this grand work, in all the amplitude of its operations, I am persuaded, would be effected in half the time, and at none of the terrible cost it would require to reduce the southern states to that unconstitutional submission which is now insisted upon by perhaps a majority of the North. Your readers will observe that this plan does not involve that separation and independence of those states so repulsive to the American heart. It only concedes to them their own congress, and a few other minor prerogatives of a nationality, but with no rights to enter into any special relationships with foreign powers, or to adopt any measures intriguing the clearly defined constitution of the nation’s Union. It is only reunion by expansion. It is to make a virtue of this great necessity; to seize upon this central moment of the centuries to make a splendid reality of the hereditary instincts and aspirations of the American mind; to build, not a Babel, not a reckless and licentious power, to brag and browbeat the rest of the world, but to make this earth’s better half a peaceful, glorious home and refuge for half the millions of the human race.”