JOSIAH GORGAS

Yesterday a crowd of women assembled on the public square and marching thence down Main, sacked several shoe, grocery and other stores. Their pretense was bread; but their motive really was license. Few of them have really felt want. The President went down amongst them and said a few words to them telling them that the course they were pursuing was the one most likely to bring scarcity of food on the city.... It was a real women’s riot, but as yet there is really little cause for one—there is scarcity, but little want.

The great fear of every patriot at this moment relates to our currency. The vast over issues of paper money have raised prices to such a pitch as to make the expenses of the Government enormous.... The poor suffer from this enormous inflation of currency. Beef is 1.25 per lb—Butter $4—Eggs 3—clothing is unobtainable ... coffee is $8—sugar 3, etc. so on. Shoes cannot be had under $50 to $60 the pr. for very common ones. God only knows where all this will stop.

Yesterday a crowd of women assembled on the public square and marching thence down Main, sacked several shoe, grocery and other stores. Their pretense was bread; but their motive really was license. Few of them have really felt want. The President went down amongst them and said a few words to them telling them that the course they were pursuing was the one most likely to bring scarcity of food on the city.... It was a real women’s riot, but as yet there is really little cause for one—there is scarcity, but little want.

The great fear of every patriot at this moment relates to our currency. The vast over issues of paper money have raised prices to such a pitch as to make the expenses of the Government enormous.... The poor suffer from this enormous inflation of currency. Beef is 1.25 per lb—Butter $4—Eggs 3—clothing is unobtainable ... coffee is $8—sugar 3, etc. so on. Shoes cannot be had under $50 to $60 the pr. for very common ones. God only knows where all this will stop.