Household — The Sewing-Bird

Coffee Research, 1855–1865

Confederate Coffee Substitutes — collected by Vicki Betts

Vicki Betts’ Newspaper Research (uttyler.edu/vbetts/)

NEW ORLEANS DAILY DELTA, September 2, 1855, p. 2, c. 3

Letter from Arkansas.

[Correspondence of the Daily Delta.]
Camden, Ark., August 19, 1855.

[...] The prices current for salt are from $7.50 to $10. Coffee 20c per pound. whisky $1.50 per gallon. Flour $6.50 per cwt.
Yours, C.

DEMOCRAT AND PLANTER [Columbia, TX], October 9, 1855, p. 2, c. 7

Okra for Coffee.—We have noticed paragraphs in the papers commending the seed of the Okra plant as a substitute for Coffee. At the recommendation of a friend we have tried it and are prepared to declare it, when rightly prepared, not only to be a good substitute, but to be even better than coffee itself. The seeds, fully ripe, are prepared by being roasted carefully over a slow fire. They should not be burned, and the color should be changed only very slightly. After being roasted, it is prepared in the usual way of making coffee.—When served, it commands attention at once as being an extra nice article. It has all the peculiar aroma of first rate coffee, and that nutty flavor which lovers of this beverage so well appreciate. We commend it to the attention of our readers, not only on the score of excellence, but on that of economy, it being very easily raised and saved in any quantity.

SOUTHERN FIELD AND FIRESIDE [AUGUSTA, GA], September 3, 1859, p. 120, c. 2

Dwarf Prolific Okra.—Some six years ago, a lady friend sent us a few seed of the dwarf okra, since which we have cultivated no other variety, and we are quite sure any one trying it will never plant any other kind. It grows only from two to three feet high, bears an immense long pod and fruits from the ground to the end of each limb. We are surprised so little is known if it South. We sent a few seed of it, a few months ago, to Messrs. J. M. Thorbun & Co., New York , and this season received an order from them to raise five bushels of seed expressly for them. The advantage of the Dwarf Okra over the common kind is in the small quantity of wood fibre or stalk, and the great proportion of pods or fruit. Roasted okra seeds make a good substitute for coffee, and where the dwarf kind is cultivated expressly for seed, thirty or forty bushels may be raised from one acre.
Cotton Planter.

SOUTHERN FIELD AND FIRESIDE [AUGUSTA, GA], February 4, 1860, p. 295, c. 3

Recipe for Making Good Coffee.

Take, of first quality,

1 lb. Mocha,
2 lbs. Martinique, (West Indian,)
2 lbs. Bourbon or Java.

Parch each kind, separately, in a revolving cylinder, till the grains are about the color of chesnuts [sic], or dark Mahogany.

Let the parched coffee cool, spread out on a waiter.

Mix the five lbs. thoroughly together, and then bottle the coffee and keep it corked; or put it in some other vessel that will perfectly exclude the air.

Every morning, a few minutes before breakfast, grind two ounces of your bottled coffee in a fine mill; place it properly over the strainer in your coffee pot, press it down pretty closely and pour on it one point [sic] of boiling water. Pass thus the water (made again to boil) twice through the coffee, keeping covers on as much as possible, shaking as little as possible, and no stirring.

You have now three cups of limpid, strong, amber-colored coffee. Pour your coffee into the drinking cup; sweeten to your taste with loaf-sugar, and no more water, but dilute only with good fresh milk, or cream, hot as possible short of boiling.

Then, drink coffee that is coffee.

If you would be economical—after breakfast boil rapidly for six or seven minutes, in a little more than one pint of water, your coffee grounds. Let it settle for five minutes; pour off the water carefully into a bottle, and cork it up, to be used next morning instead of pure water, to make your coffee in the manner above described.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], February 21, 1860, p. 3, c. 3

Consumption of Coffee, Tea, and Sugar.—The consumption of coffee in the United States has increased from fifty-four millions of pounds in 1834 to two hundred and fifty-one millions in 1859. In 1834 the consumption was three pounds per head; at the present time it is eight pounds. Its price was lowest in 1849, when it was sold at about the same price as the duty levied upon it at the custom-house prior to 1833. The average price for the last thirty years has been below nine cents per pound. The consumption of tea has increased during the same period from thirteen millions of pounds to thirty-six millions. Its average price for the last twenty-five years has been forty-eight cents per pound. The average duty levied upon it at the custom-house prior to 1833 was thirty-two cents per pound. The consumption of sugar during the same period has increased from one hundred and ninety-five millions of pounds to eight hundred and eighty-four millions. Its price was lowest in 1842, and for three years was below four cents per pound.—Boston Post.

YAZOO DEMOCRAT [Yazoo City, MS], March 17, 1860, p. 3, c. 1

Reduction of License.—Our City Fathers have reduced the license for retailing liquors from $1000 to $250. Heretofore, for some time, there has been but one drinking house in the city. Already several licenses have been taken out, and trade is brisking up. We saw on yesterday a troop of these worthies in charge of Marshal Johnson, on their way to the lock up. They had just been indulging in the harmless amusement of knocking one another down. Those pastimes, from their frequent occurrence at a newly opened coffee-house in the lower end of town, have already attained for its locality the appellation of "the battle-ground."

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, March 22, 1860, p. 3, c. 3-4

Family Groceries! New Stock. We would most respectfully call the attention of all to our Entirely New and Fresh Stock of Fine and Family Groceries now just opened, which we can truthfully say are all Fresh and of the Best Stock. Our stock consists in part, of— […] We also have and shall keep Java, Mocha, Laguira, Maricabo and Rio Coffees, Sugars, […], &c., in fact any thing needed in a Family Grocery.
E. T. Jones.
J. E. Tankersley,
Albany, October 27, 1859.

AILY GAZETTE & COMET [BATON ROUGE, LA], June 9, 1860, p. 2, c. 4

To Make Good Coffee.—Brown carefully in a slow oven, giving it a finishing touch with a quick fire; but on no account allow a kernel of it to burn. Shut it up immediately in a close canister, lest the aroma escape, and grind it as you require it for use—do not grind it too fine. Mix a coffee-cupfull of ground coffee with an egg, pour over it a quart of boiling water, let it boil fifteen minutes, add half a pint of cold water, and take it from the fire. Removing the cream from a quart of milk, and set the milk over the fire, when it boils, pour the coffee into it; add the cold cream and sweeten to your taste.

STANDARD [CLARKSVILLE, TX], June 30, 1860, p. 2, c. 6

C. C. Alexander,

Has in store, and offers for sale, at Bonham, Texas— […]
100 sacks Rio Coffee, […]
4 boxes prepared Cocoa, […]

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], July 6, 1860, p. 2, c. 1-2

Our National Birth-Day!
How it was Celebrated by the People of
Leavenworth.

July 4th, 1860, will not soon be forgotten by those who participated in any of the festivities which transpired in this vicinity. [...] [On board the steamer Des Moines] Others amused themselves by playing a curious little game with coffee grains, of which we could understand nothing except the frequent calls to "ante-up." [...]

THE CONSTITUTIONAL [ALEXANDRIA, LA], August 4, 1860, p. 4, c. 3

Summary: Advertisements for the Magnolia Coffee House, and Billiard Saloon; The Eldorado Coffee House, and Billiard Saloon; The Jewel Coffee House and Billiard Saloon.

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], September 11, 1860, p. 2, c. 3

Santa Fe, New Mexico,}
Aug. 18, 1860. }
Dear Times:--[...] New flour and fresh hay have just come into market; the former is worth $15 per 100 pounds, and the latter $30 per ton. Bacon brings 18c per pound, coffee 30, sugar 25, and other things in proportion, so you can guess what it costs a person to live here.
H. G. L.

DAILY ADVOCATE [BATON ROUGE, LA], September 17, 1860, p. 2, c. 2

Rowdyism.—Sunday last witnessed the most disgraceful scenes of rowdyism that ever occurred in this city. Intoxicated bullies took possession of the streets in the evening and paraded around with impunity, breaking open coffee-houses, smashing furniture, knocking down harmless men (and we learn a woman in one instance) without any effort on the part of the authorities to arrest their proceedings. Scenes were enacted that we trust will never be enacted again in our city. Those whose persons and property were assaulted owe it to themselves and to society to prosecute the offenders to the full extent of the law. Every good member of society should see that no peaceable citizen should be trampled upon when the law affords a remedy, and we trust all will be ready to back those who have been so grossly outraged in obtaining legal redress and punishing the criminals. Especially is it the duty of the press of this city to compel the officers of the law to do their duty.

THE CONSTITUTIONAL [ALEXANDRIA, LA], November 10, 1860, p. 1, c. 4

After the 1st of January, 1861, the coffeehouses in the city of Shreveport are to be closed on the Sabbath.

[LITTLE ROCK] WEEKLY ARKANSAS GAZETTE, November 10, 1860, p. 2, c. 6

Every article of home consumption is now at a high figure. Flour is held at $10 and $11; Corn Meal at $1.50 per bush.; Bacon Sides at 20c; Beef, fresh, retails at 8c; Mutton at 10c.; Pork at 12½c., and Sausage at 15c. Coffee sells at the extremely low price of 22c. per pound, with an upward tendency; Sweet Potatoes 75c. per bushel. Lard 20c. per pound; Butter 30c.; Cheese 20c.; and Eggs per doz. 30c.; and all other articles proportionately high.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, January 4, 1861, p. 4, c. 3

A New Stimulant--Among European novelties it seems that a new stimulant has appeared, which, if the accounts received of it are true, promises to contest the precedence with opium and tobacco. It is the dried leaf of the erythroxylon cocoa, a Peruvian plant, which, when chewed in small quantities, gives rise to a gentle nervous excitement, acting at the same time (it is claimed) as an aid to digestion. The dose required to produce this effect, is from four to six grains. Its power to increase the heart's action, is said to be twice as great as that of coffee, and four times that of tea. Under its influence, a student of Milan testified that he was enabled to study forty hours without cessation, and without afterwards feeling any inconvenience from the experiment. In South America it is largely used by the natives, who sometimes subsist on it for days, with no other food. When taken carelessly in unusual quantities, it causes fever and delirium. How far this novelty will come into use, or what unknown mischiefs it is destined to work, remains to be seen.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], May 1, 1861, p. 3, c. 4

Joseph S. Williams Memphis.
E. M. Ross New Orleans.
Williams, Ross & Co.,
Grocers,
and
Commission Merchants,
171 Main Street 171
Memphis, Tennessee.

Beg leave to call the attention of the Trade, and the public generally, to their large and varied stock of Groceries, Family Supplies of All Kinds, Choice Brandies, Wines, Spirits, etc.

Catalogue: [...]

Sugar.

Crushed, Leaf, Pulverized, Granulated, Brown.

Molasses.

Choice Plantation, Re-boiled, Refined Syrup,
Golden Syrup. [...]

Tea.

Orange Pekoe.
Imperial—Finest.
Extra.
Gunpowder—Finest.
Extra.
Young Hyson—Extra Fine.
Oolong—Finest Breakfast Tea.
Fine Ordinary.

These fine Teas are put up in metalic packages of ¼, ½, and 1 lb. each, and in caddies of 6 lbs each. They are guaranteed to be genuine, and to lovers of the beverage we can recommend them, possessing all the necessary qualifications of purity, flavor and strength.

Coffee. Mocah, Old Government Java, Lagnayra, Rio [...]

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], May 19, 1861, p. 1, c.2-3

Soldiers' Health. Interesting Suggestions and Recommendations. The following article, on "Soldiers' Health," is from Hall's New York Journal of Health. It contains much valuable information for both soldiers and civilians: […] 9. After any sort of exhausting effort, a cup of coffee, hot or cold, is an admirable sustainer of the strength, until nature begins to recover herself. […]

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], May 31, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

Important Directions to Volunteers.

The Private Secretary of Gov. Andrew, of Massachusetts, issues these directions to volunteers, which are the substance of a report made to the State Medical Commission by the eminent physician, Dr. Ware:
"Soldiers should recollect that in a campaign, where one dies in battle, from three to five die of disease. You should be on your guard, therefore, against this more than the enemy, and you can do much for yourselves which nobody can do for you.
1. Avoid especially all use of ardent spirits. If you will take them—take them rather after fatigue than before. But tea and coffee are much better. Those who use ardent spirits are always the first to be sick and the most likely to die.
2. Avoid drinking freely of very cold water, especially when hot or fatigued, or directly after meals. Water quenches thirst better when not very cold and sipped in moderate quantities slowly—though less agreeable. At meals, tea, coffee and chocolate are best. Between meals, the less the better. The safest in hot weather is molasses and water with ginger or small beer. [...]

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], June 1, 1861, p. 2, c. 3

Soldier's Rations and Mode of Cooking Them. The regular daily ration of food issued to the troops in the United States service, is three-fourths pound of fresh or salt beef; eighteen ounces of bread, or one and a fourth pounds of corn meal, and at the rate of one hundred rations of eight quarts of peas or beans, or, in lieu thereof, ten pounds of rice; six pounds of coffee, twelve pounds of sugar, four quarts of vinegar, one and a half pounds of tallow, or one and a fourth pounds of adamantine, or one pound of sperm candles; four pounds of soap, and two quarts of salt. […]

4th. Tea for 25 Men.

Allow 12 quarts of water; put the rations of tea—a large teaspoonful to each—in a cloth tied up very loosely, throw it into the boiler while it is boiling hard for a moment; then take off the boiler, cover it, and let it stand full 10 minutes, when it will be ready for use; first add sugar and milk, if to be had, at the rate of 3 pints or 2 quarts of milk, and 1 or 1 1/2 pounds of sugar. […]

10th. Coffee for 25 Men.

Take 12 quarts of water, when it boils add 20 ounces of coffee, mix it well, and leave it on the fire till it commences to boil, then take it off, and pour into it a little more than one quart of cold water, let it stand in a warm place full ten minutes; the dregs will settle to the bottom, and the coffee be perfectly clear. Pour it then into another vessel, leaving the dregs in the first. Add sugar, four teaspoonfuls to the quart. If you can get milk, leave out five quarts of water in the above receipt, and put milk in its place. […]

SEMI-WEEKLY RALEIGH REGISTER, June 8, 1861, p. 3, c. 5

The Boys Cooking.—It is exceedingly interesting to see the soldiers providing for the inner man. Every three or four tents have a brush fire in common, and the members of each tent do their own cooking. To see them making their coffee, making up batter and frying meat, it is fun to look on, but we can't see any fun in having it to do. We noticed a stout soldier stooping down the other evening, beating something with the end of a short stick in a tin cup, and on going up to him found that he was grinding, or rather pounding coffee for his supper. The life of a soldier is a hard life—hard, hard indeed. Accursed forever be that hell-deserving fanaticism at the North, that has called our people from their pleasant and comfortable homes to endure the hardships of the tented field in order to drive back from our altars and hearthstones the foul invaders.—Temperance Crusader

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], July 12, 1861, p. 3, c. 1

Kind Acts. We stated, a few days ago, that a subscription had been opened at the store of Messrs. Alexander A. Wright, for the purpose of raising a fund to purchase refreshments for the volunteers as they pass through our city. We are pleased to learn that a very respectable sum has been raised in this way, but the fund should be still further increased, in order that the good work may continue without fail.

It is a great favor to the volunteers, and one, we feel sure, that is highly prized by them, to be furnished with a cup of coffee, a slice of ham, and a roll of bread, as they reach our city, morning and evening, on their way to the seat of war; and a small amount from each of our citizens can continue this favor as long as it may be necessary.

Those kind hearted and liberal citizens living near the South Carolina Railroad depot for a long time furnished these refreshments of their own accord, and at their own expense; but it is not right that this should continue to be the case; and hence the opening of the subscription list referred to above.

Mr. Marley, the very worthy agent of the road, has placed tables and benches on the cotton platform, to which place the volunteers are marched, on their arrival at the depot, and the ladies and gentlemen of the neighborhood—and many charming little girls and boys too—wait upon them, serving them with warm coffee, bread and ham. It is really gratifying to see how cheerfully this task is performed, and with what gratitude the soldiers accept the offering; and it is gratifying, also, to know that the good work will be continued. The citizens of the neighborhood will give their time and labor to the cause; all they expect is to be assisted n bearing the expenses.

While on this subject, we will merely suggest that some of the citizens of Atlanta, or Macon, or some of the officers of companies on their way to this city, might, when troops are coming through Augusta, telegraph to some friend here, stating what number of soldiers were coming, and what time to expect them. By this means ample preparations might be made for providing refreshments for the boys, and waste of articles and time often prevented.

We hope the subject will be attended to by our interior friends.

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, June 12, 1861, p. 2, c. 6

The times are so hard, that many families have taken to drinking coffee but once a day. It is a good time to retrench and reform, when you can't help it.

AILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], July 21, 1861, p. 2, c. 1

Save Your Coffee Grounds. The price of coffee is waking up some of the lovers of the beverage to the subject of future supplies. The prospect is that there will be but small additions to the present stock in the South, for a long time to come; therefore, any suggestion is valuable showing how to make it. A practical man suggests to us that by saving our coffee grounds, drying them, and grinding them over again for use a second time, they will be made serviceable for a second decoction. He says that coffee grounds are a regular article of purchase and sale in the large cities of the North. The large hotels have standing contracts for them, and make quite a saving in this way.

As coffee is usually ground and boiled among our people, it is possible that not much more than half the strength is extracted.

Let us borrow a useful hint from the thrifty people of the North. Certainly “it is lawful to be taught by the enemy.” Many such things can be learned from them to our profit.

SUGAR PLANTER [WEST BATON ROUGE, LA], August 3, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

The papers are discussing a substitute for Coffee as our supply of the berry is limited owing to the blockade. Why people should bother themselves so much about an unnecessary article of food we cannot imagine. The use of coffee is artificial. It is merely a stimulant, without a particle of nourishment being afforded the body. The best substitute for coffee is water—clear, pure, limpid water. It is a thousand times more healthy, nutritive and pleasant than coffee, tea or chocolate. Let the advocates of a substitute for coffee, try it, unless they are too familiar with other strong beverages.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], August 16, 1861, p. 3, c. 1

Dear.—Drinking coffee has become transformed into a highly extravagant indulgence—the article is very scarce and very dear, and the New Orleans boats bring up but slender supplies; the whole stock in that city is sewed up in sixteen hundred sacks.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], August 16, 1861, p. 3, c. 1

Feminine Belligerency.—We have before remarked that cases of fights among women have, of late, been numerous in the city. Yesterday Esq. Mallory was called upon to bind Alice Jones to keep the peace toward Hannah Clark; this morning Alice will seek similar protection from Hannah. Have the women, in consequence of the high price of coffee, taken to drinking gunpowder tea?

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], August 25, 1861, p. 3, c. 2

Greensboro', Ga., August 23, 1861.
To the Editor of the Chronicle & Sentinel:
Having heard you were great coffee drinkers, and always relished a good cup, and knowing that you desired to run Lincoln's blockade into nonentity, to obtain a good cup, (such as you have no doubt often tasted at the French Market, New Orleans,) I enclose to you the receipt—the very latest—for making the very best domestic coffee. This coffee, when made by the receipt, is of excellent flavor, and very nutritious. It is of sufficient strength, and not excitable in its action. It is mild, healthy, persuasive, and sufficiently exhilarating for any epicure. When you smell it, you will say "I believe it's Java;" when you taste it, you will say, "I think it is Java;" when you drink it, you exclaim (foreignly,), "I'll pe tamn [sic??] if it isn't Java coffee!" It is true, it has not that foreign accent; but by adding a little rich milk or cream, it speaks almost the foreign tongue. Try it, as an antidote for the blockade.

Receipt.

Take the common garden beet, wash it clean, cut it up into small pieces, twice the size of a grain of coffee; put into the coffee toaster or oven, and roast as you do your coffee—perfectly brown. Take care not to burn while toasting it. When sufficiently dry and hard, grind it in a clean mill, and take half a common sized coffee cup of the grounds, and boil with one gallon water. Then settle with an egg, and send to the table, hot. Sweeten with very little sugar, and add good cream or milk. This coffee can be drank by children, with impunity, and will not (in my judgment,) either impair sight or nerves. Col. Wm. W. D. Weaver and myself have tried it, and find it almost equal, when properly made, to either the Java, Brazilian or Mocha coffee. I am indebted to the Colonel for this excellent substitute; and as every man has his beet orchard, so has he his coffee. And like Cuffee, we exclaim, "bress God for dis blockade. Nigger now get him plenty of kophphee, and Mr. Lincoln am no where."
R. J. Dawson.

P.S. There is a percentage of water in the beet which is extracted as you toast the coffee particles to a nice brown.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], August 27, 1861, p. 1, c. 1 [left edge in fold]

How to Get Coffee. [Repeat of above article.]

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], August 27, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

Economy in Coffee.—In these times, says the Petersburg Express, when things are dear and money scarce, any combination which satisfies economy and gratifies the palate at the same time, should be set forth and its merits fully established for the benefit of the public. We take pleasure in recommending anything which we can vouch for, and therefore state that we tasted at the hospitable board of one of our prominent citizens, an evening or two since, delicious coffee made of one part meal and two parts coffee. So well pleased were we with the new compound, that we obtained the recipe, and submit it to our readers with a recommendation to try it: Take one cup of meal (unsifted) add two cups of coffee; toast them separately; grind the coffee and mix both together. The coffee goes further with this addition, and while the flavor is not at all affected, the stimulating property is lessened, and it is rendered more nourishing.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, August 29, 1861, p. 1, c. 7

War Coffee.—A very good coffee can be made, by costing only12½ cents, by mixing one spoonful of coffee with one spoonful of toasted corn meal; boil well and clear in the usual way. I have used it for two weeks, and several friends visiting my house say they could not discover anything peculiar n the taste of my coffee, but pronounced it very good. Try it, and see if we can't get along comfortably, even while our ports are blockaded by the would-be king. I can assure you it is very pleasant, though not strong enough to make us drunk.—Exchange.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], August 29, 1861, p. 3, c. 1

For Coffee Drinkers.—We are assured by a gentleman, who has often drank the beverage, that no substitute for coffee is equal to the infusion of the pea. Let the peas be well roasted without burning, then pound them. Cook the broken peas like coffee, and without admixture; boil well, then drink with milk and sugar. Those who are fond of chocolate generally like the pea coffee.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], August 31, 1861, p. 3, c. 2

Greensboro, Ga., Aug. 28, 1861.
To the Editor of the Chronicle & Sentinel:
You will excuse me for taxing again your patient indulgence upon the subject of Beet Coffee, and add this note to my former, in order than no one may be deceived in making an article of this desirable beverage. For fear some of the more ignorant might not follow up (what common sense has heretofore usually supplied) making good coffee, I would state this coffee is regulated by taste, as all coffee is made. If you wish it high-toned, take one cupful of grounds to the gallon; if not, take less. Modify to suit your taste, and then little sugar and rich cream or milk, and your joy will have been complete. One half cupful of grounds for children, well boiled, and one full cup, for adults, and y you can make no mistake.
Your friend, R. J. Dawson.

[LAGRANGE, TX] TRUE ISSUE, September 5, 1861, p. 1, c. 1

Prices Current.
Corrected Weekly for the "Issue," by
August Frede,
Wholesale and Retail Grocer,
North Side Public Square.

Almonds. per lb 35
Ale. per bot 30@50
Allspice. " 25@
Apples—Dried. per lb 15@
Bacon—Clear sides. per lb 21@
" Hams fresh canvassed. " 20@
Butter—Texas. " 15@
Brandy—American. per gal 4 00
Bottles—Empty quart . " doz 75
" " pint . " " 50
" Cognac. per bottle 1 25@
Barley—Pearl. per lb 12½ @
Corn none. per bush 50
Corn Meal. per bush 60
Coffee—Best Rio. per lb 25@
" Java. " " 30@
Caps—Waterproof. 35
" G. D. 15
Candles. per box 35@
" per lb 40@
Candies. per lb 30@35
Cream Tarter. 60@
Cheese—Western. per lb 20@25
Crackers—Soda. 25@
" Butter. 15@
Catsup—Tomatoe. [sic] 15@
Cabbage Seed. per paper 10
Flour—Superfine. 8 00
" Extra. 9 00
Fruit—Peaches. per can 100@
" Pine Apples. " 1 00
Lead. " 20@
Lard. " 20@
Lard Oil. pr gal 1 75
Lager Beer—Bremen. per bot 40@
" " Bluff. per glass 10@
Molasses—By the bbl. pr gal 65@
" " 75@
Mackarel. [sic] 8@
Millet Seed. per bush 3 50
Nails. pr lb 10@
Oysters. pr can 50@
Porter. pr bot 25@50
Pickles. per jar 50@75@100
Powder. pr lb 1 00@
Pepper. " 25@
Peas—Texas. per bush 3 00
Railroad Greese. [sic] pr box 35@
Rye Flour. pr lb 4
Rice. pr lb 10@
Rope—Grass. " 20@
" " " 25
Raisins. " 35@
Sugar—Brown. " 15@
" Clarified. " 16@
" Crushed. " 25@
" Powdered. " 25@
Syrup—Golden. pr gal 1 35
Salt—Texas. per sack 4 50
Soap. pr lb 12½@
Saleratus. " 20@
Soda. pr lb 20@
Snuff. pr bot 30@
Sardines. pr box 30@
Shot. pr lb 15@
Tobacco. " 25@75.
Turnip Seed. per lb 1 00
Whisky—Dexter. per gal 2 00
" Olivers. " " 1 50
" Pikes. " " 1 50
" Pure Old Rye. " " 3 00
Vinegar. pr gal 50@
Yeast. pr box 25@

I will sell according to the above prices for Cash our county produce. I quote:

Almonds pr lb 35
Hides. pr lb 3@
Chickens pr piece 10@12½
Turkies. [sic] " 30@40
Eggs. pr doz 10@
Butter. pr lb 12½@

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, September 9, 1861, p. 1, c. 3

Affairs in Gwinnett.

Oak Grove, Gwinnett County, Ga., }
September 4th, 1861. }

Mr. Editor:--Thinking that your readers would be interested in hearing the news from upper Georgia, I herewith submit you a few dots.

. . . Sugar and coffee are getting scarce and high. The sugar we are learning to dispense with, and we have an excellent substitute for coffee, very cheap and abundant. It is rye—we have been using it in our family for six weeks, and I think it equally as healthy, and as palatable as the Rio. It is prepared in the same way as coffee, being browned and parched, and afterwards ground fine. So you see as far as coffee is concerned, we don't care a straw about Lincoln's blockade. But, sir, coffee is not the only article we have learned to do without. Our fair daughters are busying themselves in preparing homespun for their dresses, and for their brothers and husbands. Many an old spinning wheel and handloom have been put to work anew, to help in maintaining Southern independence; Yankee tweeds, casimers, and broadcloths, also calicos, ginghams, and delaines will soon go a begging. . . . Gwinnett.

SEMI-WEEKLY RALEIGH REGISTER, September 11, 1861, p. 3, c. 5

For the Register.

Messrs. Editors:--Remembering when quite a boy, that during the war of 1812, Rye was used in my father's family as a substitute for coffee.—I resolved to see if I could not reduce the cost of old Java, by introducing it again into use. As soon as I could obtain a peck of this rather scarce grain, I carefully weighed two pounds, which I added after parching to the same quantity of coffee, and from one tea-cup of this admixture, we obtained as good coffee, and we believe a far more healthy beverage than from the coffee itself, especially for Dyspeptics.

Some of our knowing friends, who could see farther than the most of us, and anticipating the blockade, have well supplied themselves for some time to come, may feel no interest in this saving, but if even they will try the Rye, they can find that they can spare to their less fortunate friends one half their supply, and yet enjoy as good a coffee.
J. M. T.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, September 21, 1861, p. 1, c. 3

Asparagus for Coffee.
[From the Annual of Scientific Discovery]

Liebig states that Asparagus, contains, in common with Tea and Coffee, a principle which he calls Taurine, and which he considers essential to the health of those who do not take strong exercise. By this, a writer in the London Gardener's Chronicle was led to test Asparagus as a substitute for Coffee. He says: The young shoots were not agreeable, having an alkaline taste. I then tried ripe seeds, and they, roasted and ground, made a full flavored Coffee, not easily distinguished from fine Mocha. The seeds are easily freed from the berries by drying them in a cool [warm, I suppose he means,] oven, and then rubbing them on a sieve.
There is in Berlin, Prussia, a large establishment for the manufacture of coffee from acorns and Chicory, the articles being made separately. The Chicory is mixed with an equal weight of turnips, to render it sweeter. The Acorn Coffee, which is made from roasted and ground Acorns, is sold in large quantities, and frequently with rather a medicinal than an economical view, as it is thought to have a wholesome effect upon the blood. Acorn Coffee is, however, made and used in many parts of Germany for sole purpose of adulterating genuine Coffee.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], September 27, 1861, p. 2, c. 1

Coffee.—This luxury—esteemed the greater from its present scarcity—is retailing from 38 to 40 cents per pound for Rio in this city; (Java has about "gin out.") rye and barely [sic] are being adopted as substitutes in many families; and sweet potatoes, beets and ground peas are also brought into requisition. All these, people say, make a very palatable drink; and we have no doubt, if we try, we can bring ourselves to believe they each and all make a beverage equal to the best Java or Mocha.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], October 2, 1861, p. 2, c. 5

Coffee.—This luxury—esteemed the greater from its present scarcity—is retailing at 38 to 40 cents per pound for Rio in this city; Java has about "ginout." Rye and barley are being adopted as a substitute, in many families; and sweet potatoes, beets and ground peas are also brought into requisition. All these, people say, make a very palatable drink; and we have no doubt, if we try, we can bring ourselves to believe that each and all make a beverage equal to the best Java or Mocho [sic].—Augusta Chronicle.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, October 5, 1861, p. 1, c. 6

An Excellent Substitute for Coffee.—For a family of seven or eight persons, take a pint of well toasted corn meal, and add to it as much water as an ordinary sized coffee pot will hold, and then boil it well. We have tried this toasted meal coffee, and prefer it to Java or Rio, in as much as genuine coffee does not suit our digestive organs, and we have not used it for years. Many persons cannot drink coffee with impunity, and we advise all such to try our receipt. They will find it more nutritious than coffee and quite as palatable.—Raleigh Register.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], October 8, 1861, p. 1, c. 1

Good for the Thirsty Soldier.—Extreme thirst is one of the most severe trials the active soldier has to encounter. During a long march and on the field of a long and hotly contested battle, he is often almost overcome with fatigue and thirst. An old frontiersman, who has had much experience on the Western borders and on the plains, suggests to us the following as the best remedy and preventative of thirst that has ever been discovered: After a meal take the coffee grounds; boil them over again, and pour it off into your canteen and let it cool for your next march. It is not only nutritive and stimulating, but it will quench the thirst more effectually than water. It will go two or three times as far as water. Also, take the coffee grounds, after being thus used, dry them, and put them in your pocket, and chew them at intervals on the march, or during any arduous service, and they will likewise repress thirst, and satiate greatly the cravings of hunger. This course has been tried with the most gratifying results, and is worthy of a trial by every soldier in the service.—Memphis Appeal.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], October 8, 1861, p. 4, c. 2

Wheat a Substitute for Coffee. Editors Dispatch: Being on a visit to the county of Mechlenburg, a short time since, I was told by one of my female acquaintances, near Clarksville, that she had found an excellent substitute for that very popular and indispensable article called "coffee." It consists in wheat parched, ground, and prepared in the same manner you do coffee. Experienced and devoted lovers of coffee have tried the wheat and report it equally as good as the genuine article. The grains being of different sizes, they should be parched separately, and afterwards ground together, when the coffee imparts to the wheat its genuine aromatic properties. Two-thirds wheat and the remainder coffee makes a most excellent drink.

Truly "necessity is the mother of invention." Let those who disbelieve but make the experiment. We have plenty of wheat; who cares for the blockade!

Pro Bono Publico.
Charlotte county, Va., Sept. 28, 1861.

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, October 9, 1861, p. 1, c. 5

Substitute for Coffee.—Scrape clean three or four good parsnips, cut them into thin slices, bake till well brown, grind or crush, and use in the same manner as coffee, from which it is scarcely distinguishable. This is not only a beverage equally as good as coffee, but it is likewise a cure for asthma.

THE EASTERN CLARION [PAULDING, MS], October 11, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

Letter from Marion Station.

Camp Marion Station,}
Sept. 22, 1861. }
Dear Clarion:--We arrived safe at Marion Station, on the 20th inst., after a tiresome march from Augusta. Our boys stood the trip finely, though having been newly shod many had their feet blistered. Our first night out we found tolerable comfortable quarters near Mrs. Hinton's. As we passed Mr. Rob. Hinton's we were hailed by his lady, who filled our wagons with many good cakes and much cooked meats, which you know is one of her characteristics. The next night we camped at Mr. Holley's, in Wayne county, where some of the ladies of the neighborhood cooked us both supper and breakfast, and cheered us on our route. After many miles march we came to one Allen Sherley's, where some of the boys asked for a cup of coffee, for which they were charged a dime, others paid twenty five cents for a bowl of clabber. Some ordered dinner, for which they paid from fifty to seventy-five cents—bill of fare, beef and corn bread. [...]

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], October 15, 1861, p. 4, c. 2

[...] Coffee is brought from Mexico to San Antonio. [...]

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, October 16, 1861, p. 1, c. 4

Yopon Tea.—In view of the probable scarcity of tea and coffee during the war, we see the papers are recommending the use of the leaves and twigs of the yopon, an evergreen which grows spontaneously on our coast. The yopon is a common drink on the banks, and is highly esteemed by many. We have heard it said that when it is well cured, it is greatly improved when the milk and molasses are boiled with it. It is rather vulgar to use sugar for sweetening yopon. Molasses is the thing. A venerable lady, who lived to a considerable age on the banks, once speaking of the healthiness of yopon as a drink, said: "Bless the Lord, yopon has kept me out of heaven these twenty years."—Raleigh Standard.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 17, 1861, p. 1, c. 6

Recipes for the Times.—
To Make Coffee.—Take tan bark, three parts; three old cigar stumps and a quart of water, mix well, and boil fifteen minutes in a dirty coffee pot, and the best judges cannot tell it from the finest Mocha.
To Make Tea.—Take of dried dog-fennel leaves, three tablespoonfuls, a small scrap of sole-leather and five drops of paregoric, boil twenty minutes, and an excellent imitation of imperial green will be produced, for which flavor and effects upon the nervous system, far surpasses the original article.
To Make Chocolate.—Take thirteen ounces of old gourds ground to fine powder; add one ounce of sealing wax and ten grains of Spanish brown; boil with clear water, or if milk is preferred, add to the water a cupfull of calcined magnesia, and boil until the proper consistency is obtained. This will be found to be superior in many respects, to the best Nicaragua chocolate, and is best when taken hot. [...]

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 17, 1861, p. 2, c. 4

Coffee.—This luxury—esteemed the greater from its present scarcity—is retailing at 38 to 40 cents per pound for Rio, in this city; Java has about 'gin out.' Rye and Barley are being adopted as a substitute, in many families; and sweet potatoes, beets and ground peas are also brought into requisition. All these, people say, make a very palatable drink; and we have no doubt if we try, we can bring ourselves to believe that each and all make a beverage equal to the best Java or Mocha.—Augusta Chronicle.
We have tried these substitutes, but the best we ever found was acorns. These, hulled, dried, roasted and ground, not only taste like coffee but have the same qualities or medicinal effects. Unless well dried, you can detect a sort of soft, unripe flavor, but, properly prepared they are an excellent substitute for coffee. Let some of our friends try it and give us the results of their experiment. We once know a wealthy man, an epicure to boot, who preferred his acorn coffee to the finest Java or Mocha.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, October 18, 1861, p. 1, c. 1

We learn by the last Texas papers that a train from the Rio Grande recently brought to San Antonio 500 sacks of coffee. It is thought that brisk trade will spring up in that section of country--coffee will be brought in and cotton taken out to Mexico. Wonder if this is not a Yankee "trick?"

STANDARD [CLARKSVILLE, TX], October 19, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

Col. S. B. Maxey's Regiment of Infantry, had eight companies officially reported, and two others nearly ready, which have been reported before this time. Leading citizens were making every possible effort to fit it out; had just finished preparing clothing and other necessaries for Bennett's Company, with McCulloch. We saw a large quantity of clothing in the warehouse of Wright, Wortham and Gibbons. Each man's bundle was put up separately, enveloped with domestic, and marked with his name in ink. Each man had been furnished upon his memorandum, just what he called for. There was an unmistakable determination among the community to let the soldier want nothing that he ought to have. The merchants were furnishing coffee, sugar, molasses, etc., as desired. Coffee was retailing in Paris at 25 cents per pound, and salt at 6 and 7 dollars per sack.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, October 26, 1861, p. 1, c. 3

Unmitigated Gouging.—As instances of the extortion and imposition practiced by some of the tradesmen of Richmond, we give the following enormous prices asked for different articles, viz: $10 a pair for soldiers' shoes made to order, 20 cents per pound for coffee and sugar, 30 cents for crushed sugar, 30 cents per pound for bacon, 28 cents per pound for lard, 38 cents per pound for butter, 50 cents per pound for coffee, $3 per pound for green tea, &c. It is said that one merchant there purchased a whole cargo of coffee in one of our Southern cities, some time ago for 13 cents per pound, which he is now disposing of at the rate of 45 and 50 cents per pound.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, October 30, 1861, p. 1, c. 1

Eighty sacks of coffee arrived in Memphis last Tuesday, by rail from Texas.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, October 30, 1861, p. 1, c. 5

Substitute for Coffee. We are requested to recommend Field Peas, dried, parched, and ground, as an excellent substitute for Coffee, said to be better than wheat or rye.--Fayetteville Observer. [...]

HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, November 1, 1861, p. 1, c. 7

Barley. 600 Bushels of Heavy Seed Barley, a fine substitute for Rio Coffee. In Store and for sale by
Henry Sampson.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, November 1, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

Save your okra seeds. Okra is the best substitute for coffee that is known. Besides this, the okra plant will kill out noxious weeds, even coco, better than any other known means. The okra plant makes a shade so dense, that nothing will grow in it. Gardens that have been allowed to go to weeks have in this way been cleared of them. Fields may be in the same way. An acre of okra will produce seed enough to furnish a plantation of fifty negroes with coffee in every way equal to that imported from Rio. The green pods taken from an acre of okra and dried, would furnish the best thickening for soup in the winter, that could be made. Okra is the most valuable plant that is raised. Save your okra seeds.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], November 3, 1861, p. 1, c. 1

New Substitute for Coffee.—Dr. Poiterin, in the Mobile Tribune, recommends the acorn of our native oak, (Quercus Alba) as a substitute for coffee. It is pronounced an excellent remedial agent, as well as a source of economy.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, November 4, 1861, p. 4, c. 5

In Camp Near Centreville,
Fairfax Co., Va., October 26.
[…] To the left, is another of the mess; he has the rations of coffee, which have just been burnt in the fire. These are put into a stocking and laid on an oak log with one hand—with the other heavy blows are struck with a billet of wood or an axe; this process is in lieu of a coffee-mill, which is not to be had. There are several ways of "grinding" coffee; the most novel, however, is to get a smooth board and a glass bottle; the grains of coffee are deposited on the board, and the bottle is used as a roller. After great effort the grains are broken, not into very small particles, but as well as is possible under the circumstances. As to meat, we have the everlasting beef, and the steaks are chopped with a knife, or beat with a stick, until they have reached a proper degree of tenderness. The French—but why mention them—even the detested Yankees, issue ground coffee in paper packages of one ration each, packed in boxes of one hundred or two hundred each. So with sugar, tobacco, salt, pepper, &c. But the rations of coffee are fast giving out; and whisky, better known as "army lightning," is reported on the way to be issued in gills to the men. […]

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], November 5, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

New Substitute for Coffee.—Dr. Poiterin, in the Mobile Tribune, recommends the acorn of our native oak (quercus Alba) as a substitute for coffee. It is pronounced an excellent remedial agent, as well as a source of economy.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, November 5, 1861, p. 1, c. 2

The Best Coffee. From the Mobile Daily Tribune.

In times of famine, occasioned by the total loss of a crop, by scarcity, the protracted operation of a siege, or by a blockade such as now prevails, while food is diminished and dear, efforts are usually made to substitute for articles of prime necessity others that approximate most nearly to them in their taste and general sanitary effects. Under circumstances it pertains to all enlightened and practical hygienic systems to select for the purpose of such experiments, those substances which are most wholesome. At the South, several substitutes for coffee have been resorted to. Neither of them is unwholesome; but, at the same time, neither is designed to produce salutary results.

By roasting corn, wheat, oats, or potatoes a considerable consumption of genuine coffee is certainly economised [sic], the latter being used by in such quantity as is necessary to flavor. Now, if in adhering to the small quantity employed for imparting taste to the decoction, the roasted acorn shall be adopted, the problem is solved.

The acorn of our native oak (Quercus Alba) is found in great abundance from Canada to Florida. This species approaches nearest to the fruit bearing oak (Quercus Hispanica) which is palatable, raw or cooked and which constitutes an important element of traffic in Old Castile. If the reader will carefully note the analysis given of it by Lorvig, the chemist, he will be convinced that it contains such substances as are, at once, most nutricious [sic] and medicinal; Greasy oil, rosin, gum, tannin, or bitter extract, starch and the remainder potash and calcium salts.

Acorns supplied the food of man before wheat was discovered. In France, during the scarcity of 1709, the indigent were compelled to have recourse to this resource for them, the only one. Pulverised [sic] into flour, they made use of it for bread; and, under the first consulate, upon the establishment of the continental system, some industrial economists conceived the idea of substituting the roasted acorn for coffee, and styled it "indigenous coffee."

In 1840, while I was stationed in the Grecian Archipelago, I visited from time to time the principal islands--Samos, Scio, Imbros, etc. The Greeks who inhabit those countries have recourse to acorn coffee in the slightest affections of the stomach or intestines; and I have seen subjects suffering from chronic dyspepsis, or diarrhoea [sic], cured in less than four or five days.

The reader may assure himself of the correctness of my statement by opening any standard work on materia medica; and he will learn that acorn coffee is a tonic proscribed in scrofula, debility of the digestive organs, and recommended as a substitute for coffee to nervous persons. If, therefore, the blockade should continue, and the importation of coffee is rendered impracticable, it would be very natural that the use of acorn coffee, mixed with the genuine should become universal. The poor would find it equally a source of economy and a valuable remedy; and soldiers in camp would be less exposed to diarrhoea [sic], one of the most terrible evils that can exist in an army.

In order to prepare this coffee, the acorns must be first roasted in an oven. The hard outer shell is removed, and the kernel is preserved, which, after being roasted, is ground with ordinary coffee. A. Poiteven, M. D.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], November 7, 1861, p. 3, c. 1

How to Get the Very Best Coffee at About Ten Cents a Pound.—In these war times it is quite an object to make economical investments in this article, but aside from this, the coffee that you can make from this recipe will be found far superior to the very best you can get anywhere, either North or South, and those who give it a fair trial will be unwilling to go back even to the best Java.

Take sweet potatoes and after peeling them, cut them up into small pieces about the size of the joint of your little finger, dry them either in the sun or by the fire, (sun dried probably the best,) and then parch and grind the same as coffee. Take two thirds of this to one third of coffee to a making.

Try it, not particularly for its economy but for its superiority over any coffee you ever tasted.

[LITTLE ROCK] DAILY STATE JOURNAL, November 8, 1861, p. 2, c. 1

Substitute for Coffee—Dr. Polterin, in the Mobile Tribune, recommends the acorn of our native oak as a substitute for coffee. It is pronounced an excellent remedial agent, as well as a source of economy.

AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, November 9, 1861, p. 4, c. 2

Save your okra seeds. Okra is the best substitute for coffee that is known. Besides this, the okra plant will kill out noxious weeds, even coco, better than any other known means. The okra plant makes a shade so dense, that nothing will grow in it. Gardens that have been allowed to go to the weeds have in this way been cleared of them. Fields may be in the same way. An acre of okra will produce seen enough to furnish a plantation of fifty negroes with coffee in every way equal to that imported from Rio. The green pods taken from an acre of okra and dried, would furnish the best thickening for soup in the winter, that could be made. Okra is the most valuable plant that is raised. Save your okra seeds.—Telegraph.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], November 10, 1861, p. 1, c. 3

Coffee.—In these war times it is quite an object to make economical investments in this article, but aside from this, the coffee that you can make from this recipe will be found far superior to the very best you can get anywhere, either North or South, and those who give it a fair trial will be unwilling to go back even to the best Java.

Take sweet potatoes and after peeling them, cut them up into small pieces about the size of the joint in your little finger, dry them either in the sun or by the fire, (sun dried probably the best,) and then parch and grind the same as coffee. Take two-thirds of this to one-third of coffee to a making.

Try it, not particularly for the economy, but for its superiority over any coffee you ever tasted.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], November 13, 1861, p. 3, c. 2

[Communicated]

Mr. Editor: In reference to a paragraph in your paper on Acorn Coffee, allow me to remark that it has long been a substitute for coffee in foreign countries, and especially for children, it is considered more healthy and desirable.
We are happy to state that an enterprising citizen, Mr. F. C. Ludekens, has given some attention to the manufacture of this article, and has employed many poor children during the fall in gathering the soundest and best acorns.
We have not been initiated in the different processes of his manufacture, for which we hear Mr. L. has erected costly machinery, but can only speak of the coffee itself as a most excellent beverage.

AMERICAN CITIZEN [CANTON, MS], November 16, 1861, p. 1, c. 1

Salt.—The last sale we heard of in this place was four sacks, for fifty dollars. That is what might be called a salty transaction.
Coffee.—One of our citizens showed us a few days ago, a bill for fifty pounds of coffee he had just bought in New Orleans for a friend. The fifty pounds cost $55, besides drayage and freight!

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [MEMPHIS, TN], November 19, 1861, p. 2, c. 4

From Richmond.
[Special Correspondence of the Appeal.]

Richmond, November 13, 1861.
[...] Everything has gone up in price here most astonishingly. Butter ranges from 40 to 75 cents a pound, eggs are 30 cents a dozen, coffee is not to be had at all, except in very small quantities at 75 cents to one dollar a pound. But in Washington it is even worse. Flour there at last accounts was $18 a barrel and rising every day, and it is said that it costs more to keep a horse a week than to buy one. [...]
Dixie.

AMERICAN CITIZEN [CANTON, MS], November 23, 1861, p. 1, c. 3

Take sweet potatoes, and after peeling them, cut them up into small pieces about the size of the joint of your little finger, dry them either in the sun or by the fire, (sun dried probably the best,) and then parch and grind the same as coffee. Take two-thirds of this to one third of coffee to a making.

Try it, not particularly for its economy, but for its superiority over any coffee you ever tasted.—Norfolk Day Book.

SEMI-WEEKLY RALEIGH REGISTER, December 4, 1861, p. 2, c. 3

Coffee.—A friend gives us the result of experiments in coffee-making, which, at this time, may prove serviceable to housekeepers. The "Old Dominion" coffee-pot is highly recommended, inasmuch as it makes the beverage clearer and better than any other, besides being economical. wheat is now much used with coffee, and the following is the way to prepare it: Get some red wheat, (for there is as much difference between white and red wheat as between Rio and Laguayra coffee,) soak it in warm water until the bran or outside becomes a little soft, (a few minutes will suffice,) take it from the water, and parch it as you would coffee; have one fifth as much coffee ready parched, and just as they get done, mix them in a pan over the fire, stirring in at the same time some butter, or, if you prefer clearing at first, some white of an egg; then prepare your mixture in an "Old Dominion," and you will thank us for a good cup of coffee.
Richmond Dispatch.

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, December 12, 1861, p. 2, c. 3

A Good Substitute for Coffee—At the present time, when coffee is selling at a dollar a pound the following suggestion from a correspondent of a Southern paper, is worth trying:

Many worthless substitutes for coffee have been named. The acorn need only be tried once to be discarded. Corn meal and grits can be easily detected by the taste. Rye is only tolerable. Oakra [sic] seed is excellent, but costs about a dollar a pound, which puts it entirely out of the question. What, then, can we use? We want something that tastes like coffee, smells like it, and looks like it. We have just the thing in the sweet potato. When properly prepared, I defy any one to detect the difference between it and a cup of pure Rio.

Preparation—Peel your potatoes and slice them rather thin; dry them in the air or on a stove; then cut into pieces small enough to go into the coffee mil, then grind it. Two tablespoons full of ground coffee and three or four of ground potatoes will make eight or nine cups of coffee, clear, pure and well tasted.

The above is worthy of a trial. We have thoroughly tested its qualities, and can perceive no difference in taste from the genuine coffee. One table spoonful of ground coffee to two of the ground potatoe [sic] makes five cups full of a cheap, pleasant and healthy beverage. It is preferable to parch the potatoe [sic] in thin slices by the sun, as the parching or drying will be more regular, and not so apt to burn as when parched on a stove. We regard it as every way equal to Rio, Java, or the Mocha coffee.

DALLAS HERALD, December 18, 1861, p. 2, c. 2

Coffee in considerable quantities, both Rio and Mexican, is brought to San Antonio, and sold at 40 to 50 cents per pound. The supply can be increased to any quantity required by the condition of the market. Why not send up several loads to Dallas and exchange it for flour.

TENNESSEE BAPTIST, December 21, 1861, p. 4, c. 2

Coffee Making. There is philosophy in making good coffee, which every house-keeper ought to know.

Parch slowly, stirring constantly, not less than two pounds of raw coffee at a time. Be careful not to let it get too hot, as a high degree of heat derives off the essential oil in which resides the aromatic and stimulating properties of the coffee which give it all its value. Keep your parched coffee in an air-tight and dark vessel. Grind only as it is needed for immediate use.

Put your ground coffee in a tin coffee-pot of the size your family need[s], so that it can be filled with cold water. Put it on or near the fire half an hour before it is to go to the table, but do not let it boil till just at the moment it is to be served. The boiling heat will drive off the aroma in a few minutes; but it should stand at a moderate heat some time before boiling to extract the delicacies of the berry. The hunter makes excellent coffee in his tin cup because he puts it in cold water, in his bright tin cup, and drinks it as soon as it boils.

The above recipe requires less coffee than any other.—Louisiana Baptist.

TENNESSEE BAPTIST, December 21, 1861, p. 4, c. 2

We Have Tried It.—We have been somewhat skeptical about the various substitutes that have been proposed for coffee.—We have doubted whether any thing would have the flavor of the genuine article. But, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating." We have tried the okra coffee, and had we not known it to be okra, we should have supposed it the best of Laguyra or Java. It has all the rich spicy aroma of the genuine article, and we have no doubt, is equally nutricious [sic] and probably less injurious.

We would advise all our friends to reserve a large space in their gardens or farms, for planting okra. It will do, and no mistake, blockade or no blockade.—Mississippi Baptist.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, December 26, 1861, p. 3, c. 3

Rio coffee is selling in Baltimore at 16½ cents wholesale. Rye(o) coffee, a superior quality, is selling in Little Rock at from 3 to 4 cents per pound. Who cares for the blockade!

DALLAS HERALD, January 8, 1862, p. 1, c. 5

The Herald facetiously gives the condition of the San Antonio market in the following manner:

“The extensive demand for coffee keeps the price up to 40 to 50 cents per lb. Sugar is arriving from the plantations east—price at retail, 15 cents. Corn 75 cents. Our market is well supplied with vegetables.—Health excellent. Morals and religion at par, firm. No exciting war news—Yankees as usual, on the defensive everywhere, and their courage and enthusiasm fizzling out.”

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 9, 1862, p. 3, c. 6

We have received a letter from a friend stating that he had tried acorns as a substitute for coffee. He complains of an unripe taste which will be got rid of by cutting the acorns and letting them dry. In other respects he thinks the substitute is admirable, and says that if coffee could be had for ten cents a pound and acorns for fifteen cents, he would prefer to buy the acorns. He adds that he has been an habitual coffee drinker for fifteen years, and unless he drank two cups of coffee in the morning, had a headache all day. But one cup of good acorn coffee has the happy effect of freeing him from headache and he thinks the acorn equal to that of Mocha.—Let our readers gather a few acorns, cut them up, dry them, parch like coffee and try them. White oak mast is preferred by some. The different oaks yield acorns that make coffee different in its astringent properties and flavors.

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], January 11, 1862, p. 1, c. 2

An Important Arrival.—The Houston Telegraph, of the 1st instant, learns from good authority that a steamer has arrived in a Texas port within the past week, under British colors, bringing 45 tons cannon powder, a large amount of rifle powder, 700,000 army caps, 5,000 cannon primers, and a considerable amount of coffee, dry goods, bagging, etc, etc.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, January 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
[Correspondence for the Telegraph.]
Velasco, Dec. 26th, 1861.
[...] The troops here are reduced to the necessity of substituting corn for coffee. They have no tea. I trust those merchants who have such large stocks on hand will not forget the soldiers on this coast. . . .
Yours for the war,
Sioux.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 16, 1862, p. 2, c. 4
Several weeks ago we stated that acorns were a good substitute for coffee, and since gave the substance of letters from a friend who had tried it. The Gazette republishes this and commenting upon it, says:
["]If the writer be not mistaken, and we hope he is not, the oak mast will be of additional importance. We have heard of persons having sheet iron stomachs, which we always doubted, but it does seem to us that the continued use of acorn coffee would have the effect of tanning the stomach, and making it as tough as leather. Let some one try the experiment and see what is in it.["]
The tannic or tanning properties of the oak is strongly exhibited in the bark, but it by no means follows that the acorns contain it in any considerable quantity. The bark of the chinquapin tree is fully as astringent and contains as much tannin, but the chinquapin nut does not have the effect of tanning the stomach. Let the Captain taste the bark of an apple tree or of a peach tree, and see how widely they differ in taste and other properties from the apple or peach which grew on them.
Some fifteen years ago we were acquainted with a wealthy man who drank acorn coffee in preference to any other kind. Several of the planters in the "up country" of Carolina used it altogether. It was often a subject of conversation, and a scientific man who married in the family of one of Carolina's most distinguished sons, made an analysis of the acorn and coffee berry. His capabilities for the task will be admitted, when it is known that he was regarded in the schools of Paris as one of the best analytical chemists there, and upon his return to this country was engaged in several scientific enterprises of great importance. We have not the formula now of his analysis, and it would be, perhaps, too technical for the general reader. We remember that the acorn and the coffee berry had certain constituents in common, and upon these depended the effects produced by coffee, such as wakefulness, gentle stimulation, and others. This also gave a similarity in flavor. In fact, the acorn from the white oak, afforded a softer beverage than the coffee and those who used it greatly preferred it. The black oak, red oak and other different varieties of the quercus have acorns that make a stronger or more astringent coffee, but not so strong as the common kinds of coffee often sold.
We find the following in a late number of the Memphis Avalanche, and reproduce it to show that we are not alone in our estimate of acorn coffee.
["] A correspondent, writing to the Picayune, gives the following interesting account of a substitute for coffee, which is so different from any we have yet heard of, that we give it for the benefit of those who wish to experiment in supplying what has been an article of necessity with us in the South, and which is now placed beyond our reach for a time. He says:
At a Medico-Botanical society of London, in 1837, the President introduced to the notice of the members a new beverage which very much resembled the real coffee. It was made from acorns, peeled, chopped and roasted. The acorn, which gives out this fragrant drink, is well known to be the fruit of the oak of our forests, of which there are a great variety and abundance in almost all of the States. Whether the white, the black, or the red species of quercus acorn is used for this purpose, is not stated. The experiment, however, is simple and easy, and ought to be tried. There are reasons why it should prove to be a better substitute than any yet offered for the real berry. The chincapin tree, I think, belongs to the same genus, though of much smaller growth, produces a similar, but smaller acorn, and from its peculiar flavor, I am much inclined to think the chincapin, properly prepared, will make a first rate cup of coffee.["]
We suppose it is too late to try it this season but let any of our readers make the experiment. We have seen old coffee drinkers, who professed to be connoissieurs [sic] and gourmands, tried with a cup of it without knowing it was made from acorns, who smacked their lips over it and pronounced it excellent.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 16, 1862, p. 1, c. 1

Richmond, January 13.
. . . Rye is the coffee now in general use at the boarding houses, and the substitute for tea is believed, by the best judges, to be hay. Hermes.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 17, 1862, p. 1, c, 1
Richmond, January 14.
. . . Col. Blanton Duncan is about to start a lithographic establishment on a large scale here. The Dispatch window is filled with all manner of attempted improvements on the Confederate flag—most of them exceedingly ugly. The best yet proposed is a cross, surrounded by stars, on a pure white field, the upright red, the cross piece blue, and the space where the two pieces cross each other white.
A large number of letters from the United States reached here Saturday by flag of truce. At the "Secession Club Restaurant," things are being done on a magnificent scale and at New Orleans prices. The rooms are very handsomely furnished, mulatto girls act as waiters, coffee sells for 25 cents a cup, batter cakes 15 cents a plate, mutton chop 50 cents, and 40 cents for a fry of oysters. Hermes.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], January 18, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
—A soldier's food should be well cooked; (no tainted meat) his meals at regular hours; no violent exercise after eating; a hearty breakfast, and at least one meal of animal food a day, with plenty of vegetables, as carrots, onions, rice, etc., ripe fruit, and after exposure or fatigue, good hot soup, cleanliness observed, and the feet kept dry if possible. He should have coffee once or twice a day, but if not to be got, the substitutes are, acorns stripped and roasted, ground sassafras nuts [sic?], grated crust of bread, rye or wheat, parched with butter, beech root, horse beans, etc. The substitutes for tea are—the yopon [sic], rosemary, strawberry leaves. But the best home tea is made of good, well made meadow hay (infusion). While on the subject, I'll say that starch can be made of frosted potatoes, and the tops make good potash when burnt; and the myrtle, glycerine [sic], etc., will furnish the other component of soap.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 24, 1862, p. 1, c. 4
We make the following extracts from a letter addressed by a planter of Chapel Hill, Texas, to a gentleman of Mobile, which breathes a spirit of patriotism even more ardent in the portions which we neglect than in those which we make room for, because of the general character of the information contained:
. . . "You say give us coffee and salt and a continuation of warm weather, &c. Now we do not care a fig for coffee, as we have the best substitute in the world, viz: sweet milk and butter milk; it is better adapted to the constitution, with more nutriment. We substitute a mixture of okra and coffee, say one fourth coffee. The difference is not noticed by visitors, not even when told. We can use, if we choose, sage tea, green tea, or the old woman's yopon [sic], that "kept her out of heaven twenty years, bless God," or grubheisen, better known as sassafras. I have salt enough to do me another year with proper care. 'Tis as fine as any Liverpool salt, perfectly white. Our Legislature has passed a law making Salt Lake at Corpus Christi free for everybody, and speculators are hauling salt all over the State. It is inexhaustible at the Lake; as yet we get it at home for about $10 per sack. It will no doubt be much cheaper. . . ."

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], January 28, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Those who are grumbling about the sacrifice of luxuries imposed by the Lincoln blockade, ought to recall to mind the fact that during the wars of Napoleon, coffee sold in France for a dollar and a half per pound.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, January 30, 1862, p. 3, c. 5
In 1860, the importation of coffee in the then United States was the enormous amount of two hundred millions of pounds, at a cost of fifteen millions of dollars. The people of the South use doubly as much coffee as the people of the North. Nearly one-half of this vast sum was expended by the people of the Confederacy. If a substitute could be found, it would save us seven millions of dollars a year.

[LITTLE ROCK] DAILY STATE JOURNAL, February 4, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Coffee is retailing at Helena at one dollar per pound.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, February 4, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
Cotton and Coffee.—We learn from those who have tested the matter, that the seeds of Sea Island Cotton, parched and prepared as coffee, are fully equal to the best Mocha coffee imported; and that the seeds of the Upland prepared in the same way make an excellent coffee.—Columbia Guardian.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, February 6, 1862, p. 4, c. 3
A soldier's food should be well cooked; (no tainted meat,) his meals at regular hours; no violent exercise after eating; a hearty breakfast and at least one meal of animal food a day, with plenty of vegetables, as carrots, onions, rice, etc., ripe fruit, and, after exposure or fatigue, good hot soup, cleanliness observed, and the feet kept dry if possible. He should have coffee once or twice a day, but if not to be got, the substitutes are—acorns, stripped and roasted, ground sassafras nuts, grated crust of bread, rye or wheat, parched with butter, beech root, horse beans, etc. The substitutes for tea are—the yopon, rosemary, strawberry leaves. But the best home made tea is made of good well made meadow hay (infusion). While on the subject I'll say that starch can be made of frosted potatoes, and the tops make good potash when burnt; and the myrtle, glycerine, etc., will furnish the other components of soap.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], February 7, 1862, p. 3, c. 5

Coffee.

A lady encloses us a recipe for making coffee from red wheat—red being much better than white—using one fifth part of Rio coffee. She asks who discovered the particular virtues of coffee, and wonders that we have waited until the blockade to realize a palatable substitute. It is said the virtues of coffee were discovered by the prior of a monastery, who noticed that his cattle which browsed on the coffee-shrub would wake and caper all night. He was thus induced to administer a decoction of the berry to his monks, to prevent their sleeping at matins. Others ascribe its origin to the Persians, as far back as the 15th century, when it was used by the dervishes to inspire joy and induce wakefulness during their night-long devotions. It subsequently was introduced into Mecca, where it cheered and encouraged the followers of Mahommet in their long pilgrimages, and was used by all travelers and students. It was first used in England in 1652. Probably the reason its use has become so general, is that none of the substitutes proposed possess its cheering and invigorating qualities. We shall try the recipe you enclose.—Field and Forest.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, February 7, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
Cotton Seed Coffee. We have been favored by a friend, with a sample of Cotton Seed Coffee prepared by Dr. H. Ravenel, of Poosilee, St. John's Berkley, which we had served up at breakfast yesterday morning, and found very palatable. The Cotton Seed is parched, and ground or powdered, as if it were the Coffee bean, and prepared for use accordingly. The aroma is very like that of Coffee, but rather more like that of Brom [?]. We have little doubt that a mixture of one-third or one-half Coffee, and the rest of ground or powdered Cotton Seed, would easily pass for good, if not pure, Coffee.
We have also tried Rye alone, and in mixture with one-third Coffee, and found both preparations good substitutes for the aromatic bean.--Charleston Courier

CHARLESTON MERCURY, February 8, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Rye Coffee vs. Rio—How to make the former.—To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury: Take Rye, boil it, but not so much as to burst the grain; then dry it, either in the sun, on a stove or a kiln, after which it is ready for parching, to be used like the real Coffee Bean. Prepared in this manner it can hardly be distinguished from the genuine Coffee. The Rye, when boiled and dried, will keep for any length of time, so as to have it ready whenever wanted for parching. F. W. Clauussen.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], February 15, 1862, p. 3, c. 5
Bully Memphis.—The Athens (Tenn.) Post has the following: "A gentleman just from Memphis, assures us that common cotton cards are selling there at fifteen dollars a pair, coffee at ten cents a grain, and everything else in proportion. Memphis always was a bully place."

EMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], February 18, 1862, p. 3, c. 5

Express Agent Fined.—H. Borden, agent of the Southern Express, was fined six dollars yesterday for carrying on his business without taking out a license. He appealed from the decision of the Recorder, contending that the business in which he is engaged is not one of those requiring a license. It strikes us if the express business has not hitherto been subjected to the operation of the license ordinance, one fine appealed from and decided by competent authority is as effective as the harassing process of inflicting a fine a day. The 550th section of the Code of Tennessee says that the occupations and transactions to be deemed privileges and taxed, and not pursued without a license, are selling at auction, selling on commission, the business of a broker or broker of real estate, granting policies of insurance for companies not chartered by the State, the business of banking, importing or selling playing cards, shaving notes, keeping a race track, theatrical and musical exhibitions, menageries, circuses, legerdemain, keeping a confectionary, or a stallion or jack, and retailing liquors. We do not know under which of the above eighteen heads the business of carrying goods by express is ranked. The city charter gives powers to the Board of Aldermen to license negro traders, livery stables, auctions, grocers, dry goods stores, forwarding, commission, and all other mercantile houses, coffee houses, tippling houses, confectioneries, brokers, insurance offices, hotel keepers, pedlars, bankers, shows, circuses, theaters, and all other places of public amusement, and to tax the same. Also to license drays, carts, hackney coaches, etc., porters and their charges, coachmen, hackmen, etc.

RANKFORT [KY] COMMONWEALTH, March 4, 1862, p. 4, c. 2

Letter from Bowlinggreen.

Bowlinggreen, Feb. 19, 1862.
[…] The rebels burned the Depot and Round House, and large quantity of provisions, and a great many houses in town, but we captured a sufficient amount of provisions of certain kinds to last our whole division forty or fifty days. Some kinds of provisions are very scarce, such as coffee, tea, and bread. Coffee was selling here at one dollar per pound, boots at twenty dollars a pair, and many other articles in like proportion. […]

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], March 11, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Rye Coffee.—We find the following in the LaGrange Reporter:
Many of our people are daily in the habit of using rye as a substitute for coffee, without being aware of the fact, that the grain when burnt contains upwards of fifty per cent of phosphoric acid, which acts injuriously upon the whole stony structure. In the young it effectually prevents the full development of the osseous tissues, and in the old, it lays the foundation for dry gangrene. It possesses the power of dissolving the phosphate of lime, which constitutes upwards of fifty per cent of the bone in man. The same power it exerts over utero gestation, and thereby brings about all the concomitant evils of abortion. Cases of this kind have come under my professional observation during a few months past, and I think the facts ought to be spread before the people. L. J. Robert, M. D.
LaGrange, Ga.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], March 11, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
Things in San Antonio, Texas.—The San Antonio News of the 20th of February thus sketches the appearance of things in that beautiful city:
A person in traveling through our city could hardly be persuaded that the blockade was still in existence. You see bustle and business on every corner, and all our markets well supplied. We have any quantity of coffee at fifty cents per pound, and some two hundred sacks of this article arrived here during the past week. Our gardens are wearing their carpets of green; buildings are going up, and our city is not only widening but becoming more corpulent, and we will venture the assertion that there is not a town in the State that pays day laborers better than San Antonio, and some will not work, but continue as usual, loafing on the streets, complaining of hard times. Every few days the different companies may be seen drilling. All this in a city not very near Abraham's bosom.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], March 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 2

Rye Coffee.

To the editors of the Chronicle & Sentinel:
An extract in your daily of Tuesday, signed L. J. Roberts, M. D., taken from the LaGrange Reporter, contains two such grave errors, that we cannot refrain from correcting them, particularly as many persons who use rye as a substitute for coffee, might be frightened out of an innocent beverage.
The extract says: "The grain when burnt, contains fifty per cen. of phosphoric acid." Now, unscientific people would suppose this to mean when parched. We suppose the Doctor intended the ash of the grain. What is the true analysis of rye according to the best authorities? 1,000 pounds produces only 10 1/2 pounds of ash; and of this 10 1/2 pounds only 0.46 of a pound of phosphoric acid; not quite half a pound to 1,000 pounds of the grain, and not quite 5 per cent of the ash instead of upwards of 50 per cent; being not quite the one fifth of one per cent of the solid grain. Besides, the Doctor forgets that not one particle of the earthy salts is probably held in solution by a common weak decoction of the rye; and if the whole grain was swallowed there would only be the medium amount of phosphoric acid contained in wheat and other cereals, just about enough to make bone instead of destroying it.
The effects of rye, or the phosphoric acid in it, on utero-gestation, is equally fallacious, and quite as grave an error. It is the ergot of rye that produces abortion, not the common, healthy grain used for coffee. It is a long, black, stinking grain, easily distinguished from the other, and only occurring under certain unfavorable circumstances. The common rye is quite as innocent as wheat or coffee in this respect.
Will the papers (we have seen it in several,) which published the extract, give this an insertion? E. M. Pendleton, M. D.
Sparta, Ga., March 12th, 1862.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], March 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 7
Rye Coffee Not Injurious.—We publish in another column a paragraph from the LaGrange (Ga.) Reporter, which states that more than one half of the substance of rye, when burned, is phosphoric acid, and that its effect upon the structure of the bones is so injurious that rye coffee is a dangerous beverage. Rye coffee is in extensive use among us at the present time, and if the statement be true, it ought no longer to be drunk. The action of phosphoric acid upon the bones is injurious in the highest degree, but we are informed by Mr. Farnsworth, druggist on Main street, who is an accomplished chemist, that the quantity of phosphoric acid in rye, and it is found only in the hull, is too minute to produce any appreciable effect upon the system. Parching the grain, instead of increasing the quantity of the acid, which is of a volatile nature, drives if off and leaves the grain free of any deleterious constituent. There is a diseased rye known as "ergott," which has powerful properties that are sometimes used for injurious purposes, but the size, color, and smell of the grain in that condition, are so different to the healthy state, that a child can readily tell the difference. We may safely drink rye coffee, and defy phosphoric acid and federalism.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], March 16, 1862, p. 2, c. 8
"Brilliant" Saloon.—At this saloon, Mr. S. Oishel is now supplying his customers with excellent coffee, delicious chocolate, fine tea, splendid cigars, and unrivaled pies. The saloon is in Center alley, rear of Merriman's jewelry store. All change tickets he has out will be received. Give Oishel a call

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, March 18, 1862, p. 1, c. 5

From the LaGrange Reporter.

Rye Coffee.—Many of our people are daily in the habit of using rye as a substitute for coffee without being aware of the fact, that the grain when burnt contains upwards of 50 per ct. of phosphoric acid, which acts injuriously upon the whole bony structure. In the young it effectually prevents the full development of the osseous tissues, and in the old, it lays the foundation for dry gangrene. It possesses the power of dissolving the phosphate of lime, which constitutes upwards of fifty per cent. of the bone in man. This same power it exerts over utero gestation, and thereby brings about all the concomitant evils of abortion. Cases of this kind have come under my professional observation during a few months past, and I think the facts ought to be spread before the people. L. J. Robert, M. D.

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], March 22, 1862, p. 3, c. 2
Camp Bob May, }
Shell Bluff, March 18th, 1862.}
Mr. Editor: Since my last letter to you, we have been removed from the open field to a fine thicket adjacent, a much better place and evidently a more healthy location than our first position. Last night we had quite a number of bon fires in the rear of our encampment, burning up the pine straw to clear off our land. . .
We have as good quarters here as tent life can afford, and our officers are very attentive to us. Our tents are roomy, floored, and covered with pine straw, which, with our blankets, enables us to sleep very comfortably. And in the way of provisions—bacon, flour, peas, coffee, &c., we are well provided.
The tents have nearly all received appellations—and such inscriptions as the following may be found on them:
Tiger’s Nest, Beauregard’s Parlor, Flea Roost, Shell Bluff Hotel, Manassa House, Beauregard’s Mansion, John Rappold’s Grocery, Hornets Nest, Barber Shop, Schneider’s Oyster Saloon, &c.
Shell Bluff.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], March 27, 1862, p. 3, c. 2

Rye Coffee.
"Who shall decide when doctors disagree."

Mr. Editor:—My short article on rye coffee, which appeared in your paper two weeks since, seems to have excited a considerable interest, not only on the part of editors, but also among some of our medical fraternity. In the Augusta Chronicle & Sentinel of the 15th inst., Dr. E. M. Pendleton, of Sparta, Ga., has denounced the said article as containing "two grave errors." The first in my quantitative analysis, and the second in "the effect of the rye, or the phosphoric acid in it, or the utero-gestation."
Now, I having asserted, and the Doctor denying, throws the onus probandi upon him, and not upon myself. However, as I am not desirous of controversy, being pressed by professional duties, I will simply refer the Doctor to "Booth's Encyclopaedia of Chemistry," page 861, (the best authority extant, and as this book is not accessible to all, I copy thefrom [sic] verbatim et literatim Fresentus' and Will's analysis of the grain of the rye when burnt or reduced to ashes, viz:
Potassa……………………………11.43
Soda……………………………….18.89
Magnesia…………………………10.57
Lime………………………………. 7.65 [?]
Phosphoric Acid………………51.81
Sulphuric Acid………………….0.51
Silica……………………………….1.90
The above, then, proves conclusively the correctness of my quantitative analysis. Now as regards the effects as of phosphoric acid, which I have described, not only upon utero-gestation but also upon the whole osseous structure, I presume Dr. Pendleton himself, will not deny.
Although the editor of the Chronicle & Sentinel may "stick to his beverage," the so called "startling revelation of the LaGrange physician" is literally true.
With reference to "Ergot," I will only add that I never once mentioned this article. I have no time to write further. With this I dismiss the subject. L. J. Robert, M. D.

RYE COFFEE NOT A POISON—AN EMINENT CHEMIST'S OPINION.

To the Editors of the Delta:
I notice in the morning a paragraph extracted from the LaGrange Reporter, which, allowed to go uncontradicted, may produce much mischief. In it a Dr. Robert states that "the habit of using rye as a substitute for coffee, acts injuriously upon the bony structures, from the amount of phosphoric acid it contains." In the young he says "it effectually prevents the full development of the osseous tissues, and in the old, it lays the foundation for dry gangrene." It also possesses the power of dissolving the phosphate of lime in the bones, and produces abortions, &c. Now the whole of this is one tissue of absurdity and error. Rye in common with all the cereal grains, contains a large proportion of phosphoric acid, this however never being in the free state, but always combined with lime, and its proportion is somewhat less than that of wheat, which the sapient Dr. Robert does not seem to condemn.
The great value of the cereals as food, consists in this very amount of phosphate of lime, which is absolutely necessary for human nutrition, the body containing upwards of eight pounds of this compound. None contain free phosphoric acid, which, however, contrary to the dictum of Dr. Robert, (unless in a very concentrated form,) does not dissolve phosphate of lime, never produces dry gangrene, and cannot cause abortion. It is true that rye, under certain conditions, is subject to a disease resembling the smut in wheat, and if made into bread and eaten in this condition, might produce serious effects; but even if the spurred rye were used for coffee, the process of roasting would effectually destroy this noxious tendency. The public may rest assured the rye coffee is perfectly innocent, and may be used with as much safety as the finest Mocha. Dr. Robert must have drawn largely upon his imagination for his facts, and is only another illustration that a little learning is a dangerous thing.
I. L. Crawcour, M. D.
Prof. of Chemistry, N. O. School of Medicine.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, March 29, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
Richmond, Tuesday, March 25.
. . . The cheapest living, now-a-days, is in camp, where sugar can be had for 3 1/2 cents and coffee for 28 cents a pound. Hermes

CHARLESTON MERCURY, March 31, 1862, p. 1, c. 1

Cotton Seed as a Substitute for Coffee.

To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:—Seeing a notice, some time ago, that cotton seed was a good substitute for coffee, I was induced to try a mixture of two-thirds cotton seed and one-third coffee, and found it answered extremely well. The seed merely requires to be washed and parched before grinding, the same as coffee. We have been using it for six or seven weeks constantly in our family, and many of our friends who drank it without knowing what the mixture was, pronounced it equal to the best coffee. A friend suggests that parched cotton seed in future may be known as "Carolina Mocha." As these are times in which all are called upon to practice economy, I send you the result of my experiment, requesting an insertion as early as convenient, in your paper.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, April 2, 1862, p. 1, c. 3

Cotton Seed as a Substitute for Coffee.

To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:
Seeing a notice, some time ago, that cotton seed was a good substitute for coffee, I was induced to try a mixture of two-thirds cotton seen and one-third coffee, and found it answered extremely well. The seed merely requires to be washed and parched before grinding, the same as coffee. We have been using it for six or seven weeks constantly in our family, and many of our friends who drank it without knowing what the mixture was, pronounced it equal to the best coffee.—A friend suggests that parched cotton seed in future may be known as "Carolina Mocha." As there are times in which all are called upon to practice economy, I send you the result of my experiment, requesting an insertion as early as convenient, in your paper.
An Old Housekeeper

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], April 4, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
The Crystal Palace.—Oshei has opened this splendid saloon, opposite Odd Fellows' Hall, and tea, coffee, chocolate and cakes can be had at all hours. He has a julep lemonade that is an excellent drink. Call and try it, and you will excuse "the blockade."

DUBUQUE HERALD, April 8, 1862, p. 4, c. 3

House-Keepers Daily Retail Market--

Saturday, April 5, 1862.
Owing to bad roads, several articles have advanced in price. This in only temporarily, as produce is plenty in the country, and one week of fair weather w ill reduce prices very materially.
Apples--40 cents per peck.
Butter--12@15 c. per lb.
Carrots--10 c. per peck.
Cabbage--5 c. per head.
Chickens--35@40c. per pair.
Ducks--35c. per pair.
Eggs--10 c. per doz. 3 doz. 25c.
Geese--40@60c. each.
Lard--7c per lb.
Onions--10c per peck.
Parsnips--10 c. per peck.
Potatoes--15c per peck@46 c. per bushel.
Turnips--5 c. per peck.
Turkeys--6 c per lb.--50 @ 60c each.
Wood--$3 00@3 50 delivered.

Meat Market.

Beef Steaks 6@8 cts. per lb.
Corned Beef--4 @ 5 c. per lb.
Live Cattle--$2 00@2 75 per cwt
Mutton--8 and 10 cts. per lb.
Pork Steaks--6 cts per lb
Sausage--8 cts. per lb.
Roast Pork--5 and 6 cts.
Sheep--$2 50 and $5 00 each.
Veal--6@8 cts. per lb.
Calves--2.50 and 5.00

Teas.

Young Hyson--$1.25 lb.
Gun powder--$1 25 lb.
Imperial--$1 30 lb.
Black--$1.00 lb.

Sugars.

Brown--8 3/4 @ 11 cts lb.
Crushed--13 3/4 @ 14 cts. lb.
Pulverized--13 3/4 @ 14 cts. lb.
Coffee--13 @ 13 1/2 lb.

Coffees.

Rio--25 cts. lb.
Java--25 and 30 cts. lb.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, April 8, 1862, p. 2, c. 7

Cotton Seed as a Substitute for Coffee.

To the Editor of the Charleston Mercury:
Seeing a notice, some time ago, that cotton seed was a good substitute for coffee, I was induced to try a mixture of two-thirds cotton seed and one-third coffee, and found it answered extremely well. The seed merely require to be washed and parched before grinding, the same as coffee. We have been using it for six or seven weeks constantly in our family, and many of our friends who drank it without knowing what the mixture was, pronounced it equal to the best coffee. A friend suggest that parched cotton seed in future may be known as "Carolina Mocha." As these are times in which all are called upon to practice economy, I send you the result of my experiment, requesting an insertion as early as convenient, in your paper.
An Old Housekeeper.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, April 10, 1862, p. 2, c. 6
An unfortunate medico of Lee Grange [sic], Georgia, named Robert, promulgated the theory that rye coffee was injurious. Medical and scientific men all over the Confederacy are pitching into his theory and exposing its absurdity.

DAILY CHRONICLE & SENTINEL [AUGUSTA, GA], April 12, 1862, p. 3, c. 2

For the Chronicle & Sentinel.
Rye Coffee.
Review of Prof. Crawcour's Article.

"I notice in the morning papers," says Prof. Crawcour," a paragraph extracted from the LaGrange Reporter, which if allowed to go uncontradicted may produce mischief."
Were the Prof. has evidently conceived the wind, and brought forth the whirlwind, is the shape of a monstrous nullity! What mischief can possibly result from spreading before the people, a well authenticated fact with reference to Rye as a substitute for Coffee? When I give the analysis of the grain of Rye, reduced to ashes, to be upwards of fifty per cent. of Phosphoric acid, I do it upon the very best authority, and to which every man is at liberty to refer. See Booth's Encyclopaedia of Chemistry (Large London Edition) page 861 and Liebig's Agricultural Chemistry (from the fourth London Edition) page 249. Is there any mischief in this? When I say that Phosphoric acid is a solvent of the phosphate of Lime (one of the essential elements of bone, and constituting upwards of fifty per cent. of the bone in man) and refer to the "United States Dispensatory," page 817 in proof of this fact; can there be any mischief in this? When I assert that Phosphorus (which by uniting with Oxygen, forms Phosphoric Acid) is a violent and irritant poison, so much so that the manufacturers of Lucifer matches are liable to [?]osis of the jaw-bone, and refer as proof on this point to the same book (U.S.D.) pages 554 and 556, can there be any mischief in this? Or when I say that from my own personal observation I am inducted to believe that Rye Coffee is injurious in consequence of the large amount of Phosphoric acid it contains; can there be any mischief in this?
O tempora! O mores! The immortal Professor has denounced all this, as "One tissue of absurdity and error," and seems to predicate the whole of his denunciation, upon the simple fact that I said nothing about the analysis of Wheat!!
Now the self styled Professor of Chemistry must remember that my article was written under the caption "Rye Coffee;" not "Wheat," potatoes, okra, burnt syrup, or any other substitute for coffee; and hence I was no more responsible for the analysis of "Wheat," than for the analysis of any of these other substitutes. Rye was the only subject under consideration, and as far as I could learn, the only substitute for coffee, within the precincts of the circulation of the LaGrange Reporter. Again, my second article which appeared in the Chronicle & Sentinel of the 27th ultimo, immediately over the Professor's reply, contained the full analysis of Rye (grain) and from this, no many of ordinary intelligence would for one moment presume that I ever intended to be understood as saying, that the Phosphoric acid in the ashes of the grain of Rye, was not in a state of combination.
Even in my original article I left not the slightest room for such an absurd conjecture! I simply stated that "the ashes of the grain of Rye, contained upwards of fifty per cent of Phosphoric acid." The remaining fifty per cent. evidently was in combination with it. Surely, Professor, "much learning doth make thee mad." Lastly (though not least,) the Professor asserts that the process of roasting effectually destroys this noxious tendency of Spurred Rye," and therefore argues that "Rye Coffee may be used with as much safety as the finest Mocha." This is most superlatively absurd! The chemical analysis of the grain when burnt even to ashes, discovers, as I have already stated, the existence of the poisonous compound. How, then, can "roasting destroy its noxious tendency." Well may the immortal Professor exclaim that, which by sad experience he has learned. "A little learning is a dangerous thing."
In conclusion, with all sincerity of soul the "sapient Dr. Robert" exhorts the immortal Professor to drink deep of books not the Pierian spring.
L. J. Robert, M. D.
P.S.—All papers that have published Prof. Crawcour's article, will please copy the above.
LaGrange, Ga., April 8, 1862.

PHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], April 18, 1862, p. 2, c. 4

A Good Substitute for Coffee.

Take some brown sugar and burn it perfectly black, then add hot water till it is reduced to the consistency of syrup, and put it in a bottle, ready for use. For six persons, take five table spoonfuls of the liquid, and put it in your coffee pot, then put in the dripper one table spoonfull of ground coffee, and drip the boiling water through the coffee on the syrup, in such a quantity as suits your taste. It is now ready for the table, where it is prepared in the usual manner with milk and sugar. To the above proportions can be added more coffee, if you have it to spare. The burnt syrup will keep any length of time.
N. B. Care must be taken not to pour the burnt syrup through the dripper.
This is really an excellent substitute. If you feel disposed, publish it in your paper for the benefit of economists.
A Lady Subscriber.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, April 29, 1862, p. 2, c. 3

Bran Beer.

Editor Enquirer: Severe imitations of coffee and tea have been proposed, and they make a beverage pleasant to the taste and in this respect much resembling our common table drinks before the war. But it is not pretended that they have the invigorating properties of real tea and coffee.
It is my purpose to suggest not an imitation, but a substitute for tea and coffee, which, if once fairly tried, I think will be adhered to by those giving it a trial. It has the stimulating effect of coffee, and is exceedingly palatable and wholesome in its effect. The article to which I allude is bran beer, which can be made quite strong and very cheaply, thus: Take three quarts of wheat bran (costing three cents), pour on cold or hot water enough to soak it thoroughly, let it stand until the bran sours and rises (which will be about twenty-four hours), then pour on one gallon of boiling water and let it steep in a covered vessel until cold enough to strain through a cloth; strain it through a thin cloth, and let it stand in a pan or pail until the fine flour in the bran settles to the bottom; pour off gently, and to a gallon of water thus expressed add half a pint of molasses, bottle, and set it away until it ferments. It will have all the life and pungency of ginger pop, and is the most palatable beer I have ever drunk.
It will take two or three days to prepare beer in this way; but by starting the process daily a daily supply can be kept up. It will not cost more than six cents a gallon when molasses costs fifty cents.
The fine flour settling at the bottom of the vessel after the water is strained from the bran can be mixed with flour in making bread; and the beer made as above will make bread rise fully as well and as light as soda or yeast.
The sour bran will be greedily eaten by pigs.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], April 30, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
A Substitute for Coffee.—The ground sassafras is an excellent substitute for coffee. It is not only nutritious, but a more efficacious corrector of the habit, in cases of the eruptions of the skin and scrofula, than the sassafras wood or the compound decoction of sarsaparilla. It is a powerful preventive of cutaneous affections, and particularly valuable as an article of diet for consumptive, rheumatic, gouty and asthmatic invalids.

NATCHITOCHES [LA] UNION, May 8, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
Pea Nuts.—We are told that the pea or ground nut is an excellent substitute for coffee. It grows abundantly almost everywhere. The vine it is said, is excellent fodder for cattle. The nut when parched, is very much relished, especially by children, and perhaps might be useful, when ground, to mix with flour and corn meal for making bread. It is certainly worth trying.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL, [MEMPHIS, TN], May 28, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Substitute for Coffee.—We are informed that corn and rice mixed in equal parts, ground and boiled, make an excellent substitute for coffee. As the grain of corn is harder than that of rice, it needs more browning, and should be exposed to the heat a few moments before the rice is put in, then the two can be mixed and the browning completed.
Our friend who gives us the information has tried it thoroughly, and claims that the beverage is equal to the best coffee he ever drank. The experiment is worth trying when coffee is held at upwards of a dollar a pound.—Mobile News

NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, May 29, 1862, p. 3, c. 2
We are indebted to Mayor Smith for a copy of the Memphis Appeal of the 22d last. It contains several paragraphs which will be of interest to our readers. It speaks in this mournful style of

The City.

The city is a dull place. The lamp post committees and street corner congregations are poorly attended; change has become a myth; the landing is well adapted for a solitary walk by any sentimentalist wishing to meditate undisturbed upon the mutability of human affairs; our stores close of their own accord every afternoon; the coffee houses are all shut up by the Provost marshal, and the only lively spot that greets the wanderer's eye is Court Square, which is now a beautiful place to spend an idle hour in and is much frequented by the juveniles in the evening, who make it gay with their ringing laughter and their innocent sports. Persons disposed to the blues should frequent the square before sunset each fine day. The streets were in their best trim yesterday, the rain having laid the dust and purified the gutters.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], June 8, 1862, p. 2, c. 3-4

Editorial Correspondence.

Gayoso House, Memphis, May 31.
I left Mobile at 4 o'clock, P.M., on the 29th, by the Mobile & Ohio R. R., which runs northwardly nearly parallel with the Tombigbee river, through a poor piney woods country. . . .
Rigid military orders have closed all the drinking saloons and bars in hotels or elsewhere, on the way. A toddy cannot be had in any of the towns through which I have passed, for love or money. Juleps, smashes, cobblers, and all the delightful and exhilarating beverages are as scarce as old Java Coffee, and as difficult to find as a pair of cotton cards in a country store. . . G.W.A.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, June 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
The following is a list of the present retail prices of some of the leading articles of merchandise in this market. Our readers abroad, with this criterion before them, can judge of the present state of the market generally:
Flour, per sack $10 00 Starch $ 50
Corn Meal 1 00 Tea, Black /lb. 5 00
Bacon 20 Tea, Green /lb. 6 00
Salt /lb 06 Coffee /lb. 60
Sugar, Brown, Texas 10 Rice /lb. 30
Sugar, Brown,
New Orleans 12½ Butter /lb 20
Sugar, Crushed 50 Eggs 25
Molasses, /bbl 20 00
Nails, /keg 40 00
Some kinds of clothing and dry goods bring almost fabulous prices. The "Local will give the prices of any article for sale in market, when required by correspondents.

SOUTHERN WATCHMAN [ATHENS, GA], June 18, 1862, p. 1, c. 3

From the Columbus Enquirer.
Every Soldier his own Physician.

Antidote for Drunkenness: For the Benefit of Officers.—One cup of strong black black [sic?] coffee without milk or sugar, and twenty drops of laudanum. Repeat the dose if necessary. Or take one teaspoonful of tincture lobelia in a tumbler of milk; if taken every ten or fifteen minutes it will act as an emetic; taken in longer intervals, say thirty minutes, it will act as an antidote.

WEEKLY COLUMBUS [GA] ENQUIRER, July 1, 1862, p. 2, c. 4-5

From the 20th Georgia Regiment.

Camp of 20th Georgia Regiment, }
Toombs' Brigade, near Seven Pines, June 18, 1862. }
Dear Enquirer:
[…] Listen how extravagantly we live here: puny cabbage $1 per head; hams 60c; sugar 50c; syrup $6; coffee $2 ½ per lb.; eggs $1; butter $1.50; ginger bread 3c to $1; and the "ardent," meanest sort $20. Virginia will bag a host of Confederate bonds at these prices which the soldiers have to pay. J.T.S.

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], July 2, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
The Spoils at Seven Pines.—A letter from a “Mobile Soldier Boy,” published in the “Register” embraces the following paragraphs:
Our boys then made for the plunder everything you could want laying around in immense quantities. Eatables, clothing, ambrotypes, writing materials, guns, sabres, pistols, swords, and everything, in one immense heap and glorious confusion.
There were in one place three barrels of parched and ground coffee, and a lot of Cuba sugar. My mess—four of us—got about twenty pounds of coffee and twenty-five or thirty of sugar. Our boys regaled themselves on crackers and butter, pickled oysters, sardines, clams, lobsters, &c., but I went to sleep.
I was entirely used up; my shoes hurt me, and I had put my feet outside of them, and got along that way pretty well. I woke next morning and had just time to prepare a cup of Yankee coffee with solidified milk, which went fine and greatly invigorated me. I then walked around a little and helped myself, as it commenced to rain, first to a grey flannel overshirt, about large enough for Charles Gage, and threw it over my clothes; it nearly touched my heels. Then I got the following:
One fine oil cloth blanket, one rubber haversack, one pair ladies common pegged shoes, just my fit; two pair fine socks, belonging to W. G. David, surgeon 98th New York; one portfolio size 8x10; one patent ink stand and one bottle of ink; towels, soap, fine sponges, bandages, lint, and adhesive plaster; and last of all, about two yards fine oil silk. So you can see I was in for the surgeon’s part. I went into the chest, for I thought I might get hurt and would need them. Everything in the medicine chest was of the best and finest kind. A few of our company got gold watches and one or two ladies’ night caps, and also saw a lot of their under clothing. What a female wanted out there in that swampy place I cannot tell.

NASHVILLE DISPATCH, July 3, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Pea Coffee.—It is probably known to many that a very large per cent. of the ground coffee sold at the stores is common field peas, roasted and ground with the coffee. there are hundreds of thousands of bushels of peas annually used for that purpose. Those who are in the habit of purchasing ground coffee can do better to buy their own peas, burn and grind them, and mix to suit themselves.

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], July 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Ministering Angels.—The Ladies of Orangeburg.—A beautiful example, worthy of record and imitation, was given by the ladies of Orangeburg, S. C., on Wednesday. The down Columbia train had on board between 50 and 60 of our brave soldiers wounded in the late series of battles below Richmond , on their way to their homes. As the train reached Orangeburg the ladies appeared with bountiful supplies of coffee, tea, milk, wines, cakes, hot rolls and all the numerous delicacies usually found in the country. These were dispensed by these ministering angels with a liberal hand, the recipients scarcely given time to do more than show their astonishment by mute expressions of pleasant surprise and grateful acknowledgments.—Chas. Courier.
Where are the “ministering angels” of Augusta? Surely, they will not tire in well doing. They have already received the blessings of thousands of wayworn soldiers, who have enjoyed the refreshments prepared by their hands, for the former passing through this city. Will they not continue the good work, and enjoy the happiness of knowing that they are ministering to the wants of the brave men who have been wounded or lost their health in the great struggle for Southern independence? We appeal then, to them, to emulate the example of the good ladies of Orangeburg, S. C., of Waynesboro, and of Berzelia. Nobody can perform this duty so well as they, and to aid them in the cause, we propose that subscriptions be opened at prominent places at once, so that there may be no delay in commencing the work.

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], July 15, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Refreshments for the Soldiers.—We learn that Mr. John G. Coffin, of this city, has, under the auspices of the Georgia Relief and Hospital Association, been provided with coffee, sugar, and other refreshments, which he will be pleased to present to the soldiers as they pass Kingsville, S. C., on the train.

NASHVILLE DISPATCH, July 18, 1862, p. 2, c. 3
"Rye Coffee."—In many grocery stores that a year ago would have scouted the idea, we now see placarded the words "rye coffee." Coffee just now is an expensive luxury. In all Philadelphia there are not at this moment a hundred bags of Java coffee in first hands. Its price is 28 cents, green; in roasting it loses 15 per cent. Add the cost of roasting and the grocers can make no profit by selling it at 35 cents. As a substitute, the grocers sell a light Laguayra at 30 cents. They call it Java, but of course it isn't. The commonest Rio sell for 19 cents per pound by the quantity. Our commercial editor quotes green Laguayra sold in bulk at 21½. For this reason coffee is an article beyond the reach of a large portion of the community. It is for this cause that grocers, who a year ago would have kicked from their doors the suggester of the idea have come down, as a matter of accommodation, to the sale of "rye coffee." The article is simply good, selected rye, roasted as coffee. The taste for coffee, like the taste for tomatoes and some other things, being purely an acquired taste, it is possible that the taste for rye coffee may also follow its at first forced use.—Philadelphia North American, July.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, July 19, 1862, p. 2, c. 7

Augusta Auction Sales.
By W. B. Griffin.
Coffee and Chickory.

Tuesday, the 22d instant in front of store, commencing at 10 o'clock, will be sold,

100 Bags
Prime Green Rio Coffee
and
100 Bags
Chickory,
A very superior substitute for Coffee, generally used
as such in Europe.

EMI-WEEKLY NEWS [San Antonio, TX], July 21, 1862, p. 2, c. 1

Price Current.

We have been trying from various sources to get at the prices of the various market articles, and give the following as the result of our observation without comment.
Flour $22 per cwt; Bacon, 25 cts pr. lb. Lard, 37½ cts per lb.; Coffee, $1 00 per lb. Sugar, 25 cts. do.; Butter, 50 cts do; Rice, 40 cts do; Molasses, $2 00 per gal.' Black Pepper, $1 00 per lb.; Tea, $4 to $5 do; Eggs 37½ to 40 cents per doz.; Potatoes, 6 lbs at $1 00; Roasting ears, 5 cents a piece; cabbage, from 37½ to 50 cts a piece; Beets, small, 3 for 25 cts; Milk, 12½ cts per quart; Tallow Candles, 60 cts. a doz.; Bar Soap, 50 cts per bar; Melons 25 cts to $1 a piece; Butter Beans $1 00 per quart; Vinegar, $1 00 per gallon.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, July 29, 1862, p. 2. c. 1
Camp Prices.—A correspondent of the Columbia Guardian, writing from one of the camps near Richmond, on the 20th inst., says:
War has its financial aspect, as well as public; and the camp prices we pay may not be devoid of interest to our friends at home. Some of these that we mention here have come under our personal observation—the rest we have on the information of friends. Sugar, $1 a pound; coffee, $2.50 a pound; butter, $2 a pound; eggs, $1 a dozen; ham, $1 a pound; chickens, $1 a piece; molasses, $6 a gallon; onions, 25c a piece; cabbage, $1 a piece; brogans, $15; Irish potatos [sic], $16 a bushel; foolscap paper, $2 a quire; blackberries, 75c a quart; whiskey, $2 a gill—$64 a gallon; buttermilk, 40c a quart; daily newspapers, 25c a piece; bakers' bread, 20c for a 5c loaf; oats, $4 a bushel; horse-shoeing, $4 the round.

NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, July 29, 1862, p. 3, c. 4
Substitute for Coffee. Among the many substitutes for coffee, I have tasted none which equals the kind I herewith describe, when prepared with exact skill.
Take equal parts of good New Orleans or syrup molasses and water, and stir it as thick as you can with wheat bran. Spread it one-fourth to one half inch in thickness on baking pans of tin or earthen, place it in a range oven, or other kind, and let it dry, bake, and then brown until the strong aroma of coffee is perceived in the room.
Boil and serve it up as other coffee, and if prepared just right, it will be nearer to good genuine Java coffee than rye coffee, or any other variety which I have tested; in fact I have drank this kind so well prepared that good judges pronounced it Java Coffee. All this is to me quite astonishing, and I cannot explain the chemical action on the silica or the cutter covering the wheat; nevertheless, try it a few times, and you will realize a very cheap, delicious and wholesome beverage, adapted to the most sensitive nerves.—New York Observer

NATCHITOCHES [LA] UNION, August 7, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
For the Union.

Mr. Fitgit's Breakfast Table.

Well, I declare, Mr. Fitgit, this state of things is getting unindurable [sic]—My patience, perseverance and patriotism are running off at my fingers' end, and you sit smoothing your mustaches as if nothing was the matter. Here's the miltipitcher [sic?] and not a drop of coffee. Dinah says there's not another grain in the barrel. You've "just taken a mint jullep [sic] and don't care for coffee?" Well I do.—I cant stand this state of things. Think I "ought'nt to complain while others are suffering so much: Well, if it would do them any good for me to do without coffee, I expect I could do it, but here the times have been gitting [sic] so hard, harder and hardest, and I've been a good patriot through it all—made all imaginable compounds of cornmeal, muffins, cakes, bread, puddings, eat them in peace, and blessed the rulers; paid a dollar a bar soap, 50 cents a spool for thread, wished the Yankees at the bottom of the Red Sea, and blessed Jeff. Davis, Gov. Moore, and all their grandeurs; did'nt I mend my babys socks last night by a tallow candle which kept us [sic?] more spottering [sic] than a Yankee cannonading, and tallow will be tallow, all you can do to it, the more you put into it the worse it burns, but this doing without coffee, I can't stand. "Coffee's a collar a pound, and you can't afford to buy it? My Grand Mother did without tea, and I can do without coffee?" Mr. Fidgit I'am [sic] ashamed of you. Why could'nt you say "Great Grand Mother," as if any baby who looked at me, would'nt know that my Grand mother must have lived after the Revolution. Every body knows, that I'm the meekest creature in the World, but I will have an answer to this question. Why is coffee a dollar a pound? Just as like as not, it didn't cost the merchants more than 15 cents and they ought to be satisfied with a reasonable profit. "The value of an article is always proportioned to its scarcity, and it is worth what it will bring in market, if you could get a dollar a pound for your cotton, you'd get it? "May be you would, if you had to sell it to those cold hearted Englishmen, or miserable Yankees, but I'd be ashamed of you, and you'd take it of your friends and neighbors if they wanted it for clothes. Suppose you could buy all the corn at a dollar a Barrel and put it in your magazines and sell it for ten dollars, I wonder what people would think of you? A'mt that what you call a monopoly?" If baby gets the fever, I shall have to pay 25 dollars a bottle for quinine, and I guess that is just as needful as bread. Poor little dear; I dont care how much it cost I shall get it. "Told me before everybody had a right to take what they could get? "I knew you said so, and I don't pretend to reason the thing out, but I am very sure it never can be right to speculate upon the necessities of the people, when they are all suffering in a common cause. I wonder if the burden do'nt fall on all alike? If the planter does not pay the merchant, it will be because he can not sell his cotton. Wish I "wouldn't talk so much, I dont know anything about the laws of trade, political economy and all that—cant bear a strong minded woman, and detest bluestockings!" Mr. Fidgit I'm ashamed of you! you know, I never wear anything but white, and as for strong minded women, I dont know anything about them, and do'nt think I ever gave you any trouble in that way, but I do like strong coffee, and I intend to have it, or know the reason why. "Tired of answering questions—wish I would be quiet, and eat my breakfast". Well I always have remarked that you gentlemen like better to talk with other people's wives than your own. I shall ask somebody else about it, and one thing I'm determined upon, after this war is over, I shall buy all my ribbons and laces of the merchant who sells his coffee the cheapest.

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], August 13, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Fall Prices.—An army correspondent writing from near Richmond, says that the grounds of the 10th Georgia Regiment are visited daily by several travelling groceries, of which the following are the prices current of a few articles: coffee, $3 per lb.; Sugar, $1; Butter, $1.25; Irish Potatoes, 50 cents per quart; Onions, 10a25 cents a piece; Tomatoes 90 cents per dozen; Bread 10 cents per loaf, Ginger Cakes, 25 cents a piece; and everything else at prices ranging equally upward. The solders of the 10th Georgia Regiment must certainly live high.

NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, August 20, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Groceries have risen tremendously within the last two or three days. Coffee is selling, we hear, at fifty cents per pound. The interruption of the trains, and their employment by the Government at present is the cause of this rise.

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], August 20, 1862, p. 3, c. 4
Substitute for Coffee.
Chickory [sic], at R. M. Smith's Drug Store, No. 10 Broad St. Aug.20.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, August 20, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
Coffee is selling at $2 per pound, and one dealer is asking $3! and no signs of rain.
Still Later—6 P.M.—It is actually raining in Houston once more. Reason why, Messrs. George & Davidson came forward and pledged themselves not to charge, henceforth, more than $5 per gallon, for turpentine, and T. M. Ragby, refuses to take more than twelve and one half cents per pound for sugar, at retail, although others are asking fifteen cents at wholesale. A shower was a natural consequence.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, August 27, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
The following is the retail market price of necessaries in Houston:
Flour—per 100 lbs., $15 Eggs—per doz., 30@50c
Bacon—per lb., 23c Cotton Cards—none
Lard—per lb., 23c Nails—per 100 lb., $30@50
Salt—per lb., 12 ½ c Corn Meal—per lb. 2 ½@3c
Coffee—none in market Texas Sugar—per lb, 10@12 ½ c
at any price
Tea—per lb. $5 Louisiana Sugar—per lb., 14@18c
Butter—per lb., 35@50c

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, September 1, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
Galveston, August 29th, 1862.
Editor Telegraph.—The Island City during the last ten days has enjoyed a series or [sic] truly refreshing showers, sometimes pouring, at others steady, motherly sort of rain. No local news of great importance; all that we can brag of is we still continue to "face the foe," although the streets look deserted (the trades people having gone). The market looks lively in the morning, much like olden times. This morning there were nineteen butcher stalls, two fish do., four vegetables, and two coffee stands, all doing a good business. I give a list of prices, so that our citizens residing in the country may judge how far we are behind the times. Beef steak, 20 cts. per lb., roast 8 do., pork, 12c., mutton 12c., veal, 12c., fish in abundance and cheap; vegetables scarce, and of course demand high prices; peaches $3 per bushel; butter 50c., eggs 45c; groceries—coffee $1.50, tea $4, sugar 15c, flour $14 per hundred, bacon 22c, corn $1.30. As to clothing, boots, shoes, or in fact anything in that line, 50 per cent cheaper than in Houston. Drugs and medicines 100 per cent do. This is the actual state of the markets here. One of the speculators from your city visited us several days ago, and tried to buy up goods at wholesale, paying retail prices, but he could not come it, and was obliged to skedaddle. [...]
H. C. B.

AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, September 3, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
HIGH PRICES.—A great hue and cry has been raised against farmers because they are asking fifteen dollars per sack for flour, and one dollar per bushel for corn and barley. We think they are doing right, and only hope the shylocks and extortioners of the town will be made to pay much higher before they get through with it. A farmer comes to this city and sells his sack of flour for fifteen dollars in currency. He enters a store and buys three papers of pins for three dollars; six spools of rotten thread for three dollars; two lbs of coffee for three dollars and six yards of common domestic for six dollars, making up the sum total he received for his flour. This is not all—he cannot get his plough sharpened, his saddle mended, his wagon repaired, nor his shoe soled without paying three prices. If these things require the strong arm of martial law to regulate them, let the remedy first be applied to the merchants and mechanics, and we vouch for it, breadstuff and forage will at once come down to their old prices. As a class the farmers are now suffering more than any other from extortion.

STANDARD [CLARKSVILLE, TX], September 13, 1862, p. 2, c. 1-2
Arlington House, }
Richmond, Va. August, }
24th, 1862. }
Dear Standard:—
[…] Richmond is full of people; an immense throng, and prices of most articles are fabulous. Beef 60 cents per pound, butter 7c; Green tea ten to twelve dollars per pound; Coffee 2½ dollars by the sack; Lemons 1,25 cents each. […]

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], September 18, 1862, p. 2, c. 1

Coffee.

This article lately commanded $2.50 per lb. in Richmond. It is now worth $2.25 here.—In a few days past, it has tumbled down with a perfect crash in Richmond—a large lot being offered there a few days ago at $1.10 which was not taken.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, September 22, 1862, p. 2, c. 5
Waco, September 15th, 1862.
Mr. Editor—It may not be generally known to your readers that the seed of Chinese sugar cane makes an excellent drink in place of coffee. It should not be prepared like coffee, with sugar and milk in it; it looks and tastes too much like chocolate.
Would not some establishment in Texas for the manufacture of soda, for baking purposes, make a fortune and be of vast benefit to the public at large?
Respectfully,
D. W

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, September 27, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Messrs. Editors: Will you please warn persons who might try to gather wild coffee without knowing it, not to mistake for the same the wild indigo, or Cassia Tora, which has the active properties of senna, and in large doses might prove poisonous.
The Cassia Occidentalis, or wild coffee, has a lance-shaped leaf, ending in a sharp point, its pods are wide and flat, and its seeds flat and small. This is the good kind.
The Cassia Tora, or wild indigo, has an egg-shaped leaf with a round end, its seeds peculiarly shaped, larger than the good kind and of a bronze color. Mr. Desportes, the person who first introduced its use here, could, I believe, supply some prepared coffee to the curious.
J. J. Delchamps.
As there is danger of the wild coffee plant being mistaken for the wild indigo, and we are credibly informed that such mistakes have been made with serious results, our advice is to let it alone. Better to go without coffee, or any substitute for it, than to run any risk of getting poisoned..—Eds.]

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, September 27, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
Editor Register and Advertiser:
The specimen of coffee I send you with this is made of the Cassia Occidentalis, which is found in every vacant lot in the city, and known as the Wild or Florida coffee. Said plant is indigenous to the West Indies and South America, and flourishes wherever the sugar cane grows. In South America it is known as the coffee weed.
Properly prepared it makes a beverage identical in taste, odor, look and properties to that made from the coffee of commerce. A number of families are now using it daily in this city, and, having informed myself of its botanical history and of its qualities, and having tested it myself thoroughly, I deem it my duty to bring the facts to the notice of my fellow citizens, many of whom are suffering for the want of their favorite morning and evening beverage.
Our mode of making it is precisely as we did with Rio or Havana coffee, adding a little burnt sugar, as is often done with other coffee.
Yours respectfully,
J. J. Delchamps.
Note.—The sample sent us with the foregoing note in appearance and smell very much resembles the genuine coffee, indeed a careless observer would not detect the difference. If, as we must suppose from the facts stated, this coffee is not hurtful, the discovery is an important one, and will prove of vast benefit to the people.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, September 29, 1862, p. 1, c. 6
Gentlemen: The Cassia Occidentalis, alluded in your edition of this evening, as a substitute for coffee, grows always in this neighborhood, as far as I have observed, in company with another species, Cassia Obtusifolia, so much like it in general appearance as to be easily mistaken for it. Both may or may not have similar properties to notice the difference.
The most obvious differences are found in the shape of the leaf and pod. The Occidentalis, or "coffee weed," has pointed leaves or leaflets, and flat pods; the other rounded leaves and nearly round pods. The odor of the Occidentalis is strong and very disagreeable. The Obtusifolia has scarcely any odor, and closes its leaves like the sensitive plant at night.
Very respectfully, Reuel Keith.
Mobile, Sept. 26th, 1862.

SOUTHERN ILLUSTRATED NEWS, October 11, 1862, p. 8, c. 3

Essence of Coffee! Essence of Coffee!!

Every family should buy it. One package equal to five pounds of Coffee. A very minute quantity mixed with toasted Rye or Wheat, imparts a rich Coffee flavor. For sale, wholesale and retail, at
Meade & Baker's Drug Store,
186 Main Street, corner above Post Office.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, October 15, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
A Few Words About Chicory.—Chicory, Succory (Cichorium Intybus), a perennial herbaceous plant, indigenous to Europe, but naturalized in this country. It has been found that the root, cut into thin slices, roasted and ground, is an admirable substitute for coffee; and, when combined with the latter in the proportion of two to one, improves the flavor of coffee very much. In these blockade times, when none but the wealthy can indulge in pure coffee, the chicory will be found to answer all its purposes. Chicory is used to a great extent in Europe, and throughout Germany coffee is scarcely ever prepared without the addition of a portion of it. Several of our own citizens are now using chicory, and speak of it in the highest terms.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, October 21, 1862, p. 1, c. 1-2
Richmond, Friday, October 17.
. . . The Medical Purveyor's Office in this city, admirably managed by Dr. Johns, is well worth a visit. It is an immense establishment, and has done and is still doing an enormous amount of work. Its supplies are derived mainly from England, and the clerks tell me the English preparations are so superior to those of the Yankees that even the English bottles can be told in the dark by their feel and finish. The medical stores captured by Jackson in Winchester, when he routed Banks, have helped us out greatly. Among the good things supplied to Yankee soldiers, are prepared soup and coffee. A spoonful of the one put into hot water makes a splendid, rich vegetable soup in five minutes; a spoonful of the other, used in the same way—both are in the form of powder—makes an excellent cup of coffee, already sweetened and creamed, complete in all respects, and far better than you get at hotel and boarding house tables.
Next door to the Purveyor's, in Pearl street, is the Clothing House of the Quartermaster's Department, another great establishment. Here, every morning, may be seen a throng of servant girls, little white girls and boys, poor women of the city, and even buggies from the country, all in quest of bundles of soldiers' clothing, which are cut out and sent to all parts of the city and suburbs to be sewed. . . . Hermes.

[LITTLE ROCK] ARKANSAS TRUE DEMOCRAT, October 22, 1862, p. 1, c. 3
Acorn Coffee.—A friend who has tried acorns as a substitute for coffee, says that he is satisfied it is the best substitute yet found. H took the white oak mast, cut it up and dried the pieces by heating them. He is of the opinion that by drying in the sun and air, it would be better. Others are trying the experiment. The acorns should be hulled, cut up in the size of grains of coffee, well dried, and then parched. Experiments with the different kind of mast, the white oak, the black, etc., will give coffee differing more or less, in astringent qualities and in their power to refresh the system. A number of families have gathered acorns enough to last them a year, and we would not be surprised if acorn coffee should come into general use and favor.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, October 22, 1862, p. 2, c. 4

The Very
Best
Substitute
for
Coffee
is
Chicory.
Try it!

CHARLESTON MERCURY, October 25, 1862, p. 2, c. 4

The Great
Substitute
for
Coffee
Everybody is Using It.
Chicory.
Chicory.
Chicory.
Chicory.
Can be used with safety.
Has a delightful flavor.
It improves poor Coffee.
Can be had at a Low Price.
Originally imported here.
Really good and nutritious.
You must give it a trial.
Chicory.
Chicory.
Chicory.

N.B. To Accommodate the Public, I shall open a few bags of this desirable Article, and sell, at Retail, in parcels of not less than Ten Pounds Each. Send at once.
For sale by
Philip Wineman,
No. 29 Hayne Street.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, October 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 3

The
Nobility of Europe
Always Use
Chiccory,
to
Improve the Flavor
of
Coffee

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, October 31, 1862, p. 2, c. 4

Every One Who Use
Chiccory
Say it is
The Best Substitute
for
Coffee.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, November 5, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
[...] Not eight months ago, coffee was selling in Houston at 60@75c per pound. It had run the blockade, or had been brought from Mexico, an was plenty. An attempt was made to put it down to 45 or 50c. To-day it is hard to find at $2. Cotton cards were then worth $8. The price was put down to $5, and now people are glad to get them at $20. Admit the prices fixed were high enough in all conscience. The fixing of these prices unsettled the trade, and the people, for whose benefit they were fixed, are now the sufferers. The only remedy for speculation is to encourage it. If made free it will regulate itself. Laws never can prevent it, because universal assent makes it subject to no law but its own success. If speculation is successful it invites competition, and that regulates business. [...]

AMERICAN CITIZEN [CANTON, MS], November 7, 1862, p. 1, c. 3

From Nashville—Hard Times There—
Symptoms of Starvation—The City
Overrun with Contrabands.

A Nashville correspondent of the Philadelphia Press, writing on the 11th, says:
Unless the river rises soon we shall be upon the verge of starvation. A forage party of four hundred and ninety teams came in yesterday, but brought nothing but hay and corn—not an ox, sheep or hog; but four wagons came into town this morning.
I will give you a correct list of prices of the necessaries of life:
Butter per pound……………………………………………….$1 00@1 50
Chickens per dozen……………………………………………. 5 00
Beef, veal etc. per pound……………………………………. 25@ 35
Vegetables (various) very high prices:
Coffee per pound (none in store)………………………….. 2 00@3 00
Tea per pound (none in store)………………………………. 1 50@2 00
Sugar per pound (little in store)…………………………….. 1 00@
Flour per barrel……………………………………………………20 00@
Potatoes per bushel…………………………………………….. 3 00@
The above table will give you an idea of how everything costs in this benighted place. Clothing, etc., rules very high.
The influx of negroes is great. They come in from all quarters. They enter town singly, in pairs, and in settlements. They will go into Union families, to jail, or any where, to get rid of their rebel masters. They will wash, drive team[s], act as servants, or any thing, but they will not go home. Most every body has a contraband. Every regiment has from ten to fifty. Nearly all the hard work at the hospitals, is done by these people. Gen. Negley is terribly bothered by these contrabands. The Provost marshal can not shake them off, and Surgeon Swift is overrun by them. Capt. Morton, who has charge of those who work on the fortifications, has the names of one thousand four hundred.

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], November 11, 1862, p. 1, c. 2

From the Army of the Frontier.

Pea Ridge, Ark., Oct. 23, 1862.

[...] The women manage to cook without salt, and gossip without tea or coffee.—Boiled water, with a strong infusion of burnt corn, forms the only "hot and rebellious liquor" indulged in by army or citizens, and the cadaverous appearance of the prisoners we take speaks of a wretchedness unknown in our ranks. [...] --[Cleveland Herald.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, November 12, 1862, p. 2, c. 2

Houston Price Current.

A Houston price current is called for by the people of the interior, to save themselves from imposition. We give the best we can, but business is so small as hardly to justify its publication:
Cotton 20@22c.; Corn $1.30@1.50; Lard 28@32c; Bacon 28@32c; Molasses $1.10@1.50; Sugar 13@20c; Butter 45@45c; Flour $20@21; Turkeys, per doz., $18@24; Sweet Potatoes $2@3; Barley per lb. 7@10c; Eggs, per doz., 37@45c; chickens, per doz., $3.50@4.00; Tobacco, per lb., $3.50@4.00; Gunpowder, $4.00@5.00; Salt per lb. 10@12c.; Cotton Cards, per pair, $25; Coffee, per lb., $1.65@1.75; Rice, per lb. 36@40c.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, November 12, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
The following is well known in your city, but may be new to your country readers; I know it is to a good many in this section:
To make Coffee.—Take a teacupful of green coffee; parch and grind in the usual way; take a quart of molasses and burn it (or candy it) till every particle of molasses taste is burnt out of it; then set it off the fire and let it cool a few seconds until the fiery heat is gone; then stir your ground coffee into it well, and pour out into greased plates to cool. To make coffee, a piece of this substance about the size of a thimble will make a strong cup of coffee by pouring hot water on it and letting it stand for a few minutes; or, take a piece of it about the size of your thumb and make in the usual way, and it will do a small family one time.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, November 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 1-2
Vernonsville, November 14.
[…] Rye cannot be obtained either for sowing or as a substitute for coffee. […] W.

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, November 19, 1862, p. 1, c. 2
A friend informs the Little Rock True Democrat that white oak mast is the best substitute for coffee yet found. The acorns should be hulled, cut into the size of grains of coffee and then parched.

NASHVILLE DISPATCH, November 26, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
A gentleman who left Montgomery, Ala., three weeks ago, arrived in this city yesterday. He reports that there were only a few sick soldiers in Montgomery when he left. There is a great scarcity of provisions and luxuries, and prices are exorbitantly high. For instance, tea was retailing at $15 per pound, bacon at 75 cents, sugar 50 cents, and there was no coffee to be purchased at any price. Flour was selling at $40 per barrel, and boots at $15 to $40 per pair. He left Chattanooga two weeks ago, and says that Kirby Smith's forces had all crossed the river and were marching in this direction

NASHVILLE DISPATCH, November 27, 1862, p. 2, c. 2
Burglaries continue the fashion of the night, and in the language of one of our German friends, all may exclaim—"Suppose you be worth fifty thousand dollars to-night, to-morrow you be worth nothing, perhaps." Mr. Simmons, the baker, on church street, was robbed of about $300 worth of tea, coffee, tobacco, segars, etc., on Monday night, and a house on Cedar street was broken open and robbed the same night. On Tuesday we heard of two burglaries, and much loss of property.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, November 27, 1862, p. 1, c. 3

[For the Savannah Republican.]
Practical Hints for Hard Times.
"What man has done, man may do."
NO. IV.—FOOD.

[...] 11. GRINDING.—No doubt many a poor family has been straitened for want of access to the mill. Let such remember (if the information can reach them) that in the old Revolutionary War many a peck of wheat and other grain was ground in coffee mills and sifted in a sieve. [...]
13. SUBSTITUTES FOR COFFEE.—Except in its stimulating qualities, and its peculiar and delicate aroma, coffee can be so perfectly counterfeited as to defy detection, by mixing together [illegible] the following substitutes in such [illegible] that the coffee taste of all of them shall predominate, and the peculiar flavor of no one of them shall be perceived: viz: Rye, wheat, barley (scalded and then parched,) okra seed, rice (parched black, but not ground,) sweet potatoes (cut into ribbons, or into dice, dried in the sun and then parched,) corn grits (parched to a dark brown,) sweet acorns, chiccory (parched brown, then broken and ground.) These should be parched separately, and then combined in about equal proportions, or in such proportion as experiment shall decide to be necessary. If possible, a little coffee should be combined, simply for truth's sake. The best critic can scarcely distinguish between the spurious compound and the real coffee.
14. [Illegible] THE SWEET POTATO.—All persons who have enjoyed the sugary sweetness of the sweet potato, [illegible] so as to bring out its candy. But has any one ever tried to extract that sweetness in the form of syrup? Who will make the experiment and let us have the result? Marooner, Sr.

DALLAS HERALD, November 29, 1862, p. 1, c. 5
[…] Coffee, sugar and tobacco are on the rise here, as they are everywhere else. […] Sugar at 14c. per lb.; coffee, 20c. per lb.; tobacco, $1 per lb. […]

NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, December 11, 1862, p. 3, c. 1
Sweet Potato Coffee.—The present prodigious price of good coffee has suggested to lovers of the beverage an economical arrangement by which their taste may be indulged, and yet their purses not too heavily taxed. A sample of sweet potato coffee was shown us yesterday. Sweet potatoes, cut into pieces the size of coffee grains, roasted in a slow oven for the same length of time that coffee is, and then mixed with an equal amount of coffee, will, it is asserted, produce a beverage fully as palatable as the genuine and original article.

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, December 22, 1862, p. 1, c. 1
How to Make a Good Article of Coffee.—Take coffee grains and popcorn, of each an equal quantity. Roast the same together. The corn will hop out, and what remains will be unadulterated coffee.

SEMI-WEEKLY NEWS [San Antonio, TX], December 29, 1862, p. 2, c. 1
On the night of Christmas Eve, a portion of Maj. Taylor's Battalion, estimated at about thirty-five, came into the city about 8 o'clock, and after throwing a quantity of meat into the streets, broke up the tables and coffee stands in the market, and piling the fragments together, attempted to burn the market house, by setting fire to them. They were disturbed in this by some unknown person firing upon them.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, January 1, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
Coffee. 1 sack of coffee, for sale by the pound, at $4 per pound. Hewit & Coulson. Jan1.

THE RANCHERO [Corpus Christi, TX], January 1, 1863, p. 1, c. 5

Communicated.

Corpus Christi, }
December 23, 1862.}
Ed. Ranchero:--It is with reluctance that I answer your request, as to the condition and wants of this Hospital.
The Post Hospital has received from Head Quarters ten bed sacks, ten pillow sacks, to be filled with straw; one dozen towels, and one coffee mill. [...]

NASHVILLE DISPATCH, January 3, 1863, p. 2, c. 4

Business Prices.
From the Joliet (Ill.) Signal.

Whether it is owing to Secretary Chase's financial system, or to a combination of bankers and capitalists who have seized upon the occasion to swell their wealth, it is certain that the farmers and laboring classes are suffering the evils of a most fearful financial crisis. The Western States, and Illinois in particular, are groaning under the oppressive burden, and appealing to the Government and to the Eastern moneychangers for relief.
The great disparity in the price of all articles produced by the farmer, excepting butter and potatoes, and articles of necessity, such as salt, sugar, tea, coffee, cotton goods, and in fact everything sold in grocery and dry goods stores, bears with crushing weight upon the country.
To show more clearly this inequality in prices, we call attention to the following table, which has been suggested to us by the proceedings of a meeting at Dixon, indicating the number of bushels of corn a farmer is required to give in exchange for articles mentioned:
Bushels of Corn. Equivalents.
7 One pound of tea.
2 One pound of coffee.
24 One pair of boots.
85 A good coat.
8 A cotton shirt.
12 A calico dress.
85 A silk dress.
20 A good hat
30 A good bonnet.
The same proportion is required for articles throughout the catalogue of necessities, for which the farmers must exchange their products, or do without them entirely. And it is not alone in the price of corn that this inequality exists, but in every product of the farm but the two exceptions mentioned above.

[LITTLE ROCK] WEEKLY ARKANSAS GAZETTE, January 3, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
On Monday last J. D. Fitzgerald, Esq., sold a pocket of Mocha Coffee, and several sacks of Liverpool Salt. The coffee was bit off at $6.80 per pound—the salt at $80 per bushel. Gentlemen throughout the State, who have a surplus of these articles would do well to make a note of this.

NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, January [before 7th, top torn off], 1863, p. 2, c. 5
In these days of cheap coffee, or rather cheap substitutes for it, our farmers may well turn their attention to the raising of some things which may be a new source of profit. For Chicory, the land should be thoroughly and deeply plowed and well manured. Sow the seeds in drills a foot apart; a pound will sow a quarter of an acre. It is also good as a fodder crop sown broadcast at the rate of twelve pounds to the acre. It can be cut three or four times during the season. Stock are said to be fond of it and thrive well upon it.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], January 24, 1863, p. 3, c. 6

Chiccory, [sic]
The Only Substitute
for
Coffee.
On Consignment and for Sale

By Anderson, Adair & Co.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, February 4, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
One of our exchanges publishes a new recipe for making coffee, which we recommend to the steward at our boarding house. Take coffee grains and pop corn of each an equal quantity. Roast the same together. The corn will pop out, and what remains will be unadulterated coffee.

SOUTHERN WATCHMAN [ATHENS, GA], February 4, 1863, p. 3, c. 5

Pottery.

The subscribers are now manufacturing at their establishment in Jackson county, Ga., all kinds of Stone Ware, which may be had at reasonable prices, either wholesale or retail.
In addition to Jars, Jugs, and such other ware as we have formerly kept, we are now trying to supply the demand for other useful household articles. We are making Bowls and Pitchers, Dinner and Soup Plates, Cups and Saucers, Mugs, Coffee and Tea Pots, Bake Pans, Chambers, and various other needful articles.
Jan 28. Ferguson & Dial.

OUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], February 8, 1863, p. 3, c. 4-5
Richmond, Feb. 7— . . .
Cotton goods of every description are swept clean from the market. It is hoped that the Legislature, at its next session, will, in their wisdom, devise some plan to replenish the stock, for they are much needed.
Tobacco is in great demand at improved prices, and sugar in sacks and barrels ready sale. We notice a considerable quantity of old bacon put upon the market.
. . . Wood is ten dollars a load—equal to from thirty to forty dollars a cord. This is far more costly, in proportion, than sugar at 60 cents, coffee at $3 per pound, or yarns at $7 a bunch. When warm weather comes again, wood can be had for $3 or $4 a load. Demand and supply regulate prices.
. . .Irish potatoes and fresh garden seeds are in great demand. Let us all go to church this morning.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, February 11, 1863, p. 1, c. 7
Hot Coffee.—The price of a cup of genuine Rio coffee, at the fashionable restaurants, in this city, is only one dollar. A pound of coffee costs four dollars, and will yield about thirty cups full. Allow ten cents worth of sugar and milk for each cup, and the aggregate cost is about 25 cents.—Profit: 75 cents!—[Rich. Whig.

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 11, 1863, p. 3, c. 4

Okra—A Substitute for Coffee.

Mr. Archer Griffeth, of Ala., gives us the following directions for preparing okra seed as a substitute for coffee. He expresses himself as highly pleased with the beverage:
Parch over a good fire and stir well until it is dark brown; then take off the fire and before the seed get cool put the white of one egg to two tea-cups full of okra, and mix well. Put the same quantity of seed in the coffee pot as you would coffee, boil well and settle as coffee.
Directions for Planting and Cultivating.—Prepare a rich spot as for cotton, by bedding 3 1/2 feet. About the 10th of April open the ridges and sow the seed, and when up, chop out to 12 inches in the drill and cultivate the same as cotton. It will grow 6 to 8 feet high and will yield abundantly—one acre of good land producing ten bushels of seed. The seed will be dry in July.
Since writing the above, we have tried some of the okra coffee prepared by the above directions, and find it better than pure Rio and almost equal to old Java.—Try it.

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 11, 1863, p. 3, c. 6
Shoe Thread—Made in the Confederacy, for sale by I. M. Kenney.
Feb. 11.

Okra for Coffee.
A Small lot of Okra Seed—the best substitute for coffee—for sale at James I. Colt's.
Feb. 11.

[MARSHALL] TEXAS REPUBLICAN, February 12, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
A new substitute for coffee, viz.: take equal portions of popcorn and coffee, and parch it together till all the popcorn pops

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 18, 1863, p. 3, c. 2

Iron, Plow Steel,
Coffee, Tea, &c.

In store and to Arrive,
10,000 lbs Swedes Iron and Plow Steel;
300 lbs Blister Steel;
25 Tierces Rice, (new crop)
70 Boxes Tobacco;
7 Hhds Sugar;
2 Sacks Rio Coffee;
1 Chest Black Tea, for sale by
J. I. Colt.
Feb. 18.

SAN ANTONIO HERALD, February 21, 1863, p. 2, c. 3

The San Antonio Mutual Aid Association.

This charitable institution is now in operation, and has over ten thousand persons on its list as beneficiaries and stockholders. The families of soldiers and the indigent poor of this city and surrounding country are alone permitted to trade at the store. This Association opened its first stock of goods on the 5th of Jan. [...]

As a refutation of the argument used by our merchants, that goods cannot be sold here for less than they are selling for, we append the prices at the "Aid Store" and at other stores. At the Aid Store, coffee 133 1/2c; sugar, 33 1/2c; shoes $2 75 to $4 per pair; calico, 60c to 125c; heavy unbleached domestic, 80 to 90c; bleached do 60 to 70c per yard; good cottonades, $1 50 to $2, and all other articles at like prices. At other stores, coffee $2 and sugar 75c; shoes $5 to $8; calico, $2 75 to $2; cottonades, $3 50 to $4 50, and other things in proportion. It should be remembered, too, that the Association has not been able as yet to get any cotton to Mexico to pay for goods, but had to buy them from Mexican traders here, at the loss of at least 75 per cent. Gen. Magruder has beneficently extended to them all facilities for getting their cotton out of the country and goods into this market in return. When this is accomplished, our people will learn how much they have paid to extortioners, who are growing rich, even to millionaires, from the calamities which now hang over our country. [...]

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], February 24, 1863, p. 2, c. 5

Goods by Recent Arrivals per Steamers from Europe
by John G. Milnor & Co.,
Charleston, S. C.

On Thursday, the 26th instant, at 1 o'clock, we will sell at our Store, a large and desirable assortment of Goods, just received, consisting in part:

Sundries.

50 ounces Sulph. Morphine
25 pounds Blue Mass
20 kegs Bi Carb Soda
108 dozen Tooth Brushes
200 dozen Dressing Combs
47 dozen Toilet Soap
50 boxes Prime Yellow Soap
20 boxes Gold Leaf Tobacco
5 bags Rio Coffee
20 M Florida Cigars
12 M Blue and Buff Envelopes
4 bales Buff Paper
322 Black and Drab Wool Hats
1,100 pair Men's, women's and Children's Shoes and Gaiters
2,000 pounds Sole Leather
20,000 pounds Hoop Iron, Assorted size;

Dry Goods.

17 cases 4-4 Spring Prints
144 pieces Fine Cambric Longcloth
180 pieces 32 and 36 inch Bleached
100 pieces 5-4 Sheeting
10 pieces Shepherd Plaid Cassimere
4 pieces Grey Plains
10 pieces White Flannel
190 dozen Turkey Red Pocket Handkerchiefs
255 dozen madder Pocket Handkerchiefs
20 dozen Gauze [?] Merino Shirts
60 dozen White Merino Shirts
50 dozen China Gauze Shirts
200 English Tweed Coats and Sacks
100 pair English Tweed Pants
210 Assorted Black Alpaca and Linen Coats
50 pair Linen and alpaca Pants
120 Linen, Satin and Marseilles Vests
116 dozen Ladies' White Merino Finish Hose
155 dozen Misses' White Merino Finish Hose
200 dozen Children's Merino Finish Socks
112 dozen Boys' super White English cotton Half Hose from 4 1/4 to 8 inches
254 [354?] dozen Men's Super Brown English cotton Half Hose, from 6 1/2 to 11 inches
110 dozen Ladies' White English Cotton Hose
500 pounds Black Flax Thread
800 pounds Shoe Thread
2,000 dozen Clarke's 200 yard White Spool Cotton
2,000 dozen Clarke's 200 yard Black Spool Cotton
1,000 dozen Clarke's 200 yard Colored Spool Cotton
1,000 dozen Clarke's 100 yard Colored Spool Cotton
90 packs English Pins

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, February 25, 1863, p. 2, c. 2
The New York papers publish reports of an investigation held in the case of a family in Brooklyn who were supposed to have been poisoned by the use of rye coffee. The entire family were suffering; one of them described as being very sick, face bloated and disfigured like the dropsy, eyelids distended, eyeballs bloodshot and dilated, headache and great dizziness. A lot of the rye coffee they had been using was taken and a strong dose tried upon a dog, which made him exhibit great restlessness and weakness, and increased his pulse from 100 to 172. The Health Officer reported that the coffee contained noxious ingredients of a poisonous character, and ordered the destruction of the whole stock at the place where it was obtained. He adds that nobody should be surprised at these effects of rye coffee, "for with the rye itself, raw ergot and other poisonous plants, and unless their seed be carefully separated from the rye, poisoning is inevitable."

DAILY SOUTHERN CRISIS [JACKSON, MS], February 27, 1863, p. 2, c. 4
Hot coffee in Richmond is selling at the fashionable restaurants where the genuine is served out, for one dollar per cup. The Whig estimates the cost of the coffee and sweetning [sic] at 25 cents, showing a clear profit of 75 cents on such a trifle as a cup of coffee.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], February 28, 1863, p. 2, c. 2

From our Old Correspondent T. D. W.

Camp 3d Ga. Bat. Near Shelbyville, }
February 22d, 1863. }
Dear Confederacy:
[…] At any rate, if you would see the soldier die of a sudden attack of appoplexy [sic], brought on it is said by over excitement, or other causes, just for sake of experiment, if he be a single man, place a rosy cheeked lass at the head where his piping hot coffee is laboring to relieve itself by emitting the rich perfume through the spout, and anon let her remark, "Sir, will you have cream and sugar?" Then again, just opposite sits the sister now and then casting roguish glances of pride and joy at the returned veteran, whilst her patriotic little heart, full of the love due her sunny clime goes pit a pat, and she is eager to give vent to her sentiments of "I so love a soldier." I will not wager much on the issue of this trial of a soldiers' courage, but my word for it, all the Surgeons in the army would fail to stop the rush of blood to the head, and we would find the verdict of an impartial coroner's jury to be "died from being brought in contact with the contents of a coffee pot and electrical sparks emitted from the eyes of a lass that "did so love the soldier." I will not follow this fond anticipation further, but call your attention to other subjects.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, March 3, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
[...] Coffee. I have some of the best quality of coffee, for sale at $4 00 per lb., on St. Catherine street, between N. O'connely's and the State Hospital, left-hand side. Isaac Levi. mar3.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, March 15, 1863, p. 3, c. 7
Coffee at $3.25. 20 sacks choice Rio Coffee. For sale at $3.25 per lb. by the sack.—Campbell & Sykes.

NASHVILLE DISPATCH, March 15, 1863, p. 1, c. 3

The Markets.
From the Atlanta (Ga.) Confederacy.

[...] A Fredericksburg correspondent of the Richmond Enquirer gives the following prices there: Coffee, $5 per pound; sugar $1.50 per pound; candles, $1.50; beef, 75 cents per pound; peas, $16 per bushel; butter, $3 per pound.

SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY [ATLANTA, GA], April 10, 1863, p. 1, c.3-4

Correspondence of the Richmond Sentinel.
A Few Days in Georgia—Spent in Atlanta and Columbus.

Columbus, Ga., March 21.
Messrs. Editors:
[…] . . . Here [Columbus, GA] chickory [sic] is used as a substitute for coffee. Rice is mixed up with flour and corn meal. It is put into biscuits, batter cakes, hominy, &c. Sweet potatoes are in great abundance, therefore they are eaten at all meals. . . . And the signs over the grog shops of this city are in good taste, viz: The Smile, The Pleasant House, &c. . . . Viator.

PEORIA (IL) MORNING MAIL, April 16, 1863, p. 3, c. 2-3

Life in the Rebel Capital.
Letter from the Hon. Mrs. F.

[...] "We are boarding at Mrs. Johnson's, on Governor street, just opposite Governor Letcher's mansion. It is a large boarding house, high prices and starvation within. Such living never was known before on earth. Tell grandma the poorest hut in the western district of Tennessee is a palace compared with this, so far as fare goes. We have to cook almost everything we eat in our own room. In our 'larder,' the stock on hand is a boiled bacon ham, which we gave only eleven dollars for; three pounds of pure Rio coffee we gave four dollars per pound for, and one pound of green tea at seventeen dollars per pound; two pounds of brown sugar at two dollars and seventy-five cents per pound; one bushel of fine apples, about the size of a good common marble, which were presented to me by a member of Congress from Missouri; one pound of butter, about six months old, at two dollars per pound, and six sweet potatoes at fifty cents. We have to give a dollar for a very small slice of pound cake, at the confectioneries. I forgot to say I had a present of a fine jar of pickles and a piece of cheese from a member also. Well, so much for the way we live. You see the board is three dollars, each, per day, for F. and I, and half price for the servant, and then we get nothing on earth to eat. Yesterday, for dinner, we had nothing on the table but two eggs and a slice of cold baker's bread, and a glass of water. Well, linen such as we gave one dollar for at home, when I left, sells here at six dollars, and the commonest domestic two dollars, calico two or three collars per yard of the most indifferent kind. You may well believe I got but little. [...]"

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, April 22, 1863, p. 3, c. 2
Provisions are very high in Nashville. Eggs are retailed at 40 cents per dozen, sugar at 35 cents per pound, coffee at 50 cents per pound.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, May 22, 1863, p. 2, c. 2
Cargo Sale.—Messrs. LaRoche & Bell, Wednesday last, sold the cargo of the steamer President and others from Nassau. The following prices were realized: Turk's Island Salt, 53 to 85 cents per pound; Coffee, $3 to $3.60 per pound; Copperas, 75 cents to $1 per pound; Morphine, $23 per oz., Quinine, $23.50 to $25 per oz; Saltpetre, $2.15 per lb; Carb. Soda, $2.55 per pound; Cream Tartar, $1 per pound; Epson Salts, $1.25 per pound; Nails, $90 per keg; Matches, $12 per gross; Blankets, $19 per pair; Cotton Cards, $26 to $30 per pair; Prints, wide and narrow, $1.75 to $2.50 per yard; Ladies' Gaiters, $19.50 per pair; Misses; Gaiters, $14 per pair; Men's English Sewed Shoes, $14.50 per pair; Letter Paper, $45 to $50 per ream; Green Tea, $7 per pound; Ladies' Hose, $25 to $45 per dozen.

NATCHEZ DAILY COURIER, May 13, 1863, p. 1, c. 4
Coffee. This article, like bacon and some others, considered of "prime necessity," is gradually coming down from the elevated standard to which it had been advanced by the wants of the people. On Wednesday the best Java sold at public auction at $1 50 per pound, and yesterday the same article commanded only $1. Last week some heavy transactions took place in coffee, operators, relying on an anticipated rise, paying as much as $1 per pound. In this way, some $10,000 was disbursed by one party. Of course sales at present rates would net a heavy loss, and there does not seem to be much of a prospect of an enhancement in the future. Richmond Dispatch

GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS, May 17, 1863, p. 1, c. 5
The San Antonio Herald says coffee is selling there at from $7 to $9 per pound—and that, says the Herald, is the way speculators do things there. [...]

STANDARD [CLARKSVILLE, TX], May 30, 1863, p. 2, c. 1-2
Camp Butler, Creek Nation, }
May 12th, 1863. }
Dear Standard:
[…] Gen. D. H. Cooper is in command here.—The Feds have four stores near Gibson; sell Coffee at 25 cents per pound, and Calico at 25 cents per yard. Many of the Indians from this side have been over to trade with them.—They are said to be interesting. Our pickets are within two miles of Gibson. Yours,
A Soldier of the 29th.

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, June 6, 1863, p. 1, c. 1
Coffee is now worth one dollar and fifty cents per pound in Confederate money.

SAVANNAH [GA] REPUBLICAN, June 30, 1863, p. 2, c. 3
Williamsport, MD, June 17.

[...] Little, however, did we care for those things, and yesterday Gen. Rodes opened all the stores, and made the proprietors sell to soldiers for Confederate money. Of course articles of every description were immediately advanced—coffee, for instance, 50 cents per pound and every other article in like proportion; but no great extortion was allowed. [...]

GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS, July 1, 1863, p. 1, c. 4

News from Brownsville.
A Brisk Trade with the Yankees, &c.

[...] Brownsville Market—Cotton is now selling for 20 cents cash or 25 for good paper. The Flag says people from the interior are dissatisfied with these low figures, but that the figures must come down still lower, and that the present high freights must also come down. There has been a slight advance in some goods. Coffee is quoted at 25@30c; sugar 12 to 18; bacon 14 to 25; corn $1 per bushel; brogan shoes $16 to $18 per doz.; calicoes, Am. 18c, English, 22c.
A good iron axled wagon, with five yoke of oxen attached, sold at auction on Tuesday last for $1025 in Confederate money—Flag.
The same wagon and oxen would probably have sold in this place for twice the money. Is it because Confederate money is more depreciated here than there?

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], July 13, 1863, p. 3, c. 5
Knitting Cotton and Wrapping twine. July 15 I. M. Kenney.
Powder, Lead Shot and Caps. July 15 I. M. Kenney
Rio Coffee and Brown Sugar. July 15 I. M. Kenney.
New Goods. Soda, Bluestone; Bengal Indigo' Black Pepper; Coperas [sic]; Arrow Root; Maccaboy Snuff; Prices Glycerine [sic]; English Mustard; English Table Salt; Lead Pencils; Toilet Powders; Lily White; Dressing Combs; Toilet Soap; Brown Windsor Soap, &c.
For sale at R. M. Smith's.
July 15.

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], July 29, 1863, p. 4, c. 3
Rio coffee and brown sugar.
July 15 I. M. Kenney.

DAILY INTELLIGENCER, [ATLANTA, GA], August 28, 1863, p. 3, c. 5

Auction Sales.
A splendid Assortment
by a
Late Arrival.

Will be sold AT AUCTION, at Galserville [?], on Wednesday, September [illegible], 1863, the following list of articles just received by Spanish Star Isabel 2nd:
8 doz. undershirts
108 [?] yards black alpacas
920 yards 7/8 printed linen
[illeg.] doz ladies and misses hose
24 " gents half hose
8 packages China hdkfs (10 to pg)
50 doz cotton do
100 do do (small)
12 do linen do
1200 yards brown linen
1 case English calicoes
30 packages ass't do
900 pounds shoe thread
650 yards 7/8 linen shirting
1000 pounds Spanish castile soap
12 doz hair brushes
8 do pocket knives
55 M needles
14 doz Buffalo combs
8 do fine do
120 packages pins
2 gross thimbles
14 kegs cut nails, assorted
10 doz L C [?] hdkfs
10 pieces Bishop's lawn
458 yards colored cambric
1930 do black lace
10 pieces Victoria lawn
200 do bleached long cloth
8 diz ladies and misses gaiters
8 doz hats
6 sacks coffee
16 pieces fine brown linen
19 do mourning muslin
25 cases rifle powder
[?] pounds black flax thread
10 gross shirt buttons
1 do pocket looking glasses
2 do pantaloon buttons
6 do matches
8 doz scissors
2 do calogn [cologne] water
4 do hair oil
2 do pocket fire strikers
12 do rose soap
12 do almond soap
12 kitts salmond [sic]
14 baskets champaigne [sic]
12 cases claret
8 demijohns do
500 doz spool cotton, 800 yards
900 pounds bi carbonate soda
52 doz men's shoes
4 boxes salad oil
8 gross tooth brushes
50 do silk cotton buttons
12 do steel pens
1 do penholders
1 sack black pepper
4 doz horse brushes
1 gross horse combs, and
A few cases of fine brandy.
The above will be a bona fide sale.
Y. A. Mason, Auct'r.

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, September 23, 1863, p. 2, c. 1

Okra Coffee.

To those who, like ourselves, are too poor to drink coffee at seven or ten dollars per pound, we can recommend a substitute which is as good to our taste as the original. We received from Col. James B. Merriwether, of this county, a specimen of okra seed, ground and parched, which had so much of the appearance and odor of the genuine coffee that, notwithstanding our prejudice against substitutes, we had prepared in the usual way, and found it as good as the best. We do not believe anybody could discover the difference. There is no reason why okra coffee should not be a most wholesome drink, as it certainly is a most pleasant one to our palate. It was certainly used in this country as early as 1821, and it may even at an earlier period.
Parch the seed slowly and carefully, so as not to burn them; then prepare the decoction properly, and, our word for it, you have as good a cup of coffee as anybody but a Confederate quartermaster, a successful blockade runner, or a sugar speculator can afford to drink.

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], October 28, 1863, p. 2, c. 5

Receipt for Persimmon Brandy.

Editors Charleston Courier:—Put the persimmons in common tubs, mash them well with your hands or small pestles, then empty into the stand till you have it half full, then add enough of warm water to fill it, then stir or churn it well. Fermentation will begin at once in temperate weather, and they should be distilled in five or six days. They will make about a half gallon to the bushel. I have made three runs—distilling in seven to ten days, after putting up, and they done well. Many others waited two or three weeks, and made nothing but sour, disagreeable water. I am thus convinced that they should be distilled even sooner than I did. The distillation is the same as for other brandies or whiskey.—But another important item is, to save the seeds of the persimmons after they have boiled, and you let out the slop, for they are excellent for coffee, rather stronger or rougher than the genuine Rio; hence, I mix two parts of dried sweet potatoes to one of persimmon seed. Dr. Buck says this coffee is equal to Java coffee! By the boiling the seeds are rid of all mucilaginous substances, and just right for coffee or buttons. If you use them for buttons, the washer woman will hardly break them with her battling stick. For coffee they should be parched twice as long as any other substitute, so as to make them tender to the centre.
Alabama.

AMERICAN CITIZEN [CANTON, MS], November 6, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
Negro Parties.—We have been requested by several of our citizens to call public attention to this evil, and to protest against the license which the owners of negroes grant them to give and to participate in these parties, or negro balls. These assemblages were of very questionable propriety in times of profound peace and quiet, but in times like the present—in the condition of things that now surround us—we think they are absolutely wrong, and cannot be defended upon any pretext or principle whatever Our slave population, it is well known, are already demoralized to some extent—negroes continually exhibit signs of restiveness under the partial restraints to which they are subjected—and the privilege granted them of giving and attending balls, of being allowed to "make a night of it,"—of "tripping the light fantastic toe," tends unquestionably to their further demoralization.
At these negro parties, the supper tables groan under the burden of "good things." Pig and poultry, "ham and lamb and jam," preserves and pickles, cake and custard and chicken salad, and Charlotte Russe and Irish moss and Rio coffee abound. Where do all these rich viands and delicacies come from? We hear great complaints of the numbers of pigs and fowls that our neighbors miss—indeed we have suffered greatly in this respect ourselves—and the soldiers stationed here are charged with appropriating these things. Our own opinion is that the negroes about town steal every thing they can lay their hands on to make up their fine suppers.
We believe the practice of allowing negroes to give these "entertainments" should be reformed altogether, and hope it may be done.

AMERICAN CITIZEN [CANTON, MS], November 6, 1863, p. 1, c. 2

To the Public.

There are few persons aware of the destitute conditions of our hospital; we therefore lay before them a few facts assured that we shall, as on a former occasion, receive prompt assistance as soon as it is known that we need it.
There are about sixty patients requiring good nourishing food, for whom nothing has been provided but beef and bread. There is neither lard or milk, so that any cook can form an idea of the black, heavy biscuit sent to the table, when he is still further informed that said bread is baked in a stove without pipe or damper.
Presents, however small, of chickens, milk, eggs, wine, coffee, fruit, &c., will be gratefully received.

AILY INTELLIGENCER, [ATLANTA, GA], November 8, 1863, p. 4, c. 2

Recipe for Persimmon Brandy.

Editors Charleston Courier:
Put the persimmons in common tubs, mash them well with your hands, or small pestles, then empty into the stand till you have it half full, then add enough of warm water to fill it, then stir or churn it well.—Fermentation will begin at once in temperate weather, and they should be distilled in five or six days. They will make about half a gallon to the bushel. I have made three runs—distilling in seven to ten days after putting up, and they did well. Many others waited two or three weeks, and made nothing but sour, disagreeable water. I am thus convinced that they should be distilled even sooner than I did. The distillation is the same as for other brandies or whiskey. But another important item is, to save the seeds of the persimmons after they have boiled, and you let out the slop, for they are excellent for coffee, rather stronger or rougher than the genuine Rio; hence I mix two parts of dried sweet potatoes to one of persimmon seed. Dr. Buck says this coffee is equal to Java coffee. By the boiling the seeds are rid of all mucilaginous substances, and are just right for coffee or button. If you use them for buttons the washer woman will hardly break them with her battling stick. For coffee they should be parched twice as long as any other substitute; so as to make them tender to the center.
Alabama.

GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS, November 11, 1863, p. 1, c. 2
Our readers in the country may take some interest in the present prices in this market. Flour is $75 to $80 per 100 lbs.—bacon $1.50 to $2 per lb.; lard, $3 to $3.50; butter, $5 to $6 per lb; corn, $5 to $5.50 per bushel; potatoes, (sweet) $7 to $10 per bushel; corn fodder, $30 per 100 bundles, or something over 100 pounds; wood, $35 per cord, and not very good at that; coffee $7 per pound; chickens, small, $2 each; eggs, $2 to $.25 per dozen; turkeys, $7 to $8 or $10 peach; turnips, $1 for half a dozen, or a mess for a family. Board at our hotels has not advanced to $10 per day, and at private houses to $7 per day. The barber charges one dollar for a shave. A cigar fit to smoke cannot be had for less than $1, and a drink of bad liquor cannot be had for less. In fact we can hardly name anything that can be had for less than a dollar, except it be a newspaper which is sold at but a moderate advance on former prices; but necessity must soon compel publishers to advance beyond their present rates.

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], November 18, 1863, p. 2, c. 2-3

The Gold Mines of Idaho—Interesting Letter.

By the kindness of a gentleman in this city, we are permitted to publish portions of a private letter just received from a friend living at Bannock City, in the celebrated mining regions of Idaho. The letter is dated Oct. 4th, 1863.
In describing the city, he says:
"As near as I can describe it to you, the buildings are made of logs, with pole roofs, covered with dirt and sod. They are of all heights, not to exceed twenty feet, but as low as you could imagine a man would build a hut to live in. The city is situated on a stream called Grasshopper, which passes through a narrow canon between two, yes, a dozen—mountains, so high that you would have to look twice before you could see the top of them. We never can see the sun rise in this valley, nor see it until a long way up. It is one of the most desolate, lonely places you can imagine on the globe, and is scattered along this canon for five miles. I found about four or five hundred inhabitants, most of them engaged in mining, and they were all doing well. I arrived here at 11 o'clock in the day, found an empty log building, rented it and put in my goods, and in fourteen days we sold fourteen thousand dollars worth of my little outfit, at good prices, which I will give you here, and for gold, the nicest you ever saw: Hams, 65 cts. per pound; bacon, 30 cts.; tea, $3; tobacco, $3; coffee, 90 cts.; sugar, 60 cts.; dried cherries, $1; butter, $1; cheese, 75 cts.; cream tartar, $2; soda, $1. Clothing sells well; hats and caps are good property. Blankets sell at from $10 to $30 a pair. The prices I give you above is by the pound. Flour is selling for $20 to $30 per 100 lbs. Potatoes, onions and beets, which are brought here for sale from Bitter Root Valley and Salt Lake, sell for 25 cts. per pound. In fact most everything sells here for good prices. I pay seventy dollars a month for a log house that I have my goods in. My family is in the same building. There is no partitions. People here live as they can, not as they would like to. [...]

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, November 18, 1863, p. 3, c. 1
Persimmon Coffee.—The Petersburg Express states that the seeds of the persimmon when roasted and ground produces a beverage, which cannot, even by old and experienced coffee drinkers, be distinguished from genuine coffee. We wish some of our lady readers would try the experiment and inform us as to the result.

[NEW ORLEANS] DAILY PICAYUNE, January 8, 1864, p. 3, c. 5

[Description of cigars and cigarettes for sale.] Cigars, suitable for New Year's Presents. For sale at the Jewel Coffeehouse, 105 Gravier street, and at the Cigar Store "La Intimidad," 124, corner of Gravier and Carondelet streets. Joseph Santini, Importer.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 9, 1864, p. 1, c. 3
Richmond, Monday, January 4
. . . Reports of a want of food in Lee's army circulated yesterday. Some officers say there is an insufficiency of food, and of shoes and blankets. Others say there is a plenty, at least to eat. Many officers are here in town and they look blooming. Really some of them are splendid looking young fellows—healthy, handsomely dressed and game looking. The privates may not fare so well, but I hear of no complaints. They make excellent coffee out of toasted "hard tack," use fodder blades for yeast, and by hook or by crook get along finely. Talking about substitutes for coffee, let me advise you to try persimmon seed parched and ground. It is the exact thing, so far as taste is concerned. Hermes.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 20, 1864, p. 1, c. 4
Coffee and Its Substitutes.—The use of coffee as a beverage seems to have originated among the Turks in Arabia, from whence it was carried to Europe in 1669. It has gradually become a national beverage to Europeans and Americans, as well as the Moslems, and it has been called one of the chief necessaries of life among the people. The coffee bean is the seed of the Coffee Arabica, a shrub which grows to about the height of 30 feet, but it is usually cut down to about six feet, to increase the yield of the bean. Its cultivation was confined until within the past century to Egypt and Arabia, but it is now cultivated in the West Indies and East India Islands; also in Brazil upon a most extensive scale. A single tree sometimes yields about 20 pounds of beans, and about 1100 pounds are obtained as the crop of an acre of land. There are a number of varieties of coffee, but Mocha or Arabian is still the most famous. Its beans are small and of a dark yellow color; Java is a larger bean, and the color is a paler yellow; West India and Brazilian coffee is of a bluish grey color.
Physiologists have endeavored to account for the extended use of coffee by ascribing to it a peculiar quality for preventing the waste of animal tissue in the living being. This principle is called caffeine, and is composed of carbon 8, nitrogen hydrogen 10, and oxygen 3 parts. Roasted coffee contains about 1240 parts of caffeine. In roasting coffee great care should be exercised not to overheat it, because the caffeine in it is so liable to volatilize. The best temperature to roast coffee is 362 degrees Fah., and the operation should be performed in a close revolving vessel. When the beans have assumed a bright brown color, they should be cooled, if possible, in the vessel in which they have been roasted, so as to retain all the aroma that has been developed by the roasting operation. Burnt coffee beans are just as suitable for making an infusion as charred wood. Upon no account, therefore, should coffee beans be so heated in roasting as to char them. Coffee should never be boiled, because the boiling action volatilizes the aromatic resin in it, and this constitutes nearly three per cen. of the beans. It should be ground as finely as possible, and scalded with water heated to the boiling point. It can be clarified with the white of eggs or isinglass. This information relates to pure coffee. In Germany and England the poorer classes, who cannot afford to buy coffee, use mixtures of it, and in many cases, other substances as entire substitutes. In Germany dried yellow turnips and chicory root mixed together are employed as a substitute; chicory is also very generally mixed with common coffee in England. Lately several mixtures and substitutes for coffee have become more common among our own laboring people on account of the great rise in the price of coffee. In some of our country villages German families roast acorns, and use these as substitutes for coffee. Roasted rye is an old and well-known substitute, and so is "Cobbett's coffee," which consists of roasted corn. Many persons roast white beans and peas, and mix them with coffee; others roast carrots and beets, and make a mixture of them with coffee. In some parts of France a mixture of equal parts of roasted chestnuts and coffee is used.
It makes a very superior beverage to chicory, turnips, and all the other articles mentioned. The substitutes for coffee are innumerable, and so far as taste is concerned, this is a mere matter of cultivation. If any of these substitutes for coffee contained caffeine or a similar principle, they would answer the same purpose, and their use should be inculcated; but in all the analysis that we have examined of chicory, turnips, carrots, beets, peas, beans, corn and rye, no such substance as caffeine is mentioned, therefore they are not true substitutes for it in a chemical and physiological sense. We have been unable to obtain a satisfactory analysis of chestnuts and acorns, but it is well known that these contain tannic acid, and it is certain the caffeic acid is very nearly allied to it: hence they may have a close resemblance to coffee, in taste, and perhaps in effect also.—Scientific American.

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, January 26, 1864, p. 1, c. 7
A Substitute for Coffee.—For the benefit of those who find this beverage necessary, we insert the following from the Macon Telegraph, and as coffee is somewhere between $10 and $15 per pound, we advise coffee drinkers to try it: "A friend who has tried persimmon seeds in coffee says he will defy any one to detect the difference in taste between a decoction of roasted persimmon seeds and the genuine Java—not Rio—which can be imitated successfully, as we are informed, with parched ground peas, and now and then a cockroach thrown in.

MONTGOMERY WEEKLY ADVERTISER, January 27, 1864, p. 3, c. 3
A friend, who has tried persimmon seeds in coffee, says he will defy any man to detect the difference in the taste between a decoction of roasted persimmon seeds and the genuine Java—not Rio—which can be imitated successfully, as we are informed, with parched ground peas and now and then a cockroach thrown in, says the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph.

NEW ORLEANS] DAILY PICAYUNE, March 6, 1864, p. 3, c. 3

West-Views of the South.

[Editorial Correspondence of the Daily Wisconsin.]
New Orleans, Jan. 31, 1864.

[...] After leaving the Cathedral I sauntered into the market, and the buyers and sellers were as busy as ever. The dry goods booths were in full blast. Every conceivable article can be purchased in this Sunday market. There are boot and shoe stands, and tinware booths. At the neat refreshment tables in different portions of the market you can obtain better coffee for 5 cents a cup than you will get at the other splendid city cafes at 15 and 20 cents a cup. The excellence of its coffee is a noted feature of the French Market. The orange stands present a very handsome show, as the oranges are piled up like rows of small cannon balls. Good sweet oranges sell for 30 cents a dozen. They are much cheaper in November; then you can purchase for a penny a piece. The first of January freeze spoiled thousands of oranges. There is no question that Louisiana is an orange country hardly inferior to Cuba. You can get as good a sweet orange here as in Havana. Many suppose that Cuba raises the only super-excellent orange; but this is a mistake. Here the orange tree is as common as the apple tree at the North. Many of these are sour oranges, but the better quality is gradually being introduced in all the gardens and plantations.

But the most curious feature in the markets is the mixed races which there assemble. All the colors in a painter's box are visible on the faces. You will see ebon black, dirty white, chocolate brown, yellow, pure white, greenish yellow and every color but blue. But these mixed races get along very well, and are very good natured towards each other. They have mutual interests, and they work cordially together in the great enterprise of supplying New Orleans with its daily pabulum. One can see in a moment that there is not half so much prejudice against color as at the North. You will witness at the cafes in the market a handsome looking Frenchman serving out coffee and cakes to some burly son of Africa. He will wait on him with real courtesy—because he knows the African will pay his charge as surely as his white customer. Most of the well-dressed ladies who come to the market are in mourning—I see the war everywhere. [...]

OUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 4, 1864, p. 3, c. 5
Java Coffee and Soda!! 100 Kegs Bi Carb. Soda for sale at $2 75 per lb. 80 Barrels and Tierces Superior Java Coffee, price thirteen dollars per pound. Orders command immediate attention. Charles Baker,
Grocery Merchant, Augusta, Ga. Feb. 4.

OUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], February 4, 1864, p. 3, c. 5

Socks for the Soldiers.

Wanted in any quantity. The highest market price or more will be paid. Be sure you come to me with them.
Feb. 3 I.M. Kenney.
Barley, Barley.—An excellent substitute for coffee, for sale by
Feb. 3 I.M. Kenney.
Red Pepper!—For the soldiers, by
Feb. 3 I.M. Kenney.

NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, February 13, 1864

Fresh Groceries
Just Received by
R. A. Barnes & Co.,
No. 47 and 49 South Market Street.

5 hhds. choice New Orleans Sugar 10 bbls. choice New Orleans Molasses, 10 bags Grain Pepper, 20 bags prime Rio Coffee, 1 chest superior Oolong Tea, 10 chests Green Teas, 50 boxes fine hard Candy, 20 boxes best English Dairy Cheese, 100 boxes assorted Can Fruits, 100 boxes assorted Preserves, 200 boxes assorted Pickles, 100 boxes Baltimore Cove Oysters, 100 boxes Sardines, 10 boxes prime Italian Macaroni 100 boxes Family Soap, 25 boxes fine Soda, 20 boxes fine and 20 boxes Ground Pepper, 5 bbls Filberts, 5 bbls Almonds, 5 bbls cream or Brazil Nuts, 100 kits Mackerel, No. 1 and 2, 50 half bbls Mackerel, No. 1 and 2 10 bbls Mackerel, 5 bbls Halibut, Flour
50 gross Mason's Blacking, 100 boxes Star Candles, 100 half boxes and quarters, 50 doz. Washboards, 50 doz Brooms, 10 boxes Jamaica 10 sacks Spice, Yeast
10 bbls Dried Apples 10 do Peaches 100 bbls Onions 5 bbls Onion Sets and Cloves, 5 boxes French Mustard, 400 boxes Better Envelopes
36 do purified 10 bbls Madder
Besides several other things. R. A. Barnes & Co.
Nashville, February 50 bbls beautiful white Neshannock
Potatoes
5 boxes Kentucky Mustard
20 do Lemon Syrup,
10 do Tomato Catsup
10 do Pepper Sauce
100 do Tobacco
500 kegs Nails
300,000 fine and common Segars
500 reams Wrapping Paper
100 do post and cap Paper
100 do note Paper
500 Stone Jugs
300 Demijohns
50 packages Virginia Smoking Tobacco
40 cases Matches
common Glass Tumblers, 5 bbls Alum
10 do Copperas
10 boxes Indigo
10 do Garret's Snuff
100 do Duryea's blue and pearl Starch
100 kegs Pigs Feet
500 bbls Salt
100 packages Northern Butter
500 bbls extra White Wheat Family
500 bbls extra Red Wheat Family Flour
100 drums Figs
10 boxes Fig Paste
100 do ½ and ¼ boxes Raisin
100 dozen painted Buckets
Brown and raw Ginger, 10 do covered wooden do
100 do Baking Powder and Quick
500 Sugar Cured Hams
50 mats Cinnamon and Nutmegs
10 bales Cotton Twine
10 doz Coffee Mills
500 bbls Ale and Lager Beer
Indigo for washing
Also, a large stock of fine old Liquors and Wines, to be sold as soon as the Military get in a drinking mood, and allow its sale.
13, 1864.—1m.

GALVESTON WEEKLY NEWS, February 17, 1864, p. 2, c. 1
Eagle Pass Prices.—Cotton 19 to 21; bleached domestic 25 to 30; brown domestic 30 to 33; cottonade 45 to 65; hickory stripes 35 to 40; denims 40 to 45; calico, American, 25; calico, Foreign 37; coffee 47 to 50; powder $1.12; nails, keg $16 to $20; shoes, brogans $24 per dozen

RICHMOND [VA] WHIG, February 24, 1864, p. 2, c. 3

The City.

Destructive Fire.—At one o'clock yesterday morning, the large building on the north side of Cary street, below 17th street, occupied by David Baker, Jr., as broom and coffee factories, was destroyed by fire. The building fronted on Cary street, and ran back to what is known as Baker's Alley. The front was used as a broom factory, and fitted up with proper machinery, whilst the rear was used as a manufactory of what is known as Confederate Coffee, a mixture of peas and corn parched and ground up together. The coffee factory was quite an extensive establishment, and was furnished with a great deal of very expensive machinery, which, at this time, cannot be replaced.
The whole establishment, front and rear, was destroyed, and as if to render the destruction certainly complete, the boiler of a large steam engine, used in the coffee factory, blew up whilst the fire was at its height, knocking a hole through one of the walls large enough for a wagon to drive through, and scattering the iron work of the engine far and wide. Half of the boiler, weighing at least a thousand pounds, was thrown into Baker's Alley some thirty feet; another piece of iron weighing over one hundred pounds was thrown into a vacant lot across the alley; and still another piece was driven through one of the two story wood houses, known as Hughes' Row, upwards of a hundred feet from where the engine originally lay, the iron tearing the weather boarding like a cannon ball.—Baker's alley was crowded with people at the time of the explosion, and though fragments of the engine and a cart load of brick bats were thrown into their midst only one person was injured. He was struck on the jaw by a flying brick and knocked down, but his injury was not serious.
The fire is believed to have originated accidentally either about the toasting apparatus in the coffee factory, or about the engine.
The building was owned by Franklin Stearns, and was partially insured in the Mutual Insurance office.
The coffee and broom factories, and their appurtenances, were the sole property of Mr. Baker and were entirely uninsured. Mr. Baker estimates his loss in machinery and stock at between forty and fifty thousand dollars.
Since writing the above, we learn that the casualties from the explosion of the engine boiler were both numerous and of a more serious character than was at first supposed. The man mentioned above as having been knocked down by a brick, was carried to a hospital by watchman Wasserman, and last night was reported dead. He was a marine, belonging to one of the gunboats lying in the Dock. Besides this man, a number of other persons, who were in Baker's Alley at the time of the explosion, were more or less severely hurt. An Irishman had the back of his head badly cut. Two others had their arms injured, and upwards of half a dozen went off limping. The report of the explosion was louder than that of a cannon. The concussion, which was tremendous, shook the houses on Church Hill as far up as St. Johns' Church.

RICHMOND [VA] WHIG, February 24, 1864, p. 2, c. 5
By Kent, Paine & Co., Auctioneers.

Cargo Sale at Auction.

On Wednesday, Marcy 2, commencing at 10 o'clock, we will sell at our warehouse, by catalogue, the entire cargo of the steamer Alice, with large consignments per steamers Don Hansa, Rothesay Castle, Ranger, Antonica, &c., comprising upwards of

Two Thousand Packages,

being one of the largest and best selected assortments of desirable goods ever offered at auction in the confederate States, the whole to be sold on account of the importers, and to be closed without reserve, consisting of the following goods, now in store and expected to arrive previous to the sale, viz: . . . [...]
4 cases huckaback toweling . . . [...]
8 cases agate and pearl buttons
3 cases lasting, bone and gilt buttons
12 cases Clark's black and white spool cotton [...]
161 cases "Aubert & Fils" champagne . . .
10 casks copperas
20 barrels refined borax
10 barrels linseed oil
1 hogshead Durham mustard
10 bags cloves
30 boxes ground coffee
20 bags Rio coffee
Kent, Paine, & Co., Auctioneers.
Feb. 24—26,29, mh.1.

NASHVILLE DAILY UNION, March 1, 1864, p. 2, c. 2
Daily Union Office,
Nashville, March 1st, 1864.
. . . Groceries—N. O. Sugar 19@21c pr lb; Crushed 24c; Coffee 44c; Tea $1.75@2.25 pr lb., according to quality; Molasses, $1@$1.10 per gall; Syrup $1.10@$1.20.
. . . Candles—Star 24c pr lb., Tallow $6 per box.
. . . Soap—German 12 1/2c per lb; Family 12½ c.
Cheese.—Western Reserve 18c per lb; Hamburg 18½; English Dairy 20c.
. . . Dye Stuffs.—Indigo $1.75 per lb; Madder 20c per lb. Coperas [sic] 60c per lb.
Cotton Cards.--$15@$18 per dozen.
. . . Note.—The above are wholesale prices.

[LITTLE ROCK] UNCONDITIONAL UNION, April 22, 1864, p. 2, c. 6

1864 1864
New Goods,
Latest Arrival from the North.
Attention! Attention!!
Marshall & Saxton,
One door East of Fisher's old stand, on the corner
of Markham and Cumberland Streets.

Have just received a large and well selected stock of [...]

Fancy and Staple Groceries.
Rio Coffee, Brown Sugar,
Imperial Tea, Refined "
Canv'd Hams, Crushed "
Lard, Pow'd "
Dried Peaches,
Sugar House Molasses. [...]

MOBILE REGISTER AND ADVERTISER, April 23, 1864, p. 2, c. 4
"Gallant Coffee."—Two distinguished "ossifers" of this Confederacy, while on the way from Houston to this port, lately stopped for breakfast at the residence of an old lady who has three sons in the army. Not relishing her Confederate coffee, they procured some "sure enough coffee" from their private stores. Their gallantry led them to offer a portion to the good lady of the house, accompanied with this remark: "This coffee, madam, was captured by our gallant soldiers in the Teche country." The madam looked daggers at our heroes, and not only refused to accept any of the said beverage, but patriotically exclaimed: "If our gallant soldiers captured it, why don't our gallant soldiers get a chance to drink it!"—[Cor. Texas Telegraph.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, June 3, 1864, p. 1, c. 6
An Highly Seasoned Joke.—During the late great Sheridan cavalry dash upon Richmond, and while the Henley battalion of this city was lying in the trenches on the Brooke turnpike, fasting literally and praying devoutly for something to eat, the answer to their prayer seemed to be borne to them by a diminutive negro, who, making his way across wide, intervening fields from the direction of a thrifty farm house, delivered his message to the picket on post—"Missus says all you'ens of the company who are hungry, come over theer (pointing) to her house, she has plenty to eat; wanted the whole company to come." What delightful news to famished, thirsty men! What an oasis in the desert they had found! A detail was at once made, and never did men step with greater alacrity towards the goal of any desire. They charged—they actually ran. A half dozen or so who were blest with long legs and wind, outstripped the rest, and arrived at the friendly house first; met the lady who had extended the invitation, and were invited in. "Yes she had thought they must be hungry, and had prepared a little something for them, which she would sell as low as the next one." And she displayed a table temptingly spread, and ran over the rates attached to her bill of fare. "There's ham and eggs, ten dollars; pure coffee, five dollars per cup, bread and butter, two dollars and a half; nice sweet milk, one dollar a glass. What will you have, gentlemen?" Several who were hungry and had money launched, but the majority, who had no money, had no appetite either when they found they were not invited guests. The whole detail fell back in good order to the entrenchments, and no more were ordered out. They were completely repulsed by the enterprise of the patriotic lady, and those who had been deceived into the run to her hospitable mansion were very anxious to be allowed the privilege of pitching a shell into it.—Richmond Examiner.

AILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], June 9, 1864, p. 2, c. 1

Reliable From Idaho.

Through the kindness of Mr. John F. Richards we are enabled to give our readers some items of interest from Idaho, taken from a letter written at Virginia City, May 12th, by Mr. John A. Gaston, an old and well known citizen of Leavenworth. That gentleman says: The trip from Leavenworth to Denver was agreeable, but from the latter place to Salt Lake it was awful—snowing almost every day, and the coldest weather I ever felt in the mountains. From Salt Lake to this place (Virginia City) the trip was pleasant. Everything brings a good price here now, as the market is bare of most articles. Coffee is worth from 90 cents to $1 per pound, sugar 80 cents, soda 75, bacon 75, lard $1, butter $1.50, eggs $1.38, flour $58 per cwt., whisky $9 per gallon, prints 75 cents per yard, heavy drilling $1, and everything else in proportion. The mines are very rich—this gulch is fifteen miles long, and pays all the way from $20 to $2,000 per day to four men. I have seen $150 taken out of one pan of dirt, picked off of the bed rock. If there are no more diggings discovered this summer there will be a big stampede from this country, as there is enough labor here now to work the mines already discovered. Wages is seven dollars per day for old hands, and five dollars for green ones. Rents are very high—a room 20 by 30 brings $150 per month, and a house and lot (cabin rather) is worth $2,000. There is a theater in full bloom here—admission $2. Five large gambling houses, and about sixteen stores. A great many building[s] are going up. The population of the town is about 3,000, and the gulch, 15,000. Axes are selling readily at $10 apiece. I think I will be able to sell out my stock to good advantage, although I cannot realize the same figures by selling from the wagons that I could if they were in store.

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [ATLANTA, GA], June 11, 1864, p. 1, c. 2
The English garden pea, picked from the vine when dry and roasted to a dark cinnamon brown, is said to produce a decoction resembling pure Java coffee in color and flavor.

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, June 30, 1864, p. 1, c. 4
A Substitute for Coffee.—A friend sent us some days ago an article which had every appearance of the well roasted ground Java coffee, with the request that we would try it and give our opinion of its merits as a substitute. We did so, and found it incomparably superior to anything that we have seen in use, not excepting the more common varieties of coffee. The taste is slightly pungent and most palatable, and we would not turn on our heel to exchange it for the genuine article. The preparation consists simply of the common English garden pea, picked from the vine when dry and roasted to a dark cinnamon brown. Try it.—Savannah Republican.

ALBANY [GA] PATRIOT, June 30, 1864, p. 2, c. 1

Editorial Correspondence.

Marietta, June 24th, 1864.
We left Macon on Tuesday with supplies, as one of B.F. R. C. [Battle Field Relief Commission] arriving here on the evening of same day, all in good order as to supplies as well as men. We pulled up our sleeves and pitched in to feed the sick and wounded, which required constant going until 12 o'clock at night to get through. About this Battle-field Relief Society, we have only to say, that it is the best organization in the land for doing good. […]

As we pass through our wounded and hand them a cup of coffee and bread, they receive it with such gratitude, that fills our eyes with tears; even men with a leg broken and crushed waiting for their time to be placed on the table for amputation, will receive the food with, "I thank you, sir; I have not eat a thing all day." … Our experience teaches us that the necessary articles mostly to be needed, and which are more readily received by them than any other, are hot coffee, biscuits or light bread, onions, and Irish potatoes; very little bacon is used. The sick and wounded cannot eat it. The well soldiers have plenty of it, and prefers the biscuit and vegetables. […]

MEMPHIS DAILY APPEAL [ATLANTA, GA], July 1, 1864, p. 1, c. 3

Late News from Chattanooga
and the North.

[...] Coffee $17 per pound; whisky, warranted to kill one hundred yards off hand, $100 per gallon; corn $20 per bushel; bacon $5 to $6 per pound; beef, mutton and pork, $5 per pound; flour $250 per barrel; boots $200, and shoes $100 per pair; officers' full suits $800 to $1,000. [...]

AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, July 6, 1864, p. 2, c. 3

Special Correspondence of Gazette.

San Antonio, July 2, 1864
. . . Day before yesterday the funding business closed in this city; Confederate money rulling (sp?) up to that time at 20 and 25 to 1. What it is to be in the future I have no means of knowing. It is not used at all here as a circulating medium, but is confined to paying taxes.
I have never known our market so well supplied with vegetables as now; yet prices are exceedingly high, even for specie. Corn, however, has taken a great fall, selling at 50 and 75 cts., and flour at $ and 10$ [?]—the only articles that sell at reasonable prices. Goods are also very high. Coffee, 60 to 65, and other articles in proportion.

AILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], July 23, 1864, p. 3, c. 1
[“]We believe watermelons only grow in America, and from the quantity of them exposed for sale (vendi exponas) here we are inclined to think they are about all brought to this market.—They are sold at distressingly low figures: a wagon load will buy three pounds of coffee; a patch will get a sack of salt, whilst all that could be raised in the country would about get a calico dress, “with buttons and thread thrown in.” They sell for about $5 apiece.[“]
The above remarks from the Macon Confederate are as applicable to Augusta as Macon .—They are sold at the distressingly low figures of $6, $8, and $10.
Speaking of watermelons reminds us of the fact that we enjoyed a delicious slice of an excellent melon, presented to the compositors of the Constitutionalist by our efficient War Tax Collector, A. S. Deas, Esq., to whom we are requested to return their thanks. Such favors are always acceptable, and proves that our friend Deas knows how to appreciate the services of the printer as well as collect taxes. Although remarkable as a class for their modesty, they will not object to similar reminders from their friends.

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], July 30, 1864, p. 2, c. 4

A Cooking Wagon for the Army of the
Potomac.

The Philadelphia Inquirer says:
"A novel invention passed up Chestnut street yesterday morning, attracting much attention. It was a cooking wagon, presented to the United States Christian Commission by a patriotic gentleman of this city. It was drawn up by two fine horses. The cooking wagon consists of three boilers for making tea, coffee and soup. From the furnace of each of these boilers a smoke pipe rises, giving the machine the resemblance of a steam fire engine. Each boiler holds fourteen gallons, and is capable, while on the march, with good fuel, of boiling ten gallons each every twenty minutes, and when stationary they will boil twelve gallons each in the same time, which would be from ninety to one hundred and eight gallons per hour. The machine is coupled together like a piece of artillery, and can be unlimbered and part of it sent after more provisions or wood, if necessary.
"The provision chest, which is on the front part of the wagon, is fitted with japanned cans for holding respectively one hundred pounds of sugar, thirty pounds of ground coffee, twelve pounds of tea, twenty pounds of corn starch, and thirty pounds of extract of beef.
"Two tin buckets accompany the machine, for the purpose of carrying water soup, or coffee, to any distant portion of the field; also two gridirons, for tasting bread or broiling meats; and an axe, with which to cut wood for the furnaces. Under the wagon is a box in which fuel is carried.
"The boilers in which tea and coffee are made, contain a perforated strainer on top into which the tea or coffee is put, and which prevents the leaves and sediment from being drawn off with the liquid.
"It is said that enough food can be cooked in this wagon to feed four hundred men at one time. It will prove of real use to the Commission's extensive operations in the army of the Potomac."

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], August 3, 1864, p. 1, c. 1-2
Officers’ Hospital,}
Augusta, Ga., August 2, 1864.}
Messrs. Editors: Permit me through your columns, to acknowledge our thanks to the following named ladies, of Augusta, and its vicinity, for the many acts of kindness extended to the inmates of the Officers’ Hospital, during the past week: [list]
Experience has shown that the sick soldier needs the kind attention and sympathies of woman as much as he does medicine, to insure his speedy recovery of health; hence, your presence and kind attention, ladies, have had a salutary influence upon the spirits of our patients, while the more substantial comforts contributed, in breads, meats, vegetables, coffee, tea, sugar, milk, soups, fruits, butter, wines, &c., &c., have supplied a want which, owing to the absence of any hospital fund, cannot be supplied. Rest assured, ladies, that you will ever be held in grateful remembrance by the sick and wounded soldiers, whom the fortunes of war have placed within the bounds of your Christian and patriotic hospitals.
None appreciate acts of kindness more than the soldier, inured to the hardships and privations of the camp, cut off for months—it may be, for years—from the endearments of home and loved ones, and nothing is so well calculated to arouse his drooping spirits, restore him to health, send him forth from the hospital a better man, and to the field a better soldier, as the kindness and attention he is receiving at your hands.
Our thanks are also due the Rev. Mr. Hard, Post Chaplain, for crackers, coffee, tea, and sugar, furnished for our sick and wounded.
Those in Charge of Said Hospital.

RICHMOND [VA] WHIG, August 6, 1864, p. 1, c. 5-6

Official.

Adjutant and Inspector General's Office,}
Richmond, August 1st, 1864.}
Special Orders,}
No. 180.}
1. The following schedule of prices for articles named therein, and adopted by commissioners appointed pursuant to law, for the State of Virginia, are announced for the information of all concerned, and the special attention of officers and agents of the Government is directed thereto:
Richmond, Va., August 1st, 1864.
Hon. James A. Seddon:
Sir:--We were informed, early in July that the demand for army supplies was so urgent that your department felt constrained to disregard our schedule prices then in force, and offer market rates to the farmers for their wheat, if delivered in July. [...] But now, as the immediate wants of the army are being provided for, and vigorous efforts are initiated to reduce the currency and reinstate public credit, we are disposed to accept the recent manifestations of public opinion in regard to our prices as the strongest assurance that, in future, adequate supplies can be secured on very moderate terms.
As the press, the public, and the farmers in part, have all united in condemning our rates as too high, we, therefore, DEFER to what seems to be the general desire, and propose the following prices: [...]

Schedule A.

No. Articles. Quality. Description. Quantity. Price
1 Wheat Prime White or red Per bus. of 60 lbs. $5.00
2 Flour, good Fine Per bbl. of 196 lbs. 22.00
" Superfine " " 25.00
" Extra Superfine " " 26.50
" Family " " 28.00
3 Corn Prime White or yellow Per bus. of 56 lbs. 4.00
4 Unshelled corn " " " 56 " 3.95
5 Corn meal Good " 50 " 4.20
6 Rye Prime " 56 " 3.20
7 Cleaned oats " " 32 " 2.50
8 Wheat bran Good " 17 " .50 [...]
15 Lard " " 3.00 [...]
19 Peas Good Per bushel 12.00
20 Beans " " 12.00
21 Potatoes " Irish " 5.00
22 Potatoes " Sweet " 8.00
23 Onions " " 5.00
24 Dried Peaches " Pealed " 8.00
25 Dried Peaches " Unpealed " 4.50
26 Dried Apples " Pealed " 5.00
27 Hay, baled " Timothy or clover Per 100 lbs. 3.90
28 Hay, baled " Orchard or herd grass " 3.90
29 Hay, unbaled " " " 3.00 [...]
36 Wheat straw, baled " " 2.20
37 Wheat straw, unbaled " " 1.30 [...]
44 Salt Good Per bus. of 50 lbs. 5.00
45 Soap " Per pound 1.00
46 Candles " Tallow " 3.00
47 Vinegar " Cider Per gallon 2.00
48 Whisky " Trade " 10.00
49 Sugar " Brown Per pound 8.00
50 Molasses " New Orleans Per gallon 25.00
51 Rice " Per pound .20
52 Coffee " Rio " 8.00
53 Tea " Trade " 7.00
54 Vinegar " Manufactured Per gallon .50 [...]
88 Sorghum molasses " Per gallon 20.00 [...]

DAILY CONSTITUTIONALIST [AUGUSTA, GA], August 9, 1864, p. 2, c. 5

Chicory.

Just received, 4 bbls. prepared Chicory, (a substitute for Coffee,) at $4.50 per lb., for sale by
M. M. Cohen & Co.

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], August 24, 1864, p. 3, c. 6
Coffee! Coffee—For sale cheap.
Aug. 24 I. M. Kenney.
Cotton Cards.—The best offered since the blockade and cheaper.
Aug. 24 I. M. Kenney.

BELLVILLE [TX] COUNTRYMAN, September 6, 1864, p. 1, c. 5
The following in the process to condense milk for the soldiers:
Place two quarts of new milk in a vessel over a slow fire, stir it to prevent burning, until it is about the thickness of cream, add one pound of sugar, a little at a time, stirring constantly, till it becomes thick and stiff, then spread on plates and dry in the oven or the sun, and powder it with a knife or spoon. It can be sent in papers, and serves for both milk and sugar when dissolved in coffee or tea.

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], October 4, 1864, p. 3, c. 2

From the Bannock Mines.

We are permitted to make the following extracts from a letter dated Bannock City, Montana, August 18. It is written by Mr. McLain, an old citizen, and formerly connected with Charley Dobson, in the restaurant business, to whom we are indebted for its use. He says: [...] Flour sells at $20 per sack, bacon 40 cts. lb. ham 60 cts. per lb, beef 15 cts. per lb, sugar 60 cts. per lb, coffee 45 cts. per lb, potatoes 25 cts. per lb, butter $1 per lb, eggs 75 cts. per dozen, oysters $24 per case, dried apples 25 cts. per lb., green apples $2.50 per dozen, dried peaches 40 cts. per lb, tobacco from 50 cts. to $1.25 per lb, whisky dull sale at $3 per gallon, Linseed Oil $16 per gallon, and all kinds of paints in proportion. Cattle is worth from $50 to $80 a yoke, mules from $150 to $300 a span, wagons from $15 to $80 each.

AUSTIN STATE GAZETTE, December 21, 1864, p. 2, c. 5

New Goods!

The subscribers have just received the following assortment of Dry Goods and Groceries, which they will sell for Confederate money, State Warrants, or specie—
White blankets, grey blankets, men's shoes, ladies' shoes, boys' shoes, children's shoes, grey cloth, blue satinett, grey satinett, bleached domestic, blue denims, brown domestic, cotton cards, gents drab hats, matches, gents blk hats, calico, nutmegs, gum camphor, spice, white sugar, coffee, brown sugar, candles, cream tartar, tea, white beans and toilette soap.
Sampson & Henricks.

CHARLESTON MERCURY, January 4, 1865, p. 1, c. 1-2
Richmond, Monday, December 26.
. . . To-day is generally observed as Christmas, most of stores being closed and all the bar-rooms being open. It is damp and gloomy.
Hermes.

Richmond, Wednesday, December 28.
. . . The town is exceedingly dull, and believed to be generally sober. Much money has been collected for the soldier's dinner. To-night there is a soldier's dinner benefit at the theatre; Ida Vernoon in East Lynn; tickets twenty dollars.
Weather still warm and hazy. Thunder and lightning last night. Gold 60 for 1. Coffee forty dollars a pound. Are you all going to let Sherman get to Branchville?
Hermes.

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], February 2, 1865, p. 3, c. 2
An intelligent and accomplished young lady, who is now teaching the freedmen—old and young—on the plantations formerly owned by Jeff. Davis and his brothers in Mississippi, writes as follows concerning her labors, to a friend in Kansas.
"There are ten teachers employed in Davis' Bend, which is some thirty miles below Vicksburg. We have over 600 scholars in four schools. A Rev. Mr. Coon has the general superintendence. Two hundred of these can read, and quite a number are studying arithmetic and geography. It is but a little over ten months since these first learned the alphabet. They are very eager to learn, and in almost every instance have exceeded our expectation. With the adults we cannot do much. I think there are 10,000 acres in this Bend. Davis' mansion is used by the Missionaries. At Vicksburg there are ten more Missionaries. The Missionaries teach them, visit them in sickness and health, write their letters, and do all we can to add to their comfort. The Government furnishes houses, fuel, and rations of pork and crackers; everything else we have to provide. Coffee is worth $1 per pound; sugar, 50c; flour, $20 per barrel; eggs, 75c per dozen; butter, 60c per pound; chickens, 75c a pair. The climate is as pleasant as June in the North; we can sit in an open room without fire. At present it is healthy, but in summer, sickness lurks in every house."
These Missions are under the care of the United Presbyterian Church.

DAILY TIMES [LEAVENWORTH, KS], February 24, 1865, p. 3, c. 1
The Fort Smith Era gives the following prices charged for articles in that place: Flour, $50 75 per bbl; corn, 12 to 15c per lb; sugar, $1; coffee, $1 50; candles, $1; bacon, $1; salt, $1; beef, 7 to 10c per lb; dried apples, per bushel, $10; tobacco, $5; whisky, 50 cents a thimble-full. Fort Smith, if all accounts are correct, must be a sweet town to live in.

SOUTHERN BANNER [ATHENS, GA], March 15, 1865, p. 1, c. 4

Substitutes for Coffee.

Editor Southern Cultivator:—Nobody has had more occasion to mourn over the blockade than that numerous and highly respectable class, the coffee topers. Many a one would cheerfully munch his dry crusts at breakfast, if he could wash them down with the cheering beverage which used, in former times, to atone for the short-comings of cooks and fortify him against a day of vexations. For the stimulating property to which both tea and coffee owe their chief value, there is unfortunately no substitute; the best we can do is to dilute the little stocks which still remain, and cheat the palate, if we cannot deceive the nerves. The best substitute which we have yet found for either tea or coffee, is plenty of good, rich milk, which is at least nutritive, if not stimulating. But alas! the price of butter plainly tells that milk is almost as scarce as coffee, and many persons want something hot to drive off the fogs of the morning. After many unsatisfactory trials of rye, wheat, corn, potatoes, okra, acorns, and almost everything else that can be purchased, we have found in molasses, we will not say a *substitute* for, but an adulteration of coffee, which leaves but little to be desired, *but the stimulus.* Don't be alarmed, Mr. Editor, we are not about to propose "long sweetening." Molasses when boiled down until it scorches, is converted into an intensely bitter substance, called by chemists caramel. Our method is to put a quart or more of sorghum syrup into any convenient vessel, and stew it down over a slow fire, as if making candy, stirring constantly until the syrup is burnt black; then pour it out into a greased plate to cool. The blackish porous mass thus obtained is pounded, when quite cold, in an iron mortar. We mix it with twice its bulk of ground coffee, and use a teaspoonful of this mixture for each person; thus one teaspoonful of caramel and two of coffee will make six cups of a beverage which, as far as taste is concerned, is far preferable to pure Rio coffee. The burnt molasses or caramel, attracts moisture when exposed to the air, and must, therefore, be kept in a close vessel. It would be well, for the same reason, to prepare it in small quantities. If the molasses is burnt too much, it is reduced to charcoal and loses all taste. By the way, though a very simple matter, many housekeepers do not know that it is perfectly easy to clear coffee by adding a small quantity of cold water, just as it "comes to a boil." CHEMICUS.