in daylight, there were frequent conflicts in the public streets,
between the crews of the steamers in port and the soldiers stationed in
the town, in which knives and pistols would be freely used; and not
unfrequently a dead body would rise to the surface of the water in one
of the docks with marks of violence upon it. The civil authorities were
powerless to prevent crime. "Inter arma silent leges!" The agents and
employes of the different blockade-running companies, lived in
magnificent style, paying a king's ransom (in Confederate money) for
their household expenses, and nearly monopolizing the supplies in the
country market. Towards the end of the war, indeed, fresh provisions
were almost beyond the reach of every one. Our family servant, newly
arrived from the country in Virginia, would sometimes return from
market with an empty basket, having flatly refused to pay what he called
"such nonsense prices" for a bit of fresh beef, or a handful of
vegetables. A quarter of lamb, at the time of which I now write, sold
for $100, a pound of tea for $500. Confederate money which in September,
1861, was nearly equal to specie in value, had declined in September
1862 to 225; in the same month, in 1863, to 400, and before September,
1864, to 2000!

Many of the permanent residents of the town had gone into the country,
letting their houses at enormous prices; those who were compelled to
remain kept themselves much secluded; the ladies rarely being seen upon
the more public streets. Many of the fast young officers belonging to
the army would get an occasional leave to come to Wilmington; and would
live at free quarters on board the blockade-runners, or at one of the
numerous bachelor halls ashore.

The convalescent soldiers from the Virginia hospitals were sent by the
route through Wilmington to their homes in the South. The ladies of the
town were organized by Mrs. De R. into a society for the purpose of
ministering to the wants of these poor sufferers; the trains which
carried them stopping an hour or two at the depot, that their wounds
might be dressed, and food and medicine supplied to them. These
self-sacrificing, heroic women patiently and faithfully performed the
offices of hospital nurses.

"O! there are angels in this world unheeded,
Who, when their earthly labor is laid down,
Will soar aloft, with pinions unimpeded,
And wear their starry glory like a crown!"

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