Little ls now going on at our Navy-Yard aside from the work upon the new steamer Pensacola. The graveled walks are being smoothed down by ponderous Iron rollers, the grass is peeping up bright and fresh, and everything wears an air of quiet and pleasantness. The copper rolling mill is in operation from day to day, and the immense forges, machine shops. &c., are hurrying towards the completion of the machinery for the steamer. A few wood and coal boats are discharging their cargoes at the wharves, while out a few rods from the shore the sloop of war Pawnee swings at anchor, her black hull frowning upon the city, with her broadsides ranged so as to sweep the approaches to the yard. A single marine listlessly paces his limited beat across her decks, and now and then a head appears above the bulwarks, but aside from these she presents the appearance of desertion, and rides silently and gloomily upon the ebb and flow of the tide.
Evening Star, Washington, DC, March 21, 1861