We study the correlation effects in a one-dimensional Bose gas with repulsive delta-function interaction. The correlation effects are described by a local-field correction which takes into account the short-range correlations. We find that the ground state energy is in good agreement with the exact result up to intermediate coupling strengths, showing an improvement over the Bogoliubov and other related approximations. The velocity of sound, the static structure factor, and pair-correlation function are also calculated within the present approximation. © 1999 The American Physical Society.