The New York herald. [volume], February 19, 1854, Image 4

About The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920

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NEW YORK HERALD.
JAMKB GORDON BEIIIETT.
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Mali* for tk? PacIHc,
BBB HBW YOU HBBALD ? CALIHOHMA BD1TI0N.
Ike United Btatea mall ateamihlp tioorge Law, Captain
?oGowaa, wUl leave this port to merrow afternoon, At
two ?'slock, tor A ?p in wall.
The ?.11. for California and other part* of tke Paolflo,
Will tlOM At DM o'clock.
the Maw Yor* Wrkklt Hsrald, CallfornU elttloo, oou
1 the l?teet Intelligence from aH parti of the worli,
will ka published At ten o'e ock to morrow m >mlng.
? -ji- aoplM alapenee. Agents will please send la
m*r aritra a* early as possible.
The M?wi.
Mock of our spa 3? is to-day necessarily devoted to
B Y*ry full report of the proceedings at the anti-Ne
fcraska gathering at the Tabernaole last night, to
wbich is appended sketches of the transactions in
^?n?r meetings elsewhere. We have commented
Bt length on the subject in a leading editorial.
The mails of the steamship Canada reached the
alty about two o'clock this morning? too late to ena
We us to give very extended details of the news this
morning. We however make room for much inter
esting information that had not already been furnished
fry telegraph from Halifax, and shall hereafter pub
lfeh our letters and such other matter as may be
dremed of importaace. From the synopsis of the
debate upon the war question in the British Houjfe of
l^rde. it will be seen that several of tie honorable
gwtlemea echoed the belief that they were on the
are of a geaeral war in Europe, and that there should
}e bo 4elay in fully preparing for the emergency.
Notwithstanding the extreme caution ot the Cabinet
Ministers, their remarks tcuded to confirm the ira
psesslon that the crisis had arrived, and that the
great probleBi of peace or war would be decided in
? ahort time. The Collins steamer Baltic, which is
?early dul at this port, will, It is expected, bring
news that will set all doubts at rest.
The rumor that Bmith O'Brien, the exiled Irish
patriot, had escaped from Australia, is contradicted
by a letter from that gentleman himself, dated Oct.
1, In which he declared that, having no intention of
escaping , he had received a ticket of absence for six
months.
Bo tar as the welfare of the people is concerned, it
would have been about as well for our State tagisla
tan to have followed the example of Congress, by ad
Jeorsing over ff*A Friday till to-morrow. The case of
the contestants for a seat from this city was the only
jmm tt?r actually disposed of by the Assembly yester
day. Mr. ClaA, soft shell, was ousted by a vote of
neventy-seven to nine, and Mr. Maguire, hard shell,
wax authorized to fill the peat. by sixty five to twenty
one. The former gentleman, however, can oonsole
himself for the disappointment with the fact that he
has drawn pay for half the eession. The contested
case in the Senatt Is still In abeyanoe. Owing to
the fact that the initial G. was placed in the centre
of Adam Storing's name, on a portion of the tickets
fat the Eighteenth district, a certified of election
was given to Mr. Blakely. a whig, although it waj
apparent that the friends of the former gentleman,
who is a democrat, were largely in the majority. On
reference to our despatch, it will be seen that an
other projcct haa already been started to take moie
money from the people for canal expenditures. The
ottiKeoa of Buffalo desire a number of bridges bnilt,
?t an expense of some thirty thousand dollars, over
the (An a Is in that vicinity. Should their request be
granted, all the other cities and tovns i a the State
through wbich the canals pass, wiU demand similar
favors. No matter: the people are rich, and mllli >ns
are nothing to them, as was prived by the result of
the election last Wednesday. By the way, it is inti
mated that some of the whig! at Albany are quite
indiguant becauae'Mr. Clinton, a national democrat,
baa tAken the wind out of their sai ji with regard to
tke preparation of a bill for the completion of the
caaals. We may expect a lively controversy on this
qwstion before the close of the session. Th# Senate
passed several bills of no general importance.
We elsewhere publish biographical sketches of all
the gentlemen who have served as United States Se
iiAtors for Maine, together with a variety of interesting
incidents connected with the history of that State
Those deairons of keeping fully .postci up with re
gard to passing events, should not fail to peruse
these reminiscences, and also to preserve a copy for
tke future reference And instruction o' their childrea
A dinner was gives to Capt. Watkins, commander
of the late steamship San Francisco, by the ship
rwners of Boston, yesterday.
We regret to state that there was an increase ol
forty one in the mortality of the past, as compared
with the previous week. According to the official
report of the City Inspector, the whole number of
deatl s for the week ending yesterday, was five hun
dred and thirty seven, of which no less than 71 were
produced by consumption: convulsions, 42? ' only two
adults: croup, 13; congestions, 21; diarrh<r?, It!;
dropsies, 32; fevers. 47 cases, of which 2ti were scar
let; inflammations, 72; marasmus, infantile. 18; pre
mature births and stillborn, 44, and small pox. 42.
Thto shows^t di rease of fifteen in the last named
disease, which, in reality, is the only sickness of an
epidemic nature in our city, and this would no doubt
speedily diminish, if not altogether disappear,
were the proper precautions adopted. While
upon the subject, it is pro|>er to remark
that New York is not by any me* * the enly city in
fected with the small tox. This dreadful pestilence
is raging In almost every place of note in the coun
try, and doubtless will continue so to do until the
Legislatures take the matter in lnud And nuke it ob
Igatory on the local authorities to see that every per
son is vaccinated, and re-Yacsinated whonevcrocci
?ion may require. Perhaps none, so far as bu?ine 4 is
concerned, are more immeciAtely affected by the fa t
of the existence of this disease than our mcr^autile
e^Tmnnry, whose trad* must suffer Hrge'y, for the
Mju. ob ih?t ouunUy people hare the utjioat Urced, the
Moat perfect bo'/rw, of this loathsome pest Tb? sum
may be said < A our sister elty, Philadelphia, where
from omII pox are recorded weekly. Watt
merchants to take ttie swtter in hand and aae their
influence ?? seem* the passage of a law enforcing
vaccination, they might do much towards ridding
is of the abomination. As fx the terrible mortUity
caused by consumption, convulsions, inflammations,
Ac., that is accounted for by the fact that the paat
work has been by far the severest of the aeawn
upon persons whose long* are affected. The dense
fog in which we were moat of the tine enveloped,
or, as it were, completely submerged, combined
with the circumstance of the frost evaporating from
the ground, rendered the atmosphere damp and
chilly, and extremely unhealthy, particularly to
foreigners. The mortality among adult Americana
continues so small as to excite the surprise of every
one. On referring to the record we find that three
hundred and forty-four of the deceased were boys
and girls, nearly all of whom wen, of course,
born in this country; while of the total num
ber three hundred and seventy-three are classified as
natives of the United States. From Ireland there
were 66; Germany, 38; England and France, C each;
Scotland, 7; West Indies, 3; Switzerland and Italy,
2 each; British North America, 5; and Denmark,
Sweden, Poland, Isle of Man, aud South America, 1
each. Only one person died in the Second ward,
while forty-one died in the Sixth and fifty in the
Twelfth.
The Sooth and West are fast regaining their noto
riety for horrible Bteamboat disasters. Scarcely a
day parses that we do not bear of loee of life fcy
burning, siKkiDg, exploding, or othir accident* on toe
waters of those regions. T&o or three persons were
lately killed by a collision between two steamboats
on the Alabama river.
Wm. Ransom has been awarded a verdict of four
teen thousand dollars against the Erie Railroad Com
pany, by the Supreme Court, for injuries received by
a-eollL-ion at Chemung, last July. A fe* more ver
dicts like this would have a tendency to greatly di
minish the number of railroad accidents in this State.
The trial of James Saunders fcr riot in the Ninth
ward, on the Fourth of Ju^last, was continued yes
terday in the Court of General Sessions. A large
number of witness were examined for the defence,
among them several citizens not members of the
society of wbioh the defendant was marslal. Their
testimony tended to show that the defendant en
deavored to prevent the riot as much as possible,
and that the polite and other citizens were the origi
nators of the disturbance.
The Chinese interpreter? Leong Aghev? has
written us a letter relative to the affairs of the
dramatic company, which we give in his own words.
The following are simply the headings of a few of
the most interesting articles with which our columns
are crowdcd this merniog:? Description of the inka.
bitants, animals, resources, climate, Ac., of the island
of Papua, or Neiv Guinea ; the Alleged Preparation*
for Arming Russian Privateers in American Ports ;
Another Queer Letter from "the Man who Nominated
Frank Pierce;" Washington Territory and Califor
nia Correspondence; Medical News; Religious, Poli
tical, Commercial and Miscellaneous Intelligence, Ac
Pi ogre of the Ncbriubi Campaign? The
Meeting Lut Evening.
The second attempt or the New York anti
elavery party to kindle some show of enthusi
asm among the opponents of the Kansas-Ne
braska bill has proved ae abortive as the first.
Last evening s meeting can have rendered no
service to the cause. The Tabernacle was full,
indeed, and the audience very patient and good
humored : Mr. Blunt was as prosy as usual,
Mr. Hale as funny aa is his wont, and Mr
Beecher as fanatic as he always is. But new
light thrown on the question there was none.
No arguments were adduced that have not
been refuted over and over again : no points
made that were not borrowed from the debates
in the Senate. If the audience of last evening
waa composed of men who are in the habit of
reading the newspapers, the speeches must have
seemed very stale repetitions of threadbare ar
guments: if the bulk of Mr. Blunt's hearers
relied upon him and his coadjutors for their in
formation on the subject, their notions of the
Missouri compromise and tbe Kan?as-Nebraskti
bill must be tolerably confused. We should
like to ask any of the gentlemen who made the
Tabernacle ring with applause last evening
what they would say if Congress were to at
tempt to legislate slavery into the future State
of Minnesota? If any Southern Senator in
some future Congress were to introduce a bill
declaring that the new State -Minnesota -
should only be admitted into the Union on the
condition that he and his friends should be
allowed to migrate thither with their slave
1-roperly? What an outcry we should then
hear about the independent rights of the
States, and the tyrannical assumptions of
Congress ! IIow the West would ring with de
nunciations of the arbitrary impudent attempt
of the federal authorities to wrest from the new
State her inalienable rights! And yet this is
precisely what the speakers of last evening
would have Congress do with regard to Nebras
ka. It may do very well for Mr. Hale to.tell a
public meeting of abolitionists that the ordi
nance of li87 was a prohibition of slavery, and
was formally recognized as such by the First
Congress: but evtry man who is well read in the
history of the country knows that that ordi
nance was in point ol fact inoperative from the
first ? that for a period of several years, the
whole Norwestern Territory was slaveholding
territory, and that the States abolished it when
they pleased. So we all know that the First
Congress ratified the ordinance simply from a
desire to avoid disputes and strife. Our early
fathers saw the dinger of splitting on the rock
of slavery and allowed the ordinance to pass,
trusting to future statesmen to correct the error
when the foundations of the young republic
were more firmly established. Most of us know
too? though perhaps Mr. Hale does not- that
in ratifying that ordinance as the grantor of the
territory. Virginia expressly omitted the sec
tion prohibiting slavery therein. Fallacies so
easily exposed as these of Mr. Hale's might be
safely left uncontradicted. They roceive a
practical refutation from the striking coldness
with which his efforts and those of his party are
received by the community at large.
Indeed, nothing is now clearer than the fact
that an excitement cannot be got up on the ques
tion of Nebraska among the conservative portion
of the North. A few isolated journals here
and there, which have hitherto advocated the
conservative whkr ?jfic jn poijtjC!li j,ave )>rok,,n
ground against?. Douglas's measure; but in
every instance their opposition has been mark
ed by hesitation, timidity, and every symptom
of reluctance and self-distrust. The noaent '
they abandoned the field of calm discussion,
they found themselves fighting side bv side
trie open foes of the I ?j?n : and "a:, i.?
?t.-ctivc aversion to so repulsive an alliance
mmnd.au ly comp, II, d them to draw back
No have heard threais and ominous predic
'!' S thc SCUP' >'"? tremendous ?
- -i.< nt which the Ncbra-ka |.;u waa ti)C (,a.c
' e Nor b: we have been warned to prepare
rs for R "'niggle com, arid to which i"i
<T!'U ?n ot ISiWO was but a skfrm*,: ?!,
.. fountry Ins been called to witness th u
U?w* watc.ut l*iaoa~tkQ aMitbnfcts -were
not guilty of the dreadful itrfft that was about
to commence. About a mofltb hu elapsed
sine? theee awlhl warnings irere first shouted
in oar em. Daring the whole of thi? time,
the Nebraska bill haa beoa fairly and squarely
before the country. Northern men and South
ern men, Western men, and men from the East
have read, studied, ay.d discussed it. Editors
have published it, ?.nd canvasscd it in every
sense; hundreds of thousands of articles have
commented on its or ierits. Where is the excite
ment ? Where ar e the signs of the thunder
storm that was to burst on us ? Where arc
the levies for the war that it was to pro
voke? Alas, ft seems it was but a mountain
in labor after all, and the meeting of last even
ing was one *(f the smallest of the litter of mice.
Look where* you will, and who are the men
whose voters are raised against the termination
of the slavery controversy by the formal and
definite establishment of the non-intervention
policy"? Do we find among them old conserva
tives of either party ? Can they count in their
ranks any of the men to whom the country
looked for patriotism and public virtue in case
of danger to the Union ? Is the mercantile
community represented in their host? Have
they anything more than a faint sprinkling of
wealth and station on their side? Can the
boldest falsifier of the band claim as theirs auy
uubetantial portion of the thew and sinew of the
land, the workmen, mechanics, operatives, and
sons of toil ? A thousand voices from every
city, every country village, every hill and
plain indignantly answer No !
From Chicago to Boston, the only indivi
duals who have openly taken the field in
any numbers against Mr. Douglas's bill havff
been the abolitionists and the free Boilers
?parties whose opposition was bo essential
to the success of the measure, that had it
been wanting, every one would have sus
pected Mr. Douglas's sincerity. We Bhall not
do the glorious old city of Boston the injustice
to suppose that the speakers who occupied the
time of the meeting those on Thnrsday can be
regarded as representing either the respectabi
lity, the wealth or the intellect of the capital of
the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Rev.
Amos Tuck, and the Rev. Theodore Parker are
no doubt very worthy members of society ;
but till Choatc, Wintbrop, Bigelow, Hildreth,
and others whose names will at onoe suggest
themselves to every mind have spoken, we
think we may safely say that the Bay State has
uttered no word. Her fame stands too high to
allow ub to suppose that on this momentous oc
casion 6he has chosen the Reverends Tuck
and Parker to be her organs. What is true
of Massachusetts is still truer of New York
None of us would ever think of contesting the
high social standing and individual worth of
either our Irish friend Judge Emmet or the in
defatigable Mr. Girord ; but really they cannot
be supposed by any one on this side the Alle
ghanies to be empowered to deliver the senti
ments ofNew York on a great political ques
tion. Much less can the Rev. Henry Ward
Beecher or the brothers Blunt aspire to that
honor. The former is notoriously identified
with the most ultra section of the abolitionists ;
the latter have had the misfortune to play
subordinate parts in political party strife for
many years, and are very uulikely men to be
entrusted with the delivery of the sentiments
of any public community.
Who, then, are the opponents of the measure ?
Neither New York, nor Boston has registered
its dissent ; the country is silent : east and
west look on with indifference ; who are the
real eaemies of Mr. Douglas's measure t
Some of their names we have already men-'
tioned. Their allies, like them, belong to two
classes; they are either free Boilers abolitionists,
or broken down politicians, who are ready to es
pouse any side in the hope of regaining their Pa
radise lost. What need we say of such men as
Henry Ward Beecher, John P. Hale, John Jay,
John G. Palfrey, and their coadjutors in the Se
nate? Seward, Chase, Sumner and Wade? Why,
their names have been household words in the
newspapers for ages. We knew half a dozen
years ago, that they had sworn to uproot
slavery, and would try it on each and every
opportunity. Can we wonder that they avail
themselves of the Nebraska pretext? And
when we find that they stand alone at the head
of a far Bmaller party than they_ led in 1848,
when we sec that conservative men on both
sides shrink from contact with them, and keep
themselves carefully aloof from their move
ments. can there be a doubt of the failure of the
plot to overthrow Douglas's measure ? Shall we
not pronounce the threats of the anti-slavery
men mere idle bombast, and langh at the grim
faces with which they buckle on their armor for
the imaginary fight ?
The Awful Condition or the Streets or New
York.
As oar late respected Street Inspector has
disappeared in the mud. and no better chance
exists for hiB successor, we have at last conclu
ded to make report upon the state of the streets
and the general physical condition of the city,
for the information of the new reform Common
Council, who seem to have no time to attend to
anything hut their own nffa;r.?, such as eating,
drinking, talking, and ihe spoils.
Let ub begin, then, down by the Battery, go
ing along Battery place and taking a look up
Greenwich, Washington, and West streets, aa
they have existed during the past week, and as
they will again appear on the next "soft 'day
Battery place is one of the most used thorough
fares in the city for drays and all kinds of
heavy cartage? as it "is almost the only practi
cable channel of communication between the
wharves on the North river side and the whole
eastern and southeastern portion of down town.
Well, in Battery place the mud in soft wea
ther is kept by the continual stirring up of
wheels and hoofs, in a sort of semi-liquid state,
about the consistency of hasty pudding. It is
here from three inches to a foot dppp; and
from Broadway to the river there ha* not been
during the week, before the frost of Friday
night, a point where you could cross into the
Battery' without going in over your India rub
bers. To reach the Camden and Amboy depot,
or the Port Richmond boat, wa* almost impos
sible ? literally bo ? without wading ancle deep
in this liquid mud. From the best information
we can obtain, there has not been a broom or
cart seen in this neighborhood for six months
past. There are several taverns and eating
houses here, and of course all their ashes. lemo.i
peel, and other rubbish, lies iu little mouuds
along the gutter.
Greenwich street we partly described some
time ago ; but it bus, like its neighbors,
bt in gi owing worse and wor?. Here, a id in
Wu-h;UK:' n ai-d West stt'it* it is poiTosHy
i w fill The mud in ihe riv i.lle of t'ie str*."."
- !.;? to ?.! : :i' * cf t!i ? ;r.;y v, ;.i. u-i.l on
< i;ch >, when Uie ,:V;er 1. ml!, - ??
a ct'iiuiuoup mound of a:bofc rnamuc from
stables, mod other wmIm filth, baked solidly
together, and evidently undisturbed tor months.
Every warm apell it thaws a little, and sends
np such clouds of reeking and nauseating
odors that it Bakes one sick at the stomach to
pus along, even im winter. The first warm
flash of spring mast produce the most frightful
malaria here. The little side streets ? Thames,
Hector, Albany, Liberty ? in fact, all the way
up to W ashingttn Market ? are, if possible, worse
than those we have described. They are full
of deep guilty s, into which the wheels splash,
sending the mud flying, and spattering the
doors, windows and walls of the houses and
covering the narrow sidewalk with layers of
mud. And then, think of the basements and
cellars in all this neighborhood! ? all thickly
inhabited, too, by poor, filthy, ignorant emi
grants and negroes, with no conveniences in
the yards, no water, nothing but the floor and
the street for every thlDg! The Hottentots are
infinitely better housed and lodged.
We noiq|^pproach Washington market ? the
very pink-hole of the city. For a wide space
around it. you encounter nothing but hills of
muck and rubbish, composed of rotten cab
bages and other vegetables, the offal, the fish
scales and oyster shells, and the general excre
ments of the market. Inside, everything is so
close and unwholesome, so crowded and mixed
together, that to put one's nose in for a moment
s enough to give a man a distaste for his meals
for a week. The passages and walks, when we
waded through them on Thursday, were afloat
with the Bame liquid mud we' have described;
and on three sides is a regular cordon of manure
and the remnants of horse feed, charmingly
diversified with swine's hoofs, clots of hair, and
tails and fins of decayed fish, the whole arranged
in picturesque little hillocks, like one of 's
pictures. Carts and wagons, boxes, barrels,
and every imaginable sort of ebstruction, crown
this rampart ot putrifying ordure, and complete
the eheoaux de friae by which our principal
household market is bulwarked.
But behind the market, jutting out upon the
river, there is another long, dirty, narrow, dark
shanty, filled with dead hogs and other delicate
comestibles, and kept in a still more disgust
ing state than the market itself. It is impossi
ble to convey any adequate idea of the abomi
nable filthLness of this place. It makes us shud
der to recall it. All around the eastern, north'
ern and southern sides oi the market, the
opposite sidewalks are almost entirely covered
with open barrels of mackerel, pdrk, cheese,
butter and other raneid and rank smelling
commodities, filling the air with a compound
stench, and leaving only a narrow winding
path tor the pedestrians to twist 'and wriggle
along among them. This description will ap
ply, with slight variation and considerable
abatement, to every market in New York. It
is actually astounding that any city composed
of cleanly and respectable families, in any ra
tional proportion, can put up, year alter year,
with such a state of things.
Passing from the market, we plnnged again
into the mud, and entered upon a region which,
nearly one whole year, was absolutely blocked
up by tho buildings going up or being pul'ed
down. Barclay, Murray, Warren and Chambers
streets, and Church street as far as Chambers'
! were all this time impassable for vehicles, and
almost so for foot passengers. The entire
streets, sidewalks and all, were covered with
rubbish and building material* ? the rail cart
were withdrawn, and ended their trips at the
corner of West Broadway and Chambers ? the
rails were broken short off in several places,
and the whole region appeared like a small
section of Moscow after the conflagration. This
state of things is now partially remedied ?
though still the whole of this neighborhood is
an outrage and a disgrace, and threatens to
remain so for an indefinite period.
Of the side and lateral streets running np
town, west of Broadway, we can only say that
if they are not all as bad as those we have de
scribed, it is because they are not so much fre
quented, and because their populations are more
cleanly and decent. The avenues, especially
from the Sixth to the North river, are, however,
bad enough to make up. Most of the buildings
on the avenues are tenement houses, with shops
in front, and the upper stories occupied by nu
merous families, with only a narrow hall and a
mere hand's breadth of yard for all. Generally
these houses have no drains, and consequently
no communication with the street Bewer. The
inmates, therefore, of necessity arc compelled
to throw their slops and garbage into the
gutters ; for, should they even attempt to
keep a slop-barrel on the sidewalk, it would be
of no use. as the scavenger carts never come
along. As to the avenues on the eastern side
of the city, some of them arc infinitely worse ;
especially the Third, above Forty-second street,
where the building of sewers and the excava
tions of the railroad company in changing the
course of their track, have not only torn up the
pavement, but left yawning caverns and unde
fended abysses, into which carriages and horses
are daily plunging. On Friday no less than
three vehicles were precipitated into these pits,
and it was a miracle that lives were not lost.
As it was, two wagons, a carriage, and a valu
able horse, were destroyed, and several per
sons seriously bruised. The Street Commis
sioner has been directly appealed to on this
subject, but he declines to interfere.
In nearly all the cross streets above Four
teenth, a great deal ot building is going on ;
and such is the well known neglect of the
street department, that builders impudently
tear up the sidewalk and leave a whole block
impassable tor months, because they know that
nobody will trouble himself to interfere with
them. In Twenty-fourth street, between the
Eighth and Ninth avenues, and in Twenty
fifth, between the Seventh and Eighth, the foot
way has been all winter absolutely impassable.
In the latter street, a church is being built on
one side, and a row of new houses dircctly op
posite, and the church seems to have vied with
the layman to sec which of them could most
completely impose upon the convenience and
good nature of the neighborhood. In fact, in
many of these streets it is impossible to go on
foot from one avenue to another. Neither thqy
nor the avenues have been touched by hoe or
broom during the whole winter.
As to Broadway, everybody knows about
that. It depends entirely on the state of the
weather whether you can get in or out of an
omnibus without wading through the mud. It
is the tame with Fulton street, which is one ot
the most crowded and important thoroughfares
in the city. Nassau street is. for a good por
tion of its distance, a great niu^ gullcy. now
bankt d up on this side now caved in on that.
AH summer and winter the old Bible IIou-o
improvement blocked up the west sidewalk ;
n id now the rebuilding on the corner opposite
our office threatens another six months' stop
page of loot travel, as every inch of the side
walk is torn up. for the purpoee of digging the
c?llar. Beekman street will take Another six
months before it can serve at all as a thorough
fare ; and the whole newspaper district, be
tween Fulton and Spruce, Broadway and Wil
liam, is a vast mud hole.
We ought to have reserved our strongest ex
pressions to characterize the condition of Cen
tre and Pearl streets, and the crossways
which pass them. From the slope of Centre
street, past the Tombs, the market, and so on
through Broome street to the Bowery, in
cluding the whole of that dire space bounded
by Chatham street and the Bowery on the south
and east, the instant the frost relaxes its icy
grasp it is all one uninterrupted quagmire of
filth and abomination. The physical horrors of
that locality would turn the stomach even of
the "Hot Corn" man himself. We do not in
tend to describe it at present, but merely to in
dicate this as well as -the other terrible quar
ters of the city, and to point out the nuisances
which it is a matter of life and health to the
citizens to have abated before the warm weather
sets in. Little better is the whole East river
side of the city, from Peck slip to the Dry Dock.
In the vicinity of Catherine market, stretching
away behind the National theatre, there is a
region where the streets are, at this moment,
of no use whatever as thoroughfares? not even
drays can possibly make their way through
them. The whole neighborhood is squalid and
vile, consisting of little shops and sailors'
lodging houses, many of them in cellars, and
the whole in every way uninhabitable for de
cent and Christian people. We have been
through entire streets there in which there is
not one decsntly inhabitable dwelling; and yet
the whole district Bwarms with population.
Further along the East river, lined as it is with
rotten wharves scolloped with mountains of
rubbish and filth, the streets are all in the
same state. In fact, there is throughout the
city no mitigation to the horrible 11th and de
graded physical condition of this metropolis. In
any other country, any other government
under heaven, we do verily believe that such a
state of things would cause a revolution. Here*
however, we are better natured. We wade pa
tiently through the mud when the weather is
thawing, and look hopefully forward to
its freezing up. When the warm weather comes
on, and the bills of mortality begin to swell by
hundreds per week, we stuff our noses into our
pocket handkerchiefs, send wife and children
to Long Branch or Saratoga, and trust to
luck for taking ub safely through the sum
mer. Meanwhile, we cheerfully pay hun
dreds of thousands of dollars a year for
cleaning the streets; and there you may see, all
neatly entered on the Street Inspector's books*
that the streets all have been cleaned according
to contract, and that everything is all right %nd
tight. Meanwhile, we challenge proof that, in
the portions of the city through which we have
just taken yon? faintly sketching the .state of
things as we passed along ? there is seen a
scavenger or a cart on an average of once a
month ; while, for the most part, the vilest and
most abominable quarters, where the pestilence
breeds and death lurks in every poisonous cave
and corner, the mud *nd obscene offfel with
which the streets are encumbered is not dis
turbed from one year's end to another. How
long is all this to last ?
Popular Education? Our Public Schools.
We have now lying before us an interesting
document emanating from the Board of Educa
tion, which in its facts and figures bears con
clusive testimony to the effective character of
the system upon which our evening schools are
based. In the annual report of the executive
committee charged with the superintendence
of this branch of the institution, we find a state
ment of educational results for the past year,
which cannot fail to prove in the highest de>
gree satisfactory not only to the advocates of
the Bystem, but to the friends of humanity in
general.
In devising a scheme of popal&r education
which would adapt itself to all the conditions
and requirements of the classes which it was
intended to benefit, it became evident to reflect
ing minds that vast numbers would be exclud
ed from its advantages, unless some effort were
made to reconcile its rules with the demands
which the daily necessities of life make upon
the time and attention of the artizan. It was
wisely resolved to give such comprehensive
ness to the system that not only would the
children of the working classes, but the parents
themselves be induced to benefit by it. By
thus extending the scope of the original plan,
there was a high moral purpose to be gained.
The opportunity of intellectual culture and re
laxation afforded to the artizan after his day's
toil, would, it was hoped, have the effect of
withdrawing him from the demoralizing as
sociations of the rum shop or shilling thea
tre. It was in fact the practical application of
the theory enunciated by Sydney Smith, "that
the true way to attack vice was to set up some
thing against it.''
In this Vpirit, and with these objects, the ex
periment of evening rehools was tried. It was
hazarded with a good deal of doubt and hesita
tion, from the many objections that were raised
against it: but the results, as demonstrated in
the document before us, have completely falsi
fied the predictions of those who endeavored to
throw cold water upon the schcme. The expe
rience of the seven years during which they
have been at work has shown not only the vast
practical benefits that are to be derived from
them, but their gradual extension proves that
there is no limit to the system of utility in
which their operations are carried on. The
project ih first acted apon by the Board in
the winter of 1847? *48, with six schools, regis
tering 3,224 pupils, and an average attendance
of 1.224. In the second year Beveral new
schools wero added, and the number registered
was 6,796, with an average attendance of 2,190.
The best ratio pf .attendance was that of the
first year, the propertion being as 1 to 2.63 of
the registered number, whilst the lowest rate
since the establishment of the schools was that
of the second year, being only 1 to 3.18, Dur
ing the last two years the ratio of attendance
has been better, that of the last term showing
an average increase of six hundred over the
term Hhmodiately preceding. The total num
ber of schools under the care of the committee
is now twenty-five, and in the term just closed
there were registered, ol male pupils 7,061. and
of female, 2,2 "?2; at the colored male school
130; at the colored fennle school, 124. The
whole numbe r regi-tered wan 9.313. and the
average attendance was 3,319. or 1 to 2.80 of
the registered nuuibt r. This is the best ave
rage, With the exception of the first term, which
bus been presented by any report.
One of the most gratifying and important
ft attires in the working of the*e schools is tho
value which appears to be attached, even by
adults, to tlje testimonials granted by the com
mittee to thoae pupils who distinguish them
selves by their proficiency and regularity of
attendance. It proves that there if amongst the
very poorest and most toilworn classes of the
community more honorable ambition than they
are nsually given credit for, and that it only
requires to be stimulated by proper incentives
to direct it towards objects that will advance
not only their moral, but material condition.
That the reaction of this system upon society
must be wide spread and beneicial, it is
scarcely necessary for us to point out It will
not only contribute to diffuse the blessings of
education amongst all classes of our people, but
it will place the relations of the employer and
the employed in a more satisfactory position.
The former will obtain in this diploma a moral
guarantee for the good conduct and punctuality
of bis workmen, whilst its possession will more
readily throw open to the latter the avenues of
industry. It is clear that the man who can
exhibit such a proof oi his self-denial and anxiety
for improvement will always obtain a preference
over those who are too idle or too depraved to
profit by the advantages which these schools
hold out to them.
The nativities of the female pupils, of whioh a
tabular statement is given in this report, present
one curious feature which will be found some
what at war with prevailing prejudices. Of the
different nations inscribed on the register, the
Irish are the most numerous, exceeding even
in this respect our own countrywomen. We
recommend the fact to the attention of our
M No Irish need apply " advertisers.
. "V\ c regret to find that the number of female
pupils bears so snail a proportion to that of the
maleB. Between the ages of 16 and 2i, for in
stance, the proportion is only 658 females to
?2,756 males, or little better than one to four*
The importance of attending to the mental cul
tivation of their female children, cannot be too
strongly impressed upon the working classes.
It is one of the most powerful safeguards that
they can set up against the vice and demorali
zation by which they are surrounded. Napo
leon once said to Madame Gampan : "The old
system of education is good for nothing. What
do young women stand in need of, to be well
brought up in France?" "Of mothers," answer*
ed that lady. "You are right," replied the
Emperor. . "Well Madam, let the French be in
debted to you for bringing up mothers to their
children." We would do well to profit by the
moral of the anecdote.
Rcsbian Privateers from United Staths
Ports. ? In an another part of our paper will be
found an article from the Courrier des Etat?
Unit, respecting the supposed real objects of
the visit of certain Russian officers to this
country, which was announced In the Hcrald
a short time sinoe. It is broadly iiITIi ii^l that
these agents, who arrived here ostensibly to
superintend the construction of some screw pro
pellers for the service of the Emperer, are in
reality engaged in making preparations for the
armament of Russian privateers in the ports of
the United States. Our contemporary appears,
greatly alarmed for French commerce, ^ut we
shall probably have something to say on the x
subject to-morrow that may have the effect of
tranquilising his apprehensions.
Vlia Extradition Cut Again.
TBI mSONSB ATIBMPTLNG TO EXTRADITE BIM8SLP? ?
? CBASB IN TBI PAHK.
Alexander Hellbronn, whose extradition has been sought
by the British government, and whe, daring the legal"
proeeedlngi which have been reoeatly going on la tha
oourte, has been permitted to go at largo attended by an
officer, nude ea attempt to eeoape yesterday morning. It
appcan that while with deputy offioer Phillips, crossing tha ?
Park about 8 o'clock, they were met by Mr. Bat* teed, tha
prisoner's conssel, who told the lattar that he wished to
fcave a short pri 'ate conversation with Hellbronn. Officer
Phillips accordingly left them for a fow moments, and
wbon he returned, he founditha the prisoner was running
towards Btoadwaj. Aa exciting chase ensued, which was
shortly joined in by Thompson and De Angela*, two depo
ties, who at thli moment luckily came up, and the former
sMjeeded in capturing Hellbronn. It should be remarked
here, that the Supreme Oourt hare not yet decided in the
ease, and that it is the determination of the United State
Marshal to icod the piisonsr off in the Pa si He,
BIS DEPAXTVBI BT TBI PACIFIC..
Hellbronn wae delivered yesterday into the hauls oC
ths English cficlals, oa board the steamship Pacilo
which left this port at twelve o'clock. He was takes
down to the pier foot of Canal street by the U. S. Mtnha)
aad his deputise. Some apprehensions were entertained
tbat an attempt would be made to reseus him; but tharc
wae no dis'.ubanoe of any kind, aad although a ooniidor
able number of persons were collected oa the pier, there
wss not the slightest ezcltemi nt.
Marine Affair*.
Tbi Steamship Africa ?The tfforti of the (team tag*,
ud ether meaaii ued to Boat the Africa, have hitherto
beea unauccestfal, and she remains In about the same
poeUioo at last reported. Owing to this asaldent ah*
will not leave on Wednesday, her appointed aallng day
The ateamship America will lea re Boaton on that day
instead; conisqaently there will be ne European (teaoMX
from New York until the departure of the Hermann next
Ha'urday. Want of time prevented the America haiag
brought around to take the Africa's place from this city.
Tub Cuprn 0?iT Rkttbuc ? The Boston Atom sayr
that Oapt. L. Vt Key, formerly of the ship Republic, has
bad an cflftr from a foreign houre to rebuild his ship aa a
a learn frig it* and would laare Baa ton on Saturday in the
new eilpprr Lightning, for IiTeipool, to make the neeaa
larj arrangements
Theatres and Exhibitions.
BowiRT Thbatrb ? Toe drama or " Uscle rod's 0*M? "
oommasrea the sixth ?eek of its suceeaafnl run on M nday
eier.lcg and it will be eootlrun*: tbrmgho it the week.
The performance of Uncle Tom by T. D. Rio* la univer
sally admired
Broadway TmtAT*r? " A ML'sumcer Night's Dream n
remslca on tb? bl'ls of tbli boose for the whole of thla
week It wH be played on Menday, in ooejanctkra with
a popular farce The rpastacle part of the piece walks
admirably.
Br rtos's Thritsb ? Shakspeare's immortal eomedy,
?'A Midsummer Night's Dream," la to be give a on Monday
eveairg, with its greet east and all the Mendelseohn
music Mr Burton's performance of Bdttom, the weftfef,
la a maaterpUee of acting.
Natiotal Tiiiatbb ? 'Untie Ton's Qabln" Is to be eoa
tlnued at the National dating tbia week. It will be given
on Monday evening On Monday afternoon. Mr. 8a oa
deia' moral draira of ' Tim Gambler" la the attraction.
Walla ex's Trxatrb ?Mr. Brougham's comedy, "The
Qsme of Life," i? to be given ?n Mocday evening, at the
reqoestof many ef It* admirers. The a?at little place,
"A Holdlar's C unship,'' la to precede the oomedy.
Rabxi n's Mrsim ?The drama called *' Hot Ocrn" la to
be p'a.ve<i on Monday afternoon, and In the ereeing the
favoiite pl?ce. "The Old Folka at Home." Both of theee
fl'eea are >iy H J Ctnesy, a popular author la addi
tion to these performances. tbe v a rime curiosities at the
Museum will be on exhibition day and evening.
Broapwat Mb*agbsib ?The whole city is flocking tc
see the IJUipu'lsn K rg The little feiow weighs lean
than six pound s, ard is in perfect health. The diemess
Tales, and man? olher curl .sitles. are also to be seen.
Pir.woa Bin 7 will reinaln at the 4turveeaat Institute
orly a week lurger. His exhibitions of magic and fan
trt)rf|Dt<ro are v??y Intares'lcg.
Omen's H:\*TRinji No 471 Broadway, are haviag
crowded hou-?> e?i ry Light. 8- veral novelties ersan
n< tinned fer this wet, aad Mcniay'e programme la full
of good things
Weob's Mib.-tkiu ?At thl? hall, 414 Broadway, on
M Lday a new . pr.a "Land Bar da '?ham Muoey Al.
tre com, any appear la It, and eomath ng vcy rich lr
expected.
Chiblsb Fail ->Tne "Bohemian OlrL" a flew harlosque.
is to he riven oa Monday. bv the Ilaokley'a Minstrel*.
They Lave heretofore been h.gbly successful.
Personal Intelligence.
James H. B-a s publisher of '.hr timttm Pn>'; <;*irga T.
Coeer'r, II *'r?" p lVcbin, New Ilir 'tsk, were
am n* tbaariivala je>tf rday a*, the C;opsr Heuae. Broad
way
DUPAKTrKKS.
f?r Llvsrwol left's ? t > Pacific? r, H Herpard Hoarer
t! llltaubx N \ ; J fe U-T'lik, l?r aad Kri W I! Km;, N
Y; II A nn'? M V; 11 ants .e, Jp, K ft B Detkfiiw, J g
K? ?rj Cept Al .iw^fth. Lewie 8 >.ery,
bakrer ol SeMattn n II J btr>. So; Mr Kimmoth. NVnrk",
i 1> Kiiu'ali, t Smith, F M l.arak. tiiaa Sn.it * (mt.i,
%? a" 4 t?-s Vf "".MO ?:ai?-, K U P>rry 11 a Kli*. *r
Jaree, * ?'?. Ji rr Ki . Iloath. rjoek, Kr an i M.-- J ifuw
arl, A.r? Vsrtier, N t ; Luuts >att L A AdJLn?wn ?a*laa4;
Kebsrt J*rianls M . Wn Aldjldae, MT; Wm Uugsial, Mg