The New York herald. [volume], December 12, 1876, Page 6, Image 6

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

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NEW YORK HERALD
BROADWAY AND ANN STREET.
JAMES GORDON BENNETT,
PROPRIETOR
THE DAILY HEltALD, published every
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day excluded). Ten dollars per year, or at
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VOLUME XLI NO. 3H
AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT.
BOWERY THEATRE.
INNOCENT, at 8 I'. M. Mr. D..mlniek Murray.
grand opera house.
CRABBED AGE, at 8 P. M.
HOOTU'S THEATRE.
KINO LEAR, at 8 I'. M. Lovrrnr. Barrett.
OBRMANIA THE tTKE.
DAS URBlI.D DEa TAKTUFKl. at s J'. M.
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rni? SCHOOL FOR SCANDAL, at 8 V. M.
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NEW YORK aQUARITOL
Open dally.
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8AM, at 8 p. m. k. s. CLaufrua.
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COLCMIIIA OPERA HOUSE.
VARIETY, at H 1*. M. Matlnae at 2 P. M.
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VARIETY, at 8 P. M.
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at 8 P. X.
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TRIPLE SHEET.
NEW YORK, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13. 1878.
NOTICE TO NEWSDEALERS AND THE PUBLIC.
Owing to tbo action of a portion of the carriers,
newsmen and news companies, who are determined
that tbo public shall not bave the Herald at tbree
cents per copy II tbor can prevent it, we bare made
arrangements to place the Herald In tbe bands of
all oar readers at tho reduced prloe. Newsboys and
dealers can purchase any quantity tbey may desire
at No. 1,206 Broadway and No. 2 Ann street, and
also from our wagons on tbe principal avenues. All
dealers who bave l>een threatened by the news com
panies are requested to send In their orders direct to
us, at No. 2 Ann RtreeL
From our reports this morning the probabilities
are that the weather to-dciu icil' be warmer
and cloudy or partly cloudy, with light snow
or rain, followed by clearing weather.
Wall Street Yesterday.?The stock mar
ket was excited and prices declined, although
there was a slight recovery at the close.
Gold opened at 107J, fell to 107 and ad
vanced to 107), which was the last price.
Government bonds continne weak, but their
activity shows the presence of a fair demand.
Railway mortgages were generally steady.
Money on call closed at 2 and 3 per cent
liter rating at 6 and 7 per cent.
An Important Decision was made by
Justice Morgan yesterday in the suit of
George W. Hollender, a barroom proprietor,
against the Excise Commissioners for grant
ing him a license to sell liqnor. .In dismiss
ing the case the Jndge emphatically states
that the Commissioners acted strictly ac
cording to law.
The Fast Mail?The whole country will
rejoice to learn that the fast mail trains are
lo restore to the people the postal facilities
vhich have been so severely missed dnring
Ihe past few months. Tho old system has
been almost nncndnrable to bnsincss men
and newspaper readers since they have
learned with what promptitude their letters
and papers could be forwarded under a
live postal policy, and they have had
excellent reason to complain that economy
should have been attempted in a branch of
the service in which the extreme expense is
so trifling when compared with the magni
tude of the interests which it affects. The
official credit of the renewal of the enter
prise is to be divided between Postmaster
General Tyner and General Superintendent
Vail but success would have been impos
sible bad not leading railway managers met
the department in a friendly and liberal
spirit.
Tax Rapid Change in tho weather is
kaving a terrible effect upon the poor of
the city. Even during the summer months
the destitute have a battle to fight with the
wolf, hunger, of which the well-to-do know
little. But when the biting touch of winter
strikes their thinly clad bodies gaunt famine
has an ally which renders the struggle in
tolerable. While every metropolis has its
poor that must suffer, because they aro
unknown and prefer to die rather than
beg, thero are many who can be easily
found through tho means of our char
itable societies. It is their duty to send
out into the byways and carry them suc
cor. If money is needed they have but to
make the fact known, and it will bo forth
soming. In another column will be found
an account of misery that well might startle
Into action even those accustomed to wretch
edness. It is better to give a lew dollars to
a starving man than to buy him a coffin. It
sosts no more and only a little trouble.
Will otpr charitable societies go to tho poor,
tad not wait to havs the poor come to thorn?.
The Presidential Complication.
It was an object of djsep Bolicitnde with
the founders of our government that the
executive power should bo peaceably trans
mitted ill the frequent chanties of adminis
tration incident to our political system.
While intending to establish the responsi
bility of the Chief Magistrate to the people
by short terms and ever-recurring elections
they also sedulously guarded uguinst civil
disturbances arising out of u disputed
choiee. Recognizing the just supremacy of
the popular will they still judged it better
that popular hopes should be sometimes
disappointed than that the public tran
quillity should bo put in jeopardy by the
uncertain result of a Presidential election.
When the majority for one candidate is
large anil, therefore, nnquestionable, the
system they established gives efficiency to
the popular will. When the majority is
small and doubtful, or when no candidate
huppens to receive a majority, they deemed
it of higher consequence to avoid turbulent
controversies than to give the elec
tion to the candidate having the
highest number of votes. Their theory
seemed to be that when a candidate
was strongly desired or was peculiarly ob
noxious, the votes of the people would
clearly declaro their will; and the fact that
a candidate had either a donbtful majority
or none proved that the preference
was not so decided as to make the
wish of one set of voters paramount to
the peace of the country. The whole body
of citizens have an interest in peace, and
when onPlr a minority or a doubtful major
ity have an interest in the success of a can
didate the fromers of the constitution wisely
decided that the interest of a part should be
subordinated to the interest of the whole.
Our system accordingly contemplates the
occasional election of a minority President.
Whenever the election goes into the House
of Representatives the lowest candidate in
a list of three may be constitutionally
elected. Had it happened in the present
contest that Mr. Hayes had received one
hundred and eighty-four electoral votes, Mr.
Tilden one hundred and eighty-four nnd
Mr. Cooper one vote, Mr. Cooper might
have been elected by the House of Rep
resentatives in perfect conformity to the
constitution. The House is not required to
elect the highest candidate, but one of the
highest three. It is at perfect liberty to
elect the lowest of the three and bestow the
office on the candidate who was the choice
of the smallest number of citizens. The
majority principle prevails in our system
when the majority is clear and indis
putable ; but rather than have the country
plunged into the horrors of civil strife the
frnmers of the constitution thought it better
to have a President for whom but a small
fraction of the people voted. John Quincy
Adams had less than thirty per cent of the
popular vote nnd only about thirty-two per
cent of the electoral votes, and yet he was a
constitutional President. It was cosier
to have it so than to go through
the turmoil of a new election, when there
was so little concentration of popular senti
ment. It was infinitely wiser to have it 89 (
than to imperil great interests by a resort to
violence. Whenever it so happens that
there is not strong preponderance in favor
of one candidate or one party our po
litical controversies are adjourned to
the next Presidential election, when popular
sentiment may declare itself with more em
phasis. This, then, is tho tendency of our
political system to make the majority om
nipotent when the fact of a majority is not
open to dispute, but to bridge over con
troversies and Bubmit temporarily to
minority rule when the public Vill is
not unmistakably declared or not clearly
ascertained. This is the spirit of
our system. It recognizes tho rights of
majorities, hut guards against civil commo
tions. When public sentiment is tolerably
united it is sure to prevail, but when it is
divided it is better to give it time to mature
and consolidate, even if the Presidency is
given meanwhile to the man who has
the smallest number of votes. In 1821
a minority candidate became Presi
dent; but four years later there
was sncli a concentration in favor
of General Jackson, who was defeated in
1824, although he had the highest number
of electoral votes, that in 1828 he had a ma
jority of nearly five to one in the Electoral
Colleges. How much better it was to await
this action of the people than it would have
been to disturb the peace of the country in
behalf of a defeated candidate!
If, as seems not unlikely, Mr. Hayes
should be inaugurated as tho next President,
the democrats will quietly submit, as they
did to the election of John Quincy Adams,
and make a successful appeal to tho people
as tlicy did then. They are too patriotic to
put all business interests in jeopardy
by revolutionary resistance. They aro
too sensible to turn public opinion
against them by disturbing tho value of
property and keeping the country in tur
moil when they may so safely trust to the
future verdict of the people. If they have
not a strong case they will be crushed be
neath the weight of public odium if they
trifle with great public interests in a vain
pursuit of party advantage. If they
have a strong caso they may safely commit
it to the future decision of the people.
They have everything to gain by modera
tion, wisdom, patriotism and a frank renun
ciation of scllish aims?everything to lose
by madly imperilling the business interests
of the country. Tho democratic party could
not survive a violent, revolutionary resist
ance to tho election of Air. Hayes if ho
should be declared entitled to tho office.
No reasonable democrat can doubt that
Mr. Hayes would make a President of a
very different typo from General Grant.
He is a conservative, law-abiding citizen,
lie would never think of employing the
army to control elections or interfere
with State legislatures, lie is a law
yer by profession and would never over
ride the law by military force. He
is committed to specie payments, commit
ted to civil service reform, is liberal in his
sentiments toward the South, aud has an
undisguised detestation of tho rascally
methods of the carpet-bag r/ijime. No rea
sonable men can doubt that an exchange
of Grant for Hayes would be a great
relief to the country, and especially
to the South. But if the democrats
should resort to violence in resisting the
election of Hayes the}' may create a situa
tion which would retain Grunt in power and
lead to the substitution of military l'orce
for the supremacy of law. It is worth
while to get quietly rid of President
Grant, even by the sacrifice of imme
diate party interests. There is every reason
for expecting that Mr. Hayes would be a
conservative, law-respecting as well as hon
est President, and attempts to keep him out
or to depose him by revolutionary methods
would be a fatal political blunder on the
part of the democratic party.
In all human probability Mr. Hayes will
be our next President, and if the democratic
party is patriotic and magnanimous enough
to accept this result when it finds that
appeals to Congress and pnblic opinion can
nont prevent it, there is no reason for fearing
that he will not treat it with fairness and
justice. We have no doubt that the South
would bo as well governed under him as
under Mr. Tilden. We have no doubt that
he would take the advice of the best class of
Southerners in his treatment of that sec
tion. We believe that his policy wonld be
in all respects considerate and concil
iatory if tho democratic party gives
him fair treatment after his inaugura
tion. All his sympathies are with the lib
eral clement of tho republican party. With
one branch of Congress opposed to him in
politics ho wonld be bound over to good
behavior, even if fairness was not the lead
ing trait of his character. It would be mad
ness for tho democratic party to resort to
violence against such a man and thereby
run the risk of keeping the government in
the hands of Grant.
If Mr. Ilayes is declared President he will
be free from all the political entanglements
of the present administration, in which he
has had no part. The Chandlers and
Camerons and schemers will have no hold
on him ; he will be no party to the in
veterate quarrel between Mr. Conkling and
Mr. Blaine ; he will come into office with the
most perfect freedom in the choice of his
confidential advisers. He is not the kind
of man to ignore the high character and
great abilities of Mr. Conkling. Ho is more
likely to be gnided by Mr. Conkling's judg
ment than by that of violent partisans
like Mr. Morton and Mr. Blaine. If
ho shonld give Mr. Conkling one of
the chief places in his Cabinet the
citizens of New York, at least, would have
great confidence in his administration at the
outset. Mr. Conkling is n comparatively
young man and has probably a great politi
cal future. He will regulate his present
public course, not by tho transient pas
sions of the hour, but by the judgment
which will be formed of it in a
calmer period, when this spasmodic excite
ment shall have subsided. We are confi
dent that hiR action will be so wise and jnst
and conciliatory during these passing
troubles that the whole country will desire
to see him occupy a high rank among the
advisers of Mr. Hayes if Mr. Hayes should
be the next President.
The Bee??,al? A(?mMnnaB.
Homer was about as distant in time from
the heroes whose exploits he haa chronicled
in the Iliad as we are from the days of Marl
borough and Prince Eugeno, Turenne,
Montecuculli and SobieskL He was quite
as near to Agamemnon as we are to Louis
XIV. of France. In fact, he was too near to
the King of Men to dare to touch with a free
hand those dreadful family histories which
required seven hundred years more of the
softening effect of tradition to fit them to the
rises of iEschylus and Euripides on the
tragic stage. |
Yet it has boen doubted whether the
great event that the first of poets so sin
cerely chronicled ever occurred, or whether
his heroes were other than mythical fancies
with personal names. It is hardly a con
ceivable case thilt any sane person should
now doubt that Louis XIV. was a real
sovereign of a great country, and the
French King did not make so great an im
pression upon the world of his time as the
son of Atreus did upon the smaller
world of heroio Greeoe. It is doubt
ful, oven, whether the art of printing
has increased the vividness with which the
memory of famous men is passed on from
generation to generation. Printing cer
tainly gives ampler scope to our view ; it
gives us the past in greater detail; it is
like a photograph of a street sceno in which
all the small detail comes out as clearly as
the greater facts. The commander of the
forces is there, and so is the pedler
of peanuts at the corner. But tradition
Is like tho historical painter who concen
trated his skill on the attitudes and faces of
the essential figures?gives us the hero glo
rified, perhaps, and leaves out tho unessen
tial nobodies, For this reason tradition,
perhaps, transmitted from bard to bard the
well studied trait* of the great figures with
a livelier fidelity than written history can
reach. It is supposable that Homer knew
Agamemnon as vividly as this generation
knows Napoleon Bonaparte.
It has been a piece of critical folly, there
fore, to doubt at any time the broad facts of
Homer's chronicle; but this is a folly of
which tho world has seen the Inst now that
the patient delver 'who uncovered the Per
gumus of Priam has actually brought to the
sunlight the very bones of the commander
of the expedition against Troy. Dr. Schlie
mann's discoveries have in them all the satis
faction of naked seelity. They are historical
autopsies, as convincing on the points they
touch as post-mortem examinations ore
medically. We give to-dny some further
particulars of his most interesting explora
tions at Myceme.
Mr. Robert M. T. Hunter, of Virginia,
ono of the most distinguished and expe
rienced statesmen of the country, explains,
in a letter to the Hsrai.d printed in another
column, his views of the right of Congress
to inquire into and ascertain tho validity of
the electoral votes.
The Steamer Bristol passed through a
?mble experience in the Sound yesterday,
t recalls the disaster of the Metis two years
go, but happily not with a terrible loss of
ifo. It is creditable to the officers of the
Iristol that the boat did not founder. Good
eamanship sated her passengere and cargo.
LovUUnk from ? Drmocratlc Stand
point.
The report of the distinguished democrats
who visited New Orleans for the purpose of
witnessing the proceedings of the Louisiana
Returning Board is published in the Hekald
to-day. As a matter of course it takes issue
with the republican statement which was
submitted to Congress by the President a
few days ago. It declares the action of the
Returning Board in proclaiming the
election of the Hayes electors to be
"arbitrary, unfair and without warrant
of law," and adopts as applicable to this
canvass the language used by George F.
Hoar, William A. Wheeler and William P.
Frye in a report made to the House of Rep
resentatives in regard to the canvass of
1872?"the so-called canvass, made by the
Returning Board in the interest of Kellogg
seems to us to have no validity and is
entitled to no respect whatever." In
several instances the report turns against
the republicans their own condemna
tion of the Louisiana Returning
Board's past iniquities; but, however
telling such hits may bo in a con
troversy, they have no bearing on tho pres
ent case. The democratic statesmen who
make the report possess sufficient intelli
gence to know that tho only benefit they can
render their party is by making out so
strong a case against the legality of the Re
turning Board's action as to influence the
judgment of fair-minded republicans in
Congress, or, failing this, to strengthen tho
democratic cause among tho people in tho
future.
The review of tho Louisiana State laws
relating to elections is full and able, nnd in
this the only hope of the democracy lies.
The past record of the Returning Board is
important only inasmuch as it disposes fair
minded republicans to look scrutinizingly
into its present acts. Wo have no doubt the
legal powers as well as the action of tho
Board will bo fully disonssed and examined
by Congress, and as whatever result may be
there reached will be final it is to be hoped
that it will be acquiesced in by the democ
racy even if it should sustain the decision
which gives the electoral vote of the
State of Louisiana to their opponents.
When both sides have been fairly
heard neither can consistently object
to the vordict. The report closes with
ant appeal to sentiment?wo are un
willing to say passion?which might as
well, and probably better, have been
omitted. The law, interpreted by men who
respect their own honor and their oath of
office, must, after all, decide the case ; and
as it will he the duty of all good citizens to
respect that decision it is as well that all
passion should be omitted from the argu
ment on both sides.
Art Collection*.
In the world of art the oollector is a power,
because in addition to the sympathy he
must possess with what is beautiful and
excellent in art workmanship he is supposed
to possess special knowledge as well as great
wealth. It is not enough that he is an
admirer or sympathizer with art; he should
oe learned in the branches of workmanship
he protects, in order that his work shall be
truly efficient and his teaching authoritative.
Wealth alone may enable a man to acquire
ownership of art works by artiBts with great
names, but culture is needed to confer au
thority, to influence or guide public taste. We
have in America a goodly number of wealthy
gentlemen who aspire to rank as art collec
tors, but their fame too frequently rests
on the possession of a few master
pieces whieh are lost amid a mass of
worthless paintings whieh are grandilo
quently termed a collection. Now nothing
would be more distasteful to a true connois
seur than the presence in his house of an
art work which possessed no special merit.
It would be to him a source of constant an
noyance and humiliation which he would
remove from sight at the earliest opportu
nity. As a rule our American collections
show a complete absence of this artistic
feeling, which is no doubt due to the fact
that collections are made, in very many
cases, because it is fashionable to have pic
tures rather than from any real sympathy
with art. In a collection worthy of unre
stricted praise no poor or questionable work
would be admitted ; but we cannot hope to
see many such collections organized while
our collectors depend in great part on the
assistance and advice of dealers in making
their selections. The picture dealer is es
sentially a tradesman, however much he
may try to hide the fact under an assumed
interest in art, and what he seeks to do is to
sell his wares at the highest proiit
to himself. As a result a good part of his
operations consists in selling great names to
people who do not know enough to judge
correctly for themselves. Thus works by
Gerbme, Fortuny or Meyer von Bremen
have for the picture dealer on arbitrary
value quite independent of the actual quality
of the picture which is to be sold. Indeed,
so well has this come to be recognized that
there exists in all the great European studios
something in the nature of a manufacturing
department, in which the smallest possible
quantity of work is spread over tho largest
possible amount of canvas for issue to the
trade, and we regret to say thot most of
those hasty and ill-digested pictures are
disposed of in the American market at
prices that must fairly astonish the in
genuous dealers who introduce them. The
cure for this evil lies in the cultivation of a
sounder and more exact judgment among
tho class which at present patronizes art,
so that people will no longer be
tempted to buy art works merely on
the reputation ot their authors, but
will seo to it that what they purchase
will not only be tho work of good artists,
but the good work of good artists, which is
tho essential point We have lortnnately
outgrown to a certain extont the idea that a
valuable picture must necessarily be a largo
one, and that to get the worth of one's
money it is necessary to receive so many
square yards of canvas. The sums pnid to
Meissonier for pictures only a few inches
square would make the purchasers of art by
the yard hold their breath; but any sound
judge would decide that tho investment in
those small gems is tho saiest and
best, whether from an art or a business
I standpoint This is a satisfactory prog- J
ress, and there is reason to believe that we
will not stop here. More eare in selecting
pictures of the highest order will
probably be shown by our best art col
lectors, and we hope that collections will be
formed in New York in which every picture
will be a gem of art. Such a collection
would prove invaluable in developing a
sound and intelligent art taste among our
citizens.
Shall Th?r? Be Skating In the Parkal
When summer ends and autumn falls into
the aere and yellow leaf; when races are over
and the polo ponies go to their stables and
coaching is postponod, then new outdoor
sports come in with the winter. Snow
brings the silver tintinnabulation of the
sleigh bells, and as the spirits of the ther
mometer full the spirits of the skating
brotherhood rise. "The ball is up!" is
always a welcome announcement to the
friends of this beautiful and invigorating
exercise. New York, however, differs from
most other cities in this respect; she
has no fresh water rivers on which a smooth
surface of ice may be formed, and her ska
ters must depend upon tho lakes in the
parks. Unfortunately- Central Park is not
in a good financial condition this year, and
no provision has been made for keeping tho
lakes in good order for skaters. This is a
serious matter, and Bteps of some kind
should be taken at once to accommodate the
thousands of ladies and gentlemen to whom
skating is ono of the most pleasing of win
ter amusements.
The suggestion of a correspondent, whose
letter is elsewhere published, that in this
dilemma ail tho skaters of New York city
should subscribe what they cau respectively
afford to a general fund, for the employment
of men to keep the skating ponds in order,
seems to us excellent. It Is a question which
they must decide; for if the Park Com
mission has not money sufficient to executo
the purposes for which the Park was
created then the public must provide for its
own interests. If tho skaters of New York
have enterprise enough to create a fund we
are willing to take charge of it for the pres
ent, and to turn it over to any responsible
committee, or to the Park Commissioners, if
that body, as we have little doubt it will,
consents to suporviso its distribution. One
thing is certain?skating this winter should
not bo prevented bj' any bad condition of
the Park lakes.
Dreii In School*.
Woman's passion for lino attire has
troubled the world for a great while, and
it is not strange, perhaps, that it should now
give rise to a grievance in our public
schools. All the poets and half the philos
ophers are agreed that one of woman's great
duties is to be beautiful, and if nature has
not been kindly in this respect no doubt
the individual woman is simply loyal
to this duty in her endeavors to
supplement with the embellishments
of the toilet the few charms that
niggardly nature did pot deny her.
Therefore it is evident that that instinct of
the sex which the satirists and moralists
scorn as vanity may serve a wise purpose in
the social economy. But it is evident that
there are appropriate occasions for the play
of this instinot, and occasions when it
should shine by its absence. One of the
places where women, especially in the rudi
mentary state of girlhood, should not
endeavor to crush one another by the
splendid paraphernalia of the wardrobe
is in the educational institution, where they
might be supposed to feel an equality of
helplessness in the terrible presence of the
rule of three. In these establishments, if
anywhere, that great common law of the
uncomely "handsome is that handsome
does"?should be recognized, and the girl
who can most readily apply the rule to the
false syntax be placed far above tho one
whose ears are loaded with diamonds or whose
empty little head is bound with Brussels lace.
Our correspondent who in another column
calls for a rule that shall enforce upon
scholars a "decent plainness of dress" is
therefore right; but the necessity of such a
rule implies a want of taste and judgment
in those who are at the head of the schools.
That is wherd> the remedy should be ap
plied. Vanity in a school begins with the
teacher.
Th* Weather.
The snow has come at last in sufficient
quantity to resist the melting effects of ter
restrial heat and tho action of the wind,
and now covers a largo area of the country.'
During the earlier snowfalls of the season in
this region the flakes dissolved as they fell,
but now that tho winter has fairly set in
wo may look lor tho deep drifts along tho
country roadsides, the snow heaps on tho
gutter lines of tho streets, tho panting steam
sweeper on tho avenues and the double
teams dragging heavily laden cars up
and down the city thoroughfares. With
tho area of low pressure now advancing
eastward over the lower lake region a gen
eral snowfall has taken place and continues
eastward of the Mississippi and northward
of Tennessee. Even Knoxville, in that
State, has a heavy fall yesterday, meas
uring when melted over a quarter of an
inch of water. In tho West the temperature
has risen considerably, but along the At
lantic coast continues low, and at some points
in Now England is below zero in tho
morning. The winds have, however, abated
in violence, and the cold is not as severely
felt as during Saturday and Sunday. In
New York to-day it will be warmer and
cloudy or partly cloudy, with light snow or
rain, followed by clearing weather.
Tn* House op It kpres*!* tatives has de
cided to send a committee to New York and
another to Jersey City to investigate the
conduct of tho late election. Tho denizens
of these two cities will naturally wonder
what will bo investigated. As tho major
ities in both cities are of the same political
complexion as the House itself it seems as
if the only action possible to tho committees
will bo to exhibit a fatherly interest in tho
methods by which a number of good demo
crats were enabled to participate in tho
national loaves and fishes. Or, it is baroly
possible that the House is not above learn
ing from tho Senate, nud that tho action of
the lust named body toward certain South
ern States has reminded tho Representatives
that the whitewash brush is not necessarily
a Senatorial monopoly.
Whjr Wot Adjourn I
The first week of the Congressional ses
sion has, on the whole, been creditable to
both houses and l>oth parties. In the Sen
ate democrats have joined with republicans
in settling the dispute about the twenty
second joint rule by declaring it abrogated;
in the House Mr. McCrary (republican) has
offered, and tlio Judiciary Committee (dem
ocratic) will favorably report, a resolution
for a committee of fivo members to co-oper
ate with a Senate committee, if such shall
be appointed, to devise a new rule of pro
ceedings for the Presidential difficulty.
The House has passed one of the Appropria
tion bills, and both houses have appointed
committees to examine election matters in
the Southern States. It is a satisfactory
week's work, and we trust next week will
make as good a showing. But as some time
will be required for the Southern commit
tees to make their reports, and as meantime
there will not be much actual work lor Con
gress to do, wo hope the houses will adjourn
next Friday, not to meet agnin until the
new year.
Several reasons concur to moke this course
advisable. The Appropriations Committee
is behind with its work and needs to sil
until New Year's without interruption to
complete its labors in readiness for the
action of Congress. The Southern commit
tees, as we have said, will need some time
to gather materials and complete their re
ports. No profitable discussion of the Presi
dential dispute can take place until they re
port. It would be an advantage to members
and Senators to have the opportunity to talk
with their constituents and come back im
pressed with the public opinion of their lo
calities upon recent important events. Fi
nally, there is a good deal of irritation be
tween the two parties, which, with a lack of
actual and practical work to do, would
probably break out in .exciting and injurious
debates.
For these reasons we shall be glad to sea
Congress adjourn for the holidnys next
Friday. The members can bo more usefully
omployed in tbo vacation by talking with
their constituents than by talking at eaok
other in the Capitol.
Judge Bond has discharged the South
Carolina Board of Canvassers, on the ground
that the State court had no jurisdictioa
over them. But from what source docs h<
derive his jurisdiction to make the dis?
char gc ?
PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE.
Speaker Randall Is not wealthy.
Brot Harto likes to wriie about anow.
Mr. Alexander 11. Bullock, of Massachusetts, la a(
the Filth Avenue Hotel.
Baron de Heykiug, Centennial Commissioner fot
Russia, Is at tho Albemarle Hotel.
A magnificent Ian is or Brussels point da Duchess*
lace and mother-ot-poarl, with gold monogram.
Buffalo Express:?" 'If there lsn Skin game going on,1
says S. J. T., 'count me in. In met, count me in any.
way."'
From launch:?"Tho Khedive's Minister of Finanet
was reported to have died of ovor drinking. He was Is
fuel suffering from an overdose of sack."
Mr. Buskin has noticed that perfection In certain
dccoratlvo arrangements of color and texture goes
along with cannibalism and polyandry.
Mr. Sain started a few days agd for Russia. It ts
probable, however, that tho ultimate destination o( his
present Journallstlo trip will be Constantinople.
Governor Hayes says that the duty of the Oovarnot
of Oregon In regard to the federal election is simply
ministerial, and that bo has no discretion about sale*,
'ng the electors.
Tho Earl of Uunrsven and Mr. Albert Blersisdt, the
artist, who have been mooso hunting In Nova Scotia tcr
several weeks past, returned to tho city yesterday
and are at the Brovoort House.
Virginia City, Nov., is boing paved with waste
quarts, which, being gradually crushed, releases gold
and stiver valued at $9 to the ton; and one street li
estimated to contain $133,000 m metal.
Bret Ilarte ban arranged to visit Enrope, and may be
expected in England in the oourre of a tow weeks. Ha
will not remain in London ia tho first instance, but
proceeds direct to Switzerland and afterward to Oar
many.
The most practical Idea against Intemperance bat
been started at Nottingham, whero the magistrates
have determined to ascertain from drunkards brought
befora thom the name of the publican who laat sup
piled them with liquor.
From JVwcA.?"Betting Man, to his partner:?'Look
'ere, Joo! I 'ear you've been gamblin' on the Stock
Exchange! Now, a man must draw the line some
where; and II that kind of thing goes on, you and mo
will 'avo to part company!' "
Tho death la annouueed of the Greek monk, Nleo
lara, who followed Canaris through all the eampaigna
of the Grcok war ol Independence. It was he who
blew up the Turkish admiral's vessel in the Straits of
Seta Alter tho war ha retired again to hla convent.
Evening Telegram:?"It is worthy of remark that Of
the recent tales from South Carolina come Irom coum
ties that border upon tbo Savannah River, and Georg.
tans are mixed up in the transactions. The tnailintloi
of jury trial for criminals seems to bo extlnot In that
part ol tho country."
From Fun:?"Vicar's Danghtor?'William N oak on,
does your mother ovor comb your hairt' William?
'No, miss, nur ol doan' want 'or to, noilher !' Vicar's
Daughter?'Why, you horrid boy f William?'Whey f
'Cos father 'o stop out too late at the "Three Tuns"
t'otner-nolght, an' 'c's abed neaow with tho coiobin'
'Isn got 1' "
Narcisae Vlrgilo Diaz, tbo celcbrnlod French palnlar,
has Just died at Mentono at thn age o( seventy. He waa
on a wedding tour In Italy wlion ho was oWirtakcn by
death, having been married a second time only Qlteen
days bcloro. Diaz was a brilliant disciple of Theodora
Rousseau and Millet, and made bis appearance at tha
time ot tne Restoration. Uia paintings nearly all rep
resented lovo scenes.
From Gibraltar wo havo a report ot a very Interest
Ing match between (lgliteon men or the marine artil
lery with a Gatllng gun and a similar number of maa
Irom tho rifle brigade with rifles. They formed at 800
yards from the targets, representing a seetioa ot man,
and then advancing 300 yards openod tire. Tha result
was greatly In laror of tho riflemen, who fired 829
rounds, making 184 hits, while tho Galling gnn, which
jammed the vise, fired 307 rounds lor only sixty.nloa
hits.
M. Vlvlcr, the Frenchman who has made it the
business of his lite to worry the custom bouse inspec
tors of all European oountrlas, baa ratnrnod to France,
bis wont formerly was to pack a huge trunk lull of
trouscr straps, such aa are worn with gaiters, using
hydraulic pressure If It wars necessary to cram Ave
bushels Into a thrco bushel space; then to lure th?
inspector to open It as a auspicious package, whea
naturally tho oontenta ware oversot, and the whole
forco or tho custom bouso was occupied lor hour* in
putting thom beck. A powerful Jack-in-the-box waa
another device of his that was very snccessra!.
."cone?Senator Blank's rooms in Washington. JV?*
tnntr?A number of republicans, among tlicm cx-At
torney Goneral Williams. Enter Smith, who remarks,
"Wall, so Sccroinry Fish has resigned. Thai's tin
nowa just now." >;r. Williams, after a pause:?"That
reminds me ol tho remark of a young fallow 1 knew ts
Oregon, Bill Wlntersmlth. Bill was raised in Salem,
but moved off a hundred milos or so down the read,
married and setilad down. Alter a year or two ha
thought he'd ride up to Aulom to see how things
looked, ami us ho got ucnr tho town au old maa
mot him on horseback, and says he, "Ain't you Bill
Wlntersmlth f" "That's my name," says BiiL
"Well," says tho old man, "Bill, your ratber's dead."
Bill looked at him with contempt, and Bays be, "I
i don't care a damn?I don't live a! home"