The New York herald. [volume], May 16, 1877, Page 6, Image 6

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NEW YORK HERALD
BROADWAY AND ANN STREET.
JAMES GORDON BENNETT,
PBQPRIETO R.
THE DAILY HERALD. yuUuheti tirry Jay l? <>?* yenr.
Tlirre cent* per copy (Suudey excludedi. Ten dollur? per
yeer or at rule ul one oullur per uiontli tor any period le??
limn *i \ mi.ntln. or Ave dollnrs for nil tnvnthi, Sunday
edition included, tree of poeluur.
An baaiueee. newt letiei e or telegraphic dcepntclice tuu.it
tr nddroeed N k\v Ynitk lUHilli.
Letlere and package* ebvuld be properly (ruled.
Rejected coumiutiicutioni will not be relumed.
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VOLV'UR XLU SO. 130
AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT.
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TRIPLE SHEET.
"*~KF.W y01tK7 WKDNKSIiAY," MAY" i'cTTwt"."
NOTICF. TO COUNTRY DKALKRS.
The Adam* Expren* Company ran ? tpsrinl newspaper
tmin ov?r the Pruusyhrsnla Kitilruml end it* connection*,
?eviiis .lertey City at a quarter pant Four A. M. daily and
Miuduy, carrying tlie regular editiou oi the ii skald as tar
Went a? llurrtsour/ and Sonth to Wsttducton, reachins
Philadelphia at a quarter pint ?>x A. St. and Wsshloiiton at
one P. M
From ow report* this mominQ the probabilities
are that the weather in tfetc Fork to-day will be
warm and partly cUmdy or cloudy, and possibly a
thunder storm will oeeier.
Wall Street Yesterday.?The stock market
was dull and showed great signs of weakness,
there being a decline in almost all tho principal
active stocks. Michigan Control and the coal
stocks were very weak. Gold was steady ut
107. Government bonds were firm, and in some
eases a fraction higher, while railroad bonds were
dull and irregular. Money on cull was easy at
2 a 2 per cent, tho former being the closing
quotation.
The Apportionment Bill is not likely to pass
the Semite, and it is probable thut the subject
will have to be considered at an extra session in 1
September.
Committees representing the Board of Alder- j
men yesterday waited on the Governor and ?
offered arguments lor and against the Omnibus j
hill, the gist of which will be found elsewhere. |
The President of the Third Avenue Savings
Bank informs the public in his testimony thut he ,
was in the habit of signing statements he had
never read, and, of course, expects to l>e on this i
ground exonerated from the responsibility of its ;
failure. This excuse the depositors are uot likely ;
to take, particularly as the president is endeav- j
nring to escape pecuniary liabilities on the j
ground thut his bond lias no legal vulue.
St John's Gcild.?The report of the com- |
mittcc appointed to investigate the affairs of St. i
John's Guild will be found elsewhere. The 1
majority exonerate the mauageuient of the j
charity from any gross neglect, but two of tbe 1
nietiiliers censure it for looseness in its direction.
Tlic committee unanimously recommend that the
Guild shall be hereafter organized under the
State laws?advice which we heartily indorse.
Harvard Collp.os is unfortunate this year.
Tlie class day exercises are to lie omitted from
the annual ceremonies because of tho jealousy
of the secret societies of the students and their
inability to agree upon a set of officers. The
athletic sports will also be dispensed with, and
the belles of Cambridge are nuturally in u state
of deep despondency. The outside public, look
ing upon the discord these secret associations
cause, will not have a high opinion of their use
fulness and will be glud to see a serious move
ment for their total abolition.
The Wadksvili.e Verdict.?The public
should thank the Coroner's jury in the Wudes
ville mining disaster ease for a verdict which
Is fearless urnl just. It asserts that the men
who perished by the gas explosion were tlie vic
tims of the carelessness of tho bosses, who per
mitted them to work without safety lamps, and
of the violation of the ventilation laws by the
company, llad the rules la-en enforced und the
laws obeyed it is thought that two lives would
have been saved, and that (lussibly the whole
accident might have been uverted. Tho ques
tion now is, What procticul effect will the ver
diet huvef Judging by experience, none what
ever. In these days one horror treads upon the
heels of another so rapidly that such wrongs are
forgotten before there is time for tlieir punish
ment.
The Weather.?'Die conditions are consider
ably changed in the West and North since Mon
day. The high area is moving southward, with
the greatest pressure on the South Atlantic coast.
Around what might Is- termed the top or north
ern end ot this area stretches a low barometric
belt from Dakota to Newfoundland, the pres
sure being lowest ut each end of tbe zone. But
the winds along the margin of this high area, as
well us through its interior, are very variable.
In the Upper Mississippi and Missouri valleys tho
winds arc brisk to high. An extensive area of
light rain overspreads ihe Central arid North
western regions and the western part of the lake
district, but except at Keokuk no remarkable
lull has occurred. It is probable that when the
high pressure passes to the southward of Tennes
see the whqle region north of that line ami east
of the Mississippi will be visited by light rains,
which, however, will not help much in extin
guishing the widespread forest fires. laical
storms will prevail in the Central and South
western regions. The areas of greatest tempera
ture are west of the Mississippi, over
the Western Gulf ami the New England ami
Middle States; but till the territory southward of
the lakes hod yesterday a very high tempera
ture. the isotherm of 70 degrees running into
Canada at Montreal and as far north as Bismarck,
in Dakota. Isietd observations for temperature
showed 85 degrees in the afternoon on Brood
way, but this was due to reflected heat from the
sidewalks and buildings, and is considerably in
excess of tlie temperature of t he air two hundred
feet above the surface, where the circulation was
free. Eust and South the country will suffer
1'roin dronglit for some -lays at least. Tlie fires
now raging in the forests ate assisted in tlieir
ravages by the dryness of tho timber and under
growth, aifd.will tliurtdor* continue to lie very
destruetive until rainy weather sets in. lo-duy
the weather in New York will be worm and
partly cloudy or cloudy, and possibly a thunder
?Shsi ui Li or Liu
PrHMaat Hayn in K?w York.
The acceptance by the now President of
the Unit eel States of the courtesy tendered
him by the Chamber of Commerce was not
merely a gracious and graceful net, but a
wise act in view of the present political and
commercial situation. This visit of the
President is to bo regarded as something
more thau u pleasant exchange of conrtesies
between the official head of the government
and the leading men of this great iuurt of
commerce. It invites a different line of com
ment from that which would be pursued in
England on the occasion of a visit of the
Queen to Liverpool, which would lead to
mere expressions of loyalty by the local
press. We look upon our Presidents not
as sovereigns, but as responsible public ser
vants. When they hold intercourse with
the people do not regard it as an uct of
royal condescension, but as a means of fit
ting themselves for a better discbarge of
their duties by acquainting themselves
with the sentiments and wants of the people.
President Hayes could not have employed
the few days he spends with us to better
advantage than in attempting to learn
the views of the commercial metrop
olis as to the needs of the country in this
singular conjuncture of affairs. We wish
there were no reason to fear that the cour
tesy due to so distinguished a guest,
and the natural wish of citizens to
make his visit pleasant to him may inter
fere with the frankness and sincerity which
can alone make his visit profitable. Unless
it proves a source of information, and not a
mere occasion of compliments, it is a very
empty and ceremonious affair. It would
perhaps be ungracious for gentlemen who
meet the President in social intercourse on
a brief acquaintance to use much plain
speaking ; but the press of the city, with
out violating any rule of courtesy, may give
frank expression to what is moving in the
hearts of this community.
We begin, then, by saying that it is the i
sense of the thinking part of this eoramer- j
cial community that the government should j
exercise a sagacious discrimination among [
the various useful objects to which it inay
dirpct its attention and efforts. All good
measures nre not of equal urgency and im- '
portance. Thenre ought to be at least as
much sense ui?d discrimination in the
management of a great government as
in the management of a farm. But
what should we think of a farmer
who did not drop all other work in seed
time and devote his whole attention to
ploughing and planting, or drop all other
work in the season of harvest in order to
seenre his crops before wet weather and
mildew destroyed their value ? The com
mon sense of this intelligent community
repudiates the idea put forth by Secretary
Evarts in his able speech at the Chamber of
Commerce banquet, that it is enough for the
government to be active in forwarding good
measures without stopping to weigh their
relative importance. We cannot conceive
of a position more subversive of every
principle of sound statesmanship. We
suspect that Mr. Evarts merely intended to
perpetrate n witicism; for if he meant all
that his language implied no intelligent
merchant or citizen can indorse his opinion.
We hope that the amusing illustration which
he borrowed from Dr. Johnson was meant
for nothing but an exhibition of witty smart
ness. Nothing conld be more preposterous
if it were seriously meant. The idea was
that it really makes no diff erence which use
ful measure is taken up first, and Secretary
Evarts illustrated the idea by quot
ing the saying of Johnson that if
a man should spend time in delib
erating whether he would first put
his right leg or his left leg into his trousers
on rising in the morning he would retard
the business of the day to no purpose. The
wit of this ingenious illustration cannot
blind us to its lullacy. It really makes no
difference whether a man first puts his right
or his left leg into his trousers when he
dresses himself for the day; but Mr. Evarts
is not the man the public takes him to be
if he thinks there is as little to choose
between public measures as between in
serting the right or the left leg
into a pair of trousers. It is, of
course, impossible that a man of the great
mark of Mr. Evarts should believe anything
of the kind. No man of his capacity can
think that all good measures are of equal
importance, and that it makes as little dif
ference which has precedence as whether
one or the other leg of a pair of trousers is
drawn on first. This idea is as ridiculous
as it would be to suppose that the question
of ritualism in England deserves to rank
with the question whether the govern
ment shall support Turkey. It is pre
posterous to regard all public ques
tions as of equal dignity. To recur
to our agricultural illustration, what
could be more absurd than for a farmer, be
cause he thought it necessary to drain a
swamp or to grub up a patch of Canada
thistles, to keep his men employed on these
improvements in the stress of harvest? It
is subversive of every idea of sound states
manship to regard the rank and precedence
of public measures as of as little conse
quence as whether the right or the left leg
is first put into a pair of trousers.
We fear that the administration of Presi
dent Hayes is disposed to act in the spirit
of this preposterous illustration. We fear
that it is asking for an approving popular
verdict on measures which do not belong in
the foreground, but in the background, of
live questions. The supreme need ot the
country in this conjuncture is a revival of
trade and industry ; and whatever the
administration may do or project which has
no direct bearing on this paramount want is
quite beside the mark, in spite of the in
trinsic merit of the measures. It is a very
good thing tor a farmer to drain a swamp,
but not a gootl thing to employ all his
hands in draining a swamp at the season
when he must plough and sow if he is to
expect a harvest. Judging from the
speeches ot members of tin Cabinet at the
Chamber Of Commerce banqiv t the admin
istration attaches more importance to the
frippery ot-national questions than to the
texture of the garment.
The present is no time tor giving undue
importance to taric> questions or sentinieq
tul measures. The bnsiness of the country
languishes, and wh.iievor does not contrib
nte to its revival is an impertinence. The
Southern question has ceased to be
of any importance, and it is preposter
ous for the administration to ask public
confidence for what it has done in
the South. It has done nothing but what
General Grant himself would have done had
he remained in office. President Hayes has
merely put two of the Southern States in
the position already achieved by the other
thirteen. ' The change is conducive to order
and tranquillity in those two States, but it
will have no perceptible effect on the gen
eral business of the country. It is a thing
which the New York merchants approve,
but about which, so far as the interests of
trade are concerned, they cannot greatly re
joice. If South Carolina and Louisiana
were stricken out of the map this would
still J>e u great country, and the question of
a revival of trade and industry would still
remain as important as it is now. The
restoration of those two States to their just
right of self-government makqp no percepti
ble difference in the general commercial
situation. It dispenses with no measures
which were otherwise necessary for the re
habilitation of American industry and com
merce. It is absurd for the administration
to plume itself on the withdrawal of troops
from two States when all the greater
problems which confront it are as
serious and difficult with thirty-eight free
States as they were with thirty-six. The es
sential features of the business problem are
not ut all changed by the release of two
States from federal dominution, because the
measures for restoring prosperity to the
thirty-eight cun differ in no respect from
what was necessary for reviving business in
the thirty-six. The really great problem is
untouched by anything President Hayes has
done in the South.
It is equally futile and irrelevant to insist
on what the administration intends to do in
reforming the civil service. When these
reforms are perfected to the uttermost the
postmasters will ineivly receive and deliver
letters, the revenue officers will merely col
lect and deliver our taxes and the govern
ment clerks will merely make copies and
keep accounts. These duties may, no
doubt, be better done than they are at
present, but whether well done or ill done
they do not penetrate to the great sources of
public prosperity. They lighten no tax;
they relieve trade of no burden; they have
no effect on the currency; they cannot
change the oppressive tariff; they will not
weigh a feather in the great question
of free trade in ships. What this commer
cial community demands of President Hayes
is that he shall grapple with the really
great questions. The Southern question is
dead and of no further importance, since
he cannot retrace the steps he has taken ;
the civil service reform is a matter quite
within his own power, as he is at fall lib
erty to manuge it as he pleases ; but the
great questions relating to trade, indnstry
and finance belong to a higher order
of politics, and these are the essen
tial questions. Nothing the President
has done for the South, nothing he
promises to do for the civil service,
can excuse him from the superior duty of
reuching a distinct und definite policy on
the questions which are of deepest interest
to our merchants. They have no taste for
sentimental politics. While they snfi'er as
they do now they care little for any specious
measures that do not hold out a prospect of
relief to business, which the recent speeches
of members of the Cabinet scarcely
touch.
The War News.
In its interpretation of the vote on Mr.
Gladstone's resolutions the London Times
justly declares that "the real guin lies with
the party which is on the side of peace"?an
interpretation which contemplates not the
mere figures of the division but the results
of the debate and vote. There can be no
doubt that a notable change in the policy of
the government has been the result of the
necessity put upon it by the liberal move
ment to defend before the country its cher
ished if not acknowledged purpose to in
dulge in a warlike demonstration from which
it could only retreat with disgrace or which if
persisted in would necessarily involve Eng
land in the war. Both parties now claim
in Parliament the distinction of peace par
ties, which they did not cluim, certainly,
before the publication of the Carlyle letter.
It would huve troubled the conservatives
who have declared for peace to have voted
for the government but for the statement
in Mr. Cross' Bpeech that the government
really had no policy inconsistent with the
spirit of the resolutions. Eighteen home
rulers voted with the government, perhaps
because they believed the Turk should
have the right to rule in his own country.
As to the Christians in the same
country these ardent advocates of geo- \
graphical justice were doubtless indifferent.
It is probable that the Russians have passed
a large force over the Lower Danube and are
fighting the Turks somewhere in the penin
sula between Matclim and Isuktcha, but
it is tolerably clear that their intention is to
put the greater part of their army over be
tween Rustchuk and Silistria. They are
apparently uot to be very greatly troubled
by the Ottoman gunboats in that neigh
borhood. Indeed, the warfare with gun
boats on tho river bas already been a costly
experiment to the Turks. One lias gone to
the bottom, one bas been captured after hav
ing run the batteries at Kalaiat, and two more
are caught in sucti a position by the tailing
of the river thut they will be captured by
the Russians if not destroyed. At this
rate a large flotilla would be used up in a
short time. In the absence of annoyance
lrom the gunboats there is no other inct to
prevent the passage of the river save tlio
certainty of being forced to fight almost
immediately, and that chance we presume
they do not shun. They cannot have all
?vents to meet their wishes, but if they can
secure a general action with any consider
able Turkish force it is very likely to further
their legitimate objects. It is assumed iu
our cable despatches that a passage of tho
river at the point where the Russian right
is concentrated will turn the Balkan
quadrilateral. This is un error, for
the main line of supply of those
fortresses is by the Black Sea and the
rail trom Varna.
What Ktad ot
The public curiosity is beginning to get
excited about the precise nature of the pro
posed invasion of Mexico. We hear bu
little of disturbances on the Texan or < .
and there is good reason to believe that the
Americans in Texas are not anxious lor
wftr and do not think enough of the coun
try across the border to believe it worth
capturing. There is a good deal of spare
land lying around loose in Texas am o k
Southwestern States, as well as in California
and Colorado, waiting lor settlers to buy 1 ,
and the owners of this land understam \ei>
veil that the annexation of the northern
line ol Mexican States, which would lead
their rapid settlement, would give, in com
mercial phrase, "a black eye" to a great deal
of Texas and other Southwestern real estate
and would lower its commercial value lor
many years to come. Public npmion m
the States we have named does not, ther -
fore, favor an invasion of Northern Mexico
with a view to temporal aggraudizemen .
Nor does any one believe that President
Haves or his Cabinet favor or intend a new
Mexican war. Secretary Evarts will no doubt
require Mr. Diaz, the Mexican President, to
restrain outrages on the border line and it
is not impossible that our commanders on
the border may be instructed to pursue
Mexican brigands across the lin? it they
have a hope of thus catching them. But
the Inaugural Message showed that we need
not fear under the present administration
such intrigues against Spain or Mexico as
were believed at times to find favor with
General Grant. _
The real authow of a new Mexican inva
sion, if there is really one projected, we
suspect to be ex-President Lerdo and such
of his adherents as are in this country with
him. Mr. Lerdo claims to be the constitu
tional ruler of Mexico. He abandoned his
country with scarcely a struggle, but we
are told that he continues to assert
his rights as President. Diaz, his successor
seems to be in full possession of power and
has convened the Congress ; he is repor < c
also to have taken measures to proven
Lerdo's reappearance in Mexico, and so far
as we can learn there is no Lerdo party
there at present of sufficient strength to en
able the ex-President to re-enter the coun
try he lately deserted. It 19 not unna ura
that he should endeavor to raise forces uero ,
but he will have to act with great care, else
he will make himself liable to our law s.
The government of the United States will
not permit any one to fit out here armed
expeditions against a country with which
we are at peace. It is reported that the in
vasion is to take the shape of a formidable
emigration movement. The completion of
the Southern Pacific Railroad of California
to Fort Yuma or Fort Mohave would enable
a considerable number of the restless spirits
of the western coast to be moved down to
the Arizona country at small expense and
in a brief time ; thence it is supposed the
Mexican province of Sonera would be in
vaded, another body of "emigrants" march
ing at the same time from Texas into Chi
huahua and Coahuila.
Mexico certainly needs emigrants ; and
wo are not certain but the class she would
get in such an enterprise as this would be
the best for the purpose. Sonora is known
to be very rich-enormously rich, even-in
silver ores; the other States have also tempt
ing deposits ; and these can never be made
useful until forces numerous and ener
getic enough to crush the hostile Indianscun
be introduced there. This the Mexican
government has never been able to do. If
ex-President Lerdo could march into the
northwestern corner of Sonora five thousand
emigrants whose agricultural implements
should consist of a rifle and a pickaxe to
each man, we do not doubt that those of
them who were not killed by the Apaches
and who did not starve to death would de
velop some very rich silver deposits. But
except for the minerals that country is
worthless, and no honest American farmer
ought to be tempted to go there, even
from the least productive partB of our own
country.
The Mormon* Arming.
The more persistently the Mountain
Meadows massacre is inveBtiguted the more
actively the Mormons arm and drill, and
Governor Emory has now asked the Secre
tary of War to strengthen the federal
forces in Utah. We suppose he will do so,
though we confess ourselves unwilling to
believe that Brigham Young can be so fool
hardy as to attempt open violence. But
it is not improbable that very important
arrests may have to be made soon after the
meeting of the Grand Jury, on the 21st, and
additional troops on the spot would at least
prevent the rescue of persons apprehended.
The prophet Young thought it wise to
denounce the Nkw Yokk Hkkai.d in his
taberuucle sermon on Sunday. But (he
Heiuuo only demands justice. Does Mr.
' Young protend to defend, does he mean
to protect the persons concerned in
the Mountain Meadows and other massa
cres ? He hus never denied that these mur
ders were committed. The officers of jus
tice are trying to discover the murderers.
They liuvo brought one of them, Lee, to ex
ecution. We want them to go on fearlessly,
and we should like to see Brigham Young
and the Mormon leaders generally helping
District Attorney Howard. Instead of that
they ure prancing about like mad bulls and
crying out blood. What is the matter?
Oar Captive Indians.
It is, we believe, a fact that all the preda
tory Indians of the Plains are.now captives
in the hands of the United States, and we
suppose the Indian Bureau is sitting up of
nights trying to find out what to do with
them. The cheapest plan, we imagine,
would be to board tbcui at the Astor House;
but that is out of the question, probably,
because it would throw too many Indian
agents and other valuuble public lunction
aries out of employment. We have no doubt
the enterprising Bartmin would contract to
take the whole number, about five thousand,
oft the government's hands and incorporate
them into a great mornl show; but that, too,
has the disadvantage of throwing Indian
contractors and others out of business
at a period of great depression. There are
halt ft dozen sound, practical and useful
ways to dispose of these Indians, and we do
not mean to insiBt upon any one of them.
All we should like would be that they shall
uot be fed and fattened, clothed, armed and
sent out on a new warpath.
How would it do to enlist all the warriors
as United States infantry, drill thein thor
oughly, and then, as wo have no war on
linnd, set them, under the control of army
ollicers, to building their own barracks,
ploughing and cultivating their own fields
and earning their living? That also,
however, would do away with Indian agents,
contractors and the whole swarm of people
who have for half a century lived off the In
diuns. It would even do away with the In
dian Bureau, and that is, of course, enough
to condemn the plant It has some merits,
nevertheless; but when we remember that
it would abolish the whole Indian Bureau,
as well as the Western Indian Ring, we give
it up.
It Partisanship?
We publish elsewhere in to-day's Herald
a list of heads of departments, deputies and
chief clerks under the city government, des
ignating the politics and salary of each in
cumbent. It will be seen that out of eighty
five offices therein mentioned the democrats
hold seventy-four and the republicans
eleven. The total amount of salaries re
ceived by the democratic officials reaches
three hundred and sixty-five thousand dol
lars yearly, while the republicans receive
fifty-eight thousand dollars. This is, of
course, exclusive of the large number of
subordinate employes in the several munici
pal departments, fully ninoteen-twentieths
of whom are adherents of the democratic
party. This exhibit satisfactorily disproves
the assertion ruudd by: the itiunmany mem
bers of the Board of Aldermen that the .Om
nibus bill is atpartisan measure, because it
turns sixteen democratic 'Heads of .depart
ments out of office apd only tx?.Q ,repub
licans. But. it dogs more than this.
It furnishes the *1best evidence that
could be offered that the Omnibus bill
ought to become a law. It is outrageous
that nearly half a million of dollars a year
should be paid out of the public treasury
to ornamental, but certainly not useful
heads of departments and bureaus whose
business is not to do the work of the city
offices, but. to look on while others do it.
Take, for example, the Corporation Coun
sel, who receives a salary of fifteen thou
sand dollars yearly, and has two assistants
at ten thousand dollars each, one at. seven
thousand five hundred, two at five thousand
each, two at four thousand each, one at
three thousand, one at twenty-five hundred,
| a chief clerk at thirty-five hundred, a pub
i lie administrator at five thousand, a corpo
| ration attorney at six thousand and thirty
j other employes at lesser salaries. Does any
, reasonable person suppose that it is nec
I essary for the city to retain this army of
| salaried lawyers at the public expense?
; Governor Robinson will do well to examine
j into facts as well as to hear political argu
ments before he makes up his mind what
to do with the Omnibus bill.
Forest Fires.
Owing to the absence of the usual spring
rains and to the phenomenal temperature
prevailing in the northern part of New York
and the New England States and the St.
Lawrence Valley the earth is parched in
these regions and the forest undergrowth
has become as dry as tinder. Sparks from
locomotives, the neglected fires kindled at
the camping places of hunters or
tramps and possibly the work of malicious
incendiaries have originated devastating
conflagrations in the districts already pre
pared for them. From the nature of the
combustibles and the unbroken extent of
the forest areas a fire once fairly under way
burns until heavy rains extinguish it or an ex
haustion of the supply of fuel causes it to die
out. The immense growths of resinous
pine wood keep the fires constantly
fed and the interlapping branches form a
covering or roof under which a fierce
draught is created which carries the flames
rapidly from place to place. When the tree
trunks burn through and the smoke dried
branches tall another supply of fuel is
given to the flames which greedily devour
it. The fire winds take up the burning
particles of pine fibre and whirl
them away to other places yet un
touched, and so the devastatipn is spread.
There seems to be only one way to check a
great forest fire, and that is by felling the
treos along a belt both toward and from the
advancing flames. Tlu-n by qtiickly remov
ing the branches of the fallen trees a chance
will be afforded lor the beating out of the
fire when it reaches the open belt. The
most distressing feature of this widespread
calamity is the destruction of tho dwellings
and other property of the residents of the
desolated districts. It seems to us that the
recurrence of these destructive conflagra
tions should form the ground for a full and
scientific inquiry as to the best means of
preventing thora in future. The great in
terests at stake in timber lands alone fur
nish a sufficient plea for such a course by
the nutionul and State governments, while
those of humanity demand that prompt
legislative action should be taken to insure
the preservation of the lives and household
goods of large communities of industrious
citizens.
The Failure of the Carnival.
His Majesty King Ournival entered the
city yesterday, but not in the manner that
was expected or desired. Instead of a
pageant of picturesque extravagance and
frolic there was an extremely dnll adver
tising show, from which thousands of people
turned away in disgust. This dreary pro
cession, like a wounded snake dragged its
slow length along, and it was a relief wh< n it
ended and dispersed. It made Brondwuy
resemble Church street on a busy day when
the oars are blockaded by drays. There
were wagons that advertised tea, tobacco,
soap, beer, fireworks, furniture ; but there
was not one sign of beauty in the whole
parade, and it only needed an undertaker's
wagon adorned with coffins to have
made the gloom of the spectacle
complete. It is said in apology for this
absurd advertising dodge, dignified with
the name of a carnival, that it was a neces
sary concession to those manufacturers and
storekeepers who had subscribed to the fund
for the carnival in the evening, and from
which their advertisements were very
properly excluded. But this is no ex
cuse for the occupation of the streets
and interruption of business by the
burlesque of a burlesque. Who ashed
lor a carnival ? Those who insisted
upon having one should not have consented
to base its success upon such a wretched
failure as this absurd prooession. The
streets of a great city like New York should
be yielded to parades only when great events
happen or when national anniversaries are
celebrated. There have been lager beer
processions which excelled this one in
attractiveness and merit, but their pre
tensions were more modest. If we are to
hnve serious trade thinly disguised under
the name of carnival, and the eager eyes of
the tradesman looking out from the mask of
Momus, the proper plan for those who are
interested in such affairs would be to en
gage Barnum, the great American showman,
to manage them. He might lead the parade
with his menagerie, and they might pay him
lor the privilege of following the caravan
with their wagons.
Altogether this effort to introduce the
carnival into ouf city appears to have been
a failure, and one principal cause is clearly
that the scheme was a pecuniary specula
tion. The great torchlight parade was
chiefly remarkable for the absence of
torches, and the immense throngs assem
bled were unable to see it for the want of
light. As a funeral it might have
boon considered a success, but as a mas
querade it was an undoubted mistake. The
grand ball was a grand jam, but possessed
few of those guy and brilliant features which
the tjtle of carnival led the public to ex
pect,, rj?The whole afiair was a discredit to
the management and an imposition on the
city,''Mid it is likely that after this experi
ment wo shall have no more curnivals, un
% ; /<: C f
less they are established on a different
principle and conducted by competent per
sona v
The Halleclc Statue.
Few men, even those who deserve fame,
know how famous they may be. Certainly
Fitz-Greene Halleck never thought that his
genius would be honored in the city where
he lived and worked by a statue to his mem
ory, and that the President of the United
States would unveil it in the presence
of thousands of the best of our citizens.
Americans are not accustomed to thus honor
their poets, but the custom of erecting
statues to great men is a beautiful and
appropriate one, and we are glad to see it
growing in public favor. Halleck de
serves a place in this Pantheon of the
metropolis; for, though he was not
one of the great poets of America,
he was one of the first and purest, and
much that he has written will live as long
as our literature. The lines addressed
to his dead friend Drake?"Green bt
the turf above thee"?have becomt
household words, and his "Marco
Bozznris" stirs the heart now nt
strongly as when it was first published,
fifty years ago. The ceremonies yesterday
were all that could have been desired. ThO
day was fine, and thousands heard
with profound interest the eloquent
oration of Mr. William Allen Butler?
not only a worthy eulogy of the man, but
an able analysis of his poetry. A graceful
and feeling tribute to Halleck was paid by
Mr. Whittier in verse, and the venerable poet,
William Cullen Bryant, laid fresh luurels
on tho marble. To these ceremonies noth
ing can be added. The statue will stand in
our beautiful Park, a fitting memorial ol
the poet and a silent witness that New Yorl
does not forget, in the whirl of commerct
and progress, the departed genius which hat
added to her glory.
PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE.
Mrs. Jennie June appears to be thirty-live.
Gas meters havo begun to lie for the summer.
Colonel Follows is as tremulous as a Jelly fish.
Koine ol the Brook Farmers have bad a reunion.
The Archbishop ot Philadelphia has arrived at Komi
Oswald Ottendorlor walks as straight as a lelegrapl
polo.
Fernando Wood always looks as nIco as a piece d
soap.
Chancellor John V. L. Pruyn, of Albany, is at tb
Qllsey.
Marshall U. Roberts bos lrequent twinges of rhea
malum.
Major Uundy wears the heaviest kind ol rims to ht
eyogivases.
liuwells, editor of the Atlantic, will summer at C*
nonicui, R 1.
Mr. William Lloyd Garrison, of Boston, Is at thl
Westminster.
Senator Ambrose E. Burnsidc, of Rhode Island, IsaV
the Kitih Avenue.
FredCozzens, who wrote the "Sparrowgrass Papers,"
has a sou who Is an artist.
A Buy Ridge girl who became engaged last evening
now says that she belongs to tho ring.
Associate Justice Ward Hunt, of tho Unltod Statel
Supreme Court, is at tho Fifth Avonue.
Tim Golden, the detective who caught Babbitt^
thief, used to he Uakoy Hall's sergeant.al-artus.
Ex-Governor Hodman bus the biggest chin of all
Hie men lu this country, and yot ha is not a great
talker.
11 Major General Hancock does not etop getting fal
he wlil cuasu to be the handsomest man In the (Jotted
States.
William Cullon Bryant ts a poet who writes sven not*
tor than Cowper, but he knows that a dollar has a hun
dred cents In 1L
Weakly Hkkai.d:?When boiling meat or poultry
never put a lork in the lean part of the meat, aa It aU
lows the juices to escape.
(Joint says that out of nearly a hundred thousand
exiles In Western Siberia only 247 art Poles, and that
lew Poles need be exiles.
Tenucy, of Brooklyn, is an administration lawyer,
ami be Is always gutting an office. Ho wears a broad
brimmed hat and long batr.
T ho re is something about Reuben E. Fenton's physi
ognomy that tuukus him appear scurotivc. His features
all turn in like tho threads ot a screw.
Secretary Schurz uses words thai a man would use If
he were writing on a subject in sociology, schurz to,
in a literary wuy, very bright and striking and thin.
One of tho nicest positions in life Is tbat of a canal
boat captain, who leai.e up against a rudder bar and
talks along the telephone to the boy who drives a lama
horse.
.Stewart L. Woodford Is an honoet, good soul, ad
commonplace and as eloquent as the day it loeg. He
talks somewhat?with hie mouth?bat Woodford Is ?
real good lei low.
Evening Telegram:?"When Rutherford was aaked to
take a glass of wine lait night ho looked at a piece of
twine w hich Mrs U. hau tied about bis llttlt anger,
and said, 'No, 1 thank vou.
In these big aflaira like tho dinner to Mr. Hayes
ihero la a great deal ol' Jealousy aud buckbiling, and
you arc n happy man If you can sit quietly at home
and wish that they may havo It all to themselves.
S. B. Chittenden, the great Congressman, is uot
very big, but bo is as deaf aa he Is honest, and be will
do a nice amount or good in Congress if ho will pick
out bis aeutencos as he ueed to piok out patterns ih
i oilcloth.