Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, December 8, 1872, Page 6

6 THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8, 18% TERMS OF THE TRIBUNE: TS OF SUDSCRITION (raTALE T ADTAYCE) aily, by madl. 2. ‘Sunday.. Fri-Week S12:00 1 eniay Parts of a year at the same rate. Toprevent dolsy and misiakes, be suro snd give Pozt Otce address in full, including State aad Connty. Remittances may bo mace eitber bydraft, express, Post Ofice order, ot in registerod lotters, st ourrisk. ZEais 70 Crx SEBSCEIELS. ) A f aceqted, 53 cents per weck. Paln qelirered: Sundy $aciied: 2 conts per week. Address THF, TRIBUNE COMPANY. S amner Macison a8 Dearbom.sts., Chicago, 1l Daily, TrmBUNE Brazch Offics, No. 469 Wabash-s Bookstors of Messrs. Cobb, Andrems & Co. advertisoments and subscriptions will be received, and will have the same siteation 28 if lefs ot the Aain QEco. BUSINESS NOTICES. WEST'S BAZAR, 230 AND 282 WARASH-AY.. IS by far the cheapest Tlace in Chicago to buy faucy ghods gor Clristmus presents, A lizee and sttractive stock at Jow prices. 0., importers. g)‘lA‘AH.A L}?BTIL —ISIGIIH.ESA{“P;}HZB' S?vfidt'. w zid of o} 2, ite o_be drawn e N ehere. "4 siehs ehe for "S5, "Addross J. D The Chitago Ciibuze. Sundey Morning, December 8, 1872. BUSINESS PROSPECTS. That various infinences have, for some time tended toward a degree of commercial stringen- =y, may now be eafely predicated from the result thut commercial stringency is upon us. Among the influences producing the present financial stringency zro thavery large amount of capital that has been turned to building railroads which are temporarily unproflizble, the considersble smounts destroyed by firein Chicago and Dos- ton, and the further sums withdrawn from com- merce and devozed to rebuilding, preceded by the war in Europe, and the heavy financial trans- getions of the German and French Governments conneeted with the payment of the French in- demnity, =nd the not inconsiderable draft made on American producers and fax- payers by the demands of our own National ebt. All these withdrewals of capi- tel from its accustomed channels ere zbnormal and temporary. Railroad building bes received & check, which comes none too soon. These rail- way enterprises heve been generally land-specu- Iations on alarge scele, the companies build- ing & much rozd for so much land, and mot especting’ to xép 3 profit from legitimate trafic for some years to come. To this falso and pernicious sys- tem, more than to anything else, Wo owe the present stringency in the money market. And, = regards this branch of the financial situation, norelief can be looked for until the roadsin question sholl begin to earn something over their opersting espenses, or uniil the country hall have reprodnced the capital which has ‘been thus unprofitably invested. Looking at the sources of our business pros- perity, we find thet they depend principally upon our annual crops, end these, both South and North, are fully up to their average. Agricnitu- ral industry of every Lind bas been sc- tively productive, though epecial causes have depressed the prices of same of our great staples. Cotton and grain, beef and pork, iron and wool were never more abundantly produced than dur- ing this year. Labor and capital have every- where been under strain to do their utmost. There hes been no idleress, no sus- pension or disorganization of labor. A people thus working produce in four years more property than all the accumulated wealth on the American_Continent. This fact alone is suffi- sient to acconnt for the vastrecuperative powers f an energetic people under pressure or disas- ter of whatever kind. Tke annual production of the couniry is now aboui £5,000,000,000, or as much 8s the whole cost of the war. How mnch of this shall bs consumed in the ex- peuses of living depends on the people them- selves. Butench resources are vast compared with the burdens and exigencies that fend toward distress, and we believe they will tide us safely over the present stringency. Every- where the people of the United States are full of confidence &nd courage. Every Americen rust rejoice with acommon and kindred pride to see the invariablencss of the silent, persistent energy with which for ten yeara past our busi- ness men of every cless have faced the future, and risen grandly over the waves of trouble that threatenedtoengulf them. So theyare doingnow. Real estate in our immediaie vicinity is suffer- ing a temporery lull, owing to theenormous eums invested in rebnilding, and the urcertainty oc- casioned by changes in the csrlies ot business. "The completion of hundreds of business blocks has been also most unfortunetely impeded by the horse disease prevailing here and elsewhere. This hss entailed delays in contracts and in payments which, in many cases, ere most inconvenient. A liberal epirit of indulgence willtide us over these difficnlties, &nd perhaps it is as well that fewer buildings should be simultaneously thrown upon the market for rental than would have been hed ol the blocks beecn completed before the cold weather which had eimed to be finished by that time. We feel no doubt that 21l the buildings now erected and in course of erection will be profitably rented by midsummer at the furihest. Nor do we doubt that Chicago will be & far finer city on the second anniversary of the fire then it was be- fora that disaster, nor that it will continue to advance as rapidly as human enerzy can push i, until, at the close of the present decade, it will contain eix hundred thousand souls. We do not expect the financial dificulties which now vex us to produce & rovulsion or general crash. They are too small compared with our resources end the irresistible impetus of our industry. Ounr banks, insurance com- panies, Government debt, State debts, and all the other stays of public credit are sound. Our people are not individually in debt above their means to pay. Therebave been no vast sales of surplus merchandise far in excess of the demend and on long credits, the notes for which fill the banks to repletion with doubtful paper and distend their discounts. These are the conditions under which previous financial panics have occurred. They do not now exist, Patience, economy, and indusiry will tide us through. COUNTING THE VOTES. ‘We have presented in general terms the suc- cessful operation of the cumaulative voting system in tho cholco of representatives in the Legislature. ¥or the first time the people are represented in one branch of the Legisleture a8 nearly in the proportion of their division upon political questions as possible. But the returns show that there is another evil in our system of eloctions, and that is in tho matter of counting the votes, The returns indicate that theInspec- tors of Election bave miscounted, or have dis- gogarded. the division of votes in many in- stances, or that this system has developed and exposed more strikingly a general negligence and carelessness on the aubject of counting the ballots then is supposed to exist. A few ex- a_mples will illustrate. The ballots in this connty, and We suppose they ware the same elsewhere in the State, all bed printed on them a division of the Represen- tative vote. The regular partytickets contained the names of two candidates, each marked 134 votes. There were innumerable split tickets, upon which a different division was indicated, in some instances giving 3 votes for a candidate, or 2 for one candidate and 1 for another, but in every instance the whole vote was apportioned, and none was lost.. It is rezsonable to assume that every man who voted for State Senator, voted also for members of the Legislature ; con- sequently the total vote for Representatives in each district should be three timesas many as the vote for Senator. Bui the returns do not exhibit anything of the kind. The vote for Senators and Representatives in the First, Second, Third, and Seventh Districts of this county (being the only districts of which we have the figures at band) aggregate as fol- lows: Vote for Votc for Rep- resentative, Loss. 15259 1,3% 29,100 351 21103 2,428 17,281 723 It will be seen from these figures that in these four districts there was an aggregate loss of 4,623 votes, or an aversge loss of 1,200 votes in each district. The other Cook County dis- tricts show a loss in the same way, 2nd a glance over the returns from the Senatorial districts throughout the State exhibits aloss in nearly every district, though, as a genersl thing, the loss is less than in this county. Assaming 500 as the general average of the Representative vote lost in each district, the aggregate loss in the fifty-one Senatorial districts of the State wall reach 25,500 votes. ‘The recent election in St. Louis, and the die- closures that have since taken place, may, per- haps, throw some light on this subject. The vote, as returned by the Judges of that county for Sheriff, elected Mr. Taglor by fourteen ma- jority. Upon proper petition, the Circuit Court appointed & commission of respectable gentle- men to recount the votes for Sheriff. There was no fraud charged, nor is there the least suspicion thot any was attempted, or intended. But of theforty-fourelection precinctsin the city, the votes in the boxes of no one of them corre- sponded with thereturns. Of thetenormorepre- cinets in the county outside of the city, one-half of them were also found to be erroneous. These errors, in every case, were the result of careless- ness, and a failure {o read the tickets. Insteadof exemining each ticket in detail, and count- ing each ballot separately, they were separated into piles, merely glanced at, and the result declared upon the sssumption that all the tickets in each pile contained pre- cisely the same names. The recount, after showing the fact that the official vote was in- correct in every one of the forty-four city pre- cincts, and in many of the others, showed that Mr. Taylor had been defranded of 821 votes polled for him, and that he had been credited with 129 votes he had not received. That the other csndidate, Maguire, had been defrauded of 243 votes polled for him, and had been credited with 92 votes he hsd not received. Though these corrected returns did not change the final result, it disclosed the fact that nearly 1,000 ballots had been miscounted or not counted. This blundering was not confined to any one precinct, nor was it in favor of any candidate. It happenedin every precinct in the city, and operated sgainet each of the candi- dates. ‘What has happened in St. Louis is as likely to happen elsewhere, and especially in this State, ‘where the counting of ballots is complicated by the fractional votes for Representatives and the unequal distribution of votes under the cumula- tive system. In one district of the city there were on election day a variety of ballots bearing the name of Judge Bradwell ; on come of these ‘e was marked 3 votes, others 2, others 134, and others 1 vote. So perbaps with other candi- dates, and possibly the loss in the Representa- tive vote here and throughout the State is due not only to the general carelessness and inex- perience of the Judges, but to the complications of the cumulative system, and that, in this way, {fractions and cumulations were frequently over- looked and not connted. The value of the ballot must be very small if the ballots whea polled are not counted correct~ ly. We do not refer now to cases where frand is practised. Under our law the polls remain open from 8 a. m. to 7 p. m., or eleven hours contin- wously. The ballots have to be counted and the resultrecorded before the Inspectors separate. This is requiring an enormous labor of the In- spectors. Many of the Inspectors, however honest, bave not the qualifications to do this work expeditionsly, or to do it at all. In Massa- chusetts such a thing as a fraundulent election is potknown. In that State the receivingof the ‘ballots and the counting thereof goonat thesame time. At tho end of each hour the ballots are countedbypersons appointed for the purpose,and, in one hour after the polls are closed, the result ismadeknown. The ballots are counted and read, not classified and then connted; each name on each ticket is examined, and there is no such thing known 88 fraud, mistake, or miscounting. Can not the Legislature of Illinois provide that, in addition to the Ingpections of Election, there shall be appointed in each precinct two persons who shall count the votes as fast as they are polled, and @o go openly in the presence of wit- nesses, and with such publicity that frand shall be impossible, and such disgraceful mistakes and miscounting 28 have beon exposed in St. Louis shall b prevented ? MP. LO AND HIS FUTURE PROSPECTS, The report of the Commissioner of Indian A ffairs puts down the number of Indians in the United States and Territories, excluding those in Alaska, at 800,000, and it claseifies them a8 civilized, 97,000; somi-civilized, 125000 savage, 78,000. The first of thess classes include those tribes and consolidated fragments of tribes which originally lived in the Atlantic States, and have been sssigned perma- nent homes in the Indian Territory. Among thess there has been a great improvement ; they havetheir Governments,~—Executive, Legis- lative, and Judicial, andthese Governments are ably and thoroughly administered. Among these people education is supported, and schools with native teachers flourish. Their success, it would seem, is greatly due tothe exclusion of the white race, and to the development of prog- ress by native teachers. Tho next classifica- tion embraces the many tribes and parts of tribes that have abandoned nomsdic habits and are living upon reservations, and are sup- ported by Govarnmeni sonnities. These have been mainly Christianized; & large number have their settlerents within the limits of the Btates, and, thongh their habits are good, they are gradually decreasing in numbers, It also includes a number of tribes that have, within & comparatively short time, abandoned the savage life, and have settled down upon reservations, and are beginning the somewhat difficult life of working st agriculture and other employments. These latter tribes have not advanced far enough to be able to take care of themeelves, ond the intercourse with the whites has not been productive of much good to their habits, morals, or industry. The tribes which are now considered savage number sbout one-fourth of the whole Indien population. They are mainly composed of tribes which were transferred to our juriediction by the acquisition of Texasand the Mexican States. These bands prefer their wild state, and refuse to understand why civilization is better then bar- barism. They have confidence in their ability to maintain their contest with the whito race,.and at all events prefer the risks of extermination to submission. All efforts to tame them have failed. It is possible that, after thoy shall have been reduced in numbers by the unequal con- test, the remainder of them will accept the in- evitable, will settle down upon reservations; but it is more likely that they will be gradually ex- terminated by wars among themselves and by the bullet and whiskey of the ever-advancing Anglo-Saxon, THE RUBINSTEIN CONCERTS. The pleasant season of Rubinstein concerts closed yesterday afternoon with a matinee per- {ormance, which drew the first good audience of the week, snd this fact suggests an interesting question : namely, whether the smallness of at- tendance daring the week has been due to a lack of musical taste in the city or to the scale of ad- ‘mission prices adopted by the management. Of one thing there can be no doubt. The concerts ‘have boen the best ever given here of their kind, and, considered with regard to concerts in gen- eral, there have been none at all comparablo with them except the Thomas orchestral con- certs. It is rather a remarkable coincidence that the weak spot in each has been the vocal adjuncts. No such pianist as Rubinstein, no such viclinist as Wieniawski, has ever appeared here. These two artists stand at the hesd of their profession, and one of them, Rubinstein, is among the first of living com- posers, and & man who may yet be destined to accomplish s revolution in music as marked as that which is already beginning to result from Wagner's innovations, The musie which they have furnished has been of the highest order, end much of it new to concert-goers, as it has embraced selections from Bach, Handel, Mozart, Mendelzsohn, and other composers, which ara rarely performed, owing to their numerous difficulties and exacting demands upon players. In addition to this, Rubinstein has given us glimpses of the Sclavonian music, in one sonata and minor works of his own composition, which are thoroughly original and possess none of the characteristics of modern European music. This musio of itself was 2 revelation for which every musician will be profoundly thankful. It is the germ, perhaps, of a great school of music in the future, which will te richnot only in new musicel ideas but new forms of expressing them. Lastly, both Rubinetein and Wieniawski have done a great work for lesser players, both in setting before them the true conceptions of the spirit of the great composers’ works, and the proper artistic manner of reading them. In all these respects, there is no roomleft for fault-finding with the manager. He hasfur- nished all and more thanhe announced, and in so doing has given concert-goers a genuine surpriso, a8 thisis not theusual practice of musical managers. Nothwithstanding all this, the audiences have been small, and, how- ever gratifying it may bo to the artists to feel that the major pert of their audience appreci- ates them, two artists like Rubinstein and Wien- iswski, who have always lived in 2 musical at- mosphere and have been accustomed to play to crowded houses in the musical capitals of Eu- rope, where a person was fortunate who applied weeks in advance and secured a ticket, must have been chagrined to find themselves playing to an audience night after night, which filled two-thirds, perhaps, of a small theatrs, one por- tion of which was composed of eager and appreciative listeners, another of indifferent suditors, and the remainder of boors, who seemed to tske a special delight in annoying both artists and auditors with their rudeness and noise, The principal reason for this small- ness of attendance is undoubtedly dueto the mistake of the manager in fixing the prices too high. The same mistake was made recently in the Patti-Mario concerts, where the prices were the same, although the latter furnished only musical swash compared with thess. Two dollars and two and a half, however, is an ex- tremely high price for any entertainmentin these stringent times. If the gallery had been placed at one dollar, which would have kept out many of the boors, and the rest of the house at one doller and & half and two dollars, the attendance would undoubtedly have been very large, snd would have paid the managers a handsome profit. The European standard of admission to a Rubinstein concert, where Rubinstgin plays alone, is four dollars ; ‘but it is utterly useless to base prices here on this standard. The countryis flooded with ama- teur, charity, church, and other home concerts, which present irresistible claims upon the pub- lic, and from which Europe is happily free. Peo~ ple in the capitals of Europe go to hear music for the sake of music, and pay for it. Here the pocket-book is taxed for all sorts of barnacles festened upon music. In Europe, the con- cert-going class is a wealthy class. The poorer people bave music st & price which they can afford to pay and get a good article for their money. The poorer class here ‘has no such opportunities. The wealthy class is not wealthy enough to pay European prices, or even prices based upon them, especially in these dsys of high taxes and constant demands upon the purse. There aresome happy, philosophical people among concert-goers, however, who ‘mansge to surmount the difficnity by skipping all minor entertainments, thereby ekipping more or less of annoyance, andattending only the very ‘best performances, thereby making their amuse- ment expenses no larger for the sea- gon, while they have received more satisfaction than those people who waste their money on every show that comes along, becsuse the prices aro chesp, and in reality spend more money in = season, and have less to show for it, than those who, for instance, have selected from the season's amusements the Thomas concerts, the Rubinstein concerts, and the Lucca opera season, and have resolved to spend no money on other enterieinments. This practice holds good on the general princi- ple that it is always better to pay ahigh price for a good article than to buy inferior stuff sim- ply because it is cheap. Thers are few people, howaver, go constituted as to be able to resist checper and moro ehowy entertainments, and there is a considerable cless which has. not yet been edncated up to the standard of the best music. These must have their entertain- ments. Managers should remember, therefore, that musical intelligence and culture are not so general hero s in Burope, and that thoy have no epecial public to appeal to but a mixed one, which embraces all degrees of musical intel- ligence, and, 281 rule,possesses moderate means. Shonld Mr. Grau decide to return here before his season closes, 28 we eincerely hope that he will, he willfind that, by & reduction of one-third or one-fourth in tho prices of admission, he will be enabled to draw large houses, and make good any deficit which mey have occurred during the present season. It wonld beunjust to the artists,who have done 50 much to entertain their auditors, to bid them farewall withont ellusionto a certain class of boors, who on almost every evening have dis- turbed theso concerts, and, on three occasions, have caused Bubinstein to stop in the midst of his playing, becauge it was simply impossible for him to procced. Talking, hooting, whistling, slamming of doors, and heavy tramp- ing in the gallery, while the artists were upon the stage, have been the rule. These demon- strations have not been confined to the sudi- ence. Hackand bus drivers in the lobbies, and careless employesof the house bave added to the din. Ithasbeen a mortifying and disgraceful exhibition of ill-manners, and its repetition will injure the theatre for musical purposes, and keop musical people away fromit. The man- agers should carefully instruct their own ém- ployes, and, if they cannot keep the gallery dis- turbers quiet in any other way, then keep a policeman in the gallery for that purpose, and to prevent interlopers from making disturbances 1n the lobbies. THE CALIFORNIA GHOST. Ag the Christmas holidays approach, wo must get ourselves in readiness for the usual number of witches, and ghouls, and spooksthat come popping up through tho trap-doors of helidey literature. The January magazines will be filled with ghost-stories, and the weekly and Sunday newspapers will team with recitals calcnlated to freezo the young blood of thonurseries. Fairy- land and spirit-land will open widetheir gates,and amateur mediums will contribute their visions and speculations to tne common storo of impos- gibilities, We apprehend, however, that the Christmas writers will find it difficalt to produce a fancy ghost-story that will compare in won- der with a genuine one tha} comes from the Pa- cific Const. Hero is a ghost tht appeers with his credentials. He not only showed hirself to one person, but conversed in the hearing of ath- ers. He was a persistent spirit, and hovered about for nmearly a week. He appeared to his little child vamed Agnes McDonough,— good girl, who had been recently confirmed in the Catholic church, and who dutifully called in the priest to take a professiopal view of the ap- perition. Rev. Father Monague listened to the conversations between the child and her de- censed father, suggested the questions ehe should ask, noted the answers, and reported the whole case to the Catholic Guardian, Bishop 0'Connell, of Marysville. The Bishop himself is puzzled. He has finally accepted the appari- tion, under the strong evidence that has been submitted to him, as & means for *‘combatting the materialistic tendency of so-called scientific men ;" but, st the same time, he advises the Catholics to * go slow,” to * puton the brakes,” and to “ listen to the ngver-erring voice of the Church.” The Californla ghost evidently fared better than the majority of the inhabitants of Poker Flat and Red Gulch, for he reported himeelf from Purgatory. His revelations concerning the nndiscovered country are interesting. He had been in Purgatorysix years, and knows good deal about it. Tne boundary of this favorite stopping-place is rather indefinitely given es next to Heaven, thongh the ghost was ignorant 28 to whether it wasone of the plancts or one of the fixed stars. The relative location of Purgatory os to the earth was more definitely determined. The deceased Mr. MecDonough eaid that it was “ only five minutes’ distant.” The inference is that Purgatory is a good deal pearer earth than Heaven, and that it is considersbly easier for good Catholics to reach it. The purgatorial treatment, as described by Mr. McDonough’s ghost, is rather obscure. He says that the punishment is “by fire,” but subse- quently admits that his bedy is in the grave, and the soul and body are completely separated after death. He fails to explain, however, how the soul, being & thing immaterial, is pnniahed.;'ha.nd purged, and purified by fire, though he insists thet the aspect of Purgatory is that of “light and smoke.” His account of the treatment of the deceased is nob unlike that in Byron's * Last Judgment.” He describes the Lord on the judgment-geat, with the Savior at his side, and two rows of white angels behind them. The angels have wings, according to the late Mr. McDonough, and, instend of Standing, keep up s futtering ‘motion which enables them to retain & prominent position when they like, In fact, this direct ac- count from spirit-land talies very evenly with popular idea as gleamed from the old painters, whose angels Kaulbach so much despises. Mr. McDonough isa congervative and law-abiding ghost. He szys that the only res- _cue from Purgatory is to be found in masses and prayers on earth, and expresses his conviction, after six years® personal experience, that masses are » trifle more efficacious than prayers. The Iste Mr. McDonough is alsoa practical Xind of ghost. He wastes no time in unearthly demonstrations, utters no terrifying sounds, and attempts no blackmailing sbuse. He does mot seek revengo for murder, and has no desire to straighten out com- plicated wills. He is & very straightfor- ward ghost. Ho exhibited a disposition to do whatever he could for the future prospects of his friends on earth. He didn’t know whether Pius IX. would triumph over his enemies or not, but was sure that the Catholic religion is the only true religion. Though a spirit himself, the Iate Mr. McDonough was entirely unprejudiced, 2nd, when questioned in regard to Spiritualism, heroplied: It'sall nonsense.” Whether this can be construed against the reality of Mr. Me- Donough's unreal appearance or not, it must be sdmitted that the expression was one of blunt, impartial, and disinterested frank- ness. His visit to his dsughter was made just prior to his going to Heaven, having served out his time in Pargatory. He bad already snnounced his departure st 134 o'clock. and. whilo the vriost was watohing the clock in one room, - hittte Agnes screamed out at the precise moment, and afterwards declared that she saw the angel come and take her father’s ghost away. The California ghost was a good, orthodox, Catholic ghost. It may sirike some irreverant ‘unbelievers that he came in the particular inter- est of] sectarianism. But, even if this is so, ke is a decided improvement wupon the old traditional ghost, who comes with the express purpose of scaring people, who assumes s shroud and a horrid skull, who stumbles around in dark cellars, or tramps his ghost-like tread in deserted garrets, and who serves no ascertainable purpose. If we are to have ghosts, let us have the California species rather than the Cock-Lane variet; TEE MORAL OF A PARIS MURDER. An intéresting murder trial has justbeen con- cluded in Paris, which presents some features which counld not be found out of France. The murderer’s name is Celestin Henri Lagorce, & dull, beordless and characterless youth, member of an old and respectable fanily of Limoges. As he was not & bright youth in school, he was placedin a wholesalo draper's establishment where he was employed at the time of the mur- der. Ho had studied chemistry tosome pur- pose, end conceived an ideathat some day he would “be able to find & fortune in, the crucible. The use to which he eventually put his chemical knowledge, however, has made his misfortune. One day, Lagorce sew in, & cafe in the Rue Vivienne, & bandsome watch and chain and some valuable jewelry on the person of one Marie Harter, known on the Boulevards as la Femme au Perroquet, and he at once conceived the plan of murdering her in order to secure her effects. To this end, he followed her one night, accosted her, 21d went with her to her lodgings. In the night, one of the tensnts, in the rooms below, heard acryand the noise of some one falling, andeaw Lagorce stealing down stairs with his shoes in his hands. The concierge was told these facts in the morning, and sbout noon eatered the premises, and found Marie's corpse on the floor, resting against a sofa, and tho par- rot, from which she had derfved her professional name, dead in its csge. The rings were left on her fingers and the ear-rings in her earsto suggest the idea of suicide, but her watch and money were gone. The next dsy, by meens of a forged passport, he managed to es- czpe, but as the document was eigned and en- grossed by the same hand, a description of him was taken, which was afterwards given to the police and led to his arrest. An apparatus for making prussic acid ‘was found in his house, which he claimed e had constructed with re- ference to committing suicide, end o phial of the poison was found in his pa%keta. He admitted having the poison with him in Marie’s spart- ments, ond explained that ehe hed. mis- taken it for s scent-boltle, and that the emelling of it had caused her death. The recovery of the watch and other valuables from pawn did not corroborate this statement, however, and he then confessed thet, he placed the phisl under Marie’s nose, only in- tending to render her insensible. Against this yarn was offeet the dead parrot in the cage, whereupon Lagorce confessed that, while Marie went out to answer the door-bell, he experi- mented with the poison on the parrot, znd killed it, but he did not suppose that what would kill tho parrot would kill the parrot’s mis- tress. At last, figding that tho case was made out against hir, his counsel made a bold plea of his family respectability. Lagorce, the father, when called upon totestify as to hisson’s habits, insiructed the Court thatit was no offence to rob and murder “one of those women who de- vour the substance of young men of family,” while Madame Lagorce deemed it imposeible that the Court would disgrace an honorable family for the sake of a miserable social outcast. Several of the witnesses thought that & capital conviction would canse great scandal at Liinoges. The public prosecntor made s strong and elo- quent summing up against the prisoner, but its effect was destroyed by the counsel for the de- fence, who appealed tothe jury to protect young men of family from female har- pies. The result was that the jury returned a negative verdict on the charge of murder, but an affirmative oge on the charge of robbery, for which the Court sentenced Lagorce to ten years' penal servitude and 100 francs fine, and all parties were satisfied—at least, all the liv- ing parties. The inception and the execution of the deed, the points of the trial, and the decision of the Court, are peculiarly Parisian. The affair not only shows the small value set upon the lives of women of the class of Marie Harter, but also the nice, distinctions which gentlemanly criminals ond their families moke as to what constitutes gisgrace. It would have produced s scondal 1 the TLagorce family to have convicted Lagorce junior of the crime of murdering & gocial onteast, but simply to rob one of these outcasts gnd be een- tenced to ten years' penal servitude, casts no stain on the family escutcheon. Murderis. vul- gar, but robbory, accompanied by lust, is gentle- manly. A conviction for the poisoning of a woman of the town would be & disgrace to an old and wealthy family, but the mere robbery of ono of this class does not affect the family honor snd pride. Suchis the moral of the Lagorce ‘murder trial, and such morality, it)is evident, comld not be found outside of Paris. Locusts in Alge; ix'a..d . A communication from Agra, dated the 12h ult., eays: * The crops ‘%n the Agra district were in such splendid condition that the culti- vators were looking forward to a good harvest and s profitable out-tarn. In a fow short hours their gopea have been blighted, and zemidars and ryots are in tho depth of fdespair. A dense cloud of locasts camo up from the south, on Saturday last, and, after hovering in the air for gome time over the city, they suddenly descend- od, und, covering the surface of tho earth, of fho trees, snd of every particle of vegetation, they commenced their work of destruction, choosing more especially, as their most choice morsels, the youngest and most delicate leaves of traes, the choicost andmost valuabla of plants, and, what is more 8ad than sll, devouring the greqn oars of grain just beginning to ripen. So thick was the cloud of locusts that the sun was completely hidden, and s partial darkness pre- vailed, as though the sun was _eclipsed. e natives used all endesvors to dislodge the un- welcome visitors, but all endeavora failed. They remained daring the whole of Saturday night, part of Sunday morning, snd then started in a Portherly direction. 'the magnificent groveof troes near the club has been uuerlg denuded of leaves, the grass has been cropped short, and ‘whole gardens have been completely destroyed. Near a village called Uchennaira, on the Bhurt- ore-rosd, eighteen miles from Agra, the ciops 2qe been completely ruined, and such has been the dsmage done in Other parts of the Agra dis- trict, that it is estimated that the out-turn will Do fifty per cont lesa than was expected before the locusts arrived. In this sublunary sphere it often happens that evils which are_the causes of unmitigated sufferings to some of God's crea~ tures, cause joy and Qelight to_others. The crows, kites, Sparrows, and hawks bangueted and feasted in & princely manner during the stay of the locusts, and many of the nafives of the city captured them in basketsful, and afterward {eulalg on them. I am informed they make capital curry, snd aro very similar in flavor to pramns.” NICKNAMES, BY PROFESSOR WILLIAM MATHEWS, OF THE UNI- VEBSITY OF GHICAGO. 1t is o somewhat remarkable fact in the his- tory of the late political contest, that, notwith- standing its bitterness, go few nicknames were used. The London Saturday [Review, in an article npon this class of words, expresses the opinion that their moral influence has never been sufficiently considered by philosophers. Itis, indeed, no easy thing to estimate the forca and influence of these ingenious appellations. In politics, it bas long been observed that no orator can compare for o moment in effect with him who can give apt and telling nicknames. Brdvity is the sonl of wit, and of all eloquence a nickname is the most concise and irresistible. It is =& terse, pointed, short-hand mode of reasoning, condensing a volume of meaning into an epithet, and is especially popular in these days of steam and electric telegraphs, because it saves the trouble of thinking. There is & deep in- stinct in man which prompts him, when engaged in any controversy, whether of tongue or pen, to assume to himself some honorable name which ‘begs the whole matter in dispute, and at the same time to fasten on his adversary a name which shall render him ridiculons, odious, or contemptible. By facts and logic you may com.. mand the assentof the few; but by nicknames you may enlist the passions of the million on your gide. Who can doubt that, wher in the English civil wars, the Parliamentary party styled themselves *‘the Godly" and their opponents ‘“the Malignants,” the question 2t issue, wherever entrance counld be gained for these words, was already "decided? Or who doubts that the odious name, * Copperheads,” ‘which was 8o early in our late civil war affixed to the Northern sympathizers with the South, had an incalculsble influence in gagging their mouths and in preventing their numbers from multiplying ? There is no man go insignificant thst he may not blast the reputation of another by fastening upon him an odious or ludicrous nickname. Even the most shining character may thus be dregged down by the very reptiles of the race to the depths of infamy. A par- rot may be taught to call pames, and, it you have & spite sgainst your neighbor, may be made to give him s deal of znnoyance, without much it either in the employer or the puppet. Hotspur would have had a starling taught to spesk nothing but Mortimerin the ears of his enemy. Who counld dissociate with the name of Van Buren the idea of craft or cun- ning, after he bad become known 28 the * Kin- derhook Fox,” or who ever looked up with awe or respect to President Tyler as the Chief Mag- istrate of the nation, after he had been politi- cally baptized as “His Accidency?” Who can tell how far Bcott's prospects for the Presi- dency were damaged by the contemptuous nick- name of ““ Oll Fussand Feathers,”—especially after he had mearly signed his own political death-warrant by that fatal allusion to ‘a hasty plate of soup,” which convalsed the nation with laughter from the St. Croix to the Rio Grande? Tho hero of Chippowa found it hard to breast the torrent of ridicule which this derisive title ‘brought down upon him. It would have been easier far to stand up sgainst the iron shock of the batile-field. Who, sgain, has forgotten how the would-be naval bard of America, * The-sun has-gone-down-with-his-battle-steined-eye - Pat- ten,"—was “ damned to everlasting fome” by s verbal tin-pail attached to his name in the forra of one of his own verses? “Ihave heord an eminent character boast,” says Hazlitt, *that he did more to produce the war with Bonaparte by nicknaming him The Corsican, than sll the state papers and documents on the subject put together.” Giresdog & bad name, says the proverb, and you hang him. It was only-fec- essary to nickname Burke The Dinner-Bellto malte even kis rising to speak & signal for & general emptying of the house. .~ ‘A nickname is the most stinging of all species of satire, because it gives no chance of reply. Attack 2 man with spécific, point-blank charges, and he can meet and repel them; but & nicknzme paffles reply by its very vagueness; it presents 1o tangivle or definite idea to the mind, no hora of o dilemms with which the victim can grapple. The very attempt to defend himself only renders him the more ridiculous ; it Jooks like raising an ocean to drown a iy, or discharging & cannon at awasp, to meet & potty gibe with formal testi- mony or elsborate argument. Or, if your de- fence is listened to without jeews, it avails you nothing. It has no effect,—does not tell,—excites no sensation. Thelaughisagainst you, and all your protests come like the pby- sician’s prescription of the funeral, too late. The significance of nicknames is strikingly il- Iustrated by the fact that, s the Review sug- gests, you cannot properly hate & man of differ- ent opinions from your own till you have la- belled him with some unpleasant epithet. In theological debates, o hereticmay be defined asa manwith a pickname. Till we have succeeded in fastening a name upon him, he is confounded omong the general mass of the orthodox ; his peculiaritios are presumsbly not sufficient ‘to constitute him into a separate species. But let the name come to us by a flash of inspiration, and how it sticks fo the victim {hrongh his whole life! That prince of polem- ics, Cobbett, was a masterly inventor of nick- nemes, and some of his felicitous epithets will not be forgotten for many years to come. Among the words and phrases by which he stuck his claws into his enemies wers “the pinicnosed Liverpool,” “the unbaptized, but- tonless blackguerds” (applied to the Quakers), and “Prosperity Robinson.” The nickname, «0la Glory,” given by him, stuck for life to Sir Francis Burdett, his former patron and life-long creditor; Zolus Canning” provoked upestin- guishable laughter among high and low; and it is said that of all the devices to annoy the bril- lisnt but vain Lord Erskine, mone was more teasing than being constantly addressed by his gecond title of “Baron Clackmannon.” An account of the ways in which nicknames are suggested would fill & volnme. One of the commonest is by a glaring contradiction between o man’s name and his character,—when he is ridiculed as sailing under false colors, or claim- ing & merit which does not belong to him. Thus Jerome, one of the Fathers of the Church, being engaged in controversy with one Vig- ilantius, i.e., * the Watchfal,” about certain vigils which the latter opposed, stigmatized him a8 “Dormitantius,” or ‘the Blesper.” But ‘more frequently the nickname is suggested by the real name where there is no such antago- nism between them,—where the latter, as it is, or by & slight change, can be made to contain & confeesion of the .ignorance or folly of the bearer. What can be happier in this way than the *Brand of Hell,” applied to Pope Hildebrand,—tho title of ¢ Slanders,” af- fixed by Fuller to Sanders, the foul-mouthed li- beller of Queen Elizabeth,—the *Vanity” and @ Sterility,” which Baxter coined from their namesof Vaneand Sterry,—and the term ‘‘Sweep- net,”which that skilful master of the passions, Cicero, gave to the infamons Prastor of Sicily, whose name, Verres, was prophetic of his sweep- ing the province,—declaring that others might e partiel to the jus verrinum, which might mean verrine law or boar sauce, but not he? There is probably no'country, unless it be our own, in which nicknames have flourished more then in England. Every party there has had its watchwords by which to rally its members, or to set on its own bandogs to worry and teer those of another faction ; and what is quite extraordi- nary is, that many of the names of political par- ties and religions] sects were originally nick- names givenin the bitterestecorn and party ‘hate, yet ultimately accepted by the party them-= selves. Thus “Tory " originally meant a3 Irish free-booting bog-trotter, and * Whig " 18 derived from the Scolch name for sour milk, which wan supposed to sptly chamcterize tho % p b the Republicans, The German * Lutherans, 4 hplathad.ists," the * Cspuchin ” monks, ‘the Baggara.” of Holland. wers all dangivaly nsmed thus by their ememies. Even the title of ¢ Premier,” or * Prime Minister,” now one o1 the highest dignity, wag at first & nickname, given in pure mockery,—the statesman to whom it was applied being Sir Bobert Walpole, as will b2 seen by the following Words spoken by him inthe Housé of Commons in 1742: ¢ Hay- ing invested .me with s kind of mock dignity, and styled me & Prime Minister, they (the opposition) impute to me an unpardonable abuse of the chimerical suthority which they only created and conferred.” Among the inem- orzble English nicknames, those of “The Rump,” applied to the Long Parliament, in the time of CharlesTI.,—that of *‘ Jemmy Twitcher,” taken from the chiet of Macheath's gangin ¢The Beggar's Opers,” and applied to Lord Sandvich, sticking to him all his life like & burr, —and thab of Dizzy,” into which his enemier have condensed thenpame of the great Jewish M. P.,~will readily snggest themselves to the reader. Among American political names thera are many which are not remarknbly expressiva; others, like ¢“0ld Bullion ¥ and * Old Hickory* are steeped in *the very brine of conceit,” and sum up a character as if by inspiration. The annoyance which msay be given to a man, even by an apparently meaningless nickname, which stick® tohim wherever he goes, is well illustrated bya story told by Haglitt in hix “ Converastions with Northcote,” the painter. A village baker got, he knew not how, the name of #“Tyddy-doll.” He was teased and worried by it till it almost drove him crazy. The boyshalloced it after him in the streets, and poked their faces into his shop-windows; the parrots echoed tha name as he passed their cages; and even tha soldiers took it up (for the place was s military station), and marched to parade, beating time with their feet, and singing Tiddy~ doll, Tiddy-doll, as they pessed by his door. He flewout upon them atthe sound with inextingumishable fury, was kmacked down and rolled in the kennel, and got up in an agony of rage, his white clottes drabbled and bespattered with mud. A respectable gnd friendly gentleman in the ucigne borhood, who pitied hi¢ weakness, celled him into his house one dey, and remonstrated with on the subject. He advised him to take no mo- tice of his persecutors. “‘What,” said he, ““doea it signify? Supposs they do cail you Tiddy- doll ? What harm "—* There—there i is again ! ‘burst forth the tnfariated baker; *you've called me go yourself. You called me in on purpose to insult me!” And, seying this, he vented his rage in s torrent of abusive epithets, and darted out of the house in & tempest of pzesion. MISCELLANEOUS. A Petersburg (Va.) firm has received a bale of vegetable wool, mado in Franklin County, N. C. It is planted and cultivated somewhat similar to cotton. —One hundred ‘and three thousend dollars heve already been raised in Philadelphia alons for the family of General Meade. —The first instance of an elopement of colored parties in Kentucky occurred at Carlisle the other day. The parents were obstinate, but so were the young people, and 50 both Wera miss- ing one day. . N =z —-In the Georgia Lunatic Asylum there are 503 patients, of whom 72 are idiots. The arrivaly average about one and & half per day, and all the room provided by the recent additions to the baildings will soon Bo occupied. —The unveiling of the Tsney statue at An- napolis, Md., will take place on Tuesday, Dec. 10, in the presence of the Governor and other chief functionaries of the State, together with an assemblage drawn from all parts of the State. The ceremonies will take place in the Senate Chamber. —The question of electing the Mayors of cities by<he vote of the people, instead of by the members of City Councils, is receiving con- sidorable attention thronghout the Province of Ontaricl —The rapid decline of agrarian crime in Ire- 1and is attributed to the happy influence of the Land act. In the first six months of 1870—two ears ago—there were 1,219 ontrages in_Ireland connected with land. = Doring the first eix rmonths of the present year there were buf 116. —West Virginiz is having great dificalty on the subject of her Congressmen. After & dual election, upon which her Legislature has been umsuccessfully tinkering, 6he i8 now under tha unpleasant apErehensian that & bill will be passed by the Legislature suthorizing snotber tlection for Congressmen. The whale ditticulty has arisen from tho vagueness of the law, that seems to have left an irreconcilable conilict. —In November, 1870, the value of the com- ‘moditics shipped from Ehilsdelphia to foreign countries was 81,134,899 ; in November, 1871, the amoant rose to $1,775,605, and in the month Jast ended the exports amonnted to 82,177,460 —This isa_jolly sort of an idea: The New York & New Haven Reilway Company have been exgerimenting with a new safety switch, which is thus described: The lever of the switch is en- closed in asmall house or seniry-box, the door of which is locked. When the switchman enters the house and opens the switch, he thereby shuts the door of the house or box, from which he cannot make his exit ill, by shutting the switch, ho thereby opens the door of the box. If b{ any chance a train comes along while the switch is opon ho must meke his escape from the box to avoid the probability of being himself Ikilled. ‘He cannot mako his escape without shatting tha switch. Therefore, every time s &wit opens & switch he is bound nnder penalty of desth to haveit closed ‘befare any train comes along. One man can attend to only one witchs _— ‘An English Dinner. Landon Correspondence of the Cincinnati Commer The true London dinner consists of from 12 to 99 courses, the half of which are substantially ‘mests, fish, fovls, and game, braced up and in< terpolated with patlies, soups, snd entrees. Then follows & vista of sullen puddings and sodden sweets, cakes, custards, and mixed ices, whose consumption points toward death and the bours of midriight. And still the ponderous feast is not over. Thsre remains piles of green nutgan i over nourished frnits, josidions entrees of late dessert with foroign flavor, lastly that inevitsble, fatal comestible, crowning the §nul of every British dinner, and whose very look and oder are‘suggestions of the grave —a Stilton cheese! But_the London dinper is not mostly a thing of esting. After all has been said, it is oo affair to bo drank rather than masticated, its succeeding courses appesring to be introduced mainly for the object of clesring the palato for fresh flavor of wine. A delicata Hock is placed beside the plate of microscopic, but finely flavored English_oysters that begi the meal. Ssuterne or Moselle succeed to the Hock, with the that follows the oysters. Mosello and Sauterne give Way o the substantial sherry and Hungerisn in the fhird course. Tho sherry is carried forward with a red Burgandy to accompany the piece da resistance, or the heavy rosst of English sirloin that breakis the firat chock of appetite inthe rocess of .dining. Chatean Yquem or white ‘okay attends the fowl that replaces the roast. Game is introduced, with claret and champogue A succeeding disa i3 supported by & glass of Medeira. * Madeira, in turn, is contrasted Tith a Greek wite; and & bottle of Manzanilla is deftly inserted fo 'brace the flsgging stimulank of the Tenedos. With the dessert appear the massive Souihérn wines—port and Spanish— ‘while the heavy Englishfavorite, Bhu'?’ hasnot once disappeared from the cloth. he black wines ara carried through the dessert and fraits. Bordeaux is sipped with the cheese, aiter which the guests drink all round liqueurs Ghatreuse or Maraschino, for better digestion, and the Iadies Totiring, after the English fashion, the cloth it drawn, Cognee Bnd whiskey introduced, and tha Tegula drfnking of an English dinner party bex To gupport this enormous and massive eating and, dnp&ing one would suppose that the English would ind it ‘convenieat, if not abso- Intely necessery, to recline, likethe old Romans, at their meals. The inference is as absurd as the fancy of an Anglo-Saxon in a classic posi- tion. An Boglishman is never steadier than when he rig#s from five hours of dining. He sp- pears to carry off his tons of food and gallons of wine as thfly 85 if they were & biscuit and a cup of tea, And as for tho marvellous po- culation that follows tha ordinary English din- ner, the arigiocratic Londoner nmi&u-u simply a8 a porcus membrene through Which ligmids disnppest with tha simplicity of the endosmose rocess in niture,—or rather cof and whis- oy sink into his Organization as gracefully 8s if tho Britieh stomach were the proper receptacls and destiny of the alcohola. ‘Fhe upper class English are undoubtedly the bost dined and best wined race in the world ; and there appears to to be a dispensationin the moist, unstesdy atmosphere’of the Engiish cli- mate thst atones for its disagreesbleness by xllomniiln impunity of appetite to the inhabi- tants vhich exiats nowhers else. Th climate is 8 soaking one literally. An American AITiving n Bngland finds that h can add one-third to s ) @ Spinf -bavaragas without 8D+ or g spirituous