Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, April 24, 1881, Page 4

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 1S8l_TWENTY-FOUR.PAGES sacks six men deep. In their Procinmation gq. e Crilume, TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. BT MAIL—IN ADVANCE—POSTAGE PREPAID. . order of the H. 1% .§12.00 1.00 “Vednesday, and A e ke walison, per VWEEELY EDITIOR . per seat Srnoopgaer ot Tyanty-one Specimen copies scl Give PPost-OTice zddress ia full, and Swte. Semintances may be made either by draft, express, ‘Pos:-Office order, or In registered lctier, at our risk. TO CITY SUBSCRIBEXS. Datiy, delivered, Sunday excepted. 23 cents per week, Datty, delizered, Sunday inel 0 conts per week. NE COMPANY. orn-sts., Chicago, Il incloding County POSTAGE. Enlered ot the Poat-Ofics at Chicago, lil, a3 Second= * Ciczs Matlter. For the benefit of our patrons wko desire to seed single coples of ITIE TRIBUNE throush the mail, we give herewith tho transient rata of postake: Damercic. Per ey Tight and Twelve Paze I'aper. s Bixteen Page Paper... i cents. iz 26 P .2 conts. Pight ang Tweive Paze Pap: -Sonte \ixteon Paze Pape: TRIBUNE BRANCH OFFICES. TRE CHICAGO TRIBUSE has established branch offfees 107 the recetpt of subscriptions and advertise- mente 01 NEW YORK~Koom 2 Triune Bullding. E.T. Mc- X . Enz. HENRY ¥ GILLIO, WASHINGTO: 10N LONG the" sixiy. F.amd A fled” fo teetat nda; K i the Ew- WAL J. BRYAR, S 1INCOLN TARR CI Hall corner Clark u; ton_Monday_eve: the K. A. Desree, Work un_tihe ) 1ng comranior: 3.0 DICKEREON, Secretary. NATIONAL LODG! ok FAIRVIEW CLIAPTEI. Thirts-scven 13 “C; Convocations ev Work on Kova alwuys welcome. MYTON HALRIS, s, Le conferred. o By orderat 2 « AV1D GQODMAN, Rtecorder. THER_CITAT ¥ it Grand Av v evenin, Su'clock.” Music vy Prof. Cerr, WASHINGTON CHAPTELR. N clal Convormtion Fricay even o'cloti, 1 sl exee. order of the 3. {omjant SUNDAY, APRIL 24, 1SSL TaE wholesale grocers of Chieazo, true to thelr reeord for zenerosity and kindness to the suffering everywhere, raised the hand- some amount of 1 for the suiferers by the recent floods in Dakota vesterday. The sum was placed in Gen. Sheridan’s hands for distribution tirough the military anthorities. Tar managers of the telegraph and tele- phone lines in this ciiy do not look verv Eindiy on the eity ordinance recen:ly adopt- ed, which provides that 211 wires shall be laid underground for the future. The managers suy it is utterly impussible to obey the ordi- nance, and openiy express their purpose to disobey 16 in ease it is not repealed. It appears that after all, and despite the experience of the weather during the last season, that the scheme for operating street cars by cable hasmot been abandoned. On the contrary, Mr. IHolmes annources that every pfeparation has been wade for begin- g that system without delay, and in time 10 have several of the South Sidelinesin operation this season. Contracts have been made for the construction of machinery, and the Company is hopeful of ualimited sueces The new system proposes to run the cars and transport passengers at the rate of eight miles an hour, and with an abundance of cars there will be no delay in woving alf the passengers who may apply for transportu- tion, The only lmit to the means of the company will be the capaciiy of ihe engines and boilers, which can be duplicated as rap- idly as néeded. mother column willbe found a very in- teresting interview had wi: Emery Storrs on National 2 inirton correspondent. Mr. Storrs is of opinion that the Presldent will stangl by all his nomina- tions, and that with perhaps the exception of 2Ir. William E. Chandler, they will all be confirned; that the Scaate will go into executive session 10 confirm nomina- tions some day this weck; that Senator Frye does not represent the spirit or policy of the Administration on’ the Sourhern ques- tion: and that Conkling's friends are dis- armed or placated by the assurance of the President that Judge Robertson will not be permitted to use the New York Custom- House for partisan purposes. Mr. Storrs is also of opinion that the pcrsonnclof the present Cabinet will soon be ehanged. ——— Tur starroute contractors are loud in their protestations that they are hone: amiable, ' but much maligned - individuals. They assert that the charges of crookedness in the matter of securing contracts are made out of whole cloth by newspaper blackmail- ers, ete. Some of them talk, however, as if they were badlyscared. One of these per- Bons, of monumental ipudence and colos- sal cheek, is reported to bhave said yesterday that “‘the reform movement Was going to vplay the devil with the DBosses,” and that if the Presi- dent coutinues in this *mad policy” he will Tuin the prospects of the party for the next campaign. It is through the rascalities, ‘thieveries, and villainies of such men, and Ly their toleration, that parties are.wrecked. President Garfield and Postmaster-General James are determined to weed out the ac- complices of such fellows from the Govern- ment employment, and the sooner they do it the better for the interest of the party and the country. In the lansuage of the con- tractor, it'is time “to play the devil with the Bosses.” ‘Tan publication of 'he Leminiscences of Carlyle” by Froude seems to have had a bad effect in Great Britain. Before the pub- lication subseriptions for the proposed memo- rial in the great essayist’s honor, poured in quiie freely, but since then they have been al- most wholly stopped. Mr. Froude has not been any wore judiclous as an editor than he has been as a historian. THE St. Petersburg police find it rather difficult to cope with the active and very zeal- ous Nihilists. On the 10th iust. the police discovered a printing press which was being used in turning off seditious documents. Twenty persons were then arrested in con- neetion with the discovery, end the police doubtless concluded that they would have no trouble for a considerable time from the propagators of treason and Nihilism. A few days ago, however, they received in- farmation which led to the discovery of an- othef press, and a dozen persons were ar- rested, and still there were others left, for on the dzy of the execution of the Nihilists some of theirsympathizers were found in an ob- seare quarter actively employed in printing notices of the execution for distribution among the people. Tur surrender of Lake street to the horse- railway company and the adoption of the ordinance looking to the general pavement of the business streels with stone of neeessi- ty sugests that some actior. will soon have 1o be taken to remedy the present evil of in- terruption of travel by detentions at the bridges. The remedy is to relieve the britges. The travel over Madison and Ran- dolph street bridaes by vehicles other than horse-carsis equal to all that ought to be ex- acted of these bridges. It is common in eases when Madison street bridge is opened for a line of detained vehicles to extend from the bridge to State street, and on- the other side of the river o extend to Halsted Under such circuinstances the eross treets for the whole mile are also blocked detained vehicles, and frequently when bridge is closed it is agrin opened before i { vehicles can cross. Madison aml Randoivh streefs have not the eapacity for all this travel. and every day and every month thi capacity and the consequent incouvenience and delay are becoming more costly and troublesome. Something will have to be done sooner or later, and it i5 well to consider the at- ter now., The city has consiructed at a cost of half a million of dollars, a tunnel under the river at \\'nsh-_ ington street, which is ntterly useless for ovdinary travel. The gradés are too steep; and altogether the tunnel can never be util- ized for temming. Why not turn this tunnel over to the I railroads? Then Madison and Kandolph street ears could all be turned into Washington street at Franklin street, or over the tracks they now have on Fifth av- enne, and they could be moved without loss of timeandat comparatively small expense by stationary engines through the tunnel. The cars would be able, under such: an ar- rangement, .to Tun upon a time-table, and never losc a frip beeause of intersuption. ‘Their machinery would be easily worked and comparati The ho could meet tho carsas the laffer emerge from the tunnel and proceed on their way without amoment’s delay. and every man who took ge on a car would have the assurance ng earried through withont interru; tion and on time, while now a journey to ol rom the W de by horse-ears may be performed in an hour, or three hours, ae- cording to the condition of navigation on the river, or the number of other vehicles occu- pying the road. THE MEXICAN ELDORADO. Prosperity and enterprise go hand in hand, and there contagious quality about both. The recovery amonix the neople of the United States from the long era of depression which succeeded the panic of 1572 has led to almost unprecedented commercial adventure, not only at home, but abroad. Extraordinary impulse has been given to road building, and, among other new fields, eapitalists and catreprencurs have persuaded themselves that there is an undeveloped Eldorado in Mesico. As a conscquence, some 4.500 miles of railroad traversing the Me: 1 Republic have been projected by Amerieans under the influence of promised Mexican subsidies, and some foriy or fifty millions of American capital will probably be expended within the next few years in the development of Mexi- ean trade. In view of this spirit of adventure in the direction of Mexico, Tur TrBeNe has en- deavored, Tfrom time to time to present to its constituency unvarnished pictures of the actual condition of that country. A year or two ago itgave vrominence to the observa- tions of ex-Minister Foster, who enjoyed ex- ceptional facilities for ascertaining the re- sources of Mexico, and yesterday 1t printed a graphic account of the country which was taken from the lips «f Dr. John A. Rice, a Wisconsin scientist, who hzs recently re- turned from a second Mexican tour. Both these gentlemen agree as to the essential feat- ures of Mexican life, habits, pursuits, and resources, and neither of them contirms the roseate views which have been put forth in the interest of raifroad building. ¥ The area of Mexico isabout 1,000,000 square miles, or one-third of the area of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. But it ted that not more than one-tenth of arca is arable land, and much of the latter requires constant irrigation by artificial appliances. Hence the population of 12,000,600 is crowded into certain districts, where people are almost as thick as the fieas that infest the bodies of the modern Aztecs. TLis population is made up wmainly of three classes, as follows: (1) The Creoles, or whites of Spanish origin, who are the large landowners and who have hereto- fore resisted efforts at enterprise that eame from abroad under an apprehension that their own wealth and power might thereby be impaired; there are about one million of these. (2) The Mestizoes, or half-breeds, who number between 2,000,000 and 3,000,- 000, and are for the most part a lazy and worthless set, who live from hand to mouth in the listless style which the climate per- mits and thelr social condition encourages. (%) The Indians, who comvose the bulk of the population, whose condition is little bet- ter than that of serfs, and who regard all whites, but especially the Spaniards, with mixed hatred and suspicion. The elements of the Mexican population are certainly not favorable to rapid development and progress. ‘The resources of the country are zenerally exaggerated. There Is a sort of romanticism about Mexican life at a distance which is confused with the dulce far niente of a Tuxu- rious existence. The only luxury in Mexicos is laziness. The silver mines show sizns of exhaustion. Asriculture is pursued under special diffienlties in a country where not more than a tenth of the land is tilluble, und that with laborious processes of irrigation. Trade is more or less mythical among a peo- ple who work for 31 cents a day and are sat- B isfied with a hovel and a single garment of clothing. There is no doubt that the rail- roads will infuse new life into the country, but they have not the rich field to work in which is generally supposed. ‘T'he railroads are to be built on a rather uncertain subsidy, to be collected out of the customs enue. The subvention . ranges between §%,000 and $15,000 per mile, and av- erages about $12,000. The Mexican Central, 1 is tho extension of the Atchison, To- peka & Santa Fé, and will have a length of 1,765 miles, bas a len upon 6 per cent of the frontier duties collected by the Republic. The Jay Gould line, in which Gon. Grant is ‘interested, will be 1,235 miles. long, and is al- lowed 4 per cent of these revenues. The line known as Gen. Grant’s and Romero’s, which runs across the country,—a distance of 315 miles,—has its subsidy, to be collected in the same manner. But the custowms reve- nues of the Mexican Republic mmount to only about S19,000,000, while the average expenses of the Goveérnment are about §24,000,000. It is small wonder, under these circun.stances, that Dr. Rice comments as follows: 1tis n greater pgpblow to my mind what I8 to be done with the riltronds after they are com- lotgl. Mexico S certialy 4 poor country. It s not simply #n impoverished country, with great natural resources which bave b hausted, for no degree of agriculinral and com- mercinl disteess is beyond tho possilility of ro- cupcration. ‘This country is naturally pior. Voleanic fires bave binsced its surfuce, Vast sections, hundreds of ro leagues, are hut extinet eraters, Inaceessible mouutain sides and tops eovered with everlastinz snow; almost bottumiess zorges and caiions, precipices which arise or descend liko o wall afouz miles of dis- tanve, ure everywhere throughout the country. Quly the eactus will geow between the rocks on the mountain edges. ~ Thern [s an abundance of stretms from tho ever-melting snows of tha niountainous summits, but there are 1o rivers of muviznble water. The streams flow futo, mountain lakes, or sink the quick- sands, or apsolutely run dry, aimigishing in their ldw as they oxtend from their svurce, tll . they disuppear. On - tho &ides of the mouniains they torm an_abundance of water-power, but thoro is o use for the power. One source of business for the raflroads will bo 10 carcy out the products of the mines and to import suppifes for the mining population. lut the mines will have M be developed far boyond thiefr present production before this will furnish business tor balf 2 duzen great railronds. Tho coffeo-erop will ntford but liztle freight for the ruilronds, as noue of the lines more than touch 0 colfee-belt, waich is extremely limited. There witl be some hides from the surplus of. cattle. But, with but one acre of aruble Lind in t the whole country, there will d products of the soil ln any ma- Veyond the supply raquired for n; there will Le no exports, ond what is purchased withh pped out of the eountry. The peaple are poor: their wants aro fows the crops uro light. Thera will never bz a demand for vast quantities of costly goods ta furnish raitrond frefisht—that 13, not {u years, if ever. I does not._scem posdible for the railroads in process of construction in Mexico to ever pay centin dividends. The building and operating of railroads in Mexico -are Ly no mezns cheap, notwith- standing the low wages paid for labor., The ties for the construction of the roads are brought down singly from the mouutains at a cost of 31 a piece. There isno coal in Mexico yes discovered, and no forests except those which grow high upon the mount- ain the railronds can rely are in the Indian Ter- ritory, Northern T New Mexico, and Arizona. ‘The men who have undertaken to develop and modernize Mexico by the loco- motive have a mueh larger contract than Is popularly supposed. The m serfous aspeet which the scheme presents is that American eapital may, through the subsi- dies that have been granted by the Govern- ment in the shape of mortz: ou the rove- nues, obtain a lien upon tho Government’s resources, which may in time and by reason of forfeiture lead up toa project for fore- closure and annexation as a means for secur- ing payment. e THFE NEW PROBLEX IN EDUCATION. Says a modern a2uthor whose fame is not qual to his deserts, * The bright, capable human being born into the world in these United Statesis our most valuable resource.” The vital question of the hour I3, o we in our edncational system develop to its utmost this most valuable resource? Our common- school system is two hundred and fiity years old. Iicame in with the Puritans. It isa Yankee notion, and it has made thé Yankee the dominating force in Awmerican affairs, There was a fieree strugzie between Yankee ideas and the ideas of the Southron, who denied the propositlon that It is the duty of the State lo develop the Drain of every “ bright, capable human being born into the world™ to its utmost capacity. But the le is over and the Yankee is victor! Shall we stop hiere? Shall we rest content with an education em which has pre- vailed over a semi-barbarous soeial system hampered «nd degraded by the curse of human slavery? Or shall we improve our methods of education as the stock-raiser im- proves his cattle and horses to meet the ever-growing demand for better beef in the shambles and greater speed on the race- course? If the stock-raiser can afford to be at great expense to breed aud vear fine horses, it would seem that the State may allord to be at great expense to educate and train “brizht, capable™ boys ana girls, True, the State Is at wreat expense in the matter of edueating chiidren. DBut under the present system it only half educates. It trains the brain, but does scarcely anything for either the eye or the hand. We might take a lesson from the savage. ileis tanaht to fight, to hunt, and to fish, and in these arts the brain, the hand, and the eye are edu- cated simultancously. e is first given ob- ject lessons, as the pupil is taught in the kiu- dergarten. Then the tomahawk, the spear, and the bow and wrrow are placed in his hands, and he fights for his life, or fishes or hunts for his dinner. The young Indian is taught all that it is necessary for him to kuow, and he is educated, practically, in the savage’s three workshops,—tue battlefield, the forest and plain, the sea and lak Thus the young savage enters upon the duties of life with an exact practical knowledge of them. Ile has mot been taught a theory about fighting: ke has actuatly used the weapons of warfare, 1le has not studied the art of fishing and hunting; he has handled the spear and the bow and arrow, and their actual use is as familiar to bim as the multi- plication- table is to the boy in the public school. To the savuge there is but one age, —theageof fizhting, fishing, and hunting. Bug to civilized man there is an endless progres- sion of ages,—that is to say, periods of great discoveries in science which require the special adaptation of new means tonew ends. 1t is certain, then, that the same cducational system will not fit «ll ages of the civilized man as it fits the single aze of the savage. When Iabor was only another name for a state of slavery, to teach men to labor skill- fully was merely to raise them to a liltle higher zrade of servitude. IHence it Is only at a very recent period that it has oceurred to mankind to teach skilled laborin the schools. Al educational systems, our own among the rest, seem to he intended to makd lawsers, doctors, priests, statesmen, littérateurs, poets. But this 1s the iron age, the age of machines and machinery. Tremendous forees in Nat- ure have been diseovered and utillzed; and these discoveries and their utilization have so multiplied vast enterprises that the impor- tance of the more ornamental branches of learning is dwarfed in their presence. This Is the practical age, and an cducational sys- tem which is not practieal is nothing. We shall still have our Tenniysons, and our Long- fellows,and our doctors of abstract philosophy, but there s little time to sentimentalize with the poeis or speculate with the philosophers. There is work to do. The mine is to be ex- vlored and its treasures brought to the surface: more and more powerful machines stru. are to be constructed to bear the burdens of comuerce; new clements of force are to be ‘The neavest conl deposits upon which | discovered and applied o the constantly- inereasing wants of mankind. Is it possible under these circumstances that the question will be asked, Does indefinit education pay? An able advocate of . moro complete educa- tional system says: * Youth is the expensive period of man’s existence. Youth produces nothinz and eats all the time. If the youth is not trained there can biardly be a profit to mankind on hiy existence. - As mankind is liable for, and bound to pay, his expenses, ho should be so trained that he may re- pay them. He can only become a profitable investment by training. If he. is left un- skilled the money spent on bim s wasted. There is 1o profit on a whole generation ot Spanfards or Turks: Mankind should be wise enoush to yeap the profit there always is In finishing raw material, by making numan raw material into a highly-finished product.” There are millions of *'bright, capable’’ little human beings in the schools of the United States recelving, doubtless, excellent intollectual or mental training, But they are not being trained for the actual duties of lite s the savage chilid is taught to fight, to fish, and to hunt. They are not taught to labor. with their hands, eitherskilifully or unskilifuliy. They are not given instruction in any department of the practical arts, not- withstanding the fact thatin the caso of o vast majority of them the alternative of earning their bread by the labor of their un- skilled hands; or resorling to their untrained wits for a support, will be presented imme- diately on their entrancé upon the stage of active life, The apprentiee system gave skilled meehanics io England, and her splen- did manufacturing prosperity is the resalt. The trained English apprentice became an inventor, and his inventions and art dis- coveries studded the island with workshops filled with automatic product-multiplying wmachinery, But the apprentice system never flourlghed in this country, and what thero was of it has disappeared before the ignorant disfavor and blind fury of the trades-unions. Our shops are full of foreign-born workmen. Of the mass of skilled workers those of American birth and training are but a hand- ful. Meantime the relative linportance of mechanical trades to all otlier branches of employment s steadily on the increase. It may bo objected that the sehool should not be turned into a workshop. Why, when all the world is becoming a workshop, and still, withall the appliances of steam-driven auto- matie niachinery, it is with difliculty that the demand for machines is supplied 2 BROAD TIRE WAGOKS. A subseriber writes to ask us how much it would cost to change a common narrow tire road-wrgon into s broad tire wagon,—the tire to be four inches in width. Ilesays “there are many farmers and teamsters In the country and towns who would gladly use the wide tire wheels if the exvense was not too. great in making the change.” *en haying wagons of the ordinary one-and-three- fourths and two-ineh tire dow’t want to throw them away, and buy new broad tire wagons—merely for the sake of the improve- ment. But if the narrow tire can be cheap- Iy changed into the broad tive numbers would adopt them, and their example would soon be infeetious.” =, Wo are willing to do some free advertising for the sale of this reform of road wagons, and will checrfully publish letters from wagonmakers in the city or country stating how much they will charge totake a narrow- tire wagon and convert it into a four-inch tire vehicle. We suppose that the hub and spokes of the narrow-tire wagon can be used in the reconstracted broad-tire one—at least theliub can be. The expense would consist of the cost of the new felloes and the broad tire, and possibly new spokes, less what would be allowed by the reconstruction wagonmadier for the old tires. The expense cannot be great. Broad-tite wheels need not be as high as narrow-tire wheels, as they do not cut into the ground one-quarter as deeply, and therefore pull. more lightly, The nar- row-tire wheels are- made high to oveicome obstructions on the track; but tese obstructions consist almost exclusively of soft, ylelding earth, into which the narrow tire cuts, but which the wide tire would pass over without sink- ing into, and therefore the wheels may be made lower. This woutd be a gain in many Tespects,—such us in strength of wagon, and greater convenience ot loadmyg and unload- ing, and I ty of uapsetting, or the spokes breaking in the hub, Whers the great- est strain on a wagon comes. It would save half a million a year in Chicago to the tax- payers In damage to the improved streets if the tires of all the vehicles were made double their present width; and, taking the whole year—Dbad weather, snow, slush, mud, and soft roads—into consideration, tho economny of draft for the animals would be at least 25 per cent,—a brond-tire wagon drawine that much lighter, whether loaded or unloaded, than a narrow-tire vehicle. The present width of tire is an ignorant, witless, unre- fleeting custom, and a species of barbarism us well. e s xmer ez HAVERLY'S NEW THEATRE. The many rumors that have been cirenlated coucerning Mr. Haverly’s plans with refor- ence to a new theatre to take the place of his present one, which shortly passes into the haunds of the First Nutlonal Bank, are at last settled by the definit announcenient that he has leased the large and handsoms lot on Monroe street, directiy opposit the present theatre, for fifty years, and that he will at once proceed to build, completing the new structure by the first of next September, if possible. So far as the locality is coneerned it is an excellentone, being contlguous to the strect railroads and fronting a street where there are no tracks, and consequently little confusion at night. 7 In regurd to the cdifice itself, Mr. Haverly promises that it shall be as convenient, com- fortuble, spacious, safe, and elegant as money can make it. It will seat one-third more peo- ble than the present theatre, or about 3,000, Wwhich is large enough for any emergency. In its ornamentation it will be both unique and elegant. In addition to the ordinary tiers of seats and galleries, it will have nine boxes. on each side of the prosceniumn and twenty- eightstalls. There will also be an ample foyer, a gencral smoking-room. and harnd- some retiring and clvak rooms. In fact, the Gencral proposes to spare neither money nor pains to make the now establishment one of the 1nost elegant in this country, and the two fronts'will aliow of so many exits that per- fect seeurity can be obtained. Mr. Haverly's enterprise will thus secure to the people of Chicago not only a theatre of which they may be proud, but with very little attentton to details and the arrange- ment of the stage, there i no reason why he should not at the same time solve the Opera- Touse problemn for us. There is 1o better loeation for it. Ad that Mr. Haverly need to do is to have ample stage and orchestra roum and a clean and elegant auditorinm where fashion can display and dispo: itself, and we shall need no other Opera- House, and as he has found opera to pay in the present theatre, which was not very tractive ta opera-goes, there is no reason why it shouid not pay him still better in the proposed new building. e will also have ample room in the structure forart pur- poses, and it is so centrally located that artists will be glad to go there. * A theatre i like that which heis about to eréct will cer- tainly be as commodious as the Cincinnatl Music-Iall and fully as elegant, so that large musieal festivals can be held in it, and this, with the -Central Music-Hall for concerts, will supply all our musidai wants, Mr. Hav- erly istobe congratulated upon his enter- prise and courage. A MONARCH TO BE PITIED. 1f there 'Is a man to be pitied on tha face of the earth, it Is Alexander ILL, Czar of afl the Russias. 1le has hanged the Nihilists who murdered his father, and has thus ofti- | cially avenged his death; but he has not hanged Nihilism. - It rises up, grim and ter- rible as ever, and, pointing its gaunt finger, notifies him that he too must die. He is a- close and scared prisoner in hiis own chitean. 1lis paluces in St. Potersburg are surrotunded by cordons of soldiery, but, as the unseen agents of Nihilism, like the pestilence hat walketh at noonday, have more than once found their way through cordons of sol- diery, he keeps himself in the interior of his small castle, never venturing out of it, and surrounded by his guards. DBut even through the ranks of his guards and into the very interior of his chateau, strongly de- fended as it is, the Nihilists bave sent him the fearful messaze that they have decrecd his death. He is monarch of all the Russias, and the most helpless and unhappy man in his Empire. Tle is as completely a prisoner as if he had been plunged into one of the most distnal of his dungeons. He is beseiged by a seeret terrible enemy, whom he eannot see, but whose presence he can feel,— an enemy which seems to be omnipresent and almost omniscient, which permeates all classes of his people, which plueards its threats in the very midst of his soldiers, police, and spies, which works in the light as unseen. as in the derk, which burrows in the ground like amole. e can have con- fidence in no one.. The enemy may be among the very soldiers he has placed on guard, may be waiting upon him, may be under his fect. If he ventures out of his chiiteau, he will confront him in the street. If he dees not, the fatal summons may come to him in food, in drink, in letters. o is as completely hemmed in by the enemy as his chitteau is hemued In by soldiers. 1t is an enemy caring nothing for its own life, hence is desperate to the last extremity. TWhen one falls another immediately takes his place, all striving for the honor of pre- cedence to the gallows, if only they may have the opportunity of ridding the world of another Czar. Young, tender, and high- barn girls contend. with desperate men for tho privilege and o to the scaffold with un- duunted mien. Sophie Perolovsky died like ahero, and her female companion, whose death is only delayed until the Government can make aw orphan of her unborn cliild, awaits her death with heroie composure, al- though it must come in one of the most delfcate and sacred " epochs of a wom- aw’s life. Such are fhe enemics surrrounding Alexander IIL, setting no stake . wpon their own lives, facing the prison, the underground hor- rors of Siberia, the scaffold, with equal com- posure, and watchung him with a vigilance that sooner or later will consummate thelr design in blood and stain. the records of humanity with another assasination, to be followed by more hangings of men and women. Meanwhile the imprisoned Czar reiterates his importunities to the other Towers to take sume steps that may rid Europe of revolutionists. In the midst of these dangers, with the certainty of death staring him in the face, it is a little remark- able that Alexander I1L does not take tho step that will rid Russia of Nibilism. With a stroke of his penora word of his mouth he could end it and make Russia a happy and contented country. - All the Nihilistic hopes and purposes are for- mulated in the one demand for constitutional government. That has always been the burden of their prayer, and it is the uni- versal testimony of all ebservers, as well as their own constant assurance, that Nibilism will end when the peopls are allowed repre- sentation and can have a voice in the waking of legislation. Ile has proposed some minor reforms, but they do not go to the root of the matter. They do not satisfy the higher classes, who are stripped of all the influence and power they had in the days of sérfdom and have received no recompense for tho loss, mor do they satisfy the people who want the privilege of a representaiive form of government. Why should they not have it? Why should Rus- sia, in these days of progress and humaniiy, still ching to an autocracy and te a despotism as abselute as that of the Cwvsars, when all Europe s moviug i1 a hiberal direction and liberty is slowly but constantly extending her area? Why shoula Alexander I11. neg- lect the opportunity of making Russia the most powerful and prosgperous nation in Europe? Why should he hesitate to speak the word which will exoreise this unseen fiend of Nihillsm and forever quiet it2 Tue City Councit on Friday nizht passed the ordinance removing the last control the general public had over the paving of the streets used by the horse-railway companies. Heretofore the public have had the right to select the material with which the streets in front of their premises should be paved, and the horse-railways were compelled to employ the same material. The ordinance passed on Friday night reads ag follows: Sgc.1. Be it ordained, cte., That the Chicaro City Railway Compnny, the Chicugo West Divis- jon Rallway Compuny.ind the North Chicazo, City Kuilway Company may uee stone in keeping in repair the number of “feet which ths said companies are required to keep iu repuir atong thie lines ot suid railways, except an Eighteenth street, enst of Wabnsh avenue, und on Indiaua avenue; but the kind of stonc to be uzed shall ho such'na shall be approved by the Commis- siouer of Public Wo or other proper oflicer or Department. of the 4 the work shali be done under the supe n of aud in the mun- ner directed by said Commissioner or other proper ofiicer or Department. This Tesult has been eccomplished by the horse-railroad companies. Théy havo been long desirous to pave their roadways with cobblestone, and have already used it wher- ever they have obtained permission. They have a double purpose in this business. ‘They want to so pave tho sixteen feet which they have to keep in order as to drive all other teams from between thelr tracks, and the second purpose is to save the cost of re- newing and repairing the more costly forms of pavement. 'They expect that the use of cobblestone will practically drive all other teams and vehicles to other streets, giving the horse-cars practically the exclusive use of the strects they occupy. To obtain tins® ordinance the horse-railroads probably paid asmuch as §15,000 or $§20,000, which sum, and 1nore, they expect to save in the matter of repairs and renewals. The Counell did not have the face to provide in terms for putting Chicago a generatlon or more back- ward by haviugz the streets of the ity paved Wwith cobblestones; even the Aldermen who voted for the ordinance did not venture that far. They provided, however, that the streets shouid be paved with stone, the char- acter and shape of the stone to be approved of by the city authorities. 1 Mr. Waller is 1o be continued as Commissioner of - Public Works, hie may so controf this matter thata permanent and satisfactory system of pave- ment may be adopted for all the districts em- Lraced within the prescribed limits. Itisto be hoped that he will resolutely proscribe cobblestone, and that he will insist upon & pavemant of -square blocks, or stune cut In uniform size, and laid regularly and smooth- 1y, end as convenient for the general public as for the railways. If such a pavement be preseribed by the Commissioner, it should be done with a view of having it adopied for the whole roadway on each street, and thus begin some system of permanentstreet pave- ment that may be extended from time to time in place of the less durable materials now in general use. It is possible, therefore, that out of this ordinance, if some such -of- fieer as Mr. Waller has control of the work, there may ultimately grow up a uniform system of strect pavement of stone that witl havea permanent character, and fake the place, so far as itis needed, of the present costly and temporary wooden roadways. A Man Without = Country, Edward Everett Iale once wrote a touch- Ing little story ecutitlod *The Man Without a Couatry,” which tho Atlantic Monthly published some years azo. His work of fiction Is appli- cable in many respects to 1 man now standing at the portals ot death in the City of Nice, France. This man Is in fact & man without & country, and his name is Harry von Arnim. From Nice comes the news that Arnim s dying. With him a man departs tnls life who, with brilllant taicuts, combined an unbounded vanity and an unbridled atnbltion, which éveatualiy drove hiin from the hight of success he obtained in po- litical -lifo into disgrace and exile, with 3 penitentiary seatence hanging over his head. esides his magnfiicent talents, he possessed great wealth, and, through his far-roaching fam- ily counections, still greater political Influence. Ehortly after tho Fravco-German war he wns appointed Ambassador of the German Empire at the Court of France. His talents and his wealth permitted him to play a conspicuous role fn the gay City of Paris. While there, and basking In the rays of his glory, his eril genius approuched him, and 'he concluded to be "“a bigger man than Bismarck.’ Arnim belonged to the Derlin Court Camarilla of the Empress Augusta, the mem- bers of which were the sworn encmics of the Chancellor.” Like tho leadng spirit ~ of this clique, Count Nesselrode, Arnim thought that the ubject he desired to gain would justify all the weans ho might employ, Bismarck took a wvent inicrest In the develdpment of g sound republicn form of government in France. Ifis far-secing political eye had alrendy dis- covered tho fact that the maintennuce of & true Republio in France, based upon home develop- ment, in order to retrieve the terrible losses sustained in comscquence of the war, would be the best assurance and guarautce of peace from that country toward Germany. Tor this reason he supported Thiers' mensures in all directions, and he instructed Arnim ac- cordingly. Arnim, however, partly because of his inclinations as a Legitimist, partly be- cauge he desired to create dissatisfac- tion and trouble between the two Govern- menis,—between Bismarck and Thiers snd the former and Emperor William,—did not obey thoese instructions, but worked band in hand with the enemies of the French Kepublic. He munaged his plans with suca prudence and cir- cumspection that for a time he succeeded in misleading and mystiiying Bismarcke. But this state of affairs could not last long. Arnim was recalled. e returned to Berlin, but before leaving Puaris be surreptitiously taok from the office of the German Legzatiorn several doen- ments und dispatehes of great importance, with the intention to use them against Bismarck. Explunations were demanded, snd he defended himsclf by statiog that he rezarded these pa- persas bis private property, because they were addressed to him personally, and, furthermore, that they contained many passazes which would have Leen bighly offensive to his successor, Count Hohenlobe, who is a Catholic. These ex- cuses were not aceepted, and availed him noth- Inz. In matters of state personsl feclings are of no vonsequence, and important dispatches are always to the Ambassador in person, who opens them himseif, add places them under lock and key, keeping their contents even from - his private secretary. The dispatch remalns official, navertheless. in Berlia Vonr Arnim mjured his ease, which on Its face was bad enough, by his manner of defense. Lonsting ol Lis connections, he addressed him- gclf to the Imperor direet, ivnoring Rismarclk altogetber. But the Emperor refused to recog- pize him, escept through Biswarck, notwith- standing the appeals of the Empress Augusta caused him much anmoyance. Araim in the mesaatime sent the documents and dispatzhes to tho press for publication, for which aot he was cnarged with the crime of treason against the country. His trinl resuited in a sentence to the peritentiary for several vears. Being outon Laif, he fled trom Germany to Nice, and 21l his attempts, and the endeavors of his influential family for a commutation of his scntence to a flne, have been ia vain. Broken in health and spirit, be lies at Nico the vietim of his unbounded vanity and ambition, which mrde him a dishenest otiicer and s traltor, to the best intérests of his mative land. Re- - membered by few, regretted by none, he will die on the soil of the sworn enemy of hig father- Izad, his memory to pass Iato oblivion, only to be recalled when 3. becomes necessary a3 a warning to othersto speak of tho man who died withouta country. Astronomi Chieago (Tr:uNE office), north Iatitade 2, west longitude £2m. 18s. from Washington, and 5b. 53m. 36s. from Greenwich. ‘Tho subjoined table shows the timo of rising orsetting of the moon's lower limb, and the of- tielal time for lizhtiog the first street~lamp in euch cirenit in-this city, during tho cowing week, unless ordered sooner on nccount of.bad lier. Also the following times for extiu- ing the first lamp: 4 rides. Liont. Extinguish., 15 p.m. 3:2a. . Thursday Friduy Eaturdu May The moon will bein conjunction with the sun (oew) at 4:38 a. m. Thursday. The sun’s upper limb will rise on Monday at 5:04 2. m., south st 11h. 57m. 47.1s. a. m., and set 2 p. m. The sua's upper limb rises Friday next at 45932 n. ., souths at 11b. 37m. 10.%, a. m., and setgat 6:35% p. m. The eidereal time Thursday meau noon will be 2h. 31m. 16.823. Merenry will rige Thursday at 4:25 2. m., and south at 10:47 a. m. He is now slowly nearing thesun. His superfor conjunction whl occur May 1 Venos will south Thursday at 0:20 p. m., and setat i p. m. She I8 a few degrees west from the Pleindes, and slowly retrogading as referred to the sturs. - She will meet the sun, in (inferior) conjunction May 3. She #3 yet a conspleuons object in the early evening sky, though only about one-sixteenth of her fuminated dise is turned towards us. She appears, througzh a good telescope, 45 & Very young moon, because the greater portion of the hemisphero that s light- cd.up by the sun s turned towards the enrth, I'his phenomenon is n striking proof of tha fuct that the planets shine by retliecting the light of the sun. Afars will rise Thursday at 3:13 2. m., and south at t.m. He. I3 visible a3 a morntug star, among the stars of Aquaries, the water-bearer, belng now In. the “'stream ™ of thut constella- tion, and moving towaras the Fishes of tae Zo- dige. Jupiter and Saturn are now with the sun. All three of those bodles were *‘bunched together” Inst Thursday night. as referred to the earth. Thd sun Is now lenving them ut the rate of neas- Iy a degree per day, and tho two plancts are slowly passing out towards the position of morn- ing stars. The much-talked of conjunction js now a thing of the past. Wo need scarcely say that none of the direful events predicted as a result of the phenomeuon have come to pass, and that tne sime Is true of the peritielion pas- sage of Jupiter which occurred last nuturon. Cranus will south Thursday ac$:38 p. m., belng then ja right ascsnsion 10 bours 4413 minutes, and north declination 8 degrees 39 minutes. o Iz among tho stars of Leo, a little west from No.63, and a little cast of south from a3, both of thet eonsteliation. Neptune will south Thursday at 0:2%0 p. m. Right ascension 2 nours 47% minutes, and north declination 14 degrees 21 winutes. Ko wiil be in conjunction with the suu and Venus on May . ——— T3 Wirnt unrelenting severity the Russian police: pursue thefr tactics against the Nihilists, and what hus been the result? The Czar dare fiot show himself in public; he Is a prisoner in ki3 own palace, surrounded by a cordon of Cos- dressed to him. dated March 4, the Nihiligs ge. manded: (1) Freedom of speech; () freedon of the. press; and ) frecdom of elections, Re answered by a proposition to the Eur, Powers for 1 general onslaught upon Nipy the hanzing of thoir confederates, ang 1, ionumerable arrests.. Notice Of desth hgy been served upan Alexandor IIT. Can_be pro | tect his life and throne against such fangilgg conspirntors even with the aid of Bismarek gng tho rest of tio Powers? Can he extlrpaters Army of fanatics who ire not intimidated by tag dreadtul life of an exile in Siberin, ang wp, march to the gallows smiling and dte wity . resignation? Men who are willing to sacriger thelr lives at any moment for thelr fdeas, ‘-;: diz mines, manufacture thelr Dombs, ana priny their own procliunations in the heart of the gy ot St. Pctersburg, do not hunt gp ,_.‘Z lum or place of safety in foreign m“:‘ tries; therefore, Bismarck ana the regt Of the Powers can be of but littleassistance, Mep who are determined to blow out their braing whe; caught In a criminal nct, who,take poison 10,00 cape arrest provided they are not killeq by the explosive missiles thrown at their Vietimg such men do not stand in fear of the guy) and they defy torture. Where the fear of. death as a punishment for crime ceases to exist, g holy allinnces, abrdFments of the righy of asylum, extradition trenties, and other mege. ures of snfety and Protection will accompilay nothing. If the Nihilists are as determined now atter thes have served notice of - death upon Alexander 1L to execute their threas g they were in the case of his father, he i5 4 dooted man. > ———— T eritieal New York Nation thus speaks of Secretary Windom's sckeme for converting the 6-per-cont bonds Into 3% per cents withoge wuiting till Congress mects next wiater ot ealje g an extra sesslon: The Government scheme for re muturiyg debt bns grows. In Taver uiny (9 week. The holders of & laree amount of thy g per ceat bonds huve nsked to bave them e tended at 85 per ceat annual faterest, and many who did not hold the bonds have been biying them In the marxet for the purpose of securing tne extended 313 per conts, Fhose DOrthaces bave advanced the market price of the 810 1032:: end & premium of 13 to 1% per cent is i for the cxtendad 312 per conts, to be delivereq in the month of July. "Altogether, the prospect now is that nearly all of the SKQK'».MNPI)G cents wiil pructically be refunded into 35 ceats, and that tho resourceg of the Treasury (estimated at about 200,000,000, provided thy &105,000,00) of 43 or 4135 are sold) applicable thiy year to refunding will be used 1o refund the § ver cents, which may by tho terms of thelr sz be paid this year. This refunding scheme of the Treasary meets with oppositiva froor tw quarters. The Democratic politicians object to it because they supposed that they had ut the Iepubliean party in the attitude of blocking the way to & reductlon of tke interest on the public debt; and thoy ooy find that. instead of this, the Republican Ad- ministration will get the ‘credit of putting the debt in a better position than the ne?umling bl proposed. * The other class which obfects to the gcheme is made up of the dealers in Govern- ment bonds, who lose the commlssfon or buyl, and seitlog $145.600,000 of bonds. They woul probably. o onc way or another, coliecticely bave made about $1,000,000 by the exchange of ate bonds atithorlzol by According to the Treasu, scheme, this sum is saved to the owners of the d per cents, and is of course lost to the brokers, who_thercfore do not heartily npprove thg scheme. - The objection of the Democrats is malnly that the Secretary has exceeded bis pows ers. Tney say he Is virtually contractmg 2 new loun without ‘authority from Congress; that if be has the money _he bound g pay off the 6 per ceats, and that if he has It not, be his no right to accept from the bondbolders a release Of their right to payment. 1t i3 bard 10 see. however, how be can be broughs to juste 1ce. The bondbalders who enter Ifito an arranpe- ment will Dot brizg him: the people who get the benefit of the reduction of Iaterest will notdo it: and, in fact. it lcoks as if he would escapa scot-free. —_—— . THE passage of the cobblestone ordine nance will be of immense valce to the horre rail” ‘ways. The streets thus paved will not consame one-tentk of the money to keep in repalr thatis has cost them for pine blocks. But more im- rortantstill, it fs expected that the bulk of the vehiele travel on thelr tracks will keep off of the cobble-stones, as they are hard on hors: feet, unless animais are shod in 2 way to prevent the stones from damaging their feot. Horses don’t llke to truvel on cobblestones, and if there i3 any soreness or unsoundness about their hoofs they bud best be kept off them. Mostof the teams will drive on the space outside of the tracks, leaving the latter clear. Hence the wear. and tear of the tracks will be greatly reduced, independently of the matetial. The passage of the ordinance I3 practically a surrender of six- teen feet of the middle of tho streets to the exd clusivo usa of the horse-car corporations. The ordinance will of course be signed, now that the election is over. : E ————— It is rumored around the City-Hall that fiftoen of the votes in the Council cast for the ordinance authorizing the city railways to pave their tracks with cobbiestones cost the compa< nies the neat little sum of $15,000. It {s under< stood that the Mayor favors the ordfnance, and of course will signit. The horse railway com< papies all worked for his clection, and one good turn deserves another, you know. ———— Iy the last ten years sixty thousand Rus~ siaus have been sent to Siberia for various offenses, but chictly political ones, suchas doe manding a ropresentative form of government and for being suspected of Nihlism. The suffer- ings of these persons are, of course, enormous, and sympathy for them will spread throughous the Empire. —_—— PERSONALS. ““My regards to Mistake.”—Parole. Itis understood that Mr. Dawes will wash, off his war paint to-day and go to charch. * Old-Man-Who-Bit-Off-More-T han-He- Could-Chew " {s the Indinn name for Ben HilL. . MIr. Tilden must be sick. Hehasn’t bought ‘- any Angora goats or Jersey cows for mora than aweek. J Misfortunes never come singly. There ar floods in the West, and in the East the spring has so advanced that base-ball games are of dally occurrence. “Little Johnny”—In your composition, about the Czar doa’t say anything about his go- ing out burgy-riding, becnuse it is a very un- healtby practice for Czars. U A disease which closely resembles cholerd is razing at Painesville, 0. This does not Inter est Ohlo men, however, a3 Washington was never bealthier than at preseat. Wo notice that the Maharsjah of Dur« bungab hus attuined notoriety by pulling down his pulace. In auother year orso the cable dis= patebes will be whoily unintelligible. ‘It seems that an ‘International Handi- cap’ means one run in Eugland fn which a0 Aueriean horse is first,a Frenchone Becond, and a luogarion third."—Mr. Gladstone. Spring has come, and old citizens will begin tacking their thumos to the floor as usual while putting down carpets. Spring I3 the most beautifal season of the year—to leave home {2 . Jr. William 1L Vanderbilt purchased, at the recent Drinley sale,six New England primers nt 8105 each. At this rate the Vanderbilt family will be poor by the time their educntion ¥ completed.. » , “We are,” says the Saturday Review, “weary ot popularizations of knowledge of books in which Informatlon i3 reduced to & pulply condition for the benefit of fecble and indolent minds"” This is probably very truey but the editor should not despmr. It may take years, but eventually the resulz will be benef cial. The St. Lonis Post-Dispatch'says that “the sca of Journalisin is strewn with the wrecks of pirutical craft dashed to pleces by the flerce Winds of public disapprobation, and its shore® er2 whitened with the bones of men allied fn 8t~ tributes and nstinets to Just such soclal offend- ers as have been whipped from Newgate toT5- burn at the talls of certs, or have swung ia gib- bets from time immemorial.” Innsmuch ag thd, Post-Dispalci has been strewn around so ofted that it kas become one of the most experlenced wrecks io this country, tho editor doubtless £nows what ke I taiking about. From tha 1008 of the alove we should judge that tho preseut person in charge had recently escaped from cok lege. — Imperia: Gratitude. Alexander [IL. hus promoted to a Captalncy the yoang Lieutenant who wrapped hfs owd maatle around tho wounded Czar just after the explosion. It wnsin this mantie that the mors dercd man was taken to the Winter Palace. *1 bave bought you a new cloak,” said the lDIlB;‘ Czar to the soldier: L shull keep tho othor’ : o hns nlso given the youth & present of 12A0- roubles. i H H i » '