The New York Herald Newspaper, September 27, 1859, Page 6

6 ———————— «9. NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1859.-TRIPLE SHEET.. NEW YORK HERALD. JAMHS GORDON BENNETT, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. OFFICE N. W. CORNER OF FULTON AND NASSAU STS. TERM, cash in advance, Me sent by mail wilt be at the pick of the sender, ‘Pectage samnge nos ee enerigton Ta LD, two conte THE Cri ty HERALD, every or $3 per annum; the Buropean ion on the 6th amd 30th of each Opal vaniLY HERALD on Wednesday, at four cents per Pocun tai T' CORRESPONDENCE, comaining important any quarter of the d ar bon FORRIGN CORRESPONDENTS ARE PARTICULARLY REQUESTED TO SEAL ALL AGES SENT UB. ‘Larrexs axp Pack- Volume XXIV.. AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway.——Fvoworions ON THE Ticut Rore—Diss.e 4 Quatee- LM. BOWERY TITEATRE. Bowery.—Cossack Siave—Decna- Ly uxau—EsMekALDA. WINTER GARDEN, Broadway, opposite Bond street— Dor., WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway.—Rounc Passiox— TrokisH Times, LAURA KEENE’S THEATRE, 6% Broasdway.—Sea or z. * NEw BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Garimatpi—Mr Precious Betsy. BARNUMS AMERICAN MUSEUM, Broadway.—After- noon—SkveN CuEKks—House ON Tue’ Hzatn, Evenlng— Mysterious STRANGER. ‘WOOD'S MINSTRELS, 585 Broadway.—Erniorian Sones, Danoxs, &0.—Biack Swan. BRYANTS’ MINSTRELS, Mechanics Hall, 472 Broadway.— Bunesques, Sones, Dances, &c.—Usep Ur. ATHEN ZUM, BROOK ME. ANNA Bisnor's Vo- CAL AND INSTRUMENTAL CONCERT. ._ Cumisty’s &c.—Dixigs? WASHINGTON HALL, Williamsburg. —G: Minstreis ux Sonus, Dances, Buxsasquxs, ‘Lane. TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Tuesday, September 27, 1859. _ Owing to the great increase of our advertising business, we are compelled to ask our advertising friends to come toour aid and help us to get our paper to press. This Shey can accomplish by sending in their advertisements tas early an hour inthe day and evening as possible. AU advertisements should be handed in before nine o'clock at wight. Those handed in after that hour will have to take their chance as regards classification. MAILS FOR EUROPE. The New York Herald—Edition for Europe. ‘The Cunard mail steamship Porsia, Capt. Judkins, will Joave this port to-morrow morning, for Liverpool. The mails for Europe will close in this city at haif- past seven o’clock to-morrow morning. ‘Tho Evrorsan Epmion or THs Hxratp will be published at seven o'clock in the morning. Single copies in wrap- pers, Bix cents. Subecriptions and advertisements for any edition of the New Yorx Hzrazp will be received at the following places Sampéon Low, Son & Co., 47 Ludgate Hill. Lansing, Starr & Co., 74 King William street. Tansing, Baldwin & Go., 8 place de la Bourse. ‘Lansing, Starr & Co., No. 9 Chapel street. R. Stuart, 10 Exchange street, East Haven, .... Lansing, Baldwin & Co., 21 Rue Corneille. Hanpurc. . De Chapeauronge & Co. ‘The contents of the Evrorgan Eprmon or THe Heraup will combine the news received by mail atid telegraph at the office during the previous week and up to the hour of the publication. The News. The Vanderbilt reached this port yesterday morning from Southampton, with European files dated to the 15th inst., containing full details of the important and exciting news telegraphed from Farther Point and St. Johns, N. F., after the arrival of the North American and City of Baltimore. The reports of the explosion on board the Great East- ern prove fully the immense strength of that ves- sel, and show that the public confidence in her suc- cess was not abated in consequence of the unfor- tunate disaster, which is described at length. News- paper and private accounts from China explain the nature of the heavy disasters which the allied forces of England and France suffered at Taku, in the Peiho river. All the writers seem to indicate that the Russians had part in directing the Chinese operations, but there is no positive proof of the fact. It is not very clear whether the American vessels engaged in towing the British gunboats into action. were war ships or trade towing boats owned by our fellow-citizens. At all events it is pretty clear that the Hon. Mr. Ward, our Minister, was in high favor with the Chinese government, and had reached to, or very near to Pekin. France was to send out twelve thousand troops to China, and England a large additional naval force, she expecting to employ her surplus military force in India against the Celestials. It was thought that the common insult and united loss would cement the Anglo-Frnech alliance. A very heavy robbery was perpetrated in Havre on an American lady, Mrs. Wright, who went out in the Vanderbilt, by her own servant, of which we give the particu- lara. The Moses Taylor arrived at this port at about half past twelve o'clock last night with the Pacific mails, $2,042,363 in treasure, and details of news from British Columbia, California and New Granada, Our readers are referred to the despatches of our correspondents, given in to-day’s Hera.p, for full particulars. Our advices from Buenos Ayres are dated to the 17th ult. Hon. Mr. Yancey, United States Minister, had proposed a sort of peace conference with re- gard to the war with the Argentine Confederation, but the negotiations broke up in an ugly row in his own house. The general news is not of much in- terest. We have interesting news from Porto Cabello’ Venezuela, to the 6th inst. The letter of our cor- respondent, published in another column, contains a brief account of the capture of Laguayra by the government troops, after twelve hours hard fight- ing; the capture of Maracay, and subsequent de- fence of the same by the government troops against its enemies; the capture of two Dutch vessels with ammunition of war for the revolutionists, and the arrest of the British Consul for implication in the revolution. The autumn regatta of the New York Yacht Club came off yesterday, and was rather a tame affair. Only five boats'sailed—the Mallory, Narragansett, Zinga, Favorita and Gypsey. The two former were alone in their respective classes, the Alpha and Manersing not sailing, though entered. The Re- ‘decca and Restlessghaving no competitors, did not sail. TheZinga beat her two rivals, and will pro bably take thé schooner prize. The Mozart Hall Democratic State Committee met at Albany yesterday to make arrangements for the approaching election. Mr. Thompson hav- ing declined the nomination ’for Clerk of the Court pr 8 Mr. Lewis was nominated for that Mesers. La Mountain and Haddock went up ina —_ hia er naga oad Y., on the 22d instant, up to yesterday no es had b pers wari een received The experimental balloon ascent from Jones’ Wood, by Prof. Wise, did not take place yesterday Owing to a want of sufficient pressure in the gas | Pipes to inflate the balloon. The experiment hag Oonsequently been postponed for the present. At the mecting of the Board of Alderaven last evening a communication was received from the Central Park Commissioners recommending a! issue of the unexpended Central Park stock, amounting to $237,708, and further to provide for tho maintenance and government of said park. A report was presented in favor of setting apart land bounded by Ludlow, Broome, Essex and Grand streets as a site for a new county jail. The Board of Councilmen were in session last evening and disposed of a large number of routine papers, the majority of which were devoid of public interest. In reply to a resolution of inquiry as to what authority the Harlem Railroad Company have to change the grade of the Bowery between Hous- ton and Second streets, he says that no authority had been granted by his department to do so. The Board concurred with the Aldermeh to have the Reformed Dutch church in King street struck off the list of property advertised for sale for arrears of taxes. A report was adopted directing the City Inspector to advertise for bids to remove dead ani- mals and offal to Barren Island. The Board con- curred in the adoption of a resolution to have the pavement in Sixth avenue between Carmine and Forty-second street repaired. Inthe Supreme Court yesterday, Judge Potter, of Saratoga county, delivered a very important charge to the jury in the case of Mowers (the colored man), against a Vigilance Committee of Hudson, Columbia county, for an assault and bat- tery, by tarring and feathering him for an alleged illegal offence against a young white girl. The case, as the Judge says, is a very novel one, and the opinion of the Court as to how far parties are liable for such offence, and his remarks on “mob law,” will be read with interest. The jury retired about halfpast eleven o’clock A. M.,and had not agreed at a late hour. No licenses were granted yesterday by the Ex- cise Commissioners for the want of a quorum at their meeting. The Health Commissioners said yesterday there was no truth in the rumor whichfhas gained ground that a death has occurred recently in the city from yellow fever. Very little business of any conse- quence was done at their meeting yesterday. In the Court of General Sessions yesterday, Judge Russell sentenced John McAlpine (who was convicted of swindling a governess out of her jewelry and clothing) to imprisonment in the Sing Sing prison for five years. The prisoner made a speech, which will be found in our report. Interesting and important shipping intelligence from nearly every section of the globe will be found under the maritime head in another column. The foreign news exercised no special influence on the cotton market yesterday, which continued to wear an in- uctive aspect, without change in prices. The sales em_ braced about 600 bales, on the basis of quotations given in another column. The rainy weather of last week tend ed to shut out purchases of flour for the Eastern market, , however, having been fine, combined with fa counts from England, imparted unusval activity to the market ; the sales footed up about 26,000 bbis., closing at an advance of from 5c. a 16c. per bbl. Wheat was firmly held for good to prime lots of new, while the sales were fair. Corn was held with firmness, while the sales were limited at 3c. a 933xc. for Western mixed, and at 95c. for round yellow. Pork opened firm, but closed with less buoyancy, especially for prime. Sales of mess were made at $15 90 a $16, clear mess at $17 50, and ,prime at $1075 a $1080. Sugars were quite steady, and the advance of ic. per ib. was sustained, with sales of 400 a 500 bhds. and 500 boxes at rates given in another place. Coffee was steady, with sales of 600 bags Rio, 1,700 do. St. Domingo, and 1,300 a 1,400 do., on terms stated elsewhere. Freights were firm. Among the engagements was cotton to Liver- pool at 7-324. a 4d., cheese at 25s., and spirits turpentine at 4s, To London 1,000 bbls. flour were shipped at 2s. 8., and 6,000 bushels of wheat on p. t., the heaviest engage ments to that port of breadstuffs made within a considera. ble period of time. There was a rumor on ’Change, yesterday that the Great Eastern was to be chartered Dy the British government to convey troops and munitions of war to China. Change of Front in the World’s Affairs— The True Position and Mission of the United States. A few Chinese batteries at the mouth of the Peiho have secured to Italy the right to settle her own affairs in her own way, stopped all the talk about the invasion of England, made the meeting of a European Congress a secondary affair, and changed the relative position of every Power in Europe. The treachery that led to the destruction of the British and French forces that were accom- panying their respective plenipotentiaries on their way to Pekin, to exchange the ratification of the treaties of peace lately made, has ini- tiated a war between the civilized Powers of the West and the barbarian Court of the East, which cannot close until the three or four hun- dred millions of self-styled Celestials acknow- ledge the supremacy of Western civilization. No other treaty can be made with the treacher- ous Mongol Power that sits on the throne of China. Its treachery is born of its own weak- ness, and must reap its reward in destruc- tion. France and England will be wanting in their mission as civilized and civilizing nations if they do not sweep away the last remnants of the hated Mongol dynasty, and open the vast empire it has so long misruled to a practical knowledge of the resources, pow- er, commerce and science of the West. We reject with the contempt they merit the insinuations of the London Times that the American Ambassador had any art or part in the treacherous proceedings of the Chinese, or that the United States have any selfish views, or have sought to obtain any exclusive privi- leges for ourselves in our negotiations in the East. We have not sympathized entirely with France and England in their past course and policy in China, because we have not consider- ed their motives as laudable nor their aims as praiseworthy as they should have been. But the past selfishness of these Powers does not excuse nor palliate the present treachery of the semi-barbarian, and we to-day condemn this with the same noble love of truth and justice that led us to stand apart from the Allied proceedings last year. If the American Ambassador, or any American officer, were to be found guilty of the acts which the London Times lays to their charge, he should be and he would be instant- ly recalled and consigned to merited disgrace by the American government and the Ameri- can people. But we are confident this has not occurred. The Times made the accusation last year against the late American Minister to China which, it repeats now and insinuates against the present one. Those accusations were geen proved to be false, and we have no doubt the present insinuations are equally un- founded. Facts even prove them to he so. The British journals in China state that the Ameri- can flag officer tendered his assistance to the British Admiral for the purpose of towing his boats up to the bar of the Peiho, and that the American boats afterwards lent a generous and noble assistance in removing the British wound. ed from the field of defeat. There are circumstances in the action of Peiho that lead to the conviction that the Allied forces had to meet something more than Chi- nese art and Chinese courage. The masked forts were skilfully constructed, and have a smack of the earth redoubts at Sebastopol. The fire of the guns was more certain and yrrset By room for doubt, Gbe proved deadly than Chinese guns ever were before. The slacking off of the fire and waiting for the foe to come up till they could see the whites of their eyes, and then giving them a “perfect hurricane of shell, gingall balls and rockets,” is just after the American fashion of doing that kind of thing. But the London Times need not have looked to the American or the Russian governments as the authors of this warm recep- tion, It has long been known that the Chinese pirates that swarm on that coast are in a great measure led by American and European rene- gadoes, some of whom have occasionally been caught and hung. These, we have no doubt, | are what the Chinese Emperor has called to his ‘ assistance, and they have done their treache- rous work well. John Bull never got such a reception as he met at the mouth of the Peiho from any other hands than American hands. Part of his defeat he also owes to the vicious system the British government has so long practised in its appointments to high posts, and a foolish fallacy it has preached go long that it believes it itself. Wherever an English army gets into difficulty you will finda British noble at the head of it; whenever an English force is to be extricated from danger, a British yeoman is sent to do the work. Then, that hollow fallacy that British ships could knock down any body else’s stone forts, which sprung from the treache- rous triumph at Copenhagen, and has ever since been preached by British lips and British jour- nals, has helped to fool England. With equal range and equal certainty of aim, the “wooden walls of England” have no chance even against | mud fort. Cronstadt, Sebastopol and the | mouth of the Peiho, have done much to take this { foolish conceit out of the English people, The new storm in China has given a new di- rection to the current of public affairs in the whole world. Instead of a Congress of five or six tottering crowned heads in Europe occupy- ing the minds of mankind, we have a new series of events dawning, in which the four great liv- ing Powers of the earth are to be the active, and four hundred millions of rice-eating, cotton- consuming and tea-growing Chinese, the pas- sive participators. The United States, Russia, England and France, are again called upon to congregate before the portals of the far East and attend the triumph of civilization over barbarian treachery. Our part in this momentous moyement is the one of highest and noblest import.. We may have to be the counsellor, the moderator and the arbiter be- tween the civilized and semi-barbarian worlds. Our best men should be there. Our swiftest keels should plough the level plain of the Pa- cific. A telegraph from California to Washing- ton should be ready to convey with electric speed tidings from the new scene of action. Thus can we worthily fulfil the high mission to which we are called, and secure to humanity the greatest good with the least possible sacri- fice. The Great Eastern—Causes of the Explo- sion—Success of the Vessel—Her Visit to New York. We publish to-day a full account of the ac- cident to the Great Eastern during her trip to Portland, by our special correspondent, who was on board of her at the time, together with the details furnished on the subject by the London journals. We also give a very in- teresting account of the ship, of the accident, and of the arrangements made for her visit to New York, as obtained by one of our special reporters from Captain Comstock, who re- turned home yesterday in the Vanderbilt. Although the Coroner’s jury have not as yet completed their investigation, there seems to be no doubt as to the causes to which the acci- dent wasdue. For the purpose ofeconomizing fuel and preventing inconvenience from the heat of the funnels, several of which pass through the saloons, the former were surround- ed with what are called in engineering phrase- ology feed-pipe casing, through which it was intended that the boilers should be sup- plied with water—the partial heating of the water during its passage through the casing effecting the first of these objects, and its low temperature serving as a protection to the cabins from the intense heat of the fun- nels. The plan, it should be observed, is not a new one, having been al- ready tried and discarded as dangerous on some of the great ocean steamers. The pru- dence of this conclusion has been established by the disaster which has just occurred. By some inadvertence, the origin of which has yet to be traced, the lip, or plug, in the stand pipe connected with the water jacket. and which serves asa sort of safety valve to the casing of one of these funnels, had been shut off, leaving no vent whatever; whilst on the other hand, owing to the donkey engine not working well, the feed water was sent direct to the boiler, instead of through the casing. The consequence was that, the water in the latter, not being renewed, rose rapidly to the tempera- ture of that in the boiler, and being enclosed in an iron tank, rendered tight by the failure of the two vents, the explosion became inevitable. It will be asked how it happened that on the eve of a great inaugural experiment like this, the vigilance of the scientific men engaged in the supervision of the arrangements did not guard against the probability of such an occur- rence? The fatuity which permitted the intro- duction of a dangerous contrivance, which is admitted not to have been a feature indispen- sable to the success of the vessel or to the comfort of the passengers, may well be charged with having carelessly omitted the precautions necessary to prevent an accident from it. It is by the neglect of trifles like these that the re- sults of great enterprises are frequently hazard- ed or lost, and we have but too recently seen, in the failure of the Atlantic telegraph, that scientific genius, while it is ever prompt to plan, is not always ready to secure, by careful attention to details, the fruits of its inventive- ness. Although the loss of life and the temporary delay in the departure of the vessel on her first voyage, caused by. this unexpected disaster, are to be regretted, it will yet not have been without some compensating benefit. It has served to demonstrate the immunity of ships of this size from accidents which would have blown vessels of the ordinary proportions to Pieces. So slight was the concussion felt by the persons scattered through the other parts ‘of the vessel, that it appeared to many of them like the report of a distant gun: It is even stated thar it produced not the slightest vibration in the wine ginsses which stood on a table in an adjoining saloon. On ajl the other points connected with the vessel's capacities, respecting which so much scepticism has been expressed, there is no dvring the voyage to Weymouth that she could “make with the greatest ease from eighteen to twenty knots an hour, whilst in a heavy sea, which imperilled the safety of one of the Channel steamers, the only motion felt on board of her was a slight and almost imperceptible rolling. Unfortunate though it has been in incidental circum- stances, we therefore cannot but look upon the results of this experiment as solving in great part the problems which the Great Eastern was intended to decide. Judge Roosevelt and His Associates on the Bench in Trouble. The very virtuous Corporation Counsel, the legal watchdog of the city’s rights, who never sleeps on his post, and always barks to give the alarm when thieves are meditating an on- slaught upon the city treasury, comes out in a letter against the constitutionality of the act of the Board of Supervisors increasing the salary of Judge Roosevelt, of the Supreme Court, and of his associates on the bench. The Legislature has authorized the Board of Supervisors to make this increase ; but the learned Busteed says the law is unconstitutional, which we very much doubt. The 7ribune, with that narrow- minded party meanness for which it is distin- guished, joins in the hue and cry, because Judge Roosevelt is not of the republican stripe ; and yesterday a letter appeared in the public jour- nals of the city, from which it appears that Mayor Tiemann has also lent himself to the difficulty, and in fact originated it, by first ob- jecting to sign the warrant for the payment of the increased salary, and then applied to Bus- teed to sanction a case to go to a court of law on the question. In this letter it is further alleged that Mr. Busteed, as appears from his letter, “very much misunderstood the question submitted to him.” To this Busteed indig- nantly replies in a Ietter which we publish in another column. Between them “it is a pretty quarrel as it stands-” It is a miserable, picayune, small potato affair. The salary of these Judges was only $2,500 per annum, and there is no decent man will say that that is anything like a competent income for a Judge of the Supreme Court in this district. It is neither befitting the dignity ofthe office nor the legal acquirements and abilities necessary to fill it. The salary has been increased for extra expenses by $1,500, given on the part of the county by the Board of Supervisors, making in all $4,000. Another thousand would still be too little. It is urged as an argument against the claim of Judge Roosevelt that ‘he is not a man on the verge of beggary, or even of bankruptcy;” in other words, that he is well off as regards his private fortune. Now, that is Judge Roosevelt's own affair, and nobody else has anything to do with it. If he was worth a million of dollars in the year, that is a poor reason why he should be deprived of a legitimate compensation for the services he renders the public. But how does this argument apply to other Judges who are not so fortunate in their pecuniary circum- stances as Judge Roosevelt? Is a salary of $2,500 sufficient for them, or for any properly qualified Judge? Any man of legal ability, good character and steady business habits, can make far more money than that in New York, without a tithe of the responsibility or obloquy to which a Judge is exposed. It is rarely that a man of Judge Roosevelt’s ability as a lawyer or cha- racter for integrity can be induced to accept the office. All the Judges are paid far below what is due to men qualified for the positions they hold. But there is no reason why the salary of the Judges of the Supreme Court should be the lowest of all. The following is a list of the salaries:— Recorder. «$5,000 Gity Judge. 000 Superior Court, 5,000 Court of Comm 5,000 Marine Court 4,000 Supreme Cou 2,600 The County Clerk has $3,000, and the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas $2,500. It will be thus seen that the salary allowed by the State for Judges of the Supreme Court is ano- malous, and contrary to good sense and sound That high office ought to be held only t class lawyers, and then we would not so many decisions reversed. But how seldom will an eminent lawyer accept the office? The idea appears to be that the honor is sufficient inducement for men of means. But it is not every man of means that, like Judge Roosevelt, has the qualifications, and the pay- ment of a proper salary would not conflict with the honor attached to the highest judge- ship in the county, but on the contrary, rather enhance the dignity, and hold out to an honor- able ambition a prize worth contending for. If this were done, a higher class of judicial functionaries would adorn the bench, and there would be less complaint as to the bungling manner in which justice is so often adminis- tered. How differently are the Judges paid in Great Britain and Ireland. They have from $25,000 to $40,000 per annum, and their appointment is during good behavior. Here is asalary equal to and above that of the President of the United States. Why cannot this great nation pay its Judges equally well? In England a judgeship is a prize contended for by men of the highest ability and legal learning, and distinguished for honor. The generally sound decisions, the speedy administration of justice, and the in- dependence of the judiciary, either against popular influence or See power, amply re- pay the country for such salaries. Our Judges ought to be appointed by the Governor of the State, with the consent. of the Senate, to have salaries of from $10,000 to $20,000 per annum, and to hold their appoint- ments during good behavior. This would be good economy instead of extravagance. The treatment of Judge Roosevelt, who has been a consistent democrat for forty years, is an example of the meanness of the Tammany Hall faction. They want to have everything for themselves, and to squander millions in plunder among each other, while they grudge a decent salary to a Judge, and cry out “aristocrat” if he happens to possess houses or lands. That meanness is aggravated in a peculiar degree in the case of Mr. Busteed, whose salary, including perquisites, is generally supposed to amount to a very large sum. The management of his office has been treated with great delicacy and forbearanté, and we might almost say for- giveness, on all sides. The attitude, therefore, he assumes towards Judge Roosevelt, in regard to the paltry addition to his salary, is truly dis- gusting. If he would attend properly to the duties of his own department, he would find enough to do without interfering with the legiti- qate and well deserved glaima of other mea Orgratic Prospsers—Tax Vor i THe ManaceriaL ProorammMe.—The return of fine weather has had a cheering effect upon the prospects of the Opera, which have lately lan- guished under the double drawbacks of heavy rains and a lack of the exciting novelty which the outside public craves, and which it must have before the great house in Irving place can be thoroughly filled, and the manager reap a harvest corresponding to his labors in the ope- ratic field. The fact is, that although the ar- tists at present engaged at the Academy of Music form a very good company, individually and collectively, they do not personally stir up the public to that extent which is needed to re- plenish the managerial coffers. In Madame Cortesi, the tragie prima donna, we have a fine artist, with a voice equal to the requirements of the most exacting réles, handsome, dignified, and gifted with remarkable dramatic intensity. But she relies solely upon her artistic claims, and the musical public go to hear her and praise her. That’s all. It has not appeared that in her personal history and surroundings there is anything to make her a special object of interest to the curious public. Madame Gas- | sier, the other prima donna, is excellent in the lighter operas. Not so ample as Cortesi in her physique, she is still handsome, and has an agreeable stage presence. She sings such music as that of the “Barber of Seville,” “La Sonam- bula,” and other op of the same florid school, ina manner which delights the culti- vated ear. But, unhappily, the number of cul- tivated ears is limited, and the majority of people who have them, counting out our South- ern brethren and the oppressively polite gen- tlemen from the ever-faithful island of Cuba, are either subscribers or members of the noble army of deadheads. There was never anything astonishing in the personal career of Madame Gassier, except that the late Duchess of Or- leans left hera small annuity, and that circum- stance was never managerially exploited. Now we come to the tenor, Brignoli, who has a capital voice, a good school, is a favorite with the ladies, and so bad an actor as to be a curiosity. But what did he ever do that was exciting? Did anybody ever hear of his running away with an heiress, or, like Bene- detti, drawing his stage sword on an unlucky manager, or trying to cut his throat because some other tenor received applause in a fa- voritecharacter? No, he is only a common place, well dressed person, who eats, drinks, sleeps, walks and rides like Brown, Jones, Smith or Thompson. Amodio and Junca are very good artists, but, with the exception of Amodio's rotundity, there is nothing remarka- ble about them. Since the Chevalier Barnum’s fat lady, who weighed about half a ton— if we remember rightly——the public don’t seem to run after corpulent people so much as before. And then the Manager; he ought to be a Napoleon of the coulisses, exploiting his ar- tists, filling the papers with spicy bulletins, carrying on the campaign a la Zouave, at the point of the bayonet. This year it is under- stood that the directors of the Academy corpo- ration, with some of the stockholders, guaran- tee a fund to carry on the season, and that gives the affair an aristocratic tone. That is all very well, but there should be something to excite the outsiders—some coup de theatre, something for the town to talk about. Look at the Tam- many people, how they flourish. Whether it is a disturbance at Syracuse, or a fight in the Pewter Mug, or an outside knock-down, they always have something on hand. And the opera should have its excitement also. There are the three hungry Frenchmen, can’t they be persuaded to commence another war upon Ullmann. Where are all the pretty little rows with the minor journals and the Sunday pa- pers? The public is literally spoiling for an operatic furore of some kind or other. We don’t know whether there is a gleam of hope or not in the arrival, by the Vanderbilt, yesterday, of Strakosch, who has brought out several new artists. It is alittle singular that his operations have been kept so close, and that the fame of his artists has not preceded them. There ought to be a Princess, or at least a Duchess, among them. Are any of them re- lated to the Pope? Have either of the prime donne cowhided a colonel of dragoons, run away with a French count, or ruined a German baron? What have the men done? Served with Garibaldi, or been mixed up in the plots of the Carbonari to kill off Louis Napoleon, or been wounded in any of the revolutions, or broke into a convent, or had a love affair with the Queen of Spain? Some of them must have done something or other outside of the theatre, Let us know all about these new artists, Messieurs the Managers, and for the remainder ~of this short season you may rely on pretty good houses. But for the next, which will com- mence when the floating population of the city will be considerably reduced, there must be an excitement, which Ullmann and Strakosch ought to be clever enough to get up between them. Zn avant! “Some Pumpaiss.”"—The other day, as we have been informed from the published reports of the exhibition of the New York Horticultural Society, (in the capacious rooms of the Third Avenue Railroad depot), James Gordon Ben- nett, editor and proprietor of this journal, was awarded no less than five premiums by said society. He received a premium, each variety, for his red onions, white onions, blood beets and muskmelons. But his most glorious tri- umph among the “vegetarians” was achieved by those enormous California pumpkins, rang- ing from one hundred and fifty to one hundred and seventy-five pounds per pumpkin. For these monsters, one of which has been pro- nounced by the Tribune “the king of the exhi- bition,” J. G. Bennett received a special pre mium, which shows that, by the best judges, he is considered “some pumpkins.” Thus endorsed by the New York Horti cultural Society, we are disposed to deal liber- ally with our quadrilateral professors of the Times. They are somewhat prolific in that class of stale jokes which may be styled Plum Gut wit; but if they can say something hand- some about those putfipkins, and of “ poor old broken down Bennett,” os the man who ralses the premium melons, beets, onions and pump- kins, we will do something handsome in return. We will galvanize “the king of the exhibi- tion,” or one of his big brothers, and let the Times take him’ as its special editor to report the next Italian war, including all the fighting thereof, all the running away, all “the elbows of the Mincio,” all the “elbows of the regular army,” and all the “sympathies of youth,” not forgetting the “foreign fleet sud- denly gaming up on our question of gitizen- ship,” as laid down in Master Caleb Melchi- zedek Beelzebub Hurlbut's description of the famous quadrileteral. The good fairy, in be- half of poor little Cinderella, changed a pump- kin into a coach; and ff this was done by witeh- craft, we think that galvanism may supply the necessary brains to a pumpkin—especially # California Bennett premium pumpkin—to edit the New York ‘imes fully up to the mark of Jefferson Brick and bis quadrilateral colleagues. At all events, from Pike's Peak to the “elbows of the Mincio,” it must now be conceded that Bennett is “some pumpkins.” —_—_—_—_— THE GREAT EASTERN. - Particulars of the Explosion on Board the Great Eastern. ACCOUNT BY AN EYE-WITNESS, ‘The Monster Ship Coming to New Work via Sandy Hook, ke, ee, ke. Our reporter had an interview yesterday with Capt. J. J. Comstock, lately of the Collin’s steamship Baltic, whe came home as a passenger in the Vanderbilt, arrived yes- terday from Southampton, from which port she sailed om the 16th instant. Captain Comstock, it will be recollected, commanded the Russian steam frigate General Admiral on her recent voyage from New York to Cronstadt. He has taken a great interest in the mammoth steamship Great Eastern from the commencement, has visited her every few months while in course of construction, aud, on the invitation of Captain Harrison, her commander, and the Board of Directors of the Great Ship Company, he accompanied hor om her recent trip, and happened to be on deck atthe time of the fatal steam explosion off Hastings, on the evening of the 9th inst. Captain Comstock is highly pleased with tha steamer, pronounces her a perfect success so far as navi- gation is cone d,and is even enthusiastic on the sub- ject of her performances. Many have the impression, that the late trip was a trial trip for speed, but this is au* entire mistake. Tho trip was made simply for tho pur- pose of removing the ship from her position in the Thames toa seaport where she can be coaled and put in proper trim for a trial trip. THE DAY OF SAILING—THE SHIP COMING TO NEW YORK THROUGH THE NARROWS. The Great Eastern is to be prepared for her trial trip ag soon as the repairs necessitated by the explosion can be completed. Her trial trip will be from Portland to Holy- head, and according to present arrangements, she will sail from Holyhead for Portland, America, on the 20th of October. It has been fully determined by the Board of Direction that from Portland, United States, the Great Eastern shalt come on an excursion trip to New York, by the way of Sandy Hook. This is positively settled and determined, Shortly before the ship left the Thames, Capt. Comstock and Capt. Harrison were both questioned on the subject before the Board of Direction, and both concurred in the opinion that the ship can enter the harbor over the bur at Sandy Hook, drawing twenty-four and a half feet of water, with porfect safety. The famous clipper ship Great Republic crossed the bar safely drawing some inches over twenty five feet. It was then arranged that at Portland, U. S., the Great Eastern shall be lightened to the required draft, and then proceed on her excursion to this city via Sandy Hook. She will probably anchor somewhere in the neighbor hood of the Battery, and the rush of the Knickerbockers. on board to visit her, some time next November, willl doubtless be tremendous. Captain Comstock is of opinion that the Great Eastern cannot cross the bar safely except at the spring tides, which occur once a fortnight, and that ag even then she cinnot bring much if any cargo, it would. hardly pay to run her regularly to this port. CAPTAIN COMSTOCK’S OPINION OF HELL GATE. The Hellgate channel, he thinks, is impracticable, not or want of water, but because the channel is too crooked. or a vessel of her immense length. Under very extraor- dinary circumstances the passage through Hell Gate might be effected. This would be at “ dead high tide,” and juat atthe turn, when there is littl curront through the channel, and even then steam tugs would be required to assist her in making the shgrt turns, and the undertaking would be i ttended with some hazard. If the current were running ‘in the channel the tugs would not be able to hold and manage the ship, on account of the great surface of re- sistance’ presented to the current by her bottom. A great deal might be effected for Hellgate by blasting out some of the rocks and walling up others square, in such a manner as to straighten the course of the tide, but stilt the Captain thinks the channel would hardly be safe and practicable for vessels of the immense proportions of the Great Eastern. THE PERFORMANCE QF THE GREAT EASTERN. ‘The Great Eastern sailed for Portland, England, under very disadvantageous circumstances, being sadly out of trim, with a small dip to her paddles and a large portion of her screw being useless. Yet she attained a speed, with only two-thirds of the power of her engines of 131 knots per hour, and at that speed there was no percepti- ble jar or motion. Her performance was equal to that of any other ocean steamer. She was managed with the greatest ease and facility, and so far as could be judged from the sea encountered between the South Foreland and the Isle of Wight, she would be very steady indeed. This was, however, only what is called a “channel sea,’ and an ocean sca, with a long hoavy ground swell, would of course give her more motion. Large ships were pitching and tossing about in the waves over which the Great Eastern rode *as smoothly as our ferry boats cross the East and North rivers in’a high wind. THE FATAL EXPLOSION ON BOARD, The steam explosion on board the Great Eastern occur- red on the evening of the 9th inst., about twelve miles off Hastings. At the time, the ship was going only about ten or eleven knots—something of a less rate of speed than she had been—owing to the feed apparatus not perform- ing its functions properly. Capt. Comstock was standing in company with Mr. Wood, reporter of the Times, Mr. John Scott Russell, Mr. Campbell, Chairman of the com- pany, and some other gentlemen, on the foot bridge just forward of the wheel house, when he observed the cen- tral smoke pipe, seventy-five or a hundred feet from him, suddenly rise high into the air. At the same moment there was a terrific explosion. The smoke pipe was fol- lowed by another mass of iron, which proved to be a por- tion of tho water jacket around it, weighing from seven to ten tons, and then came an immense mass of debris material, glass skylights, smashed chande- liers, broken furniture, demolished mirrors, &c. ‘The force of the explosion appeared to be al entirely in an upward direction, ahd the wrec of materials from the grand saloon and the rooms below seem to have becn drawn into the ascending vortex by the exhaustion or vacuum produced by the explosion. ‘The grand saloon and sleeping apartments adjacent were left a beap of ruins. The only reaction appeared to be that which blew open the furnace doors and drove all the fire in the furnaces out upon tho hands employed in the fireroom. It was observed that none of the injured ap- eared to be scalded, but burned by the fire. Before the Vanderbilt sailed six of the poor fellows had died, besides the one who was* lost overboard, and one of the others was not expected to recover. Captain Comstock’s first impression on wit- nessing the ascent of the smoke pipo was that a boiler bad burst, and he pan to the side to age if the wheels continued in Motion, or if the sides of the ship wore injured. Nothing appeared to be wrong with the ship,” however, and it is a noticeable fact that the engines were not stopped at all until the vessel reached Portland. O€ course the greatest consternation prevailed on board until the extent of the disaster could be ascertained. The whole Ipngth of the ship’s deck wasstrewn with the falling debris, and it is astonishing that no more were killed. The disaster is attributed to a piece of carelessness or over- sight, having been occasioned by noglect to turn a single small stop-cock in an out-of-the-way place. It appears that the boilers are fed by auxiliary pumps, worked en- tirely independent of the main engines, and without any connection with the working of the ship. The water thrown by these pumps passes through what is called a (water jacket "’—a sort of reservoir around the smoke pipes, where it is heated before entering the boilers, Con- nected with this water jacket is a syphon pipe, rising to a considerable height, and so arranged that at a given pecssure the water or steam = within