The New York Herald Newspaper, June 8, 1869, Page 4

ICIPAL =APRAIRS Meeting of the Board of Aldermen. INTERESTING MESSAGE OF MAYOR HALL, Annual Reports of Municipal Departments. The Albany Commissions Consured—Respon- it City in Taxation—Proposed Improvements. urd of Aldermen met at two o'clock yester- srnoon, After the transaction of some rou- iness an invitation was accepted to partict- in a review of the New York S Wood on the 21st, > annual message of the Mayor was received and is as follow niitzen Corps at Mayor's OF 1 "MEN OF THE COMMON reports from municipat departments 1 printed in documentary form, and won has adjusted municipal govern- u year in accordance with the ment for the rtune to obey that charter provi- scribes a duty to him of com at least once a year, it expedient, a general ind condition ‘of th ‘nment, finances and improve- owmend for the adoption of the measures which he shall deem ex- as connected with the police, security, ploaniiness aud Ornament of the city.’ Tr legislation } pm udimiuistradag sts of the city h “police, securit sion which p bited the corporate authori- ne most important “finan- ’ and every matter connect- c:eanliness and health.” therelore, niust be limited (1) to tnese iters lor which the city and county au- ively made responsible. (4) To afew matters of “government” still vouch- And (3) to considerations em- @ remaiuing charter purases tn the “Improvement and ornament.’ ue original significance ana kmportaace 8 communications (or—as they ate po- pularly termed—messages) have bee! stroyed by the intelligent industry of the Reporters and editors glean tite fields piticial information with such micro- electrical despatch that c olllcer, trom cabinet ministers can anticipate press summaries and Indeed, so much of our own ojiticial on 18 aerived {rom their exertions that this ation 18 scarcely more than an oilictal re- cognition and recording of matters and suggestions already wade known by the newspapers, PL fnanciul mat have been excli safed the metropolis. minuteness and BS. nsible for the city and The Mayor, Comp- F not at all resp county tax budgets of this year. eet Commissioner and Chamberlain pre- pared, pon their local responsibility, and properly ented to the Legislature, tax levies, as they con- ‘ed them Lo be just; but they were rejected aud ask ot concocting theua assumed of our local adi the power to Mx thes by opponents tax puzzles to suit them- they must now accept the entire responsi- bility of we res cts connected with th ences which were ities by raral Schedules A and B, hereto annexed, detail the sums rejuired to be raised by tax dnring the cu year tor purposes respectively controlled by city and the amount 1s only se county purposes the amount ts only C shows the hi, zhly satisfactory condition of ihe sinking fund for we demption of the local stated (in the aggregat rse exclude suit commissions whi , and Whose off ive thelr ‘appropriations in an amount and to discretioually sp tirely unhampered by the dog-ir that yearly atiticts the loca The amounts ju end it in detail, ali their disburse- lions) adjusted and Meiits (amounting to 8 d here without invoking legisiative ald. it 1s constitut.onal and ex; ba? local authori pedient to partially give @ right that is i very other municipality except reason ‘for this discrimination lies in the fact that olitical virtue resides at t ureaus of legislatively created oficers. cidental, peraaps, that within a fortnight past one of the State commissioners has been morally convicted by a loca! jury of taking a bribe. ‘The assessed valuation of the real and personal estate in this city tor the current year will be about merease of nearly $9¥,000,000 over the assessment valuations of 1863, is, however, from year to year. ae capitol, or in the $1,000,000,000, the average The largest proportion of such tacrease will be levied upon property siiuaced in the upper part of the city. age for taxation was 2.6 It ts but fair to tion, ina recent manifesto, clan Certalaly 1t8 agents were more prastical ‘ation with the local Last year the percent- ; this year it wiil be about that the Citizens’ Aasocia- the credit of this than usual in their co-opei But the annual report of the Comptroller will answer every practical question concerning city Qnavces that’ we or our constituents can possibly It has already been pubis! upon by the press. The public learned with gratin. cation that nearly five millions of dollars were added during the past two years to the sinking fund, few more years of such wise and pruden' the revenues by Chamberlain as these figures ind: charge the entire indebtedness ou the different fuuds of the city and county govern- ed and commented the Comptrc tanding against The award of @ recent loan evidences the city $a premium of two per cent. ned by au adininistration journal is compelled to pay seven per cent in- terest on its obligations, but the federal govern- ment pajs uearly nine per cent in curreucy upoa Its It has been comp! city revenue from the lining to sign a public market Governor markets tn New associations of mark us Lot worked Should not be ext ihe Mayor re: Gouverneur and Fra , and @ aurrou! Fulton and Cilnton markets in such a mant interfere with business during t ade to contain a second story 0! wiil thereby relieve e Will have been erec fist market) a structure that 1 for ower st tructed by the Fishmc recently icorpurated by the ture, and which has leased city property for thie pose of the improvement. WHARVES AND PInns, ‘The present condition of the wharves and piera, as ‘well of those belonging to private partes as of some owned by the Corporation, is not due to the sions or doings of municipal authorities, them shouid be rebuilt and others extended to the Yet neither private owners nor the Corporation. would be justified imgmaking more than necessary expenditures upon wharves and piers at the present rates of whariage. Every at- Yempt of the municipal authorities to obtain the Passage of laws increasing Wharfage raves has been Buccessfuily opposed by monopolista. During tne Tecent legislative session the exertions were made by the Sinking Fund Com- Misstovers to obtain such an increase, and also the Passoge of a bill giving them power to improve the entire water front in @ manner commensurate with the demands of commerce and transit, and by th issue of bonds payable in the future, Joined lobby of pecuniarly interested persons and litical harbor masiers proved the strongest in in- Every aim of the municipal authorities to obtain proper control of their own property has en in years past sucvessfully resisted. and pians had been repeatedly asked or eub- If, therefore, the local authorities fire hot permitted to control thetr property, none but artiwana, seeking to pander to rural prejudices at HY depreciation of the metropolis, should hold us ‘pousible for structures that remain as metropoli- clusions may invi markets proj May become the mv prescribed limits. LEGAL MATTERS, eports of the Gorporation n Attorney and Public Adminis trator will suggest much appropriate action to your The comprehensive Counsel, Corporatic The Mayor at present moret plaims against the city should, if possible, be ad- justed without litigation, private or puolic, to through &@ jaw suit siways, and the leaning, insensi pf jadges oftentimes, favor the tangible piaintitt Against the Intangible Incorporation. Tn connection with legal matters, it may be added resenied for your consider. the ordinances whteh the jayor and bis legal coadjutors are preparing. Some | f ihe ordinances are susceptible of condensation, thers may be simplified, med to and made consistent with receat Stave recommends that it is rare, inde of save money The sympathies of jurymen to themselves, that there wil! soon be tion & codification of A few should be con. NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, JUNE 8, 1869.-TRIPLE SHEET. laws and many new ordinances are required. The existin, remedies are also capable of being a = more summary, precise and practical re- su However, the substantial Mayor and Common Counelt of ‘the city for making or enforoing ordi- nances seem to be the ingenious Superinsendens of Police, who has been allowed, at until lately, to usurp the functions of the Board in issuing ‘at his discretion all manner of orders, Those, when accepted and obeyed by the patrolmen, become more effective than ordinances, It is perhaps fortunate, under such circumstances of power and its exercise, that the city possesses a Superintendent whose tact, calmness, courtesy, prudence, amtabiiity and devo- Uon to the rights of persons and property, and all the principles of magna charta, have been, by actions, made widely apparent throughout the lana, CROTON AQUEDUCT DEPARTMENT, The report of the Croton Aqueduct Department presents nothing new or interesting. With a view to supply information with which it ought to have fur- nished us, and to give that department some scien- tife information, the rar requested from Charles H. Haswell Rosmane: chief engineer of the United States Navy, and the author of a celebrated work on engineering) a communication about aifairs embraced under the Croton Department, which seems so important and valuable that it is herewith submitted. (Schedule E.) ROONOMICAL CHA! NECESSARY. The citizens of New York have very generally en- tertainea an opinion that the affairs of the Croton Aqueduct Board were conducted in the most econ- omical, efMicient, scientific and serviceable manner. ‘The result of the Mayor’s observations thus far has led him to a very different optaion, which, ima future communication, after the litigation has beea deter- mined, he will present for discussion, It may be or, to instance, tn addition to the matiers re- ferred to by Mr. Haswell, that not long stuce scores of house blocks in the city were for forty-eight hours shut off from water supply, thus exposing the city to losses by fire which tn imagnitude might have ex- ceeded the whole first cost of the Croton Aqueduct. And this happened twenty-eight years after the water was introduced, THE OFFICERS AN IRRESPONSIELE CORPORATION. At this time the acting members of the Croton Aqueduct Board are not, in any practical respect, city officers, They constitute such @ peculiar kind of irresponsible corporation by themselves that the city ought not, in any wise, to be accredited or de- bited with their acta, LEGISLATIVE LEGERDEMAIN—POWERS OF THE COR- PORATION. It is now seven fax since the Mayor and Com- mon Council have been allowed a voice tn selecting the heads of this, one of the theoretical departments of the city government. The legislative history of the Croton Aqueduct Board, for nearly ten years, has presented @ continuous chronicling by tis oflicers of their efforts to continue themselves in office by appeals for legislative aid. The president of the Board was 80 notoriously tacompetent for te duties of his tmportant trust, as far back as 1863, that his friends were compelled to resort to legislative legerdemain im order to deprive the local authorities of the pleasure of giving the Croton Board a sober, intelligent and execu- tive head. But finally, in December, 1866, lis ex- tended term of office ended. Mayor Hoffman and your predecessors filled up the new term by the ap- pointment of a gentleman. The present President, however, resisted the claims of the new tncumbent, and claimed that the Mayor and Common Council had lost the power to appoint a President of the Uro- ton Board, because an act of the Legisiature, which was smuggled through in his interest, had provided that vacancies in the Croton department should be illed by the remaining members, The resisting President did not, however, claim that he had been appointed under that act, and for the very obviously legal reason that the expirauion of a term was not au occurrence covered by the intention or the letter of the act respecting vacancies. In the spring of 1x67 more legislative lezerdemain extended the terms of such of the Croton Board as were ‘+ then in oitice.”’ If that act was constitutional, and embraced any officer, it embraced the gentleman who had been appointed by the Mayor and Common Council, but who, although not physically in an oficial chair, behind an oficial desk, was legally in ofMice (as en- titled to it), providing that by using the pnrase, vacancies in office shall be filled by the remaimmng Commis: rs, the appointing power had not been taken away from the local authorities, IS THE PRESIDENT LEGALLY IN OFFICE? Shortly afterward the engineer resigned, and the extraordinary spectacle was presented of (he Presi- dent, whose tenure was at least doubtful, jotuing th second Commissioner in selecting a’ ew en- ver. Jf the President was not then and is not bow legally in office, of course that selection of the engineer by the other (one) Coaunissiouer was ille- gal. The Supreme Court has decided that the present President is not Inoilice. He appealed to the Court of Appeais with a stay of proceedings. The latter court 1s expected to decide the question during the current month. As the Mayor belongs to a class of lawyers who hold such fealty to the bencl that they never conceive it possibie for an American court to render a partisan decision he reposes the utmost trust in the logic of the expected judgmen THE IMPORTANCE OF CO-OPHRA’ Just at (Ms pertod of metropolitan growth it ts im- portant thatthe Croton Board should be in fuil ac- the other loca\ authorities, and shoald dis- utive Vigor and ability adequate to what Xpect from @ board entrusted with great power of iinprovement and ornament. But even if the claim’ of the present incumbents be legally tena- ble there is actually no mode of removing thein from ollice, not even for cause. An aitempt was initiated by the city authorities, at the last session of the Legisiature, to pass, in this behalf, another act; but the measure was adroitly made, in'the interest of the present incumbents, to assume a partisan aspect, and of course it was Killed, SESSMENTS. One great obstacie§nitherto to city improvement Was Qn assessuient section requiring the whole ex- pense of an improvement to be ley.ed upon the prop- erty owners. Tauis was confessedly unjust to them in a large number of proposed improvements. The latter benelited the city asa whole. Attempus were made to distribute the assessment by comprising large areas under the word “benefited.” This was also unjust, Buta recent law provides that in cases where ie Commissioners agree that the proposed improvement benefits the city, half the expense shall be borne by general taxation and by the issue of bonds, so as to distribute the expense upon the future increase of the metropolis, That act also changes the plan of assessinent from the taxabie to the roarketable value of proper- ty, So far as regards the other haif of the expense borne by property holders. But the principle snould be applied to pavements and sewage. To a certain extem tne tax levy has aliowed pavements w be thus paid for, SEWAGE. As to sewage, an illustration will explain. The Legislature, in 1865, authorized the Croton Aqueduct Board to frame aad carry into effect a plan of sew- age for the whole city. Practically that cannot be done, if payment is to be made by local asscasments, Property will mot bear the expense. The size of sewers in different streets must be determined, not by tue wecessity of such streets, but by the relation of each sewer to the plan of which itis apart. The pecuniary relation of each sewer lo property drained uy it is not determined by-the cost of construction of such sewer, and cannot possibly be ascertained till the whole Aysvem 18 completed, and, of course, not be equitably apportioned by asseasors under Our present system, HOW THE EXPENSES SHOULD BE DEFRAYED, If the whole is patd by taxation the expense ts de- frayed by property in proportion to its value, and this is right. Netiher is 1t jast to charge upon prop- erty to-day the whole expense of an improvement which will benefit the city for many years. Lf a pro- jected work will last filly years the expense shouid be spread over that period. ‘This cannot be done by assessment; it may by general taxauon, tn connec- ion with Which city improvement bonds may be a3 necessity requires, maturing at different uring the estimated duration of the works onstruction of which they are issued. Be- Sides, under the late assessment system coteries of seltish property owners from a small section of the city could always vexatiously delay, even if they defeat, valuable and necessary improve- ments demanded by the great body of citizens. Next winter We must make another fight ior addi. tional laws, securing the equities just referred to. DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC CHARITIES AND CORKBCTION. The Mayor commends to your attention the inte- Testing report of the Department of Public Charities and Correction and hopes tuat you will in every re- spect continue to ald the enterprising, economical aud uselul labors of its Commissioners. Since the report Was presented legislation has invested them with authority to build 4 foundiing hospital; to es- tabilsh a free intelligence orlice for the stranger, the oppressed, the needy and the as naaticai school, with provision for a ship, on which navigation can be practically taught to ule children of the poor, an4 to establish the nucleus of a down town hospital, rendered nece&sary by the removal of tue New York Hospital, A NEW CITY PRISON. The Commissioners should be authorized to bulid & new city prison. It 1s absolutely necessary, in the hame of Christian civilization, that one slould be constructed. Although the present bullding is cleanly kept and well governed its measure of accommoda- tions and location Rp the city. For several years the late District Attorney endeavored to im- press upou the Legisiature the necessity for anew city prison. That convenient phrase, “municipal Jobbery,” always answered him. The Mayor hopes that, with your co-operation, a new place of deten- on for those suspected of being criminals may be provided by the next Legisiature. A great Engliah writer by the power of his pen destroyed a famous rion, Which was equally a disgrace to London, he Citizens’ Association, Whose agents seem to de- sire to possess the same kind of power, might as effectually aid in obtaining the reform indicated for New Yor! PAVEMENT. ‘There are 212 miles of streets in the city of New York, of which eighty-one miles are in block and five miles in wooden pavement. The remaina: either subjected to cobbie stones or await pavement, Since the city has experienced the Guidet pavement on Broadway it seems apparent that these new blocks must hereafter supersede the Belgian where- ever stone pavement Is desired. The Nicolson wooden pavement has not been found reliabie except in side streets, An adaptation of the wooden pavement called the Stowe pavement haa been tried in San Francisco with great success. Your attention ts in- vited to it and also to tne Fisk concrete pavement. The latter is com of Cay broken stone, cinders and coal ashes (fi from loam, clay, garbi or any other foreign substance), mixed in definite proportions with tar, piteb, rosin and asphaltam. This composition i spread upon the road-bed tm layers from two to four inches in thickness and each laver thoroughly rolled with heavy rollers. The thickness of this composition When the roadway Is completed is not less than six inches, This pavement ts substantially well known {a Maris and Coutingutal cities, whore it bas been 6x- thoroughfares would be saved. might be aided by policemen detailed to his office. Independent aad spasmodic enforcement of ordi- nances by the general detail of patrolmen are not practicable, and the rats of the present police sys- tem are very deep, if auy one Wishes to start a car of reform. that boay for ma control. But the Common Co: control over those to be initiated and perfected ‘future, upon the data of the past? | tenstvely used. ‘The American patent, however, gives it bevter adaptation to our climate as respects he action of summer heat upon the surface or aa regards the friction during winter from the calks which, by the continuous fross of an American Winter, are rendered necessary for horses’ shoes. Tae Common Sonnet appear, by their action about a year ago, to have favorably received the Fisk pave- ment and the City Tax law, by its provisions allowing the use of that wement, evidences that {it received the app lon of the Legiziature and the Citizens’ Association, The report of the Committee on Roads to the Board of Councilmen, February 4, 1865, agreed that the Fisk concrete pave- ment saved the wear and tear of horses and vehi- cles, made no dust or mud, wag hard and smooth, and yet animals did not slip wpon it, and that it was superior to the French concrete pavement laid in Parts, which has worn for th: years; that it was superior to stone and cheaper @ny other pave- ment in the city, and th acadam concrete pavement had been vested in the Park, wherein, auring 1567, 40,000 square feet were laid. Also that it had been tested in Prospect Park, Brooklyn; Druid Hill, Baltimore; in streets of New Haven, Chicago, Washingion and Lockhaven; and that six inches pressed to four inches in depth of the pave- ment had, at Kensie’s dock, near Hamilton ferry, Brooklyn, withstood, without perceptible impression upon it, a year’s attack by the vast trucks engaged daily in hauling auchors, chains and the coursest mercantile material. PRESENT CONDITION OF THB STREETS. The Legislature this year had the fairness to em- power the Street Commissioner, in bis discretion, to Mnend all the old cobble stone pavements. They are everywhere in a deplorable condition. The expense of repairing them was so enormous that prior legis- lation shrunk from voting the supplies, The need for tue money fncreased yearly. But the expense 13 to be defrayed by the issue of bonds, STREET LIGHT—A HINT T0 THE GAS COMPANIES, Something practical must be done immediately to give our citizens a better quality of gas tian they nave lately been compelied to burn. We have it in our power to become independent of gas companies. It has been Les ed over aud over again that con- sumers living ina block should club together and make their own gas, Science has been long hard at work at finding out new processes of making light, and the results so lar are extremely gratiiying. A cheaper and much better light can be procured from the new oxygen, or magnesium, or magneto-electric, or gasoline, or many otber means of producing light than from the wretched street glimmer vouciisaied by the gas companies. Science has also in the new magnesium light made some important discoveries. it may be calied artitictal sunlignt, as it shows all objects in their true colors. The magneto-electric ligut ts, perhaps, the best of all for sireet purposes. One of these liglits piaced on Broadway would shed a brilliant efulgence for one quarter of a mile on either siae. HOW THB NEW LIGHT SHONB AT THE TUILERIES AND THE RESULT. Some months ago Baron Haussmann ordered the discoverer of the new method of producing oxygen gas Lo light up the City Hail of the French capital. Afver which the Emperor ordered the court of the Yuuleries to be illummated i the same way. ‘Those brilliant exhibitions led to the granting permission to lay an extra pipe in the city of Paris for the con- veyance of oxygen, to be ased with thestreetgas. A few wealthy gentiemen have recently erected works in Forty-first street, near Eleventh avenue, for pro- ducing this oxygen, and the retorts are now in daily Operation, They have nad about 20,000 cubic teet of oxygen in a gas holder, and made much more by passing pieconrey air aud steam over the man- ganate of ECONOMY IN LIGHT. Many of the lights just reterred to can be produced at an expense less than the charge of the gas com- panies. In due time some of these inventions must suversede gas for street purposes, The time wili come when our citizens can laugh at the former gas lamps as much as they did forty years ago ac tue old-fasaioned oil lamps. Between private gas con- sumers and the compunies the former must always be at the meroy of the latter. ‘The latier are an hundred in number throughout’ the State—they ai- Ways Work logetier ang naturally in their own in- teresta. THE MONOPOLY ALMOST AT AN END. They constitute together an immense monopoly, which can always suitably mupress their views upon legislators. Bui as betweea the gas companies aud the city, practical resuits andybeneiicial to the city can be obtained by submitting the quality of the gas, for which we certainly pay remunerative prices, to 4 seientific test, under direction of muni- cipal servants, antl by the city selecting larger burners for lumps. Tie Mayor recommends that your appropriate co forthwith sclect some section of the city 1 riments upon the eilicacy of the lates: tnveutions ia street hglt- ing. CLEAN sreEsts, ‘The streets of New York are assumed to be swept under the provision of a contract wade several 1% intersects Chatham square, then yeaching East Broadway if will call for ® widening market slip will te Shot. lose pon” the East mi ip me nver; & Wi ot Franklin street, front ‘West street, on the southerly side, to Broadway, and on the northerly side to Baxter street, crossing the jatter and Mulberry and Mott streets to Chatham square, where it will connect with the widening of Catharine street above mentioned; the extension of ‘Sixth avenue to Canal street; the widening of the Broadway carriage road up to the present street front on each side, and the consequent arrangement of sidewalks within the first stories of all the build- ings, the second stories to be supported upon orna- namental arches or pijlars, and thus commensu- rately forcing inwardly the fronts of all lower siores; the removal of sidewalks, fences, chains and posts in and around the City Hall park, and its conversion into a concreted plaza, suitable for vehicle transit, and so that Park row, Broadway and the cross streets can be immediately relteved of thetr chok travel—the largest trees in the park being preservt by surrounding them with curbstones and iron box The Mayor also recommends that several feet of the sidewalk in Fulton street which adjoins St. Paul's church be given to the streetway, because one full sidewalk on that particular block ia sufficient for foot passengers, and the jam of wagons thereabouts is a daily nuisance, Also that the sidewalk, pave- ment and curbs around the Worth Monument be re- moved, 80 as to throw into the carriageway tle en- tire space which they now uselessly occupy, which would allow that monument to sustain to Madison square the same street situation that the equestrian statue bears to Union square, THE MODE OF TRAVEL. Respecting the second problem, “How, towards nightfall, to afford 200,000 people an easy and rapid access to their homes from their places of toil and businese,”’ it would seem imperative that we should immediately seek to neutralize the attraction of the suburban magnets which have drawn away our popu- lation and lost us $0 much taxation on personal es- tates, Long ago we shoutd have become able to say that New York Island wus thirty minutes instead of tweives miles Jong. ‘The solution of the probiem is primarily with the Legislature. It should be continually made fo un- derstand practically that vbis city demands con- stantly increasing railroad facilities between down town and up town. . One underground ratiway has already been au- thorized, But there should be at least three routes from one end of the island to the other—one central yearsago. Municipal annals during the past fifty years evidence the unpopularity of street cleamng Inspectors and contractors. ‘luere 19 no use in deny: ing that our streets aad avenues cannot be kept clean for the sum now paid to the contractor. The sum Which was udeguate when the contract was made, 18 now insuilic.cat. A legislative attempt was recently made by the municipal autnoritles to in- crease the stipeod and provide stronger guarantees for performance of labor; but it was unsuccessiui. THE PAY INSUFFICIENT—RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITIZENS. If the taxpayers want their streets thoroughly cleaned, they must make up their minds to pay a proper sum for it. But they caa also do much to aid the authorities, If the sweepings and refuse from tae interior of shops, stores, manufactories aad houses were carefully removed by householders and no! furtively thrown into the thoroughfares; if some pride was taken in maintaining cleanliness in front of premises, fully one-half the present expense and labor of the authorities in trying to maintain clean Tae contractor CITY IMPROVEMENTS. But the most important as well as interesting sub- jects for our municipal care are—first, how to pre- vent in the daytime the chokin; secondly, how, towards nightfall, to afford 200,000 people an easy and rapid access to their homes irom their places of voil and business. of thoroughfares; To practically and immediaiely solve these prob- lems the city authorities could almost afford to sur- render their entire time and attention. Every one must have noticed that, whereas in the infancy of New York city people came to it from all arts of our own countr; “to make fortunes,” they we recently thronged here cither to increase the fortunes already begun elsewhere or to spend them amid the luxuries and comforts of a great national metropolis. — time becoming @ centre not only for accumu- att population and the traffic to our city # so great that we are in danger of being hampered by our own prosperity. New York has been, therefore, for but investing fortunes. And the tendency of THE TRANSIT POR TRAFFIC. If our down town thoroughfares are a a choked up tn 1869, what will be the case tn sucl respect only five years hence? While the etty thor- oughfares above Fourteenth street are being cared for in the matter of ornament, those below Union square shoula be attended to in order that the de- mands of transit for trac be fully answered. THE IMPROVEMENTS, All improvements above Fourteenth street must be made under authority of the Legislature, if they alter the map or pian of the city, and upon assem- biage of the next Legisiature the Mayor will ask your co-operation respecting several applications to improvements within Albany ell have absoluve below Fourteenth strect. SHORTSIGHTED POLICY—THE FUTURE. We cannot longer afford to laugh at our short- J ancestors, Who built the back part of the City Hail of red sandstone because the city proper lay below Chambers street, because we have been for many years, with our best foresight, committing similar blunders, and the laugh may be turned upon us within three years. Have not munictpal autho- rittes legislated, and rather for @ present than the Has not too regard been paid to the clamor of taxpaing 3, or of some rich men who have cared more to amass family wealth than to invite metropolitan grandeur? Certainly in tis industrial epoch, when all the forves of nature are being subdued to contri- bute to individual prosperity and enjoyment, public men should not forget to plan and legislate for the future. What we have suffered from the short- sighted policy of our predecessors should not be en- talled upon our successars, THE GROWTH OF THR CITY, Marvellously as the city has grown it must neces. sarily grow yet more marvellously, Many persons of approved foresight believe that there are now living comparatively old men who before they die ‘will see the area of the metropolis below the lower boundary of Central Park substantially surrendered to purposes of commerce, manufacture and trade. pee fl the enterprise of capitalists connected with associations, such as the Wesiside and Kastwide as soctations, have been in jucky contrast with the at- tachment to primitive notions about city prosperity that have actuated some coteries of rich men who happened to invest their money below Fourteenth street, and have been unwilling to be taxed for im- provement for the lower portions of the city, ‘The subject is a fruitful one for rhetoric. But our Consutuents demand action. The Mayor, howev ‘begs to submit in scheduid F extracts (rom a rece Privately distributed pamphiet on the wth of New York, whicll quite aa practically as eloquentif refers to New York's future, OPENING AND EXTENSION OF STRERTS—IMPROVE- MENTS SUGORSTRD, Let us, therefore, at once—within our own exciu- sive jurisdiction, and by way of commencing action— eke ned 7 ae See, which, bel evide: le interest of the whole oy, wi be embraced by tho new assessment law:—" "ow The extension of Filth avenue to Canal street; the extension of Hudson strect, from its intersection with Chambers street, diagonally across blocks in Warren, Murray, Park piace and Bar- clay streets, until Charch street be reached: the Ann street, accordi: once as foe tn Goune y street the Hud river; the extension of Lafayette place through to Marion aad Prinee streets, and then the widening of Marion until it intersects Centro a1 the widen- ing of Chatham street from Tryon row (beginning about the spot where will spring the new Brooklyn bridge) and extending to Chathan square; th i. tension of Second avenue from its termination at Kast Houston street through to the corner of Bowery and Broome street; the opening of a new avenue from the corner of Canal an: Matberry eoross Mott, Bayard, Blizaboth ‘Bupport ot and underground, and the otuer two either over- en or underground, upon each side of the siand, There should be no preference for any par- ticular plan, The plan which soonest promises to give immediate reliei, is the plan to be assisted by us. An elevated railway on arches across streets 13 also ciatmed to be feasible, and the Assembly Com- Limes on Railways reported favorably upon the Project. In this country every great scheme goes through three phases—the phase of talking and writin; about it; the phase of quarrelling about me ans ant Ways for it; and then the phase of perfecting it. Upon all these problems of improvement and travel facility just referred to, our,city has passed Cieanaas the arst and is far advanced into the second phase. The late President Lincoln 18 said to have written to the present President, when the latter, a3 a gene- ral, Was encamped around Richmond, ‘‘Arrange a plan, and then peg away at it until it is successful. In like spirit let the city authorities patiently “peg away’’ upon this matier of city improvements for the solution of the two great problems so vital to the interests of commerce and the citizens’ comfort. A. OAKEY HALL, Mayor. The following are the documents accompanying the message of Mayor Hall:— Schedule A. Showing the amounts of moneys to be raised by tax and ex- pended under direction of the Common Council Advertising for te Common Couneil, cl ut in Fourth avenu Cleaning markets. City continguncies. . atingencles, L ¢ Board.. ding Depart ,, Corporation Attorney. Deticieacies, Groton Aqueduct Depart Election expenses. Errors and delinquencies. Flagging sidewalks and fencin; Free floating baths, New stone bri Ottal_ depot Printing for the Gay Printing for departinonts Buble buildings, constru Real estate expons Removing nigit #. Removing obstrac' ing Broadway. and avenue a, Fifth aven sprinkling. Salarios (including city courts). Stationery and blank book: yewe a cisani Schedule B. Showing the amount of moneys to be ratsed by tax and ex- pended under direction of the Bourd of Superviso: SALARIES, LEGISLATIVE DREANT For salaries of members of the Board of Supervisors and clerks of the board. 838,300 SALARIRS, EXECU Nis. For salaries of the Mayor, the Compiroller and of the officers of bureaus in’ the Department of Fi- nance, payable from the county treasury. ++ 64,600 BALAMIPS, JLo=e—t ARY, For compensation of the judges, clerks and of of the several State and county courts; also other 4 administrative officers within the w York, 7,700 Advertising. 40,000 Care and ma 000 Contingenctes, Co:nptrolier’s offic 10,000 Gontingencies. inspection of bulidings 5,000 Contingencies, District Attorney's offic Sau Contingencies, Tax Commissioners’ ofc 500 roners’ foes E - 45,000 County contingencies . 40,009 Deaf and Dumb Asyini 13,648 bursements and { nesses. 72,000 Blection 85,000 Legal expenses of Avaistani Disirit al 11,000 Lil ting and cleaning and supplies. + 75,000 MoComb’s Dai ge. care and maintenance of-... 10,00 Printing for legiaint've departments, .... 6,000 Printing for ex ive departments and judiciary. 40,000 Refurnishing for Department of Finance in Lew Ropi e Repatring and preserving r ‘and Register's oices Stationery, iaw and blank books prisoners in County Jai words of County Total... «$1,009,498 Schedule C. The following statements show the condition of the sinking fand for the redesuption of the city debt, the city and county jt, eo. 2 THE SINKING FOND FOR THE REDEMPTION OF THE crry D ital of this fund, after providing for the real estate ed for payment to the otate lesseva of West Wash- ington Market in t8—:— December 81, 196, was. ‘The capital December 3 Increase in two years... sesesees 4,063) ¥ROM WASIINGTON AND WEST WASHINGTON REVENU MARKETS. The rovenue from these markets during the year 1865 wi ape +. B203,167 Thy revi the e Increase in 1368 over 1968. * ory The funded debt of Total funded debt of city ant county The ninking fund applicable to the re the city debt, which by law ts redecmaie from that bao) December 31, 1864, was. oe ies oe ae erence eit r08,818 Net ct and county debe, December 31, 1968. The Sesumuanons of sinking fand (as now provided law) will prove sufficient for the entire redemption of the ity debe am it ue, without the necessity of ralslog ingle dollar by taxation for a ‘ * Fehiemmoracy) debt of the city and county of New York, December 31, 1968, was 87,618,572. This debt'is redeemable from assosaments from various ents and from tax to be i ‘the present Fear. Ly not be lasppropriate to gre ‘an estimate of the ‘of the corporal rhieh ts fe eee secweibe ot the funded vo or th Esa stein catnate care has been taken price wi we a ret vrould readily bring ‘at public gaption ‘not used for pubile pt 70,00 PRs neta Vale Total. whi oer works, say. Hw thas be woom that tie oredit of the sik serene pregm ie basia and that the redomption of tte funded debt {a placed beyond the possibility of a doubt, Schedule D. ‘embraces a report the markets of the city, vd at vemuaet of 4 int commiuce of ie Common Counell ot L, Viele, and was published in the 16, 1468, Schedule FE. Orrion ov Qnas. H, Haswet ,) Rew Youn, May § 1900. i DeagSra—In compliance with request ange iaten & pues Gee submit the ‘The fenaio of TOTEM OF SEWAGE. of the sewers t# such aa to con- and Ly id share of and ref which is. doliverod ai od mnpactly "with veartac singe ot Tocation. affords the “Thate: been laid to exceed two bu there fifty miles of thes constructions, nearly all Which: as declared by the Commiasionere ofthe Grito ki Board in thelr annual to the Common Coun- oft in 1966, “have been buit regard to ai ed to which period, by virtue of wn act of the hia ‘April, 1966, nut ity was given to the Com: tovennatrnel sower 801 f ‘The declarations, therefore, of the Commissioners in 1886, above recited vitn that tho scwees tied Reet bat without regard to aystom, dey when. they had such ample power as was given them by the act of 2h, embracing @ period of six- teen years. is a confession uo sel! -immolating and so ingenu- ous uso disarm eriticiam and arrest discussion. OITY DRAINAGE, ‘The varying character of the underiyin ‘this city is built is such as to lead the absorl surface water into innumerable courses, or springs, as they are termed, and 80 lon the primeval condition of this subsoil at the shores of the river bounding the city was uot disturbed by the filling ‘out of the shores to a bulkhead line these courses were open and the land freed of all such surface water as the conforma- tion and core posittag. of the subsoil would admitof, When, therefore, inthe process of filling out, water courses wore met with, they should have their capacity out to the were closed by the fill soil upon which been kept free and unimpaired 1a bulkhead; instead of which, the; thefr discharge arrested and their water dammed up, involving the saturation of the earth with- Juthe area of thelr source, filling the collags of buildings and subjecting the owners thioreof to the cost of-a drain to effect that which had naturally existed, and which bad been 60 culpably arrested. In 1586 the owners of property n Twenty-second street were compelled to construct a drain from the Ninth avenue to the Hudson river, a distance of 1,400 feet, to free their cel- lors from water, which reacied in ‘some cases to the base- ment doors, in conse juence of the damming up of the water, courses of that locality whea Giting out to the bulkhead, and yet the aubsoll was an open sand wholly free from rock or v. OONSTRUOTION OF BREWERS, Within a brief period the Commissioners of the Croton Aqueduct Board have imported vitrified stoneware pipes of diameters reaching to elghteen inches, which they have used con:uctors for sewage in many localities in place of the brick masonry of ordinary e. ‘simple, holtow cylinders without a single strengthening rib, and when in position their onds are simply abutted without connection, and their only retaining band is a dividea one, being com) dof tw> semi-cylinders, misnamed caps, which can offer but litte re- sistance to eit! rertical or lateral stress ; and a sewer con- 3 structed with these pipes, from their inguilicient capacity to alford the introduction of a man, {s necessarily without man. holes, and the consequent facliity of being thoroughly cleared of obstructions without the disruption of a pipe at the locality OF the stoppage. ‘The defence made for the nse of this material is tts economy andthe facility afforded by the smoothness of ite inner surface to scouring, OTRRET PAVEMENT. One of the requirements of the Croton Aqueduct Board in their specifications for street pavements, ia that there shall be a beddlug to the stones or blocks, of one foot of sand. Con- sequently, when a street is to be repaved, the oxisting bed has to be replaced with a new one. arty requires any operation that involves the breaking into the pavement, he is required, under the rules of this Board, “to restore the pavement and fiagging to at least as good condition as previous to excavation, and the javing must be done by @ person who understands the usiness.” And under an especial act of the Legislature of 18, the Hoard is given eognizanco, control and general direction in the relaying of all pavements; and it is further provided, that whenever any strest pavement shall have been removed, and shail not be relaid ina manner satisfactory to the Board, the President of the Board may require the pave- ment to be properly laid within five days after notice of ro- quirement; and in case of failure on the part of the party Olfending, the Board are authorized to make the required repair, and make the cost thereof @ lon upon the property, for the benefit of whom the work was commonced. ‘How far this provision, so essential to the integrity of the street pay- ing, 1s enforced by the Board, I eave to our oltizens to deter- mine for themselves, By an act of the Legislature the control ot tho streets with- fm the curbs has been transferred to the Croton aqueduct Bord, and there now exista the anomalous position of one Board determining ‘and crests of a stroet and of an- other aligning and grading curbs, and as a consequence streets are repaired and new inclinations given to qutters without any corresponding elevation or depression of the curbs, ‘The result of thia condition of divided and varied re- sponsibility may be witnessed in the renavement of Brond- way, now in progress, the undue elevation of the atreet oF tho undue depression’ of the curb at the northwest junction of Thirty-fourth street and Broadway, and at the wi corner of Frankfort street and Park row. ‘The general condition of the street pavements of this city ia inferior to that of any other city tn th ountry or Europe that have fallen under my observation, arising, in the first lace, from the insufficient manner in which they are now faids'in the second piace, in the great noglect of thetr repair, and' lastly, from the absence of system in the laying ot sewers, whereby new/y-laid pavements are 60 frequenily dis- turbed'to lay a sewer, from the want of that accord In whe two operations which would require the sewers to be first said. Durability. in pavements subjected to the impact of loaded vehicles requires them not only to be lafd_ in the best manner, but that the integrity of their condition should be maintained ; for 0 lon, as iis sirface is in line ft receives but the stress of the welght of a vehicle, added to the impact due to the irregularities In the material of the pavement, but when the surface presents irregwiarities of conformation, consequent upon {regular subsidence, then the depressed surface receives not only the weight of a vehiole, but the impact due to ite weight and motion, and consoqueatiy becomes less and less able to resist this stress as the depressions increase indepth, from the in- creage in the imy DISTRIBUTING MAINS, The capacitics and arrangement of the mains leading from the distributing reservoir are so insuifictent and 90 imperfect that they fail to afford a proper supply of water. ‘AS an exponent of the condition of distribution, I submit, that in the daytime the central and lower portions of the city are not aupplied at ap elevation but a lite over one-hait of the head of thé distributing reservoir, as instanced at the Bowlin vel of the aireot is but a few fee: al 1 water cannot be obtained fa the story of houses of moderate elevation; and the Commissioners of the Croton Aqueduct Board. tn thetr anounlreport to the Common Counell in 1855, in refer- ring to the absence of Proper’ connections between the pipes, c., declare that the loss of head in the day at the junction of Broadway and Canal street reached foriy-aix fect, and that “to correct this evil in the old districts would involve an amount of expense foconvenience not easily calculated or appreciated.”* oview ing, then, the elements presented, I further submit as follow: Firat—The system of ewazo, as designed and constructed under the authority of the Croton Aqueduct Hoard, up to 6, has been officially declared by Its members to have wn conducted without regard to any system; to have been. irregular and faulty, expensive, ineffective, and pestilential; ‘and that to correct and even lessen the evils resulting from 80 many years of mismanagement, ia @ task involving study, time and expense. ‘Second-—Ail sewora in default of a construction whereby the neorage would be collected and disposed of for fertilization, should be constructed so as to diseharge at the ends of plers, instead of at bulkbeads, ewig fecal nd vegetable matter in surpension, might be borne off by the tidal currents, in- stead of being deposited at the heads of slips, to endanger the health of the cliizous at large, as well aa to impregnate the air with offensive ellluvue. Third—The introduction of stoneware pipes, constructed fn the manner doscribed and connected without a sleeve- Joint with @ moulding at its edges, to give resistance to ‘the the transverse stress upon them from superincumbent woight, {9 injudicious, as the insuifclent character of sup- port given by tho segmental cylinders will not give that Green, where the I bove the level of tidewater, coufinementto a cracked pipe whitch may be necessary to retain it in form; and I bave high authority that pipes in this contlgn are sometimes iald. The area of the pipes ts not suflcient to admit the ction of the body of m man, consequentiy it i Im- acticable to clean them other thah by a rod or what may effected by the scouring of the matter conducted, and any arrest of their operation by the collapse of a cracked t pipe, by the choking consequent upon an unusnal wash of soll, of the eifect of a departure from the {nciination of the pipes— anda departure from inclination has occurred in the layin, of a sewer—wonld involt heavy expensejover that attend: aot upon a brick sewer under like circumstances of arrest of conduction. Ali sewers, whesher of masonty oF pipet should be bedded and Intd fo rubble for tally one-half of thelr hoight, aler running from Sts courses or percolating Would be readily led off to the river, and thus one proliti source of insalibrity be arroate?. 0 In it held to be by some thorities that tl etropolltan Comiisalo here should be two sewer ry veyor of the Met don, 1a 1849, reported that io for the discharge of natural or land and surface water, aud the other for artificial, oF hoaae aad soll drainage.” ‘Sixt ation that there ia superior economy fn the are pl ver that of brick masonry for a Btsueware pipe 18 {uches In diameter, area = 1.75 square feet, 81 0 per lineal foot, Brick’ masonry, 844 toct by ig feet, aren ~ 6.25 square feet, 1 70 per lineal foot, i.xhibiting a difference ot but twenty cents per foot in favor of pipe over a brick sewer of nearly (our times the capacity. In connection with this it ts to be borne in mind that th pipes used in London are of domeatic manufacture and those used by the Croton Aqueduct Board are imported from abroad, incurring the cost of duties and the very considerable Jona by fractures in transportation. Srveith—-The facility of the scouring of sewers, claimed for the new system of sewage in this e\ty, 1# not at all desiradi as tho great volume of sand from thestreet surfaces that ‘Washed into thent is facilitated in {te passage to the rivers where the encroachinent of bulkheads, and the coustant and increasing aggregation of silt upon the fats, is rapidly re- lng toe tidal ares of our harbor, and upon the magn inde 0( this area deponds tho maintenance of the preswat depth ‘of water over the bar at Sandy Hook. Uniess, then, an en- tire change Is effected nt mot sewage in this city the navigation of our rivers harbor will #0 much ree porn an arrested that the standing of this city, as one Pposseasing commercial advantages, will be seriously affected, Eghhlt the sewage of the ely 18 to be continued in the Croton Aqueduct Department, I suggest some further con- sideration on tue part of the Board borore {t proceeds further in the general Introduction of stoneware pipes with semi etreular baud for thetr junction, instead of sleeves, and the filling tn of @ sewer treinch wholly with ®t}, tustend of a pore tion of it with rubble, whereby the proper drainage of the Gubsoll ean be offectod pari-prsmu with the neways Ninth—The removal of the sand bedding of = paved treet, in order to repave it, 18 a systema wholly opposed to ecottor of expenditure and durability of wear, asm depth of san of one foot cannot bo leveled with uniform density unless rolled, and without uniformity of density irregularities willoceur upon, the suriace of the now pavement inence of the trregarar sntwidence of the bed, If the the existing bed was almpty struck to the sweep or ‘crest of a street, and two inches of sand laid over Il al the sand that would be required for bedding the new or Monee ‘wonld be afforded, and the indurated Ded of tue former pavement would be left to sustain the new blocks ; added to which the subsidence of the pavement would not be such as to presont the tnexcusable and unproféssional ap: pearance, of the manhole curb of w sewer above the line of ihe pavement, which condition of these curbs {sso generally to be met with In our streets, Fevlh The uniformity of the surface of our street pare. ments should be maintained, without consideration as to the hecessnry cost thereo! ; as suich w course will ultimately #o- euro great economy, not only to the city, but to our citizens, in the wont of vehiclon, ‘ nin ~The tanner in which some city railroad compa- nies are allowed to elevate or depress the liner of thelr raila judteial, sion, which, in wet weather, enbjects foot-paasenget Seber of outer ora, cena oth onaaiy ore fe vartanoe with. pro . oe whion | favo to th ‘Croton’ Aqueduct Board the control ‘of the etreet “1 ti Los igen be tis cornet of sidewalks, ee and gattor ston eleva wernentay an Fepaifa of parementa, should be unuge the soiecontrot of one Sintra wranmryloe tei they Ma Seow face the details of arte 6 a ion to the rule, "hirteenth.—The necemrary pij oe tre and lower portions of the city a full head of water ahi forthwith be init; mnd I it should be advanced that to nm tions and connections, a heavy expanse would be incarred, the queation arises, wiiy” werd nae the proper connections made when the pipes were frst tald | aad PEvectally 40 when that vortion of the city, as a w . nition than at present, wi ‘demand for water has increased wih an incronae Of popula deniteiny 1 positions that have been, or nay ibe tresctted te locipndinn ot tie and to me inex aT they are Rose et toe, yh. A alt ‘ot Ore by thie iasualglons ‘howd of water whieh, wherewith to give mie of atom ralghs enneed the whole fret cost many other poinia in connection with the mat- brief time allowea me precludes @ gee of In these remarks | have sedulously restricted olnie ans bare been potlod or aaderioed by sila bare hen niga en arnt fidence which is entertained, aud in many Cor points deservedly. #0, in the operations of the Croton Aqueduct Board, and uniformly by those who are not capable of comparing ail ite Actions with the standard of Proveanional tile. ay ve wo ry reapoct four o} servant, sp * OHakLes H WASWEELe Civil and Marine Engineer, To Hon. A. OAKEY HALt, Mayor of New York, BOARD OF ASSISTANT ALDERMEN. The Board of Assistant Aldermen met at twe o'clock yesterday afternoon, President Monaghan ia the chalr, A resolution of the Board of Aldermen, authorizing the Central Park Commissioners to issue $300,000 new stock, was concurred in. An invitation to unite with the Mayor tn attending the annual celebration of the Schutzen corps and the Washington National Guard was accepted. A resolution directing the Comptrolier to retain from the appropriation tor city contingencies a sum. sufficient to pay the increase of salary of keeper of City Hall was lost, Reconsidered and laid over. Resoluilons to pave Reade street, from Washing- ton to Wess street; Piae street, from William to Peart street, and Forty-eighth street, from Third to Fitts avenue, with Belgian pavement, were adopted, MURDEROUS A POLICEMAN. ASSAULT ON A Morning Episode Near Fulton Market—A Butcber’s Knife vs, Policeman’s ib. A vacancy was very near being made in the Sec- ond precinct police corps yesterday morning. About three A.M, oficer Dunn, of this precinct, seeing a man talking to a woman on the corner of Fulton and Front streets, and learning from her that the man had insuited her, told him to leave, and as he would not leave took hold of him, and, pusiing him around the cor- ner, hurled as bim that mandatory police order, “Move on.” The man did move on, but he quickig returned, having reinforced himself by another man. In ® moment there was an active melée on this corner, One of these men produced a butcher knife and evinced a determination to cut the policeman into mince meat. ‘The second stranger aided in this are undertaking. Meantime officer Kenney, of the Second precinct, came to the rescue of his cole league, 80 that it was @ square four-handed fight. ‘The two policemen’s clubs against the one knife was too much. Oficer Dunn reoeived @ slight stab on the wrist, whichgcomprised the ex- tent of injuries on their side. One of the be got his arm nearly broken and head badly cut, other received a severe cut over the right eye. The two men being worsted in the conflict were taken prisoners and conveyed to the station house, where they gave their names as Walter B. Price and Joba Pettit. In the morning they were taken before Judge Dowling, at the Tombs, and temporarily committed on @ charge of felonious assault and battery, and the further examination set down for two o'clock im the afternoon. At two P.M. the prisoners were brought from their cells, They tooked, that is to say the bruwea on their heads-and one with his arm in a sling and the blood on their clothes gave them the look of hay- ing passed through @ severe sanguinary cont Oulicer Dunn was the first witness. He told the story as given above. When he first saw the Serer | blade of the knife he thought it was a pistol, an rapping for assistance rushed upon Price, who had the knife. to take it from him. “He tried to stab you with the knife, did hee? asked the Judge. “The officer struck me first,”’ interrupted Price. “1 don’t wonder,” said the Judge. “He would nave been a fool to nave waited for you to stab him. I should have knocked you down very quick.’’ ‘The oficer proceeded to show that Petut held big club, and that he undoubtedly would have been killed had not officer Kenney come to his assistance and hit Pettit on the head with his club, After the testimony of officer Kenuey and other witnesses the prisoners were held for examiation at the Court of General Sessions. THE ALLEGED ARSON CASE. Tho Burning of the Briggs Brothers’ Sta- bles—Examination Before Judge Dowling What the Accused Partics Say for Theme selvos—Tho Papers Sent to the Grand Jurve An examination in the case of John N. Brigga, Robert L. Briggs, Henry ©. Ross and Willlam P, Sheldon, arrested on charge of firing or being im- plicated in the firing of the livery stables of Briggs Brothers, in West Twenty-third street, destroyed, with a large number of horses, on the night of the 30th of December last, took place at ten o'clock yester- day morning before Judge Dowling at the Tombs. All the prisoners—the frst three named above being, as will be remembered, under $50,000 ball each—were promptly in attendance and their respective counsel. Mr. Sheldon was brought from his cell in the City Prison, where he nas been confined ever since his arrest. A large number of speo- tatora, comprising friends of the sccused and representatives of fire insurance companies, feeling greatiy interested in the result, were present. On the case being called counsel for the two Briggs brothers aud Mr. Ross waived an examination, ‘These were accordingly formally ex: the questions and auswers being respectively as fol- lows. The first one examined was John N. Briggsi— . What is your pame? A. John N. Briggs. How old are you? A. ub i Q. Where were you born? Dutchess couaty, New York State. Q. Where do you live? A. Corner 125th street and Eighth avenue. Q. What is your occupation? A. Livery stable r & Haye you anything to say, and if so, what, re- lative vo the charge here preferred meeinee Tone A It would be, as I am advised by counsel, suflictent to answer es dey but I desire further to saygthat I have waived examination and given bail without now producing witnesses, because the magistrate, as Tam also ad’ |, can only exstumate the question of probabie cause, and may consider himself bound for the present to accept tle sworn allegations to my apparent prejudice. I deny the mconsistent tnven- tions of the complamaats wholly and in all their parts, and am ready to meet them before any jury, ‘wh ether those inventions he produced to defeat my insurance claims, or whether, failing even to obl me to modify my claims, then to attack crim my good character, and at the proper time I wi show the conspiracy that has been entered into be- tween insurance agents and purchable witnesses te blackmail or annoy me by the present suit. Mr. Robert L. Briggs was next examined, Q. What is yourname? A. Kobert L. Briggs. How old are you? A, Twenty-nine ye ars. Where were you born? A. Dutcaess county, New York State, Q. Where do you live? A. Corner 125th street,and Eighth avenue. Q. What is your occupation? A. Livery stable Have you anything to say, and if so, what, relative to the eharge here preferred against you? ‘The answer to the last question was the same as that of John N. Briggs. Mr. el C, Ross was now examined. Q. What is youname? A. Henry C, Ross, . How old are you? A. Twenty-four yeara. . Where were you born? A. Ontario county, New York State, Q. Where do you live? A. No. 148 West Twenty- fourth street. . What is your occupation? A. Foreman for Briggs Brothers. nd if $0, what, Fela Q, Have you anything to say, tive to the charge here preferred against you? A. would be, as lam advised by counsel, sufficter answer, not guilty; but J desire further to say that havo waived examination and given bail without producing witnesses, because the magistrate, as I am also advised, can only estimate the 1 Vw of robable cause, and may consider himself bound for tie present to te the sworn allegations to my apparent prejudice, deny the inconsistent inven- tions of the complainants wholly and tn all thotr parts, and am ready to meet them before any {urye and at the proper time [ will show the conspiracy that mas been entered into between insurance agents and purchasabie Sommer A defeat the iwsurance laims of my former emplo} " ir. ‘Snelion, was now calied up. Fo made are juest, Grou is counsel, to be allowed, under the fate law a subject, to testify on his own beht e he could interpose no objection, Mr. Sheldon was accordingly sworn. He confirmed simply the statement of his published in Sunday's Han. ALD. “J that all Mr. Sheldon has to offer for himscifr* the Judge asked. Yes,” replied his counser, “well, Pith re to recommit him to prison for trial untess he can find bali,” said the Judge, “Tow much bail do you requtre?” asked his coun- sel. tiene fon as for each of the other accused par- 18-—$§50,000, “The bail cannot be given now,” said the counsel. Mr. Sheldon, therefore, was formally examined. pis 18 your name Ms ‘ easpae ) How oid are you a . Where were *you born? A. Ontario county, Now York State, * A. National Hotel, $ Where do you live’ pation? A. Veterinary sar- geo What ts your occu) n. anything to say, and if so, what, rol. ativo ‘ta the charge nore preferred against you? A. Not gutitys the at vs — L have sworn to is my aa- Niro ‘above having concluded the preliminary ex- amination, the two Briggs brothers and Mr. Rows owed to depart on their previous bail an@ Jin, Bheldon Was sent to hia ola quarters in the Gl Prison. The papers were at once sent to the G Jury. MAJOR GENEXAL TeRny.—Major Goneral has taken the dwelling on Oak street, last occupl by General Meade, where his residence will be im future. His household will consist of his mother Ss two sisters, all of whom accompanied him here, ladies of the city, we presume, will not be long tn pa ed them to make them feel fully ated tHante,—Atlania New Bra, June &