The New York Herald Newspaper, May 17, 1871, Page 8

NEW YORK HERALD |™ p, BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. All business or news letter and telegraphic Gespatches must be addressed New York Herar. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. THE DAILY HERALD, pubdttshed every day tn the tear. Four cents per copy. Annual subscription : Frice $12. ADVERTISEMENTS, to a limited number, will be in- serted in the WEEKLY HERALD and the European Volame XXXVI AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING, FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, Twenty-fourth street.— Ror Svon a Foo. as HR LOoxe, GLOBE THEATRE, 728 Broadway.—Vaninty Enten- TALNMENT, £0.—TUE TEMPTER FOULED, Matinee at 234. OLYMPIC THEATRE. Broaaway.—New V. JAOK SUEPPARD. Matinee at 21g. 'ERSION OF BOOTH’S THEATRE, 284 st., between Sin and 6tn ave.— & WovreR's TALE, WOOD'S MUSEUM Broadway, corner Shh st.—Perform: ances every afternoon and evening, —Haur, WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway ana 13th atreet,— Banpauw's Toms. NIBLO'S GARDEN, Broadway.—Krr, TRAVELLER. ay.—Kit, TOR ARKANSAS NEW YORK STADT THEATR wery.— GtEWAN OrEuALOMENGELN, ee N® & Bowery. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, corner of 8th ay, - ' Pent EB, er of ay. ana 23d at.. LINA EDWIN'S THEAT! ont: RE, 720 Broadway.—ComEpy Bowery.—' Your Lire's in DanarR, aioe oud daca ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Fi BA a ak ‘oarteenth stree t.—ITALIAN BOWERY THEATRE, MRS. F, B. CONWAY'S FARK THI ma MBS FF THEATRE, Brooklyn.. BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Tux Liat—His Lasr Leos, eee ee BRYANT'S NEW OPERA HOUSE, 334 and 7\b ave.—NE@RO Minereurer ke i aaa em TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, —Vae RIELY ENTERTAINMENT. Matinee ae Pare ya THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Brondway.—Comro Vi wae, NEGxo ACIE BO. Matinee at Spo ot” VOOAM* ° NEWCOMB & ARLINGTON'S MINSTRELS, stand Broadway.—NuGko MINeTRELSY ao, nee CENTRAL PARK GARDEN.—Tugoponz Ti ’ Summers Niguts Coxcrrts. St DR. KAHN'S ANATOMICAL M _ ieee te sae: 1c. USEUM, 745 Broad way.. TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Wednesday, May 17, 1871. \ —— = _ CONTENTS OF TO-DAY’S HERALD, Paan. 1—Advertisements, 2—Advertisements, 3—The Great Treaty: Summary of the Proceedings na the og High Commission—Miscellaneous 4—Proceedings tn the Courts—The Erie Rallway War—Presentation of a United States Court by a United States Grand Jury—Tne Putnam dy—The Diamond Smuggling Case—The Evaus Abortion Case—Garroting on Third Avenue—The Foundling Asylum—New York Sportsmen’s State Convention—A Repentant Pugilistic Pewholder. S—Fieetwood Park: Opening nf of the Spring prouting, Meeting—Brick and Ben: How the Essex Statesman Got Even with Him of La Crosse—The Long Island Episcopals—The ) Broadway Widening Commussion—Turnout of y the Twenty-second—Rallroad Intelligence— Editorial Convention—Found in the River— The Grave of Senator Douglas Not to be Sola— Financial and Commercial Report—Keal Es- tute Matters, 6—Editorials: Leading Article, “The Increasing Power and Danger of Railroad Monopolies” — Amusements—Personal Intelligeuce—Amuse- ment Announcements. Y—The Paris Revolt—lnteresting trom Mexico— Proceedings 1a the British Parllament—Ruliof, the Murderer—Connecticut Politics: Inaugu- ration of Governor Jewell—Banquet to Baron a, Telegrams—Business jotices, 8—Brookiyn Matters—Sudden Death of an Old Citizen—Marriages and Deaths—Advertise- ments, 9—Advertisements. AO—rhe Woodhull War—The Mercantile Library Mues—The Ocean Telegraph Company ana the Press—The Philadelphia Peace Jubilee—Ship- ping Intelligence—Advertisements, 91—Advertisements, Av—Advertisements. Tue Mopern Sooratss.—Rulloff is to be at Binghamton to-morrow, Governor Hoffman refusing to interfere any further in his case. The philological murderer, who persists also in being a murderer of philology, contemplates his fate quite calmly, expressing regret only that his valuable science is to be fost to the world. He compares himself to Socrates, and says the world will suffer a greater loss in his death than it did in that of the old philosopher. ) Tae Evans Apsorrion Case should not be forgotten by the public in the greater interest ttaching to the Foster trial. Tho man Evans, 8 greater devil, apparently, than the rough, for he is educated and unscrupulous, dealing death, false remedies and quack medicines a business, He was on the witness stand fore Judge Bedford yesterday, and detailed va the infamous processes of his trade, not for- getting now and then to interpolate a sem- lance of insavity into his evidence. Tue Potice Boarp yesterday amended the es and regulations, so that the President of @ Board shall have, conjointly with the perintendent, greater powers in all matters ining to the actual ‘management and ovements of the police. If centralization of wer ig commendable in any branch of our unicipal government, it {s certaialy so in the ‘olice Departmegt. The-one man power ould be the rule there, as it is supposed to with the army in time of war. The police, must be remembered, are never on a peace » tis or should be always at war with thieves. Tux Ooat Miners’ TrovBies.—The re- from the coal regions of Pennsylvania not very consoling, save from Pittston, e the mipers have gohe peaceably to In Scranton and that neighborhood situation is unchanged. The men are de- ined and present a threatening front, and it not for the presence of the soldiers of State militia, who are prepared for any gency which may afise, serious troubles ht result from the present differences be- the two parties. Want of food and y of suffering in the homes of the unfor- workmen will shortly bring the miners This, and this only, we apprebend, ll be the agency which will end the Pennsyl- coal miners’ troubles and patch up for a & peace between the workmen and the anles NEW YURK HEKALD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1871—-TRIPLE SHEET. dmcreamag Fewer and Danger of Railread Monopolies. It becomes apparent, more and more, every day, that the concentration of raflroad inter- ests in this country is developing 4 power which will prove both dangerous and irre- sistible, unless Congress soon interposes its authority to restrain and control it. We are constantly hearing of new railroad combina- tions by which the smaller local lines are swallowed up by the great-trank lines. In fact, in some instances, nearly all the rail- roads of a State are merged in the monopoly of one or other of the great corporations. We have seen what has been going on lately to bring the Jersey railroads under the control of the Pennsylvania Central. We hear, too, of the negotiation pending to turn over tho Erie Railroad to Vanderbilt, the Great Mogul of the Central and Hudson River and Harlem railroads, The tendency every- where is to place the whole railroad system of the country under the control of a few companies or men. It could not well be otherwise. Railroad combination facilitates communication and the transportation of pas- sengers and freight, and so far it is useful even to the public, But it destroys rivalry at the same time, and enables the great rail- road corporations to make larger profits, Be- sides, the concentration of so much capital and influence with a few men is a mighty political power, which the rallroad magnates fully ap- preciate. We see, then, how many influences are at work to consolidate railroad interests and to make them superior to local or State governments, or even to the federal govern- ment itself. In former times a great deal was said about the gigantic power and monopoly of the United States Bank. Mr. Biddle, who had control of that institution, was compared to a monarch, and he wielded vast power. It was a question at one time which was strongest, he or the President of the United States, and had there ‘been a man of less vigor and determination than General Jackson in the Presidential chair, then Biddle might have been victorious. We have seen also the great power of the present national bank organizations, especially over the legislation of Congress, though these in- stitutions cannot have that concentration of action or influence through one individual or 8 few individuals that the old bank had. No doubt the United States Bank was a dangerous monopoly, particularly when it became a po- litical machine; and the national bank associa- tions are a monopoly, not less powerful, over the industry and means of the people, and, where they have a common object, little less in political affairs, But neither the one nor the other possessed the influence of that new power which our railroad system has developed. A few railroad magnates—kings, as they have been not improperly called—control municipal authorities, State Legislatures, governors, the judiciary, capitalists, politicians, labor and, ina great measure, the materlal interests of the country. Vanderbilt, with the New York Central and Hudson River and Harlem railroads; Gould and Fisk, with the Erie and its branches; Thomson and Scott, with the Pennsylvania Central and its ramifications, and Garrett, with the Baltimote and Ohio and its connections, wield a power over States and statesmen and the community greater than that of the President of the United States or than of most monarchs in this age. Many of the leading politicians are associated or interested with them; they com- mand the votes of an army of employés; and if their political influence should not be suffi- cient to control government, they bave enor- mous wealth to buy their way through all obstacles, The five or six railroad kings we have named control in capital, stocks, bonds, railroad and other real estate, rolling stock and other property, a sum greater than the revenue of the federal government. Over five hundred millions of dollars of value, prob- ably, and a gross yeafly income approaching a hundred millions of dollars are ino their hands, Of course we include in this estimate both the great trunk railroads and the con- nections which they control. This is the mighty power that science, the progressive civilization of the age and cupidity have de- veloped. We have not yet seen or felt the full extent of the evils of these monstrous monopolies, They have grown up rapidly and almost in- sensibly. We only begin to see and feel them. The trouble. between the laboring miners and their employers in Pennsylvania has thrown some light upon the grasping cupidity and oppression of the soulless railroad corpora- tions, They, in fact, more than other owners of mines, were at the bottom of the trouble and resisted the claims of the workmen, Had it not been for the railroad managers the miners would have obtaiued long since the trifling advance demanded and would be at work now, While they charge enormous and most unrea- sonable freights for transporting coal—three, four, or mére dollars a ton—they have com- bined with other capitalist qud mining com- panies to resist the miserable advance of a few cents on the wages of the workmen, The People who consume coal and have to pay an extravagant price for it should know that the railroads, and not the hard-working miners, are the canse of the advance, and get the profit. But to learn how the whole community is taxed by the railroad monopolists and specu- lators we must look at their mode of opera- tion, A railroad is built at a cost originally of twenty millions of dollars. We say this is the cost even after all lobby and other agencies are paid, and all the stealing and frauds of contractors and others are included in this estimate. A passenger fare of one and a half or two cents a mile and a corresponding charge for freight would pay, probably, a fair interest on the cost. Buta Vanderbilt, Gould, Garrett or some other rallroad magnate and speculator makes up his mind to realize a for- tune for himself and friends suddenly, The stock is doubled, or ‘‘watered,” as the Wall street term is, and the capital is made forty millions. The railroad companies, or ratber a few individaals controlling them, pocket the Inflated stock, and the people are made to pay increased fares and freight to give the speculators dividends on a bogus capital. This mode of inflating, or watering stock, is repeated several times, some- times until the nominal capital with which the oublic ia charged amounts to three times the original cost of a railroad. Every farmer who transports his produce, every merchant that sends his goods, and every man, woman and child that travels is taxed more and more to pay the monopolists. No federal or State taxis more general. It is felt by the whole community, When the national or State government imposes exorbitant taxes there may be found a remedy through the power of public opinion; but in the case of railroad extortion there appears to be none ; for, as was said before, the companies buy or control legislatures, municipalities, governors and the judiciary. Every year this state of things is growing worse. One man even aspires to possess two or more of the great railroad lines, to inflate the stook as he pleases and to tax the entire community at his will. This monstrous evil must not continue long. Publio opinion must be aroused, or every in- terest in the republic, material, fnancial and political, will be at the mercy of a few railroad kings. It may be difficult to awaken the gen- eral government to sense of the evil; for the majority of the jembers of Congress are in- terested, probably, in railroad companies. Still the evil must be reached, Congress has power, no doubt, to control the railroads— those great arteries of commerce—just as it has to regulate commerce by sea or the interior waters. The constitution expressly gives the power to regulate commerce among the sev- eral States; and no one can deny that the railroads which run from one State to another and permeate them in every direction, carry on commerce among the States in the sense of this language of the constitution. It is for the federal government to see that the people shall not be taxed enormously for the benefit of a few overgrown monopolies. Nothing short of Congressional legislation can interpose to save the country from the pre- sent evil and pending danger of railroad con- solidation and monopoly, The War Agalust the Commune—Progress of the Siege of Paris, By the despatches from the seat of war which we publish to-day there does not appear to be much change in the situation of the opposing forces in and around Paris. The bombardment is continued with increased violence, arain of shot and shell is being poured into Paris, and Marshal MacMahon’s troops are being massed as close as possible to the enceinte of the city, ready for the order of assault, which may be expected at any moment. There are reports from the city of several minor victories gained by the forces of the Commune, but these must be received with great caution; they read too much like the despatches of Gambetta to be relied upon implicitly. They look as if written to bolster up an utterly lost cause, and they are so flatly contradicted by the despatches from Versailles that we are led to believe them entirely without foundation. When Paris was besieged by tho Germans the whole world wondered why General Trochu with an army of three or four hundred thou- sand men was unable to break through the ex- tended “German lines, but the reason now is obvious. He, understanding well enough the character of those he would leave within the walls, did not dare to venture forth with his tried and reliable soldiers, He knew that the city would be taken possession of and its gates be barred against him by the very miscreants who are now causing so much wanton de- struction of life and property. His hands were tied; he was powerless, as it were, to act with force and decision, and the probabilities are that the Ger- mans were as well aware of the fact as himself. There can be no hope of peace for France while this discordant red element is permitted to retain its strength, It must be effectually crushed out; and, even if Paris has to be destroyed in order to restore the legitimate authorities to power, it will bea gain to France inthe long ran. We hope to see the most terrible puilishment inflicted upon the Commune and its adherents, The time for mercy or for showing them the least con- sideration has gone by. It would be folly to listen to any of their appeals, Cannon, mus- ketry and bayonets must be the only reply they receive to any application they may make. No peace can be obialned except by annihilating them; and, though the streets of Paris may be made to run with blood, let there be no concession—no granting terms—until the possibility of a recurrence of late events is forever rendered impossible. Gevernor Jewell on Connecticut Divorces, In his inaugural message to the Connecticut Legislature yesterday, Governor Jewell gives a good exhibit of the financial and business affairs of the State; but on the subject of Con- necticut divorces he says:— Our divorce laws, unless changed, bid fair to bring us into disrepute. They are notoriously loose— more so than in any other State except Indiana and Tiinois, In the year 1870 there were in this State 406 divorces and 4,871 marriages—a ratio of about ne to twelve, VG has been about the proportion for several years, | in yoemoa a Tatio is one to twenty-one, in Ohio one to fywenty-seven, in Massa- chusetts oue to forty-four. Brora tay be eratted iy this State, FOR Foe, ny cAuses—In fact, for almost 19 aye at all. mao mrepied and vicious people omé hete from othér States to get divorces which the more strict logisiation of thelr own States deny, ‘bus creating mach scandal and tarnishing the fair fame Of our state. Some marked cases of this kind have occurred the past year, Which loudly call for re- form in our laws. e We think so too. Indians, With he? free- and-easy divorce system, has earned a bad name, of which she has become so far ashamed as to make some wholesome reforms in this business, including the requirement of a three years residence to outside parties seeking divorces within her borders; and Connecticut, “the Land of Steady Habits,” from the facts set forth by Governor Jewell, is as much in need of divorce reforms as Indiana or Chicago. “Tur Fouton Ferry Company have already broken ground for the new and picturesque ferry house which they are going to erect in place of the preeent unsightly edifice at the foot of Fulton street, Brooklyn, The work is to be pushed forward very rapidly, and when the summer is over the building will be finished, It {1s understood that closing gate- ways are to be adopted in order to prevent the numerous drowniag casualties that occur through the foolhardiness of passengers io leaping after a boat. This is # good idea, and it is to be hoped other reforms {a ferrlage, that long experience must have brought to the notice of the managers, will also be adopted. The gayest thoroughfare of Brooklyn is Fulton ferry. Itis the gate of the city most used, and it should be not only commodious, but it stiould be piotureprque and safe, ‘The Protocols of the Treaty—The General Discussion Upon the Negotiations. We publish to-day the protocols or minutes of the proceedings, of the Joiot High Commis- sion. It is a document of much value as the key to the completed Treaty of Washington, by which any doubiful or cloudy passages in that important instrament may be laid open more clearly to the light. It goes back to the finished record that the High Commission have submitted to the Parliaments of the two countries, and reveals the bidden springs of action, the objections taken, the tulings laid down, the points of law discussed and almost the bare, unvarnished sentiments that the gentlemen on both sides expressed regarding the grave subjects involved, while they were discussing them within the doubly guarded privacy of the State Department chamber, It will be seon, therefore, that the protocols are an important and interesting fea- ture of the negotiations, if not absolutely essential as a glossary of the treaty itself. The treaty itself is causing much talk and some grumbling among little people all round. In the British Parliament, as in Washington, and in every centre of British North America the talkers are numerous, and they talk loud, But all over the treaty—so far as it is known—finds favor, except among the small people. Earl Russell, best known as Lord John, objects to the treaty, and gives notice of his intention to move an address to the Queen, requesting her not to give it her sanction, From Lord John, who, though he is the son of one Duke of Bedford, the brother of another and the uncle of another, is really a small man, we did not expect any- thing better. It is good for Great Britain that his lordship is not now the Queen’s counsellor. Some men learn as they grow old, and, as a consequence, remain young in spirit. Earl Russell is not of that class. He forgets nothing. He learns nothing, He knows he sinned during our war; but he cannot see the error of his ways, and, of course, he cannot confess, Wecan pardon Mr, Disraeli for his apparent dislike to'the treaty, because we can- not forget that he is the chief of the tory gentry of England and the leader of her Ma- jesty’s opposition. In spite, however, of all snarling in the British Parliament, Mr. Glad- stone, who represents the sentiments of the Queen and the people, will find it an easy task to make this Washington Treaty law. Mr. Gladstone is the greatest Minister whom Great Britain has known in many generations, and he knows that, as the people stood by him when he sought, by his great measures, to re- concile the Irish people to the British Crown, so will they stand by him now when he seeks to remove all cause of disaffection and distrust from between the two great nations and Peoples who speak the same language, inherit the same traditions, yield obedience to the same laws, and who, in spite of themselves, stand to each other in the relation of brothers, It will be the same in this- country. General Grant will have no difficulty in making the treaty law. He, too, can call upon his people with confidence in a matter of so much mo- ment. Great Britain and the United States being of one mind, the small snarlers will find it convenient to shut up. In the premises the Blue Noses and the. Dominionites are of small account, The two most advanced nations of modern times say, ‘‘Let us have peace ;” and peace they are to have, General Grant asd the New York Re- publicans—Is There No Hopet The republican party of this city and State, from the never-ending but still beginning squabbles among its ‘discordant leaders, cliques and factions, is In a very bad way. The two. great bones of contention among them are the Custom House and Tammany Hall, with tho fat pickings thereof. From the dissolution in 1860 of the political firm of Seward, Weed and Greeley, these disturbing factions have continued their silly intrigues and plots and counterplots against each other until the party, after holding the State for fifteen years and more against all hostile com- binations, has now become in this city and in Albany a mere plaything in the hands ofthe Tammany sachems, General Grant has under- taken the difficult task of restoring harmony and what Kossuth would call ‘‘solidarity” to the New York republicans in a pretty positive way ; but, so far, instead of harmony we have only ‘‘confusion worse confounded.” General Grant’s system of peace-making among these squabbling factions, in a mili- tary view, is very good, His object is to unite the New York republicans in support of his administration, He finds that he has to deal with two factions which will not agree, and he therefore concludes that one of them must be put down, He finds the faction represented at Washington by Senator Conkling loyal and tractable, and he adopts it; he finds the fac- tion represented by Senator Fenton domineer- ing, dictatorial, grasping and rebellious, and he rejects it. He finds that Fenton has no faith in him, and he resolves to put no faith In Fenton; and so Mr. Fenton is weeded out of the Custom House. But here, while it is manifest that this line of action has not recon- ciled Mr. Fenton to General Great, we see that it has alienated Mr, Gresley the chief aoribe of the Fenton’ faction. And again, General Grant undertakes, through Collector Murphy, to detach the republican party of this city from its demoralizing blandishments of Tammany Hall by weeding out the Tammany republicans from the Custom House and by bringing the State Central Committes to bear upon the Tammany strikers in the republican clubs of the city; when we find that, while Tammany provides for the lucky fellows dis- charged from the Custom House, Mr. Greeley and his city committee stand by their Tam- many brethren and defy the Republican State Central Committee, and denounce it as too officiously intermeddling in other people's affairs, Nay, more: the backers of Fenton and Company are silly enough to undertake the removal of Collector Murphy on a Know Nothing dodge, and it is only then that they discover that Murphy is too much for them. The disgusted Zrombone is with Fenton and against Grant. It says, speaking of a certain republican newspaper manifesto, that “the force of the document would be greater did not its writer so strongly insist that the republicans ought to re-elect Senator Conk- ling and renominate General Grant,” Here is a shot both at Conkling gad Grant, Again, a Western paper, the Cinclanat! Commercial, haying published the opinion that "she swat: papers and politicians are opposed to Grant, but the people are with him,” the Trombone says, “If the Colonel bad reversed his pro- position it would bave been at least as ac- Curate”—that is, he would have been as near the mark had he gaid, ‘‘the newspapers and Politicians are with Grant, but the people are opposed to bim.” With euch things in the green tree in New York, what shall we have in the dry? Mr. Fenton, perhaps, running a little one horse independent ticket against General Grant for the Presidency, and the Trombone lustily blowing for Fenton. The Interoceanic Canal. The detailed account which we published 92 Monday of the latest operations of the sur- veying and exploring expedition under Gom- mander Selfridge—operations which the rainy f#eason may by this time have closed—is deeply interesting. Commander Selfridge seems to be confident that the question of the easibility of the Napipi route, from Cupica Bay to the Atrato, has at length been satisfac- orily solved. The distance from the Pacific to the junction of the Napipiand Atrato rivers is less than thirty miles, and that from the Atrato to the Atlantio is about one hundred and twenty miles. The canal, if constructed, would thus be one hundred and fifty miles from ocean to ocean. In the opinion of Com- mander Selfridge no insurmountable obstacles would stand in the way of competent engi- neers, and the estimated cost of constructing the canal does not reach one hundred million dollars, Even the difficulty of procuring ade- quate labor on or near the isthmus might be obviated by importing it froma distance, as was done in building the Panama Railroad. The letter of our special correspondent is dated May8, and, although the brilliant expec- tations awakened by the news from the moun- tains more than a month ago, as to the height of the ‘‘divide” on the Tuyra and Atrato route, had not then been realized, but, on the con- trary, appeared likely to be contradicted, yet the question of its feasibility had not been finally determined, inasmuch as the exploring party from the Pacific side had not yet returned to the ship. Energetic prosecution of the surveys in the immediate vicinity of the “divide,” which was announced by Commander Selfridge, after a hasty reconnoissance, to be only three hundred feet high, had not, how- ever, resulted in discovering the great depres- sion said to exist in that direction. But we are still reluctant to abandon the idea of De Gorgoza, which is favored by so maoy old Spanish maps, that on or near this route there exists a passage incontestably superior to that offered merely hy any greater or less depression of either Cordillera, as at Caledonia and Tarena, on the north, and at Napipi, on the south. The two Cordilleras, according to De Gorgoza, are quite distinct ; they cross in almost parallel lines, and eave between them the profound valley of the Tuyra and the swamps of Cacarica, which at an anterior epoch were once an arm of the sea, making the two oceans communicate freely and forming—as it is hoped an interoceanic canal will ulti- mately form—the natural separation of the two Americas. From the fact alone of the cross- ing, in inverse sense, of these two mountain chains, is logically deduced the existence of a feasible passage over what was once a com- plete. separation between the two American continents. A subsequent gradual elevation which geologists demonstrate to have taken place in the Andes after the discovery of America, and, moreover, as will be easily understood by all who have been eye-witnesses of the miraculous rapidity with which, under the tropics and after an inundation, some one or another branch of a vast river {s obstructed and disappears, the accumulation of sandy, muddy deposits and shifting soil, added to the allunvions of the great river Atrato and of all the affluents of the actual Tuyra, incessantly driven back by the high tides of the Pacifico, have obstructed this little arm of the sea in its upper part; and, with the aid of the powerful vegetation of a burning climate, have formed this insignificant barrier between the river Paya and the river Cacarica—that is to say, between the Atlantic and the Pacific, So hopeful are certain European and Ameri- can capitalists that the praiseworthy energy and perseverance of Commander Selfridge and his companions may yet result in demon- strating by actual survey a feasible route for an interoceanic canal on or near the Tuyra and Atrato route that ata meeting recently held in New York their representatives agreed to consolidate their respective interests, and so soon as their hopes shall be justified by the official reports of the expedition to act in concert to promote an enterprise which, if successful, must prove one of the glories of the nineteenth century. Meanwhile it is not sur- prising that the discouraging nature of the reports thus far received as to other routes should have revived a disposition on the part of the Panama Railroad Company to interest the public in a canal route by way of the Chagres river as the shortest and most feasible route across the isthmus. : Tie Foster Qask:—The gomedy of em- panelling a jury in the Foster case con- tinued yesterday, and seems likely to con- tinue indefinitely from day to day, like a Chinese tragedy. Thro fore jurors idiotic enough to havé ifé¥ér heard of or never formed any opinion upon the case, 6 bifted out of the hundred examined yesterday. This makes seven in all and five are yet to be chosen, Assistant District Attorney Fellows made a very important and proper point yes- terday, in reference to the opinions which seemed to have been formed by nearly every juror called. He said the law did not design that mere vague and fleeting impressions pro- duced by the passing reading of a newspaper should be considered opinions creating a bias or debarring a man from serving on the jury. Judge Cardozo shows 4 disposition to inter- pret the law in accordance with the common sense view of it, and yesterday closely cross- examined some of the jurors on the subject of opinions, the Judge evidently having an idea that they were not in all cases certain of the difference between opinions and impres- alons. Our SproiaL Despaton ¥RoM MExIOO indicates that Juarez is moving troops about the country in avery suspicious manner. The Presidential election takes place next month, and the wily Indian President is evidently stationing his troops with a view to furthering bjs own intoreats in the coming atrugaley A Gathering ef the Uians. We give in another column a liat of the State conventions already called to be held by the parties in the States named. It will be seen that two occur to-day (May 17)—viz., those of the republicans in Pennsylvania and Ken- tucky. The Pennsylvania Democratic Conven- tion will be held May 24. These are all, we believe, announced for the month of May. During+the month of June democratic and re- publican conventions will be held in Ohio, California and Iowa, and the Maryland Demo- cratic Convention is called for July 19. It will thus be seen that the different parties are marshalling their forces preparatory to the important campaign next fall, which will ia- augurate the grand Presidential sweepstakes the following year. The conventions in Odio, Towa, Kentucky, California and Maryland nominate candidates for Governor. The most interest prevails in Obio, where the contest between the democratic and republican candi- dates is expected to be close, although the re- publicans carried the State last year for Secre- tary of State bya majority something near fourteen thousand, out of a poll of about four bundred and thirty thousand. In Iowa the republicans have full swing, having had last year a mjority of over forty-two thousand for Secretary of State out of a poll of over one hundred and sixty-four thousand. Ken- tucky will no doubt give her usual plung- ing majority of from fifty to sixty thousand for the democrats. California is* expected to go democratic, while Maryland is sure to, by a heavy majority. The gathering of these political clans the coming summer, with those that will follow thom, will be regarded with particular interest, for they will foreshadow the momentous events to come. Personal Intelligence. General N. P. Banks 1s residing at the St Nicholas. = Canal Commissioner W. Wright 1s stopping at the Hoffman House. United States Scnator L. P. Poland, of Vermont, 13 a guest at the Astor Ifouse, General A. E. Bucnside is a sojourner at the ritth Avenue. i Messrs, M. Samuel and FE. Frenerry, the Austra- lan offictals, have returned from their Southern tour to the St. George. Charles Feoliter, the tragedian, is at the Albemarie Hotel. Galusha “A. Grow, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, is domiciled at the St. Nicholas, Samuel Bowles, of the Springfleld (Mass,) Repubtt- can, 1s at the Sturtevant House, Joseph Price, Superintendent, ana W. K. Murr, Secretary of the Canada Grand Trunk Railway, have apartments at the Brevoort House, Gx-Governor Andrew H. Bullock, of Massachusetts, 1s stopping at the Fifth Avenue, Congressman Ellis H. Roberts, editor of one of the Utica papers, has arrived at the Grand Central, to a tend the Editorial Convention to be held to-day. General Wickham, of Virginia, ts a sojourner at the Fifth Avenue. James Tillinghast, Superintendent of the New York Central Railroad, ts abiding at tne St, Nicholas, J. Wesley Smith, of the Albany Argus, is staying at the Sturtevant [ouse. Judge Asa Packer, of Pennsylvania, is a guest at’ the Astor House. William S. King, of Minnesota, postmaster of the House of Representatives, ts domiciled at the Fifth Avenue. John M. franeis, editor of the Troy 7Tme3 and lately appointed Minister to Greece, is at the Grand Central, to attend the Editorial Convention. General H. A. Barnum, member of Congress from Connecticut, is domiciled at the Hoffman House. General 8. FE. Marvin, of Albany, is a guest at the Brevoort House. Colonel E. M. Baker, of the United States Army, is quartered at the Hoffman House, Francis Kernan, of Utica, Is staying at the Pith Avenue, F AMUSEMENTS, OLYMPIO—"JACK SHEPPARD.”—The hero of Ain% worth’s exciting novel, the idol of the underground nopility of London, the apostie and patron of all thieves, made his first bow at this popular theatre on Monday evening, and was received with all the honors and a rousing welcome by the gods. Without entering into details regarding the per- formance, as it will require a few more repre- sentations to make it entirely effective, we can only say that the plece was received with favor and can be put down as a popular success. Tue “gots” were eereecing e008) better than what has ever been given to the play before, and some of the effects brought down the house. As @ purely sational drama, which, after all, is demanded very large pro} pard,” wien it son- bya tion of the public, “Jack ng in smooth running order, may considered as a led hit. Thé cast was as fol- lows:—Jack Sheppard, Miss Ada Harland; Thames Darrell, Mr. J. K. ‘ortimer; Mr. Owea Wood, Mr. G. L, Fox: Sir Rowland Trencnard, Mr. F Murdaunt; Jonathan Wild, Mr. J, B. Stadizy; Joseph Blueskin, Mr. H. Pearson; Mr. Kneeuuns ‘. ‘Teesdale, Abraham Mendez, a G. Beane; Quilt Acuold, Mr. H, 1, Pratt; Siimkta (with song), Littie Jeannie Yea- mane; Constance Sheppard, Alivia Trenchard (sis- ters), Mra, J. J. Prior; Mra. Owen Wood, Mra. Annie Yeamans; Winnifred Wood, Miss Georgie Langley; Edgeworth Bess, Miss Fannie Beane; Poli Maggot, Miss Flora Lee. $ CENTRAL PARK GARDEN SECOND ConozRT.—Despite the threatening condition of the weather last even- ing and the chilly breeze that succeeded the heat of the day the second concert of Theodore Thomas at this beautiful summer garden was largely attended, The programme consisted of the following choice works:—‘March of ‘Victory,”’ Reinecke; overture, “Jubilee,” Weber; waltz, “On the Beautiful Rhine,” Keler Béla; fantasle, ‘Ernant,” Verdi; overture, “Tannhauser,” Wagner; scherzo, “Op. 19,” Gold- mark;’ waltz, ‘Life Let Us Cherish,” Strauss; ein- leitung, “Loreley,”” Max Bruch; overture, “Zampa,” Herold; fgntasie, ‘Visions in a Dream,” with I fer Zither, Lumbyo;, polka, “Tm Krapfen- Pity ” Str pes, meron, ‘Coronation,’ Fahrbach; ‘The ofchést#d, ah might've ex tom a pody of first class musicians playing gether for ni tl any years, under a leader of ac! ut zed abilit: aud great "experience, has atained 6H it Ki excellence little short of abgoly pertéotiol 4 Arh} @! end 41 we pl mi ir of “God Save the Queet’” jp Spore Lgyet pure, the entrancing dance musi of Straus Béla, Waguer’s massive lyiroduction to the + Tann- hauser,”” worth the rest of the opera put together, the chaplet of fro:n Verat’s opord, Goldmark’s striking); ony inal scherzo, Max Brae 4 arerenst gketch, Ine uous "LA fit gad even th dainry, popu “Visto Drea,” ail fee ceived an Hite! fof Bic) 8 Latta the Most exacting Tletiante. Thd 6 Bedi. ence was remarkable, for tt sec! as if no consid. eyations eyond those of art attracted Loe to the lcinity of the Park. 0 orchestra oy his after. noon at Steinway Hall at tie rare eit concert of Miss Anna Mehlig, the parwer of thew triumphs during the season In the provinves. Ole Ball will a ist in this farewell. Mr, Thomas hag inaugurated his summer concerts in a style that bears the impress of su and the Ventral Park Garden will undoubtedly be tue chief evening re- sort of she metropolis during the su:amer months, UNION LEAGUB THEATRE.—Miss Jean Burnside, 8 young lady of considerable talent, made ner dépit on Monday evening before a large and appreciative audience, The programme was ofa varied cha- tacter, including selections ranging from Shak- speare’ down to Bret Harte. Miss Burnsive pos- segses the advantages of a graceful presence, a very beaatifal and expressive face and a good voor. erformance, though acoompamed by the Srerage amount of embarrassment natural to such an occasion, was excellent throughout and worthy the applause it received, Aside from the mere execution, there was evidence of bright Intetligence, clear brig and ability undeveloped, ter than that displayed, Her frat effort—Lad beth—was Of @ Rufure the Icast suited to her, Violent omot! aud rovkiess sions are not the phases of ha Nature which Miss Burnside will render best. Ja tae pon ‘al of tier and more attractive Cuar.tor her Held lies, fier greatest success Was oh Tendering, in costume, of Opholia’s mad acene. Tule peri=mande would ly with any we cee kew York for Ovo..de Pa ume, Mine Burnside’s a6bi fi be ip rly Comaered one of ue mages apooeassil Of LA AeA OR, ¢ ——————