The New York Herald Newspaper, July 14, 1872, Page 5

STOKES. Close of Summing Up of Counsel for the Prosecution, The Charge of Judge Ingra- ham--The Jury Retires. THE LONG AGONY ALMOST OVER. Juror Number Ten Puts a Question to the Court as to the Time When Pre- meditation Can Be Formed. SPECULATION AS TO THE VERDICT. The Jury Are Instructed and Retire and Are Locked Up for the Night. Recess Taken Till Half-past Ten This Morning. TWENTIETH DAY OF THE TRIAL. ‘The Stokes trialisatanend. After twenty days @f an exhausting conflict between the counsel for t&e defence and the District Attorney and his assistants the jury have gone into dread council fm the room adjoining the court, and at this mo- ment of writing they are locked up and are dis- cussing with earnestness all the points submitted to them by Mr, Justice Ingraham in his charge. At the usual time the court was held yesterday morning and Judge Ingraham took his seat. The prisoner wore white duck trousers and a gray coat, with a black spotted necktie and a white shirt, witn white dots in the bosom. Mrs, Stokes, the mother of the prisoner, owing to the dreadful strain that she has had to undergo, was not present; but Mrs, ~Sutton, his sister, was in court, and wept freely in the room adjoining the court as Deputy Sheriff Shields escorted Stokes into the presence of the Judge and jury. All the male relatives of the family who were in court the day previous were also present yesterday to give countenance to their unfortonate kinsman. Mr. Stokes, Sr., the father ef the prisoner, an old man in years and appear- nce, who seems heart-broken, was close to the aide of his son. The court room was full of ladies, who testified their interest in the proceedings by standing up/ every now and then to gaze on the prisoner. The most feverish excitement prevailed all day among the spectators. Ifthe prisoner only looked around he was the magnet of attraction to every one. He seemed excited yesterday more than usual, and listened to everything that was said with an atten- tion that was provoked by his situation. District Attorney Garvin resumed his summing up as soon as order had been restored, and he con- tinued speaking until the Court took a recess at fifteen minutes past twelve o'clock. In his sum- ming up the District Attorney quoted from the Book of Proverbs, and dwelt on the resemblance in character of Fisk to Abraham Lincoln. A recess was taken, and at one o'clock the Court was calledagain. Mr. Tremain quoted the Schriver cage, which, he contended, was pertinent to this case. Ata few minutes past one o'clock Judge Ingraham began to deliver his charge to the jury. There was a great and impressive stillness in the room while the Judge spoke from his notes made during the proceedings of the trial. No persons were allowed to pass in or out. The charge of the Judge ‘Was one hour and fifteen minutes in duration. Judge Ingraham stated that it rested with the Jury to declare for themselves to decide whether the prisoner had been lying in wait for the deceased to kill him, and if not the act of his killing was a justifiable one. He spoke of the credibility of the witnesses for the prosecution, and he charged the fary that they should take into account the charac- ter of these witnesses and ascertain if their veracity ‘was sufficient to warrant a conviction of premedita- tion in the premises. He ventured the opinion that Henry, the parlor man, was mistaken about the pistol or pistols, and told the jury to be careful in examining the testimony of the physicians who had been sworn, and they were to judge for them- selves whether the bullet or the doctors had killed Fisk. His Honor then went into the law of the case and said:—“You must be satisfied that the prisoner, before firing, intended to take the life of the defendant before you find a verdict of murder, and on this point you must look into the statement of the prisoner himself. He said he did intend to kill.” Mr, Tremain here corrected the Judge, and sald the prisoner had testified that he did not intend to kil. His Honor told the jury to consider that the fact as stated by counsel was true, and passed on to tho other degrees of murder and manslaughter. The first and second degrees of manslaughter he would, as asked by counsel, charge could not be found on the facts of the case. Manslaughter in the third degree was killing in the heat of passion, without intent to cause death. “If,” said the Judge, “you believe that, when the prisoner fired and inflicted the wound, he feared great bodily harm ana danger to his life, and that there was danger of its being accomplished, he ‘was justified in his act,” and they were to find accordingly. Mr. Tremain rose and asked the Judge to charge on & number of points that were vital to the pris- oner’s life, and on several points the Judge admitted the force of the points made by Mr. Tremain, and added his instructions to the jury based on the re- marks of the learned counsel. Mr. Tremain seemed to have made a favorable impression on the jury as they went out, and the general im- pression was as they left the Court under the escort of the officers that Stokes would be acquit- ted, or else that under no possibility could a verdict of murder be brought in. At half-past two o'clock the jury were marshalled through the crowded room, the people—men and women—rising to scan each juryman as he marched by with the most feverish curiosity. The ladies in Court seemed almost crazy with excite- ment, and during the jury's absence several wordy and unwomanly contests occurred among them in relation to the merits of the case. This Stokes and Fisk matter seems to have set the blood of thou- sands of people on fire, The jury remained out wtil ten minutes before five o'clock, when they ¢ame into Court again and asked for instruction from the Judge. Mr. Lefferts, of the jury, and Mr, Tucker desired to be informed in regard premeditation, and as to what was tte shortest time that the law allowed for premeditation in killing. The Judge replied rather indefinitely to this question which Wa just asked by Mr. Tucker that it might take yetrs, months, weeks, days, or minutes, and Mr. Tutker asked if asecond was enough, The Judge said anytime before the act, and the jury retired, Mr. ‘Tucker and several of the jurors seemingly dissatis- fiedwith the extent of the information received by then. Tle jury remained out until fifteen minutes past seven o'clock, when Mr. Justice Ingraham sent a message to the jury by Mr. Valentine, desiring to knw if they had any communication to make to him in regard to a verdict. Mr. Valentine ‘wai replied to by Mr. Homberger, the forman, who told him that they had mot agreed on any verdict, and that there ‘was no prospect of an immediate verdict at that time When the message was brought back to Judge Ingraham he adjourned the Court until haif- past ten o'clock this morning, when he will be stood, but could get no positive information as to their decision. He had a supper, which he partook freely of, at fifteen minutes past six o’clock, and at that time his friends were all with him and he had recovered his spirits. And now the jury are holding the scales and weighing the evidence carefully. It was rumored last evening that the jury stood, at nine o'clock, five for conviction of murder in the first de- gree, five for absolute acquittal, and two for manslaughter in the third degree. It will be a most singular thing if the jury shotid bring in a verdict on Sunday, as it will have to be handed sealed to the Judge, who will reserve its reading in open Court until Monday morning, Sunday being in law a ates non. Stokes was taken back to the Tombs at seven o'clock last evening, and it is needless to say that the city is now in a blaze of excitement to learn the verdict of these twelve men in this most memorable of trials. YESTERDAY'S PROCEEDINGS. Continuation of the Summing Up by the Prosecution—The Charge of the Judge. Yesterday was the twentieth, and, unleas the jury should be unusually long out, evidently the last day of this, in many respects, extraordinary trial. Mr. Tremain, one of the counsel for the de- fence, ina speech of great length, developed fully the claims of the defence, which were in substance that the prisoner’s mind had been somewhat un- hinged by the persistent attacks and pursuit of Mr, Fisk; that the meeting of Fisk and Stokes was en- tirely unpremeditated; that the shote were fired under the impression, at least, that Fisk was on the point of shooting; that at worst there was nointent to kill, and the death on the day it occurred was the result of Drs. Tripler and Fisher's ignorant adminis" tration of excessive amounts of morphia. EXPLANATION OF COUNSEL. When Judge Ingraham took his seat on the bench Mr, Tremaim rose and said that Dr. Sayre had visited him and explained that he (Dr. Sayre) had not attended the caucus of doctors and had not expressed approval of the course ot treatment, but had, at eleven o'clock, ordered it to be discon tinued. He believed that was the evidence, and he desired to do no wrong to Dr. Sayre. DISTRICT ATTORNEY GARVIN’S ADDRESS TO THE JURY. District Attorney Garvin, resuming his summary of the previous day, proceeded to address the jury. He was listened to with the: deepest attention by all in that crowded court room, and his denuncia- tions, his admission of points in the defence and his able presentation of the strong points in the prosecution, went home to the hearts of all, most of whom, from daily attendance, were as familiar with all the strong and weak points of the case as he could possibly be. District Attorney Garvin, in opening, again called the attention of the jury to the responsibility un- der which they there acted—they represented the whole people of the city and State of New York— tothe impossibility of arriving, with our present means, at absolute truth, and the necessity of re- lying on the evidence. On that the jury must de- cide. The wisdom of humanity had decreed that when one wilfully kills another his own blood should pay for it. If aman intended to kill that was the premeditation meant by law. They must judge by the acts done what the intent was. Take the case of Parks or of Rogers, The murderers in these cases did not know their victims. The murderer of Mr. Parks jostied against him, passed on and turned back and plunged the knife in him. No quarrel, no juaintance; yet the law held it murder. 80 when Mr. Rogers was killed on the street without provocation by a stranger with a sheath knife. There ‘was the premeditation the law requires. There was clearly murder. So with Reynolds, who stabbed aman simply because he would not let him stay in the house. Did they not consider the killing of old Mr. Nathan murder? Whena man died by the hand of another, without provocation and without cause, that was murder. If there were any excuse, any justification, it was for the prisoner to show it, The prisoner has WASHED HIS HANDS IN THE BLOOD OF HIS FELLOW AN. What did it matter what the character of the man killed was? He remembered when, under the intense excitement of the time, a hundred thousand men desired the death of Abraham Lincoln. It would not do to excuse a killing for mere excitement. He had heard many men say terrible things of President Lincoin in his lifetime. He never dreamed that any one would be so base as to take his life. That showed the necessity of the main- tenance of law. It was for the prisoner to show any justification, What was it? INSANITY ! He should say nothingon that. Second—He said he meant to shoot him; he did shoot him and Fisk died, but had it not been for the malpractice of his doctors he would have lived. ores the case of a feeble man shot and laying out in the storm and rain and unable to get home, dropping his life blood from hour to hour and discovered in the morning too late to save him, would the murderer be eae to say, “Had he been found and tre; skilfally at once he would not have died ?”” Here was a stronger case, @ man shot so that not one in ten would have recovered with the most skilful surgery. Yet because A PARTICULAR SYSTEM was not adopted they claimed the author of the crime should not be punished for it. Dr. Garvin then quoted a case in which the deceased died rather from cold resulting from e: jure, the re- sult of the wounding, rather than from the wound itself, and yet it was held murder. Life was so precious that it must not be shortened a moment. Mr. Tremain here stated that he had not been fur- nished with these authorities, and he thougnt he should be allowed an | rtunity to eng to them. Mr. Garvin resumed—He had given the jury the law. The application was simple. He hun’ a man down, What was the excuse? Why did he do ity Why did he put him in such & position that no skill could cure him? What was the proof of death from any other cause but the wound inflicted by the prisoner? ‘There was no morphia given after eleven o'clock. Was there any dispute that from two to two and a half grains of morphia were all that were given ? Was there any dispute that in cases of this kind not one in ten recovered? Seventy-four per cent of wounds in the abdomen were fatal; but this was // more than that—a wound in the small and great intestines and in the great sympathetic nerve. He recalled to them the use of pruasic acic, of arsenic, of brandy in excess under certain conditions. So When they found the patient in the condition of Mr. Fisk what were they todo? There was a TALK ABOUT PROBING, but all ‘eed it was safe to probe as far as the vis- cera. Didn’t Dr. Hammond say the approved remed: Was opium? Dr. Buck, a sort of apostle in medi- cine, said it was the approved remedy. He read from authorities to the same effect, and claimed that the treatment was perfectly proper and justi- flable. If there were iced on the face of the earth who gave any wel re to this he bid him a long farewell. There was neither sense nor reason in it. As to the other defence, that Mr. Fisk HAD A PISTOL IN HIS HAND. If it were not true then his defence was gone. The only testimony to that effect was by the prisoner, confirmed in but slight degree BF @ harlot con- nected with these two men, one of whom she had brought to death, the other to this peril. This whited sepulchre, full of rottenness and dead men's bones, what should be said of her?’ Counsel for the defence had quoted Knox on the gambler. A greater than Knox had said, “Deliver pe from the strange woman; HER FEET GO DOWN TO DEATH, her steps take hold on hell.” On the testimony of that woman the defence based their case, ‘and on that of her sister of the same kind. If there was anything corrupt, any- thing to breathe corruption, disease and death, it was the life of such @ woman. What threats were proved but by this woman and her sister? ho showed that Fisk carried a pistol but this polluted woman? On his bount; she lived, and when tired of him took up with arene and now came on the stand to testify in his favor. COUNSEL APPEALED TO THE JURY. He calicd on them as religious men, as honest men, to strike from their consideration the whole of her testimony; to belleve none of it. Who proved that men followed this man? No one proves that Fisk sent them. He called on counsel to say wlio proved that Fisk sent them. THE INSANITY DODGE and the self-defence theory failed, They were to Judge on the evidence; give no more weight to the evidence of the prisoner than to any other witness. Rak it by the evidence of others, They must not evade their duty any more than the soldiers who marched through Baltimore, They must walk the thorny path of duty throughout and exclaim, “Duty before all! though, like the soldiers of the Union, death was in their path, Did the deceased VE A Hr de as the prisoner swears he did? ley had called all the people up stairs, and they didn’t see the pistol. They had called all around the dying man, and the: didn’t say, The prisoner says nothing. He sali nothing until he met his counsel at seven o'clock. Why did he say nothing before? Wasn’t the first honest impulse to say, “THBRE'S FISK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS; I shot him because he was prying to shoot me; go down and secure his pistol !”” He could have sald before its with the crime; but there was Sehr eet vera counterc! no we no Ww morse—all before a lawyer. Ir It was a device of the prisoner to save his life. Here was evidence that could That could not be picked up by Dr Shine along the street. (Counsel here held up Colonel Fisk’s cloak.) You will find a number of holes in this coat, and examining tnese with the coat you will see he could not have used his hands as the prisoner sa) he did. it been hanging down, as the prigoner’s theory requires, there would have been at most two holes. 1t was wrapped around him. 80 THE HOLES IN THE COAT show it must have been buttoned up, There could have been no pistol in his hand; he had no oppor- tunity to take one out, He had no pistol in his hand. The circumstances around show it. A small ball is picked up, but no pistol. Only one pistol ig found, and that the pistol on the sofa, He did not care how it came there; it was Stokes’ pistol. Mr. Fisk was caught unarmed in a trap, walled in on each side, with no escape but to the street, to which he had no time to go He cried out, “Is there no one to help me?’ Did that mean that he had any pistol there? Moore, their own witness, sees no pistol. Curtis saw no pistol. No one else saw & pistol. What do they say Hart and Redmond? All they could say was that they told lies, Had they not noticed that their testimony was confirmed by the prisoner, confirmed by other witnesses? What was there to discredit them? This boy Brennan, from the House of Refuge. They tell the same story here and there and at the station house. Who had any interest that a in corrupting these boys? To what use was it? The argument was substantial. Little discrepancies arose from the length of time, from different points of view. In their main state- ment these boya were to be belleved. They were confirmed in them by the prisoner nimself, and for oe he Li sey theoag . Setting le again pressed on them their respor i the criticism which their action would evoke. He trusted New York juries, He cared nothing for the Erie Eig, or the Tammany pnd, or other great or the Greeley Ring. He did care for bts ice and truth, If Shay bed, good reason to dis- lieve any testimony let them strike it out. There was evidence enough beside. If there was a killing without provocation it was murder, All the evi- dence showed that his whole purposes of that after- were towards the Grand Central ‘they released this man blood would continue to flow in our streets, and he called on them to do their duty Hig and truly, so that in the reat ent day they might know they had lone their duty, let consequences take the course they would. By the law he was to be judged, by the law he was to be punished, They were simply to render their verdict according to the evidence. The k & recess before charging, Justice Ingraham, in opening his remarks, charged justice Ingraham, in ope! remarks, chai the jury that the duty of a judge was not always | mene In civil matters he often to decide tween man and man when one suitor thought himself harshly treated. But still more dificult was it to decide where the higher questions of lib- erty and life were concerned, Still more when the defendant was one who, before the commission of this act, had every bright Prospect in life, But not his own only, but the jury’s duty was in this case unpleasant: He felt it his duty to chai them specially, to lay ing from the evidence ; aside all impressions not ai to banish from their minds SYMPATHY, BIAS AND FEELING. ‘They had nothing to do with prejudice or mercy— simply with duty. Murder was the intentional killing of a human belng without provocation or excuse. There were two separate theories of the prosecution, and an entirely different one on the part of the defence. ie «first theory of the prosecution was a _ ion: plan on the part of the prisoner, embracing the whole aiternoon, to kill Mr. Fisk; the other theory was that, meeting the deceased there, he then formed the intention of killing the deceased. If they believed the testimony of Thomas Hart, then it would seem that there was an intent, whether formed before or after the entry to the house. The intent to take life, whenever formed, was the es- sential constituent to murder. He briefly recapitu- lated the evidence of Thomas Hart, the arrest of the prisoner, and the want of explanation and silence on the part of the prisoner. ‘THE INTENT, he repeated, might arise at any time before the shooting, and would be murder unless the killing were justified or excused, This evidence was met by evidence that there was some variation in the evidence here given and that before the Coroner's Jury, and that they had made statements contra- dictory of their present statements. It was for them to judge whether these boys were to be be- lieved, and in that they were to take into account the character and position of the boys. It was not, however, surprising that the boys should difer in some verbal matters from their previous state- ments, nor that they should differ among them- selves as to minor matters. They must remember the excitement of the occasion and the confusion, He need not go over the testimony, nor what had been said as to its credibility. THE OTHER THEORY Nie ‘iad prisoner's statement that he entered this ote! TO SEE A LADY, and endeavored to get a friend to go with him; that he found the lady was not the one that he believed she was; that he went on to the dining room, and, returning to the stairs, was down four or five steps when he saw Mr. Fisk drawing a pistol, and, be- lleving that his fife was in danger, he admits the firing, and that he fired twice; that he dropped the istol, and went directly round to the other stairs. is was contradicted everything but the shoot- ing by the prosecution. It seemed to him imma- terial whether the pistol found in the parlor was or was not the pistol with which the shooting was done. The one that was here was conceded to be the pris- oner’s pistol. In regard to the statements made outside, they furnished no proof of the facts, they were only admissible to impeach the truth of the witnesses, It did not prove elther that the boys did not know what they testified to, or that Dr. Tripler had done what he told Dr. Shine, He read to them the DEFINITION OF MURDER. He directed their attention to the question of whether this crime was perpetrated with the de- sign to effect death. This design might be formed at the moment of making the assault. This intent was to be derived from all the circumstances, the acts of the prisoner and the mode of the shooting. The law presumed that every person who fired a pistol or struck as’ bluw knew the effects of this act. The duty of the prisoner was, if possible, to have 4 _ AVOIDED A CONPLICT, to escape and go some other way if he could, The evidence shows that ten steps would have carried him out of sight. If he did not do that, but fired without any previous attempt to take life, then his crime was Diener ree in the third degree, The right to assail in defence of life does not rise till everything possible has been done to avoid the danger, The prisoner said he could not avoid it. It was for them to say whether that was the fact. ‘the deience was of a threefold nature. First, that the probing was injurious. He HARDLY KNEW WHAT TO SAY OF THAT. That the probe was imperfect appeared; but it did not appear that it was injuriously so, Ail the phy- sicians at the post-mortem agreed that the probing ad done no harm, since there was no infamma- tion of bl aethge spats at that part. He felt he was justine in dismissing that part of the de- fence. He understood that, according to the evidence, thirty drops of Magendie's solution were introduced beneath the skin and forty-six drops or its equivalent by the mouth. Whether this was too much it was not for him to say. All the physicians who attended him agreed that that was not the cause of his death. None of the physi- clans thought that tne chances were in favor of re- covery. If they believed the wound was mortal and he wouid have died of it, then the prisoner was re- sponsible, though the death may have been accele- rated by the treatment. THE KILLING OF A HUMAN BEING | is justitiable where there is an attack upon the life ol ie person committing it and where there is r mable ground to believe that great bodily harm is threatened and there is imminent danger ofits being perpetrated. Mr. Justice Ingraham briefly resumed the effect of the law on the different theories of the parties. He charged them that they had no right to find any verdict between murder in the first degree and manslaughter in the third degree; that they might find either of those, or manslaughter in the fourth degree, or acquit. He reminded them of their oath to render a true ver- dict upon the evidence. They must give the pris- oner the benefit of every doubt of all evidence in his favor, but if after all that they still came to the con- clusion that the killing was without excuse they must do their duty without favor or fear. Tne Court ceased charging at a quarter past two, and cha upon the request of Mr. Tremain, that if they hi ® reasonable doubt as to whether the homicide were not justified they must acquit, Mr. main asked several CORRECTIONS AS TO THE EVIDENCE, some of which were made. He asked that Moore's evidence that Fisk said, ‘He was too quick for me,’’ should be considered by the jurv as part of the res and as original aflirmative evidence, The fudge 80 considered. . He excepted to the Judge's remarks on his duty and power of escaping. He excepted to the Judge's charge that if the wound were mortal, even though his death were accelerated by the practice of the physicians, he Was responsible. He asked the Court to charge that the omission of the prisoner to speak out was not acircum- stance to be taken into consideration as a proof of uilt. The jary retired at half-past two o'clock. The Scene in Court. When the last*word fell from the lips of the learned Judge a feeling of relief was manifested throughout the courtroom. The jury quitted their seats in Indian file. Meanwhile Stokes seemed somewhat agitated. It was the first time he had exhibited any symptoms of that kind, and the eyes of all the spectators were directed towards him. After five minutes’ absence an inquiry came from the ,ary room as to the time the Judge would wait, and Judge Ingraham answered he would remain as long a8 necessary, Not @ soul stirred, and all | case. 14, 1872— awaited the determination of the great question as the climax to one of the greatest trials on record. RETURN OP THB JURY. At five minutes to five the jury returned, and having taken their seats, His Honor said :— GENTLEMEN OF THE JuRY—I believe you wish for some further information ? The Foreman—We would like to have the CLOTHES OF THE DECEASED with us, Your Honor, . The Court—You can only have them by the con- sent of counsel on both sides, The District Attorney—I have no objection, Your Honor, Mr. McKeon (for the defence)—We do not know whether they are in the same condition they were on the 6th January, But we consent also, ANOTHER DIFFICULTY—A JUROR SPEAKS, Mr. Lefferts, one of the jurors, said there seemed to be some misapprehension as regarded the INTENTION OF KILLING. ‘What time was necessary to constitute premedita- tion in this matter? The jury had talked it over and failed to agree-on that point, and now asked some further light from the Court. The Court—I stated to the jury that the premedi- tation required to be formed by the statute, in order to constitute the crime, may be made at any time before striking the blow, or shooting or firing the piel, or doing the injury, The determination to kill may be formed at any time prior to the act of killing, whether months or weeks or hours OR MINUTES, It is the same as long as itis done previous to striking the blow or doing the act complained of. A juror—But what is the SHORTEST TIME possible, Your Honor? A second ? The Court—Any time before the act. Mr. McKeon—There must be sufficient time to form the premeditation before the act is done. The Court—Any time before the act sufficient to allow ara mreneditation being formed. Mr. McKeon— WE BXCEPT to so much of Your Honor's charge as covers that. Tne jury then again retired from the court. THE JURY CALLED INTO COURT. At ten minutes past seven Judge Ingraham again teok his seat on the bench, and said that he pur- poses sending to the jury and asking whether they ad anything to communicate, and that if they had not by this time determined upon a verdict he would take a recess. Mr, Tremain—Until when, Your Honor? The Court—Until morning, sir. The jury sent out word that they were UNABLE TO AGREE, and the Court announced a recess until half-past ten this morning. THE JERSEY CONVICTED COMMISSIONERS, The Attorney General Declares Their Offices Vacant. The opinion of Attorney General Gilchrist in ref- erence to the convicted Police Commissioners of Jersey City was forwarded to Governor Parker two weeks ago and was published yesterday. After citing the several cases in which a forfeiture of office is worked and the legal procedures applicable to these cases, he concludes his opinion by stating that Ezekiel M. Pritchard, Thomas Edmondson, Thomas A, Gross, Frederick A. Goetze and Isaiah Hutton forfelted their offices for the following reasons:— The record of the conviction shows fhe crime to have been committed during the term of the office, Is also shows that the crime was that of conspiracy tocheat the city, and actually cheating it. This is an intamous crime, and has always been held to work a forfeiture of office; and when prop- eHpennd by record to establish a vacancy. at it is an infamous crime is evident trom the fact that by the conviction of such a crime a person is disqualified from being a witness, and this dis- qualification is founded on the infamy of the person, The punishment also of the loss of the elective franchise demonstrates the infamy of the crime. But the crime is also against the duty of the office. To conspire to cheat and to actualiy cheat a third perk may not be contrary to the duty of their office; but to conspire to cheat and to actually cheat the city, whose Police Commissioners they are, 1s plainly against the duty of the office. The ofice of each of those appointed was un- doubtedly forfeited and vacated by the commission of the crime, and the forfeiture and continued va- cancy are duly established by the proper record evi- dence, except in the case of Hutton, whose office expired and became vacant, and was filled by the joint meeting before the proper evidence of the for- feiture and vacancy of his office existed. Of this, too, there is record evidence in the min- utes of the joint meeting. A JERSEY MYSTERY. Was It a Murdert—A Body Horribly Matilated. The body of an unknown man was found drowned in the State street Lock of the Delaware and Rari- tanCanal, Trenton, yesterday morning. The medi- cal evidence at the inquest will best describe the state of the body. Dr. R. R. Rogers, in his evidence before Justice Dignan and a jury, said:—I found the head, face and neck very much swollen; the neck was di located; there was a fracture of the clavicle, a fracture of most of the rivs on the left side and a fracture of the left thigh; it appeared to me as if the body had been subjected to a tremendous pres- sure; there wa: irk on his forehead as if he had laid on something in the water; I should sup- we the body had been in the water two or three lays. ‘he body was clothed im @ linen coat, checked woollen shirt, gray cotton pants, and deceased had on low shoes. Apparently he was a man about five feet eight inches in height, rather stoutly built, of fresh complexion, with sandy chin whiskers. There ‘Was not anything found on him to lead to indentifi- cation. Fifteen cents was the poor fellow’s finan- cial capital. The jury returned the following verdict:—“We agree in saying that the man unknown to us came to his death in an unknown manner, and that all the fractures and bruises have been done by pro- pellors or locks, to the best of our knowledge.”” The body was interred in the City Cemetery on Saturday. BURGLARS COMMITTED, The Fifth Ward Thieves at the Tombs. The two porters, William White and John Whit- man, who were arrested Wednesday night by Cap- tain Petty, of the Fifth precinct, while in the act of robbing the store of Wild & Co., 92 Thomas street, were taken before Alderman Coman at the Tombs Police Court yesterday morning and com- mitted for trial. These two parties have carried on @ systematic business of rob- bery for the past twelve months, during which time they have succeeded in spiriting awa; not less than $18,000 worth of property, and 60 well did they understand their business that they left not a trace behind them by which they could be de- tected. Their mode of operating was to secrete themselves in Wild & Co,’s store, and when all had left go up stairs to the top floor, open one of the windows, and get out on the coping which runs around the block on Thomas, Church and Worth streets. This coping is less than thirty inches wide. Traversing it to the window of any building in the block they chose torob, they would break @ pane of glass, reach in and undo the fas- iz, When the way would be perfectly clear. Tl: goods stolen were generally taken away t) ough Wild & Co.'s house, and disposed of as the iueves saw fit, "000k VILLANY, — A Gang of Burglars Gagg the Cashier of the Uxbridge Bank and Compel a Tel- ler to Open the Deposit Safes. Provipence, R. L., July 18, 1872, The residence of E. W. Hayward, cashier of the Blackstone National Bank, at Uxbridge, Mass., was entered this morning, between the hours of one and two o'clock, through a chamber window, by five disguised men, who, after binding and gagging Mr, Hayward and family, numbering four persons, entered the room of Charles Wessen, the teller of the bank, and compelled him to accompany them to the bank and unlock the safe. bing f obtained between $13,000 and $14,000, mostly in bills. The robbers then locked the safe and bank, took the teller back to his room, un; ed the whole family and gave them water to drink, Fegag, d them and went away. The condition of the family was dis- covered about daylight, but the robbers Nad left no clue to the nanner of their departure. A satchel containing fuses, powder and burglars’ implements was found near the bank this morning. AN ERROR EXPLAINED AWAY, To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:— In Saturday's issue of your paper there appears a report of an affray which took place in Greenwich street on Thursday night last. Your reporter states that the parties who quarrelled were named An- drew Murphy and Patrick Flanders, Such is not the Tam the person upon whom the assault was made by Andrew Murphy, and my patronymic—in- stead of being “Flanders”—is Fleming. But the principal error which I wish to have corrected is the statement that I am “a notorious rough,” and ac- customed to making “night hideous’ with fights and brawls of every description. This is @ ve gross injustice to me, and the allegation has paine’ me and my friends very keenly. The facts of ‘Thursd: oe ht's unfortunate émeute are briefly thes ie Murphy named above came into ny store at No. 4 Greenwicn street and demande drink, I told him he had taken sufficient and that I was not inclined to supply him with more. With- out farther provocation Murphy drew a dirk knife and stabbed me. Iremain, youi malt PATHICK FLEMING, No. 4 GREENWICH STREET, July 13, 1872, DYNASTY IN SPAIN. Manifesto of the Friends of Prince Alfonso—The Dac de Montpensier Urged for the Regen- cy—Senor Zorilla’s Letter to King Victor Emmanuel—The Dangers of a Con- ciliatory Policy—Position of the Republicans—Their Lead- ers Advise Caution, Mapnip, June 30, 1872, The supporters of the claims of Prince Aifonso to the Spanish throne have taken advantage of the recently published letter from the Duc de Mont- pensier to issue a manifesto on behalf of the Prince, Alter referring to the disturbed and divided state of the country, the document proceeds to say:— “It would be a useless and mischievous task to inquire what share each party has taken in the unprecedented events and the vicissitudes through which en has passed to reach the condition which it is now placed. There are some unmis- takable facts. By a succession of attempts and struggles, rivalries have been created which resist both the action of time and of passions, But no parties can destroy these facts, nor suppress those realities; they may, however, and omReE to modify the consequences which have followed from them. Among those facts, the gravest, that which has produced the most important consequences for soctal Sue postion order in our country, is the Re- volution of September, 1868. ‘That event has been {pcged in ditferent ways, and it will doubtless be so in history, but one point upon which all are unanim- ous is in believing that siuce the catastrophe—in which were swallowed up principles, institutions and laws—the system which has replaced the previously existing political organization does not offer satisfactory conditions for placing public hese upon a firm _ basi and leading the nation into paths of prosperity an es ie Friends of order, and respecting es- tablished authorities, whatever may be their ort- gin, and whatever may be our opinion of their legitimacy or value, we shall avail ourselves of none but legal means to. endeavor to overturn them. But, believing that their destruction ts in- evitable, if the course of events should again place Spain in a position to dispose of its destinies, it is our duty to provide that when that critical mo- ment shall come there shall exist such a collection of soctal forces and principles as may serve as a plank of safety for the permanent interests of the country when again threatened with shipwreck. ‘Vhese principles are the same that form the basis of coustitutional monarchy, and our strength should consist in the strict and sincere union ofall those who honestly accept them. Butin order that this po- litical form of government may be placed under the natural and necessary conditions, the royal insti- tution must represent the continuity of the life of the State, while political assemblies represent the aspirations and wants of which the nation is sen- sible at every hour of its exiatence. Under patn of press Spain cease to exist—supposing that it should again be called upon to consider its organt- zation—it will therefore be necessary not only to preserve the constitutional throue, but to insure that the throne be that of St. Ferdinand, of the Catholic kings, and of Charles UI., and that it be occupied by a descendant of these tlustrious and glorious kings, ‘The basis of our political organiza- tion, if itis to be solid and stable and adapted both to those elements of the past still cherished by the nation and to the mod- ern desires which are expressed, together with the germs of future modifications, can only be dynastic legitimacy represented to-day by Prince Alfonso, whose line of ancestry is that series of our ancient kings chosen by the legislation which establishes that portion of our political law. Andif the catastrophe which we foresee shou!d occur betore that prince has attained a suitable age for personally assuming the supreme authority, the Tegency of his august uncle the Duc de Montpensier would be a guarantee of good government and the deepest respect for constitutional doctrines. The peinciplet which we avow, aud which we will de- end by all the means which are authorized by the laws, are not and cannot be @ party standard, since they are recognized and accepted by all the parties which have existed or now exist in Spain. To this document are appended the signatures of 230 generals, Senators and grandees of Spain SENOR ZORRILLA TO KING VICTOR EMMANUEL, The Madrid papers publish the following letter, which they state was addressed a few weeks since by the present Minister, Seflor Zorrilla, to King Victor Emmanuel, upon the occasion of his resign- ing his seat as a member of the Cortes and retiring from public life :— Sme—The news of my resignation of a seat in the Chamber, and of the resolution which I have formed of retiring entirely, for the present, from public affairs, ought not to cause Your Majesty any sur- rise aiter the five letters in which I have had the jonor to ae vo you my opinions. I believed, and still believe, that the safety of your august son's throne and the consolidation of his dynasty depend exclusivel: upon the adoption of an essentially revolutionary policy, which would effectually crush the hopes of the conservatives and of the Carlists, and at the same time destroy the germ of a republi vernment. Instead of that, Your Majesty's august son is pursuing @ con- ciliatory policy, Which might succeed in Italy, but which in Spain only serves to impede the progress of liberty. It 18 conciliation which sustains the hopes-of the Alfonsistas, and which has led to the Carlist rising—a movement which is not to ba despised, as it is covered by the cloak of religion. In such serious circumstances, and atlas dl the downiall of your august son, whose heritage will fall into the hands of either the Carlists or the Alfonsistas, and find- ing that my loyal advice has not been listened to, I withdraw into private life that I may not become Hable to responsibility for such @ catastrophe, and to spare Pele the regret of having been con- cerned in bringing it about. I would desire to pre- vent it at the price of my blood, as my counsels have been of no avail, but at least I will pray to God in my retirement that He may enlighten the king who was the hope of the Revolution, so that He may spare the unfortunate nation the trials with which it is now menaced, I remain your Majesty’s humble servant, &c., MANUEL RUIZ ZORRILLA. Maprip, May 23, POSITION OF THE REPULICANE, The Spanish Republican Committee has put forth the following note :— REPUBLICANS AND FEDERALISTS—A false alarm has been spread among you. You have been told that, In consequence of the unexpected change which has occurred in the oficial region, we are disposed to modify our princip:es and to deviate from our former line of conduct. Such reports can only proceed from our enemies, We who durin, twenty years have remained firm in the midst o! political tarmoli will never be induced by momen- tary circumstances to sacrifice tither our most earnest convictions or the least significant of the ideas which constitute the dogma of our party. Turn @ deaf ear, therefore, to the Suggestions of our adversaries, and at the present critical period be reassured and calm, Those who would invite you to have recourse to violent means are Ue act mistaken as to our position, or else they desire voluntarily to compromise the cause of the republic. Be upon your guard, We are still the men of yesterday, the same men always. To-day as yesterday, and to-morrow as to-day, we shall labor unceasingly against hereditary powers, and we shall achieve the triumph of our principles, the only ones whic! can preserve us from chaos and from the anarc by which the strength of the country is bong, con- sumed. For that we have need of your ald and jur prudence, We have always had those advan- 8,and we rely upon them now with greater reason than ever. There fs no one who can fail to see the ro de gn triumph of the republic. Let us not conspire against ourselves, This document is signed by Sefiors Pi y Margal, Figueras, Castellar and others, ABMY INTELLIGENCE. WASHINGTON, July 13, 1872, The following changes iu the stations and duties of engineer officers of the army have been made:— Major N. Michler, formerly Commissioner of Pub- lic Buildings and Grounds, has been relieved from duty on the staff of Major General Schofield, com- Mmanding the military division of the Pacific, Captain G. J. Lydecker has been relieved from duty at the Military Academy and ordered to San Live nf to report on duty on the staff of General Schofield. Lieutenant ames Mercur has been relieved from duty at the Military Academy and ordered to Wil- lett’s Point Harbor. Lieutenant Joseph L, Willard has been relieved from duty at the Military Academy and ordered to New York city. Captain Blunt, Assistant Quartermaster, has been ordered to return to Fort Buford, Dakota Territory. Captain Ceorge H. Weeks, Assistant Quartermas- ter, been ordered to Buffaio, in place of Captain Howell, Assistant Quartermaster. Lientenant md artillery, has been ery, detailed for duty a8 or of Military Science and Tactics at the Minnesota State University. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE, The steamers Omaha and Richmond are being fitted for sea at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, the Hartford at New York and the Yantic at Norfolk; and all of them will be sent avroad in a few months. Lieutenant B. L. Edes has been detached from the Rhee son Naval Observatory and placed on rders. waiting ord Assistant Surgeon Bradley has been detached from the naval rendezvous at Boston and ordered to be ready for sea service. DR, SHERMAN PARDONED, ALBbany, N, Y., July 13, 1872, Dr. Sherman, convicted of causing the death of Henrietta Patten by abortion in Washington last Winter, and sentenced to the Penitentiary here, hag been pardoned by the President, , WASHINGTON. The Treasur7 Department Denies the Ilegal Registration of Foreign Vessels. TEE OUBAN FILIBUSTER PIONEER. The Attorney General Orders an Investigation. WASHINGTON, July 13, 1872, Official Contradiction of the Alleged Illegal Registration of Foreign Ves- sels. The Treasury Department publishes the follow- ing:— A statement has been cirenlated in the public prints that a series of daring and successful frauds upon the general government has been practised in the matter of the registry of vessels that com- menced about the year 1865, since which time it is alleged that hundreds of vessels have been regis- tered as American bottoms, when in reality they were built abroad. This is sald to have been dono under cover of the provisions of the act of Congress of December 23, 1852, which authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to grant an American citizen & register for a foreign-built vessel, if she shall have been wrecked in the United States, and ifit be proved to him that the repairs upon her equal three- fourths of the cost of such vessel when repalred, The alleged process has been to produce false evi- dence of the wrecking and false eatimates of the amounts of repairs for foreign vessels not entitled to such registry. The records of the Treasury De- partment show that the report 1s a gross exaggera- tion, The vessels admitted to registry under tho act of 1852 in all the ports of the United States, and sailing under the United States flag in April, 1870, a8 appears from a report to the Senate by the Secretary of the Treasury of the 29th of the same month, were all told but ninety, Since that date up tothe 10th of May last, but twenty-nine more have been admitted to registry under the same act, so that since 18656 the total number of vessels of foreign build, wrecked, repaired and admitted to registry, does not exceed 120, Suits for forfeiture have been demanded against six veb- sels at New York out of this number and fourteen more only are reported as suspected. In view of the penalty of forfeiture incurred by every vessel registered under false representations, the danger to the American commercial marine for the illegal registration for American bottoms does not seem formidable from the number of frauds likely to be perpetrated under cover of the act of 1852, Investigating the Record of the Pioneer. The Attorney General, to whom has been re- ferred the case of the Pioneer by the State Departe ment. has called upon John A, Gardner, attorney of the United States for the district of Rhode Island, to investigate the circumstances under which the Pioneer came into our waters, From evidence at the Treasury Department, it appears that she took out @ register on the 30th March in New York, showing Lambert Norton, of New York, to be sole owner, and F. L. Norton, master, and sailed under the name of the Resolute. The register, so far as the Treasury Department knows, has never been surrendered, and her name never properly changed. If this should prove true, under the act of May Sth, 1854, the vessel is forfeited to the Gov- ernment, that being the penalty for changing the name of a vessel, or attempting to conceal it, or de- ceive any oilicer or agent of the United States con- cerning tt, Taxing the New York Central Railroad. ‘The case of the New York Central Railroad Com. pany comes up for final decision on Tuesday next, when Acting Secretary Richardson will announce the intention of the Treasury Department, should the company decline to pay the amount of tax due on their scrip dividend. Harbor and Ballast Instructions. The State Department has received a copy of the Tegulations to be observed by the Harbor Inspec- tors and Ballast Masters at Caibarien, Cuba, and anchoring place at Key Francia. The slight depth of water and want of proper care have rendered them imperative. A written order will be neces- sary hereafter to ballast or unballast, Neglect to take out an order and carelessness ip taking in bal- last, so that it falls in the water, are subject to heavy fines, The same fines are also to be imposed on all captains or patrons of lighters who infringe the regulations in any anchoring place along the coast, even though no naval authority reside there. Awarding Naval Medals of Honor. The Secretary of the Navy, ina general order, announces that medals of honor are awarded to the following persons in the naval service, who have distinguished themselves in battle or by other commendable acts of heroism :— Hugh King, ordinary seaman, United States steamer Jroyuois, who jumped overboard in the Delawary River September 7, 1871, and saved one of tie crew of that vessel from drowning; George W. Cutter, landsman, United States steamer Pow- hatan, who jumped overboard at Norfolk May 27, 1872, and aided in saving one of the crew from drowning ; Kichard Pile, ordinary seaman ; John Johnson, seaman; John O'Niel, boatswain’s mate; Jobn Hill, chief quarter gunner; Austin Den- ham, seaman; James Smith, seaman of the United States steamer Kansas—all of whom, on the occa- sion of the drowning of Commander A. F, Cros- man ahd others near Greytown, Nicaragua, April 12, 1872, displayed great coolness and svif-posses- sion, and by extraordinary heroism und poeenat exertion prevented greater loss of li john An- drews, ordinary seaman, United States steamer Benicia, who, in passing the forts in ( orea June 1, 1872, was stationed at the lead, standing on the gunwale of the Benicia’s launch, lasiied to the Tidge rope; he remained unflinchingly tn this dan- gerous position, and gave his soundings with cool ness and accuracy under a heavy fire. A Postal Treaty with Ecuador. OMcial proclamation is made of the postal cone vention between the United States and Ecuador. The letter postage from one country to the other is twenty cents, and the two Post Oilce depart- ments may, by agreement, provide for the trang mission of registered letters in the mails and ex- change between the two countres, the register fee being ten cents. Extension of Mail Service in Colorado and Nebraska. The Postmaster General to-day ordered the fol- lowing extensions of mail service :—On the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, from Colorado Springs to Puebio, Col., forty-three miles, commencing July 22, at $2,150 per annum, and on the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, trom Harvard to Lowell, Neb., forty-six miles, at $2,000 per annum, com- mencing August 1. New York Custom House Appointmentas The appointments of Albert Gilbert as assistant appraiser and Richard Gibbs examiner in the New York Custom House, were conferred to-day by Secretary Boutwell. Internal Revenue Appointments, Commisatoner Douglass has appointed Thomas PF, Grey assistant assessor of the Third New York dis- trict, and George W. Fitzroy and Victor B. Cropley assistant assessors of the First Missouri district. Smallpox in the National Capital. The smallpox is disappearing in Washington, only two cases having been reported during the past week, Extending the Capitol Grounds. Congress at the last session appropriated $250,000 to buy certain private property for the extension of the Capitol grounds; but the total valuation of the ground and houses 13 stated by the appraiser? to be $650,000, Currency Statement. Amonnt of fractional currency received from the printers for the week ending to-day.... $1,078,400 Shipments of fractional currency + 683,000 Shipments of notes..........-+ 5 611,000 The Treasurer nolds as security for na tional bank circulation... +++ 881,108,900 And for deposits of public money « 15,859,000 National bank circulation outstanding at national gold circulation issued to dat Receipts from Internal Reve: Internal revenue receipts to-day, $389,190. The New Loan. Secretary Boutwell had @ lengthy conference to» day with Jay Cooke, Governor Cooke and H. C, Fabnestock in reference to the new loan, RS AEE, WHEAT AND OOTTON CROPS, NASHVILLE, Tenn., July 13, 1872, Much of the wheat crop just harvested has been injured by continued and untimely rains, Some injury has also been done to the growing cotton crops in Middle and West Tennessee and North Alal the rains Mr Bog shedding of the balis. @ planters entertain serious apprehen- ions of the effects of the heavy raing to-day.