The New York Herald Newspaper, August 3, 1872, Page 8

"SUMMER TRAVEL. [he Ups and Downs of the Way- a farer at Niagara, §WHY VISITORS ARE SCARCE. ee Friends and Foes Fleeced at Hotels and by the “Hacks.” POWN THE 8T. LAWRENCE. | gee Americans from North and South | op, home” the Burgnaudy. peiaeomenttcoret PIFFICULTIES EN ROUTE. —_+—_——_ Miserable Steamers and Dining Facilities at a Discount. (AMONG THE KANUCKS AT MONTREAL. NIAGARA FALLS. cet How Amertecans and Foreigners Fare at " the Haads of the Landsharks—The Ho- tels, Hacks, Gossips, Shoddyites and Foshionables—An interesting Scene at | Broginet eir chairs into the aft cabin, where the a Tablo d’Hote. NIAGARA FALLS, July 26, 1872. It ia 9 little early in the season for Niagara Falls, ‘and the hotels are therefore now only balf full of sgueata, while the keepers of the curiosity stores and ‘the hack drivers wear long faces and grumble at ‘the hardness of the times. “We only have three smonths in the year, any way,” they cry, in chorus, “and for two-thirds of that it’s as much as we can | Mo to pay expenses.” The class of people, too, so- fourning at the Falls ia little below the standard of the “best society ;"’ that 18 to say, it is as yet des- Yitute ailogether of feshionable boarders, No ®oubt o month hence there will be many more vul- Gar or obscure people than there are now ; but the ‘pocial sky will be It up by the temporary presence wf tho Potiphars and the De Famille’s and the Creesuses, and 50 the rest of the world will = fall back into = the middle distance or the background of the picture, ccording to their importance. Meanwhile, how- ever, the small fry enjoy themselves with a pleasant g@bsence of constraint. the early evening, the guests even of the best ho- fels, ladies as well #s gentlemen, and the latter arith their cigars, sit out on the lower verandah, Yacing the strect, and chat and watch the passers- ‘py and listen to the roar of the Falls, which, as the ‘bhadows fall deeper, seems to grow even louder and | More solemn, It is hard to say of what this reminds you—though it awakens in a vague sort of way memories of the Paris Boulevards and the music gardens of Vienna—but you feel at once that itisan innovation at home. Probably a few Ger- man iumiiies first introduced the practice, and then American ladies saw that it was a@ great deal Ppleasauter to sit will their husbands, even in the Midst of clouds of tobacco smoke and within a few gards of the entrance to the barroom, than to | the nope alone on the upper verandah. So, knowing 1 | roquent experiouce the relative charms of a | longer an Ameri F? yen’ Exve i (harms org | Lawrence, and pernaps until there ia such a thing rand a wile to a marr! chey determined to make him perfe Jopying the Teutonic fashion and gi shance to enjoy them both together, ‘Thus THO PRESENT HIGHLY PLEBELAN CUSTOM ~ has grown to be a seature af event i ry Niag- ara, though it may, periaps, fell tuto dcsuetude as | ‘the season grows older and more fashionabie, And this fs but an illuetra! tone of the place just at present. retty intich What seems good in his or her own yes, Aud the canons of etiquette, even if they have been ever learned (which, in a majority of is extremeiy doubtful), are throwa to the winds as 6000 as they are found to stand in t way of com- fort or enjoyment. If the weather were as hot as it was io New York a week ago, I have, indeed, Uttle conbt that there are many gentlemen here who would bo periectly capable of appearing at the Uinner tabic in their shirt sleeves, and possibly ven denuded of a collar, Let it not be supposed, owever, that there are no exceptions to this warming disregard to the influence of Mrs, Grundy. tthe tabie where it nas pleased the head waiter place me there 1s « family of two parents and ec budding daughiers, who take care to let Every one does sersbody near them know that they are not thus isensivic to the voice of fashion, Last Sunday was 1 this res ay With them. At breakfast amma sailed in with © new number of Harpe azar, Which she diligently studied aloud during 16 long leisure allowed her by the waiter. “MARY, MY DEAR," SAID SHE, foo-lard silks are again being extensively worn.” hen followed an animated Sabbath discussion on lis interesting point, alter Which mamma, again | dapsing into her gossip, fished up from me to time other items of similar value nd importance. The conversation seemed & little irious, however, Owing to the shockingly aésha- Wé condition of the party, which looked very uch like a coliection of servant girls returned om a picnic at Jones’ Wood and stripped of their dbons. Butatdinner there was a gorgeous trans- rmation. Eachof the ladies was tricked out in @aling raiment, and the eldest and prettiest girl ore two gilded butterfiies and a couple of hollow azen giobes in her hair, Mamma still had her sper in her hand and again applied herself to its udy. But she suddenly came to a full stop, ahered by ‘AN UNKNOWN FRENCH WORD, dich, as she spoke it, seemed to be something éoru” or “étru.”” “What does that mean, my ir?" inquired she of the daughter with the butter- %@ and the globes, who had no doubt been to inishing school, and had studied the French aguage and literature. But Mary hesitated a ment, and papa with a bright face, saw his ance and struck in. * A-koo,” cried he, “why u's coin of some kind; it means money, of arse.”’ The rest cau be guessed. pa, how af you're getting. I dida’t say a-koo. How could ady wear money trimmed on her flounces? It's sud," &¢., &¢., &c., until of course papa sub- ed into a silent’ sulk, casting furtive glances at rest of us to see What we thought of the mat- . And we most of us thought that papas ata —_ place must really have o splendid timo \agara, as I need scarcely say, enjoys and still wrves ‘the reputu ate place in the country, The old story 1s still ‘you can’t waik u dozen steps’ in any ction without being calied upon to stand and ver, While the hotel keeper at the end is & lething to be dreaded, The hack drivers Lave, rover, been brought to book edlectually, and ¥ only dare charge you at the rate of $2 an wr, Thatis an improvement, of course, and a rat one, The hoteis are not only excessive in 2ir charges, but aiso keep a siamefully bad vle—so bad that no one with a tendency to indl- ation should, under any circumstances, venture to their power, But every one. has heard this wore, and most people change, th vo or three days’ devotion to ‘the vay to other resorts. And until the whole system * things is changed, until itis possible to get de- mtly cooked food and 2 polite hotel vom that doesn't look like @ prison cell; until wkmen are jorced to wait until they are called, 1d Cease you %o pleces in the reets; until Island passes under an ielligent, and, one might almost say, a patriotic ‘nagement, and untti many other apparcatly poasibte things come to pass, hotel keepers aud ters interested must look in yain for better | aes. We muat all see Niagara, of course, but at | te not stay there after we lave seen It | ‘“frow the United States, the me Jess it is made a plensunt haven of refuge. Vhat a pity it was, by the way, that the whole slon of tho Falls was not made @ national bart, Is in, even ¥, aud sweep away tie existing scandals, The ne poiut;to which every foreign trav. goes, and itis rather too bad that it should be the one point where the most selfish and onest specimens of American human nature sane as the Yellowstone is going to be. late for the Btate of New York to ste} Bure th uid be found, OWN THE ST. LAWRENCE. ——.+—___ mendonus Rush of Travel—Tho Borts together Inadequate to the Trafic— to | priced hotel nner Difficultics and a New Way ive Them=Daring Criticisms of the | pids and the Kiver—A Southerner on | ever since halfpast thr +: Ram: e. nat Monteeat, July 30, 1872, After supper, in the cool of | y happy by | ng hun the | Flug Gown the river at all. reputation of these boats has driven away a large | pn of the general prevailing | Pretty well accustomed to roughing it, even they | say, isn’t the Scenery of the Lake of the Thousand Isl and the river itself and the Rapids, worth | any nount of discomforty Well, no doubt 3; they are worth a great deal; — but | most tourists will, 1 think, confess them- ion of bemg’ the most extor. | k, and a | NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1872—WITH SUPPLEMENT. of the North has to show, and an uninterrupted en- jJoyment of the sensation of shooting the rapids, you had better not make it ttil later in the yoar. The rush of travel is something tremendous, and, as the main elements of the crowd are such pleasant, courteous and forbearing companions as young English tourists, “doing the world,” Southern planters, inured to the ament- tles of river voyaging on the Red River and the Tom- bigbee, well-to-do farmers and traders from the far West, and Canadians, a New Yorker generally comes out a little behind in the periodical scram- bles for camp stools and for “hash.” Jones’ Wood, | in the full agony of one of our half-dozen annual | national pienics is indeed a mild infiction in the way of rowdytsm and selfishness compared with the scenes you will witness on Her Majesty's royal mail steamer from Toronto to Prescott, or on the boat from Hamilton which takes you thence onward to | Montreal. Perhaps, however, the discomfort of the trip is suMelently made up to you by the instruc. tive warning you thus gain of the .ease with which under unfavorable circumstances the finer Instincts of civilization ave lost and mankind swept back again into the old barbaric stage of society, whose cardinal principie was, That he should take who has the power, And he should keep who ean, For example, take the way you have to get your dinner, There would be plenty of room for ail if the | steamship company would extend the tables throughout the whole length of their cabin. and lay in a suficient store of | plates and knives and forks, But as the line is entirely under Canadian control that need scarcely be hoped for, and the present accommo. | | dation is simply a single table, capable of seating | fifty or sixty persons, if the chairs are packed to- her very closely, and without any regard what- ever to the trivial question whether there will be ryooin enough fora man of average width to wield his knife and fork without phinging his elbow into | the ribs of his neighbor, Please to note farther that every one is very hungry, having had nothin; to eat all day, except a very bad breakfast at a little belore seven o’clock—so bad that tt | could scarcely be touched, though you had been up since half-past three o’clock, when you left Kings- ton and entered the Thousand Islands, and had had to endare & three hours’ fast tn the RAW, CHILLY AYR OF A CANADIAN MORNING. | Weil, about balf-past eleven you notice people | leaving their comfortable positions on the decks— sitions you had envied all the morning—and waiters have begun to draw the tables together and lay cloth, “What can it meant’ you ask “inner won't be ready for an hour yet.’? Wili inform you that they are going to walt | for | TRE “FURST TABLE." And wait they do, for a full hour before the meal, seated in two long rows against the sides of the cabin, watching | the waiters with hungry, wistful eyes as | they arrange the plates, and now and then sighing with impatience. No matter though the boat reels through one of the most interesting of the rapids, | not a soul dares stir from his “anxious seat.’ AS the eventful moment of all approaches the excite- | ment cuiminates, and the instant the head waiter gives a signal that it is no longer necessary to pre- serve a gangway round the table each man and woman—! was going to write lady and gentleman, but that would be a blunder, wouldn't it ?—grasps their seats by throwing his or her arms back, while | they still preserve their sitting posture, and hurry, | as hest they can, in this position to the nearest plate. The table reached there 1s, of course, a jam of chairs, and once Laaw an over eager person tumble backwards in the struggle, chair and all. Here and | there A candidate for a meal is crowded out, and | as, even with this, there aro still more mouths | | than plates, eager hands grab at anything they can reac’ and sometimes succeed in | snatching away from an unfortunate neighbor nls plate or his Knife, or even his fork, if that alon® | can be secured, This scene is repeated two ot | three times—for the table has generally to be set thrice—while the head waiter now and then crics —If passengers’’—pussengers, mind, not la- and gentlemen—“would only be & little more could scat more people and give better | satisfaction. A_ charming episode of summer travel, isn't it? For my part, I enjoyed it im- mensely. When I was a boy, and went to see the | menagerie, l always was more fond of RING THE WILD BEASTS FED than anything else in the show. This is a specl- men of what you have to suffer for thirty hours. | The boats, indeed, are altogether inadequate to the | aie orderly, W | strain’ put upon them, and an utter absence of administrative — abilit on tie part of the men who rum them makes matter intolerable. A Canadian. on board exultingly told me that there was no -owned steamer on the St. again it would be well for Americans to postpone Even now the evil number of Eastern and Middic State tourists, and the main bulk of American passengers come from the South and the West, more especially the South. | And although passengers from those sections are he anxiously steps up to the desk, At this the clerk turns | absen' away without utter- & word in and, rh f Ly, 5 bell, summons @ servant and gives him some ut- terly irrelevant orders—to take a pitcher of ico water to No. 101, to tell the barber not to forget to call on No. 67 at nine o'clock in the morning, to &c., &c., &c, Meanwhile the old gentleman waita patientiy, not without a pitiful thought of the co z of ladies whom he has left up st.irr, to wait in heir travelling dresses, the pleasure of the authorl- tles of tie caravanseral. At last, however, after two or three minutes of expectation, he ventures again to inquire, “Can you give me three good rooms, if you Please *" Then comes the response from the clerk—the same that we have all heard so often from other clerks—but delivered this time In tones eloquent of injured innocence and righteous indignation :— “Can I attend to every one at once’? demands he, . “1 will see what I can do for you IN ONE MINUTE, SIR,” But the minute ts a long one, and the old gen- tleman indeed found out that, as the clerk said to his friend as his victim hurried away, “It's no good trying to bully me.” ‘Thus doth pony sour the temper and in- flame the evil passions of the hotel clerk. This Ale creature was within my own recollection, while clothed, too, with the same awful and tre- mendous authority, o8 patient, courteous and obliging as any human being I ever met; but that was when the house was empty, which makes an immense difference. I suppose also that New Yorkers and othera intending to come this way understand that Canada is no longer as cheap a place as was New York before the war, but that among the Kanucks, 23 among ourselves, “PRICES TAVE RIZ.”” Just after the war the St. Lawrence Hall folks charged only $2 50 a day in gold, or $4 in green- backs. Now they charge $3 50 a day, or still the same as before, % in greenbacks. Thus you see that greenbacks are after all & more stable measure of value than specie, About the same advance has been made in everything else, and the profits of an ama- teur smuggler are by no means heavy, even on articles which pa the highest duty—say clothes, for oxample, The eems, however, a prevalen' fiction among Americans of a certain class that the gain is something enormous, and they spend much of their time in buying things that they could wid within a fraction as cheaply at home, and which constitute henceforth an endless spring of vexa- tion and discorfifort. Packing up becomes a labor of Hercules; the lid of the trunk utterly refuses to shut down, even after the porter of the hotel has, for a quarter, con- sented {> stand on the top of it; and the nratter is made worse finally by the sudden breaking of the hinges at the back, And thon the passage through the Custom House! True, the oficials are not very searching, but a great deal of equivocation Is nevertheless necessary to slip suc- cessfully through their net. Depend upon it, ladies— and ladles are the chief offenders in this regard— amateur smuggling is not only an offence against the government, but it also doesn’t pay. Perhaps, also, Imay add, in this connection, that amon, other ay whose value here has recently Inflate is labor, Some of THE TALES THE KANUCKS TELL about this are almost incredible to one that knew their country in the past, For instance, stone- masons at Kingston are getting $3 50 a day, and west of Toronto farm help rules at $2 and $2 60aday. “That looks as though the country is bare saganeks replied I sroncrely to suk ote tere a ut my Canadian friends couldn't see it. They would prefer the old days, they said, when a dollar was a dollar. There is one recent innovation in Mon- treal which may be attributed to the influence of summer travel and which I may therefore allude to. Tils is a new variety of hack, something altogether finer and flashier and richer in paint and varnish and frosted glass than any vehicle Lever seen be- fore, unless it be the State coach of the Lord Mayor of London, which is one of the wonders of the world. These new hacks are also higher and seem to haye more springs and straps about them than ours in New York. They really look very magnificent, and would make an admirable feature ot a wedding procession, Unluckily, however, in New York, carriages ave more used at funerals than marriages; and as to follow a man to his last home in one of these Lista 4 sere would be ten times more disrespectful than to dance a sailor’s hornpipe over his grave, It is scarcely likely that they will ever enliven our streets with a barbaric weaith of color. And, gorgeous as they are, it 1s scarcely worth while coming all the way to Montreal to se¢ them, Need Tadd also that HACKS ARF A MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE LUXURY here now than they were haifa dozen years ago ¢ Four and five dollars, according to circumstances, is the present price for ajaunt around the moun- tains, Not so very long ago the same trip cost $2, Tempora mutantur! Of course it would &e absurd for me to try and tell you all the fashionable and Important people who have been through here recently. But it is to be noticed that among the permanent American colony at Montreal the rebels are gradually thin- ning out. For several years after the surrender at Appomattox the town was full of them. Ope by one, however, they have folded up thelr tents, and enerally, hke the Aral though In deference to something else than mere the nom ‘instinct, so say the Kanucks, silently stolen away—from their creditors, One remarka- ble old genius among them, however, still remains— | grumble loud! But, some romantic reader will selves a little disappointed. The St. Lawrence | isa noble river, and there is a majesty and statell- | ness in its breadth and volume that are certainiy | very impressive and appeal strongty to the imagl- | nation, But the banks are low and monotonous andare devoid absolutely of any pleturesque or | | pleasing features, A great deal has been sald and | | written about the quaintness of | | THE OLD FRENCH VILLAGES | that here and there dot its banka, but they can only. | be seen and enjoyed by going ashore. The glimpse | of them you get from the deck of the steamer is | | altogether too brief, and generally also too distant to give you a fair idea of the strange, Old- | | World air that in fact siill clings to them; | you merely, hurriedly, see that a great many | houses have projecting gables and tin roofs. Against the Lake of the Thousand Islands, of | | course, even the writer has not the courage to whisper even a word of depreciation. They are, indeed, wonderfully beautifnl and deserve all the praise they have ever received. But the passage through them takes only four or five hours—from | Kingston to Prescott—and it is hardly worth while going all the way down the St. Lawrence, from Hamilton to Montreal, a thirty hours’ journey, aud fan expensive one at that, for the sake of secin; What you might just as well see without any special discomfort in halfa dozen houre at the very most. Only one other sensation of the trip remains to be noticed, THE RAVIDSs, the passage of which, according to the guide book: is a thrilling and perilous adventure, But, except Lachine, they are none of them ever really danger- ous, and whenever there 18 any particular danger at Lachine—for instance, when there is a bad storm—the passengers are not taken through them, but are landed and gent by raliroad to Mon- treal, When the hotel touters, who are aboard and act as amateur guides, tell the passengers that this is the “Cedars” or the “Long Sauit,” and tr: to frighten them by stoiles 0! wreel and disaster, there are some who are foolish enovgh to get up a little theatrical alarm, and there are even rural ladies, who, thinking it Still fashionable to be very timid, it used really to be haifa century ago, before Waiter Scott's “Di Vernon” founded a new i of heroine, show signs offainting and hysterics, and cling convul- sively tothe nearest triend, and » in agonized accents, “If we should be lost | But such are ex- ceptions. The majority of tourists are fresh from Magara, and look upon the augry water with a very calm face, indeed, and when the boat is again in smooth water quietly say, “Is that ally? £ | think if ® vote were taken on the subject among all the gentlemen passengers, who have passed the age of twenty-five, a verdict would ve | rendered that the Rapids are & very mild sensation Indecd, worth enjoying if you have the time and the | opportunity, and @ comfortable boat to travet in, | bat not otherwise. Ladies of all ages and young | | | oer fresh from college ke Maries, and | cing, therefore, almost necessarily on the side of the guide book, would not vote impar nd so | Thave already said LT exclude them from the test. that there are a good many SOUTHERNERS ON LOARD THE STEAMER, | and some of them, it must be confessed, occastonally | forget themselves, Seduced, perhaps, by the cheap- | nesa of drinks--brandy up here I+ only ten cents— | they seem to fancy that the Boston democracy stlil | rule the country, a accordingly, without (he slightest provocation or encouragement tn the world, abuse the “nigger and the abolitionist” as | the great evils of the age, Scarcely can you yen- | ture into the bar for a glass of lemonade or a cigar without hearing some gray-haired gentleman in bine home-spun pantaloons, black frock coat and | White vest, dilating noisily upon these historic | topics. “You come from tie other side, sir, I see,’ mildly suggested the barkeeper, to-day, to one of gentry, “Yes, sir, 1 do was the reply, nest and the work | governed country in creatiou.? Of course, that old gentleman may be an exception among his peo- le, but the incident isa genuine one, and may herelore be worth noting. MONTREAT. Montroal, if not a watering place, ia certainly an Atuerican summer resort, and Just at yery popular one, Never, probably, was there @ fuller #tream of travel passing through it, and, though tl Jority of the tourists stay only two or three days, or, perhaps, even lees, the hotels re- main more than fall ail the time, and the hotel clerks consequently are fully able to indulge in what appears in their # the One great luxury of life the luxury of saubbing And annoying one's fellow creatures. It 14 quite # sight, F assure you, to | stand tm the evening near the ofice ofa certa diugy, but jonable, high-toned and nt St. James sircet, and watel ption accorded to the Incoming pas Most of these unfortuuates have by in the morning im « Lake of the Thousan rest of the day on a fear. | They look, therefore, | re the boat, up | iB} 1 | | to view the Isles, and ha’ conery Of th passed Uh uliy crowded steamer. f ou are ® man of very gregarious instincts, in- | Hretty well played out, and evidently have but the voyage “down the St. Lawrence” will, no , just now, be singularly delightful, but if you “ease and comfort and suMcient food, and a scanty physical resources leit for au acrid en- counter with a hotel clerk. “Can you GIVE ME THREE GOOD ROOMS 9" oly view of auch scenery a5 the yaunsed river | inquires one pleasant-mannered old goatleman, a3 | coutibutor to your paper, Governor Westcott, of Florida, Heis now one of the shows of Montreal. He Is a low-statured, stoop- ing little old man, with a dirty, pale complexion, and small bright eyes that dance gaily behind his spectacies. He wears his hair, which is thin and weak, and norveless, if Imay use the expression, bat long, gathered up behind Ina queue, after the fashion of the gentlemen of the epoch of Washington. He dresses generally in rusty and dingy black, and the cloth is heavy with dust and hairs and spilled snuf Sauif is also strewn plentifully over his sturt, and it is, Indeed, his great Weakness. He takes It between the courses of his dinner, and it Is even reported that he surreptl- tiously favors his soup with it and takes it inter- He is forever cutting eccentric, and some- mischievous, capers, and making trouble by ying all the smart things that come into his head; but at bottom he is good-hearted, and his misfor- tunes have made him good-naturedly cyul rather than gloomily malevolent. He is an odd fish, however, at the best, and it is as well to have as little as possible to do with him. But to a visitor he is certainly worth an hour's desultory study. TROUBLES OF TRAVELLERS. An Indignation Meeting on Board a Ca- nadian Steamer—Resolutions of Censure by the Passengers of the Banshee, on the St. Lawrence—Protest Against the Management of the Boats, the Non- Falfilment of Contracts and Insufli- cient Food. MONTRRAL, July 30, 1872 | To THE Eprror or THR HERALD:— Knowing the readiness which yon are wont to manifest in exposing the “fraudulent practiccs” which are sometimes committed by railway and steamboat companies upon traveliers and unsus- pecting tourists, I beg you will be so kind as to al- low me @ small pace in your valuable and widely circulated journal for the insertion of the following account of a meeting which took place on board the Banshee on Sunday, July 23:— Corey apy n stated that the objcel was to. protest Against the treatment at the hands of the Canadian Nay- saat ny dnring the recent passage from Toronto aad down the 8: vrence on board the Champion and | the Banshee, On the motic Jge Cofinberry a sys appointed by hair to dratt rese sive of the sentiments of the meeting suita New York tena were Coftinberry, Dominick a ‘a ignod, tourists and passengers of Saturday (numbering about jected to much annecessary brough Captain Cariichael forts utd annoy an and tile asetstants, First-—By their misrepresentations In reference to reach: ing Montreal, thu: pportunities ol gaining our ¢ Becont—By t Li ston in transfer- nd then back til four A. M. 0 our future Ry the neglect of the steward to furnish proper subsistence and accomodations, causing much suitering among invalids, rt the failure of the officers to be at thelr posts, to afford passengers wary i t th Jack of system in the of tickets; and whe the Banshee, at four captain positively refosing cline, this depriving us of th teresting of the rapids, and per tickets, we were ‘sul omnibus rile of sing mil a Sunday) morning, the eed urther than La run through the most in- Hing to tui the e ected to the anno, reaching Mont o'clock to-day (s ; Instoad of woven o'ch evening, ns advertised ; aiid whercas the c the abilliy of the by shoot the Li ing made the trip on Friday, be It resolved, That we censure the Canadian for Such lndifferent managemen' r their utter disregard of the com: rand the spiritand letter or their nd jor resolved, That we deem it our duty to warn the travelling publle against the Impositions of (his line of sleamers, {Signea by upwards of sixty of the passengers.) By your kindly inserting the above you wiil con- for a great benefit ou the public at large and oblige ) excursionist: the sender, who {8 an old J, WR OHARGED WITH VIOLATING THE EXCISE LAW. At on early hour yesterday morning oficer Fitz gerald, of the Twentieth precinct, found the liquor saloon, 411 Ninth avenue, open, and arrested the bartender, James Salmon, On @ charge of violating the excise law, As the officer was tunable to sub- @antiate the ch: ie before Justice Cox, at Jemer- son Market, yosterday morning, the prisoaer was discharged, 0. | 1 | cision ) Steani THE COURTS. A Dead Dog Sending s Man to tho Penitentia- ry-Judicial Clemency to am-Alleged Bur- flar—a Mortgageo's Rights—Commis- sions on Real Estate Sales, SUPREME COURT—CHAMBERS, What Came of Leaving a Dead Dog Ly- ing in the Street. Before Judge Pratt. p On the 22d of June last Dr. A. B, Mott was driving in a buggy, When his horse shied at sight of a dead dog lying In the street, and caused his buggy to colide with an ice cart driven by Patrick Tansev. The Doctor was thrown from his buggy, and on picking himself up caused the arrest of ‘ansey, and proferred against him @ charge of assauit and battery, upon which he was tried at the Court of Special Sessions, convicted and sentenced to the Penitentiary for three months. Mr. Peter Mitcheli applied yesterday for his release on botl, pending an appeal in the case to the Supreme Court, General Term. He stated that Tansey made no assault on the Doctor, and that the latter had commenced a civil suit against the lee company. He contended that the conviction was not warranted by the facts, and that if Tansey committed any offence it was unknown to the statute. Judge Pratt, after hearing Mr. Mitchell’s statement, ordered that Tansey be dis- charged from the Penitentiary on giving $500 bail. Adnraitted to Bail. It 1s charged that on the night of the 10th of July last Thomas Smith burglarlously broke into No, 72 Beekman street and stole $500 worth of cuilery, since which time he has been confined in the City Prison awatting trial. Application was made yes- terday by Mr. Abo H, Hummel for his release on bail. “It was urged that the offence was a ballable one; that the prisoner had not yet been indicted, and that in the multiplicity of cases awaitla; trial in the Court of General Sessions there wus all like- lihood of his trial going over till the September term. Judge Pratt saw the force of Mr. Hummel’s argument, and directed that, on giving $2,000 ball, Smith be released from prison. é Claims for City Advertising. A long argument was had in this Court yesterday upon the application fora mandamus to compel the Board of Audit to audit and aliow the bill of the Trish Democrat for publishing city and county ad- vertisements, After hearing the argument the Court took the matter under advisement, reserving its decision, MARINE COUR A Moartgagec’s Priority of Claim. Before Judge Gross, Fredertck Krutina vs, Alexander T. Stewart et al.—In April, 1871, Augustas Heino purchased from plaintit® a vill of furniture, for which he paid part cash, and for balance he gave his notes for $335 28, secured by a mortgage upon these goods, filed July 18, 1871. Being mdebted to defendants, a suit was instituted by defendants against him, and judgment obtained therein agalnst Heino, on September 6, 1871, for $244 85, and on October 7, 1871, an exeou- tion was issued to the Sheriif of the city and spun of New York, directing him to maké ont of said Hel- no's property the amount of sald jndgmont, with costs, &c, Under this execution the Sheriff levied upon Heino’s property, including also the propery mortgaged to the piaintlm® Piain- tif notified the Sherlif that he claimed the property 1872. On January 6, 1872, the defendants indemnifies the Sheriff, who sold the property January 15, 1872, paid the claim of A. T. Stewart & Co. and paid bal- ance, amounting to $110, over to plaintif, This ac- tion Is now brought to recover of A. 'T. Stewart & Co. the value of the property taken by them. The defendants claim that A. Heino was the owner of the property, and not plaintiff, and that Heino had an interest therein subject to levy aud sale, and that such interest was sold by Sherif, It was also contended that Inasmuch aga part of plaiutii’s claim had been raid anan part of the property stiil remained, the deiendants were only liabie for damages equal to the deficiency Yemaining unpaid on the mortgage after selling the property stilt rematning, ‘The Court decided that, upon defanit in the parmens of the mortgage the | Plaintiy became the sole owner of the property and entitled to the Immediate posseasion thereof, and that defendants were liable for the value thereof, , 3450, for which judgment was entered against de- fendants (lest the $110 received by plaiutitt from Sheriff), together with costs, Important to Brokers and Real Estate Owners. Before Justice McGuire. Moses Hertz vs. William Henry tion was brought to recover $85, broker's commls- sion for the alleged sale of a lot on First avenue and Forty-cighth street, belonging to defendant. It was alleged by plainti® that the defendant gave him some lots to sell on the corner of First avenue | and Forty-cighth street; that he procured a pur- Chaser, Who purchased five lots; that he had been paid commissions on four lots, and that the com- mission on the fifth lot is still due and unpaid, The defendant alleged that he gave plaintiff tour lots to sell, that when he brought the purchaser he told him that he had another lot adjoiuing which he would sell, After some bargaining Mr. Murray bought the whole five lots, and by agreement be- tween him and defendant the purchaser was to pay tne commission to the plainti for four lots, which was done, and that plaintiff was not to receive any commission on the fifth lot. On the other hand, plaintiff testified that when defendant sald he would pay no commission for the sale of the filth lot he, the plaintiff, expressly stated that he did not care who paid the commissions, but some one must pay them, Upon this statement of facts the defendant claimed that he was not liable, and mad a motion to dismiss the complaint, which was d nied, The plaintiff insisted that in law there was an implied Hability on the part of the defendant to pay the commission, The Judge reserved his de- George F. Langbein, for plaintiff; Arnoux, Rich & Woodford, for defendant. ‘ LOST HIS MILK WAGON. Yesterday morning Michael McDonald drove his Wagon, containing seven cans of milk, up in front | ofs house on Elghth avenue, between Twenticth and Twenty-firat streets, and went into the house to get his order, When he returned to the pave- ment he saw his horse and wagon going at a farl- ous rate down Eighth avenue, with a young man on the seat holding the Imes. When at the corner of Vandam and Hudson streets the driver ran into a car and completely demolished the wagon. He wasarrested by Officer Wilson, of the Twenty-eighth precinct, and McDonald, upon putting in an appearance a short time afterwards, charged the prisoner with stealing the property, wht is valued at $400, He descrived himself as James Guard, a teacher, twenty-three years of age, He ims to have arrived in this city only twelve T Nepraska, from Liverpoo!, and # guest at the Grand Central Hotel. Upon being conveyed before Justice Cox, at Jefferson Market, he claimed to have found the property, but was fully commit- ted for trial at the Goneral Sessions, OORONERS’ WORK YESTERDAY. Sergeant James, of the Twentieth police precinct, reported yesterday to Coroner Senirmer that yes- terday morning the dead body of a supposed still- born infant was found in the night soil boat Davia, lying at the foot of Weet Twenty-eighth street, having been conveyed there in the contents of a cart the previous night. The body was sent to the Morgue, Where an inquest will be held to-day, ‘The Coroners were notified of the finding of the body of an unknown drowned boy, aged tweive years, at pler 20 North River, yesterday. The ree mains were sent to the Morgue for identification. From the clothing of the boy, which was of the tinest fabrics, it Is supposed that he had fallen overboard from a river steamboat, At half-past eleven o'clock on Thursday evenlug Betsey, wife of P. O'Donnell, of No, 2 Hali place, in rof Tompkins’ Market, died suddenty tn bed, alter complaining to her hushand (Patrick) of Int disposition, So =6foon 68s) hes discovered that ste was dead he notified Sergeant Me- Given, of the Seventeenth precinct, nd suggested that an inqnest bo neld.’ .The sergeant, Who is one of the most cautious officers onthe police force, fearing that there might be ‘oul play”? made diligent inquiry in the neighbor- hood, ani jearning that before déath she foamed at the mouth, vomited and betrayed symptoms of polson, he reported (in a private letter) his investi. gatio o Coroner Herrman, who held an inquest yesterday, Tie husband detalled the ctrenmstances ‘of her sudden iliness and death, and testified that | she had long been & hard drinks ofthe body, made by Deputy Coroner Cushman, showed that she dicd of Bright's disease of the kid: neys, and a verdictin accordance with the evidence was recorded, On Tuesday evening Michacl Quinn, aged forty- five years, residing at 105 Gold atreche ‘ooklyn, while retaining Moin & picnic fell overboar 87 Bast River, aud was drowned. An inque be held to-day, Coroner Herrman held an inquest yesterday on view of the body of Richard J. Bell, aged six years, which was found at pier 46 North River. He te overboard from the Hghter Overton at noon yeste day, and was recovered, after life was extinct, by Christian Hansen, a hand on the lighter. The ver- vict was accidental drowning. Willie Roll, aged two years, Who was run over on August 1 by acar of the Second avenue line, died yesterday @t Bellevue Hospital, and the driver was arrested. An inquest will be held to-day, at ten A, M., at the Coroner's oles, A post-mortem under the mortgage which fell due on January Si MUNICIPAL MATTERS. THE DEPARTMENT OF FINANOB. The Comptrolicr and His Clorks—The Pay Rolls—Payments of Salaries. Tho Comptroller's office has been a very busy scene during the week. In addition to the business, which was very large, of the Board of Audit, of the Board of Revision and Correction of Taxes and Assessments, of the Sinking Fund Commission, of the Board of Apportionment, and of the Contract Commission, all meeting some several times during the week, the usual labor was very great in the pre- paration of the rolls for the payment of the em- ployés of the city and county, During the past two days a large number of these pay rolls have been signed by the Comptroller and are now in course of | payment, i COUNTY GOVERNMENT. The payments are a3 follows:— Clerks ofthe Supreme Court. Clerks of the Superior Court. Clerks of the Court of Common Pleas. Judges, stenographers and interpreters of Marine ourt. # County Giericts offle 8 to's ofice, 28 2: iS 8s ea ree Bs ash histrict Attorney's Court of Spectal Sessions. City Judge's ottice... Stenographers aud interpreters of Court of Sessions or ici—cierk and deputies Court ot Oyer and Term lerks Board of Supervisors. a Sal Vax Commissioners’ office. . 12,999 Bureau of County Atfa'ra, 1,108 Tag ‘416 291 . 766 A Cry GOVERNMENT. Board of Assistant Alderinen. $6,668 Clerks of Assistant Aldermen, 208 Board of Aldermen 3 £999 Clerks of Aldermen... 2633 Clerks of Murine Court. Tw Auditing Bureau...... "808, Bureau of Acrears. 1,758 Depariment of Building: 5316 Mayor's office... 2700 Ontcers of Marina C 1,200 | Comptrotie 5,696 Rureau of 4014 Bureau of Arrears... ‘997 Market clerks. gst Cleaning inarkets. Board of Assessors. 250 Total... cee Fe] Total for city and county governments +++ $05,738 OPENING OF STREETS AND AVENUES. The Comptroller Taken to Task—Why Improvements Are Delayedr Great dissatisfaction being felt and expressed by the property owners on the west side and upper end of this city in relation to the long delay expe- rienced in the matter of opening streets and ave- hues, retarding improvements, numerous appllca- tions have lately been made to the Commissioner of Public Works, with petitions praying that imme- diate action be taken in this matter. Commissioner Van Nort communicated with the Corporation Counsel on the subject, and in reply received the accompanying copy of a commuantication, explaining the cause of the delay :- 82 Nassav Stren, July 29, 1872. Ricwarp O'Gormax, Esq., Counsel to the Corporailon :— Dran Sim—On the ‘Ist of August next T have concluded to discharge the clerks and copyists now employed by me in the business of opening streets, avenues and public places, and shall hereafter be unable to proceed with or complete any of the numerous proceedings now in my hands, a statement of which is annexed. Andrew H. Green, Esq., Comptroller, has refused to pay any of the costs, charges and expenses taxed and allowed in reports confirmed more than @ year since, aithongh he has paid the awards for land, and the assessments are prineipaily collected. ‘The whole expense of conducting these proceedings, in- cluding clerks, copyists, rent and fuel, has becn exclt- sively paid out of my private means. and I huve nelther the ability nor the ditposition to make further advances ‘The proceedings for widening Broadway and - quiring land for the Riverside Park originated 23.40 four’ years since, and tho voluminous report, made to the Supreme Court by the first Comm arongea of Estimates and Assos. ments were rererred back to others, who, after making important changes In the awards, assessments and areas of assessment, submitied thelr Aual report a few days since. These proceedings alone involved over ten millions of dollars for lands and assessments on over forty thousand lots, requiring con le and atcurate clerical sk and for my outlays and s9rvices I have recaive? 7 and although the costs, charges and expenses w! gally payabié in four months the Finance De; may AgAIN assume the right to contest thetr pi Th vations other important matters the reports have cliher been partially prepared or entirely completed and advertised for confirmation, ner nothin: i! be respectful and re- de within the last ¢ no further outlay. to the discharge . because they may become engaged in ments, and not dispesed to return to my peated inquiries on the sub welve months, I have resolyed to Trogret to distniss clerks long tr of peculiar dui other employ service. Will you have the kindness to communicate the con- tents of this letter to George M. Van Nort, Esq. Commis: sioner of Public Works, and to the Commissioners of the Department of Public’ Parks, and explain to property ers iureresied in pending public, improvements why rogress iy interrupted for the present? ‘The responsibility is with tho Finance. Department, for no, reason exists Why I should continue to exhaust my private fortune in the conduct of public business, how- ever important, Tecan confidently refer to the parties Interested in these proceedings, and thelr counsel for my diligence and cour- and rexret the inconvenience and dainage arising frou the delay. Yours, truly, GEORGE Hi, PURSER, Clerk of Commissioners, &e. THE TAMMANY HALL LEASE, The Last of an Oid Claim on the Treas- ury—Its Cancellation by Comptroller Green and the Tammany Sachems, The Bourd of Supervisors passed on the 26th of May, 1870, a resolution, which was approved by the Mayor on the following day, authorizing the taking by the city of a lease of Tammany Hall as an rental of $36,000, In upheaval which followed the damaging dis- closures made last year this matter was strongly denounced as a fraudulent impo- sition upon the afflicted taxpayers, but it seemed as if the burden was. too firmly fixed on the body politic to be removed. Aiter conference, however, with Comptroller Green an offer was lately made on behalfof the Sachems of the Tam- many Society to cancel the lease for the unexpired term of eight years upon payment of the arrearage | ofrent. The ard of Supervisors, upon this propo. sition being formally made, gave tue Comptre power in June last to cancel the lease for the city and pay the amount of rent due, and accordingly, with the representatives of the Tammany Society, he has caused a full release of their mutual obliga- tlons to be executed and delivered. The city is, therefore, happily rid of one of the exorbitant claims upon its treasury, which were formerly in- curred with great recklessness and extravagance, and whose effects are felt to-day in Increased taxes and financial burdens, THE OONTRACT COMMISSIONERS, A meeting of the above Commission was held yesterday at the Aldermanic Chamber, when the following special contract was considered, This ts one of the contracts not advertised, and put into the tax levy by Mr. Tweed, when Commissioner of Public Works :— John L. Brown, special contract, grading and re- gulating Tenth avenne, between Manhattan and 165th streots. Mr. Tracy, Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct Department, was examined at great length by Mr, Strahan. On this contract a doliar and a half per cubic yard was charged for extra but on the examination of this witness tt | transpired that the risk was not deemed suffi- the general political ciently important to be mar! on the plans. In reply to Mr. West, who appeared for. the property owners, Mr, Tracy said that the contract was carried out under the direction of Mr. | Tweed, as Commissioner of Public Works. He (the | Witness) was appointed in April, 1870, 18 _Enginecr to the Croton Aqueduct. About a month afterwards Mr. Tweed spoke to him about this contract, and hen consuited him about it and remarked that he wanted “a safe man.” Mr. Brown the contractor, | he (the witness) had not seen on the work more than twice, He (Mr. Tracy) was appointed special | Inspector of the Work under Mr, Tweed, ‘This con- | tract allowed 90 per cent as the work Went on; never knew of a contract before that had more than 70 per cent allowed. Ail the prices in the contract were fixed before the risk was ever suggested to him (the witness). ¥ An adjournment was taken on this case until Monday next, at four o'clock, Before the adjournment a number of uncontested cases were disposed of, THE REVISION OF ASSESSMENTS. The Board of Correction and Revision of Assess- ments met yesterday and confirmed assessments for the following work:—Regulating and grading Sixth avenue, from 110th street to Harlem River, | Basins—-Sonthwest corner of Tenth ayepue and Piity-Alth street; northwest corner of Seventy- fourth street and Seventh avenue; southeast cor- | her of Seventy-first street and Lexington avenue ; southeast corner of Seventy-ffth street and Lex- ington avenue; northwest corner of Tenth avenue and Filty-third street; northwest corner of Ninth avenue and Forty-seventh street; northeast corner of Sixty-sixth street and Lexington avenue ; south- east corner of West street and Tenth avenue ; south. west corner of Little West Twelfth street and ‘Tenth avenue, Bernard Cossidy, a youthful bootblack, was locked np by Justice Cox at Jefferson Market, yes- terday morning, chai with tapping the tili of damea M. Merrick, 670 Hudson street, of $15 in money, He denied the charge mother to get him @ lawyer, armory for the term of ten years at an annual | KIDNAPPING. Mexican Revival of the Personal Seigare and Piteh-Plaster System of Hare and Burke. Outrageous Atrocities in the Capital of Mexieg—» An Organized Band of Burkites and Aases- sins—Citizens Seized in the Streets and Held for Ransom by the Gang—Murder if Not Paid—Mode of Operation of the Phi “How the Thing Was Worked” and How It “Worked''—The End and Earthly Punishments. Mexico Crry, July 15, 187% Interest in military movements has for the time been suspended or lost sight of altogether ia the fearful atrocities which have been enacted in hp capital and its vicinity during the past few weeks, which are so horrible in detail as to appall the stoutest heart, creating a reign of terror, amoumi ing to almost a panic. KIDNAPPING OF THREE CITIZENS. At the last moment by a previous maii I gave brief intelligence of the kidnapping of three gontie- men of wealth and prominence in and quite neag the city, and from whom at the time of writing nothing definite could be learned further than thas they were held for sums of ransom corresponding ¢ their possessions, \ The first—Sefior Miguel Uribo, of Texeoco—while returning, some two weeks since, trom a baptisrasi Jete, which had taken place in a little neighboring town, and accompanied by a young iady relative, was taken from his coach by a band of masked re bers, compeiled to mount one of his horses, which was unhitched for the purpose, and carried awag by his captors, and all tnis transpiring within fel view of neighbors and friends occupying other coaches, and who had formed a part of the guests at the same fete, MURDER, A large sum was demanded for his ransom; his friends not complying at once to the deman@, the unfortunate victim was shot, and his body tei for recovery on the highway leading to Rio Frio, The second Seiior Bassot—a Frenchman, owner of the mills of Santa Fé, near Taenbaya—had upem several occasions been threatened with capture er death if he refused the demand made upon him for a certain sum of money, and becoming alarmed, im consequence, some months since sent his family out ofthe country, determining to follow without toss of time, but not soon enough, it would appear, e@ escape his persecutors, for a few days sinco they got possession of him, sending word to his frends that $2,000 only would purchase his liberty, It was rumored a few days since that his body had besa discovered, with both eyes gouged out and tongus cut off, but further developments proved the body found to be that of another unfortunate, while Sefior Bassot, having made a compromise with his captors for the sum demanded, has returned sate, but greatly enfeebled in body. ’ The last spoken of was Don Juan Oct vantes, of this city, a member of a family of wealtle, and consideration, who was taken by a band of kidnappers on his return: from the theatre, abouw®, midnight, on the night of the 27th of June, from: of the principal sirects, and only a few yards from: the Broadway or Mexico's Caytth ‘The olroum, Stances in detail are substantially a3 follows:—As the conclusion of the play he started for his home,’ on the street of Jan José del Real, only a short dis- tance from the theatre; arriving at the Café de te Concordia, situated at the junction of the same street with San Francisco (the above-mentioned, principal street of the city), he observed at the entrance of the Caié a group of mi in close conversation; but this occurrence was an unusual one at such a place, following the clome of the theatre, and awakened no suspicion what ever. Arriving ut the spot he attempted to around them, in order to make no interruption, bi Instead the company parted tagllow his passing,' and politely thanking them for the movement took a step forward, but was immediately addret by one of the party with the words, “ Juan, we wait for you.” “For what ¥’ was the re. sponse. No answer was given, save by a conce! movement to close about him. In an instant foand himself violently seized, his mouth band: and hurrying him along a few steps they forced into a Coach awaiting them with ‘open door, Threatening him with instant death by dagger should he make any resistance attempts at alarm, they bandaged his ¢; pinioned his arms and otherwise more thoror secured his person. The coach was driven ray forward for wp hour, making many wnnee turns in order to deceive the victim as to locallt at last halting, they forced him to alight, as threatening him with instant death should he ul asingle word. They walked nolsily forward, resenting a lot of jolly fellows ieturuing from some midnight revel. They passed a Cuartél and were grected by the sentinel on duty with | usual salutation of “Who lives? to one of the band responded, “People peste,” while the others, singing and la loudly, stifie? the one feeble cry put forth by poor bandaged victim to arrest the attention the not-over careful sentinel; but the effort vain, and a terrible blow deait by one of his cap! across the face, loosening his teeth and crt the glasses with which they had replaced bandage over his eyes, together with rene threats of death, were the only results. “GOING THROUGH HIM’? = a at the house of one of the bandits relieved him of money, watch and pistols, and gat we aay ee Ah \epige awaited hima should his family refuse to comply with their mand of $100,000, saa = Beating him, (eee ARATHENT. , ating him, they put pen and paper before compelling him to ahdtees his prot er, intoraas him of his capture and extreme danger, and ging him to accede to the demand, placing amount in certain instalments, at such times places as Stated, &c. Then commenced infictions such aa flends alone could invent. His cyes wore bandaged, his ears filled with soap, his arms ee curely fastened, and in this tortured condition te was placed In a sepulchral excavation underncath the floor in an inner room, whose dimensions were Bcarcely sufficient to accommodate his length, 4 a lying position, with breadth aud depth only ¢ admit ot the turning of the body, while it was @@ close and damp 6 to render a matter of aston. ishment the fact of his suviving seven wret days and nights, together with the small amount of food and drink possible to sustain and an entire absence Cae Tcan readily te lieve his assertion that “a thousand deaths were compassed in those agonizing days of torture.” With the natural heat of tie body the ears bee relieved in part from the wax sufficient to adi of his hearing their freqnent conversations com cerning the doubtfulness of obtaining the ransom ak together with the Spat | of the authorities for his reaene, to add to the horrors of bis situation, the expe- dency of assarsination was discussed, a part ing it a8 @ speedy and necessary measure to wecute their own personal satety, while the other portion advocated # delay, with the hope of atill obtathi the large sum demand Rendered desperate all these horrors, he determined to make one et atescape., Be succeeded in releasing himself from: his ponds, and, waiting until midnight, while the guard attending him were sleeping, he made sud& jg alae haste to reach the door as to awaken is tormentors, who, rushing upon him dagger ta hand, and in his feeble condition being ablo te give no defence, soon reduced him to his former condition, only adding new tortures, by fin, ona his his hands behind him, and, more feartul stil, by securing knives underneath the floor above body that if again he should attempt to rise the Muts of either would penetrate, the one hip cart, the other his bowels, OFFICIAL SEARCH AND THY POLICE HISTORY. In the meantime the Governor of the aise Senor Moutril, was untiring in his activity to die cover the whereabonts of the captive and lis perage cutors, Police, military and ret agents were erywhere employed. Several arrests were made in suspicion, and one which evevtaated in the discovery of the entire matter, as follows:—A mam at (he Wi of decent appearance presented hinseif house of a brother of the missing mun, and, leav! in the hands of the porter a letter for his’ mast walked rapidly away, but not unobserved by one the secret police, who, stationed at a littie dista at once followed, but only to lose sight of him among the passora by, However, a few days later he was rewarded by the return of the sauie ind vidual with another letter for the same destination, This time the disguised agent followed une. served, and as the door opened in response to the summons of the letter-bearer, he gave him 80 Vigorous a push as to rendera headlong entranos necessary, where, with the assistance Of the ser tho house, he was soon inade piisonon. yenta of ' is Occurrence Was alan carly hour on the mv oncue pe) ba are ia soon a5 Was ‘possible We as take! fore the Governor, and aumet formation obtained to load to the disc rary moleat aan, confined within 6¢ F oct ‘om the centre of the city, With all dee patch a body of military, headed” by the Goverasr io person, hastened to the rescuc of tae unforte CONTINUED ON NINTH PAGE, yl fl ”