The New York Herald Newspaper, August 30, 1872, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1872—WITH SUPPLEMENT. © - NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, Rejected communications will not be re- AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING, OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway, between Hi Bleecker su.—Davip Ganmicx. nen The Summer Season of Pleasure and | article a transaction of this sort to the amount Fall Season of Business. of some ten millions of dollars. The interest The partial suspension of business usual.| on money is so much higher here than in during the season of Midsummer is about to | Europe, and there are so many opportunities end. Already, in fact, the quickening in- fluence of Fall trade is seen, Our adverti columns, always sure thermometer of busi- for profitable investment, that there is a grow- ing disposition on the part of foreign creditors to leave their capital with us. Asa matter of ness, and the activity of our importers and | course such reinvestments improve the merchants generally, show this. Our Wall | country, increase our products and add to the street stock and gold speculators, many of | national wealth. Our ability to pay becomes o. 243 | Whom are so intent on making money that | greater every year in consequence of this aug- they scarcely know the difference between | mentation of production and wealth through Summer and Winter, are beginning to be | the very capital for which we are debtors. unusually actiye. In the course of a few days our wealthy and fashionable people The course and fluctuations of the gold market do not represent the actual financial WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteontn | Will begin to return to the city; country mer- condition of the country as much as the acci- chants and pleasure seekers will fill our hotels | dents of trade, the gambling in Wall street and ransack the stores; the reflux tide of | and the incompetent management of the street—Biux Brag. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, T z b a GRAND OPERA wenty third st. and Eighth BOOTH'S THEATRE, Twenty-third street. corner Sixth » avenue.—Tuk Bevis; or, Tux Pouisn Jew. European tourists will set in, and with it is coming a swarm of artists for the operas, theatres and concert halls, Then there are national finances. Gold went up for a week or two because there was an unusual demand to pay duties on the large importations of the BOWERY THEATRE, Bowory.—A Terr ro Writiaxs- | all the elements of general prosperity and | season, a great amount of which had been suRO—SHIN Fanr, WOOD'S MUSEUM. Broadway, corner Thirticth st.— ‘Tus Ocroxoox, Afternoon and Evening. BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC, Montague st.— Jus Casan. THEATRE COMIQUE, 514 Broadway. —Eruiorian Ec- centricitixs, BuRLES@UR, Drama, &c. well being to give promise of large trade and | held in plenty of enjoyment. Seldom has there been such a prospect of a vast and reviving business in this commercial metropo- lis as at the present time. The Presidential election and other elections will be but a side- bond till the amended tariff law reducing duties came into opera- tion. Besides, business is dull, comparatively, in Summer. The gold speculators seized upon the opportunity to corner the market and run the premium up. A few millions more or less, WHITE'S ATHENZUM, 585 Broadway.—Necro Mix. | Show to the great movement, for tho trade and | which are but a bagatelle compared with the sTRELsY, 4c. ‘ BRYANT'S OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third Oth av.—Nxcuo Minstextsy, Eccentricity, ST. JAMES THEATRE, corner of 28th st. and Broad- ‘Way.—San Francisco MINaTRELS IN Fakct, &C. CENTRAL PARK GARDEN.—Geanp IvsTROMENTAL Conoayy.- PAVILION, No. 688 Broadway, near Fourth street.— Gnanp Concent, NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618 Broadway.— Science anD Ant. New York, Friday, August 30, 1872. CONTENTS OF TO-DAY’S HERALD. Paar. el 1—Aavertisements. 2—Advertisements—The Great Seal Expedition— Slaughtered on the Rail, 3—Monmouth Park: Long Branch Ra st ray in the Season of the Fashion in a Fory—The Amateur Oarsme The Final Proceedings of the National Convention—The Stapleton Yacht Club—The Blackwell’s Island Revolt: What Commissioner Owen Brennan Says About the Penitentiary—Governor Curtin Seriously Il in Brooklyn—Arrest of a Travel- ling Bank Ofticer—A Strange Arrest. 4—Editorials: Leading Article, “fhe Summer Season of Pleasure and Fall Season of Busi- ness’’—Amusement Announcements. SeThe Alabama Claims—Cable Telegrams from England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Portugal—News from Cuba—Kentucky Bourbons: Blanton Duncan on the Outlook for the Straight-Outs—Appointment of Dele- tes from New York and Brooklyn to the uisvitle Convention—Tragedy in New Jer- sey—News from Washington—Miscellaneous Telegrams—A Card from Mr. Thomas Cornell— Business Notices, ht trom Louisvilie: Blanton Duncan and 118 Paper Heaps at Headquarters; The Chief of Bourbon Straights Interviewed in Bed— The Campaign in the City—O’Conor Won't Tell What He Knows About Refusing Nomina- tious—The German Liberals—Brooklyn Dele- rates to the State Convention—Greeley in onnecticut—New Jerse; tion—Joste’s Farewell: The Furniture of the Enchantress Under the Hammer of the Auctioneer—A Tornado in Iilinois—General McClellan and the Diamond Discoverles—The Cotton Worm at Work—Music for the Peo- ple—Marriages and Deaths. TeAdvertisements. 8—<The Local Controversy: The Grounds of Dispute Betw roller Green and Commis- t—Municipal Mattcrs—Stanley and Livingstoné—Provecdings ia Ye Courts— Cuba: Reported Peace Conferca tween Quban Leaders and a Spanish Minister; the War News. 9—Cuba (Continued from Eighth Page)—The General Fall Trade: A Provably Abundant Harvest and Brisk Markets; General Pros- erity of the Country—Death of a Well-Known lew York Sea Captain—Cheap Sugar and Cheap Syrups—Another Wife Beater—Daring Robbery in Hoboken—Financial and Commer- cial: A Quiet and Dull Day in the Gold Room; Persistent Scarcity of “Cash” Gold; the Last ‘of the August Government Gold Sales; Money Easier, with the Closing Transactions -at Three Per Cent; the London Settlements and the Bank Rate; an Advance in Erie Railway Shares; Foreign Exchange Heavy and Gov- ernments Steady—Domestic and European Markets—Advertisements, RO—Schoeppe’s Second Trial: Appearance of the German Doctor inthe Dock; RKehashing the Former Testimony on Which the Accused was Sentenced to Death—Naval Intelligence— Shipping Intelligence—Advertisements, Electoral Conven- i Tue Mexican Propiem or an IMPOTENT Government and a disordered country is rought daily under our eyes in reports of dit outrages. The Rio Grande Commis- jion appears to be collecting evidence of the jisgraccful state of affairs on our border, but womplains, it is said, of want of funds. There can be little necessity for a larger appropria- ition, asthe facts are notorious, and one case of Mexican or Indian lawlessness is a pretty fair sample of a hundred others. A sensible result of the state of affairs on the Mexican frontier is the report of Special Treasury Agent Abbott, who says that all exportation across the river is stopped, by order of the Mexican authorities, causing a large reduction in the revenue at El Paso del Norte, Texas, and de- pressing business in that region to a ruinous extent. Intervention is the only cure. = Tae Irena, Conrerence.—Within the ‘next fortnight the two Kaisers and the Czar will meet in Berlin and exchange mutual con- gratulations. In order to render the event impressive, and, possibly, with the view of convincing the Russian and Austrian poten- tates that the unity of the great German Em- pire is all that is claimed for it, Kaiser William and Prince Bismarck, it is intimated, desire the presence of all the German princes in the capital during the stay of the Emperors. In this they will be disappointed. The Kings of Bavaria and Saxony decline to assist in the Berlin spectacle, even to accom- modate their imperial master. Their places, however, will be filled by substitutes in the shape of envoys. The Berlin sensation will, therefore, be performed without the presence of the Kings of Bavaria and Saxony at Berlin Wantep, a Govenson.—The democratic Jeaders have decided to nominate Mr. Charles O'Conor for Governor, notwithstanding his opposition to the Presidential nominations of industrial pursuits of the country go on undis- cians. Most of our citizens, malo and female, wil, be glad to return to their comfortable homes and the conveniences and pleasures which cannot be found out of New York. Many of them, indeed, make great sacrifices for the sake of fashion, and know it by painful experience, in leaving the city to be fleeced, ill-fed and worse accommodated in those mammoth cara- vansaries called hotels at our fashionable places of Summer resort. However, they will go, for such is the potent influence of fashion, and the hotel keepers know how to profit by that. Long Branch, Saratoga, Niagara and the other places, too numerous to mention, have had a flourishing business this Summer, hegira of Americans to Europe, especially in the Spring and Summer, which is stayed in part with the Fall of the year. A part of this could be prevented and avast sum of money retained and be spent at home, which is now expended and left in Europe, if the charges were less and the accommodations better at our own watering places. Still, we are not left without some compensation for this drain of substantial wealth. The hundreds of thousands of immi- grants arriving yearly bring both money and accession of labor, which creates money. The balance ina financial point of view, there- fore, is pretty well maintained. Besides, the opening Fall season will add to the trade, means and amount of money in circulation. It is evident from the enormous importa- tigularly within the last month or two, that our Raa Laks alltpated Dats the approaching Fall. These importations appear extravagant, but the merchants are thé best judges of the demands of the mar- ket. They have to watch carefully the signs of the times, for their money and credit are at stake. We presume, consequently, that they have good reason to expect an unprecedented revival of trade. It will be seen by a _ carefully prepared statement of the warehousing of merchandise in this city, which we published yesterday, that for the four months ending April 30, 1872, the increase was ninety-five and a quarter per cent—nearly a hundred per cent—over that of the corresponding period of 1869. The increase of the subsequent months was in greater proportion. During the twenty- five working days in April last there were re- ceiveg and examined at the public stores on an average a thousand packages of merchan- dise a day. As the report states, the busi- ness done at the public stores has been simply enormous. We are, then, just on the turning point of the end of Summer pleasures and the Summer exodusand the commencement of a most active Fall trade. Apart from the increasing trade, wealth and wonderful progress of New York generally there is ample proof of the well being of the mmss of the people. Ten years ago the amount of deposits in the savings banks was about forty-five millions of dollars, and now it reaches a hundred and sixty millions. This is a stupendous sum. The deposits for the most part are made by the working and middle classes. They show the thrift and industry of the great body of the community, as well as the prosperous condition of the country. The same classes of people are able, too, out of their earnings to buy largely of those articles of comfort and Inxury which pass through the Custom House and the hands of our merchants. The masses of people of no other country in the world spend as much or have as much to spend. It is this general abundance of means and the ambition of Americans of the humblest classes to live well and appear well that give such activity to e. At times there is some apprehension that we are much too extravagant, and that our extray- agance must lead to financial difficulties. In former times and under ordinary circumstances that would have been the result. A nation that buys more than it sells and more than its specie product, in addition to its other ex- | imports and the interest on our indebtedness the Baltimore Convention, and it is supposed that the nomination will be made by acclama- | tion. This policy, it is said, is the result of a | mines, do not balance the account. Then, in determination to prove that the regenerated democracy; through whose efforts the reform movement of last year was carried to a suc- | cessful issue, is the real reform party of the State ; and this can be done in no better man- ner, it is believed, than by putting forward for Governor, independent of all other issues, the citizen who led the cohorts of reform against the old Tammany rings. It will be a novel sight to see a candidate for Governor sup- ported by a party whose Presidential nominee he opposes; yet the principle of separating national from State issues, and of supporting honest and capable men for State and muni- cipal offices regardless of their political senti- ments, is a commendable one. By such disin- terested action alone can we expect to secure good government. | addition to this adverse account, a vast sum yearly goes to foreigners, as the profits of the carrying trade between this and other coun- | tries. But happily there are causes at work extent the necessity of removing specie from the balance of trade. It answers the purpose of creditors abroad to know that money or which goes to sh ow that the country is pros- perous and the people have plenty of money to spend. Then there is that extraordinary returning tide of tourists in Europe at the ported products, will pay for must be getting deeper in debt. That, no doubt, is, in the | | abstract, true of our condition. Take our | abroad, and our exports, including the full annual product of precious metals from the which neutralize the apparent loss or growing | indebtedness and equalize values. Tele- graphic communication obviates to a great one country or locality to another to make up specie lying in New York can be drawn for or applied to any purpose in this country by the flash of the telegraph. Then, o large amount of that which is owing to foreigners in the shape of interest or profits of commerce is in- vested anew in tho United States. It is only the other day we noticed in our financial wealth and available means of the country, 4 st. corner | turbed by the clamor and conflicts of politi- | will influence the market temporarily under such circumstances. But with all the efforts of the speculators the premium did not ad- vance over three or four per cont. The reac- tion soon followed, and the tendency is down- ward again. With the prospect of a flourish- ing Fall business, together with the large crops of cotton, grain, corn and other prod- ucts that will soon be ready for market and exportation, there seems to be good reason for anticipating a considerable decline in gold. If Congress would, as soon as it assembles in De- cember, reduce taxation to the lowest point that an economical administration of the gov- ernment will admit, and compel the national banks to resume specie payments, we might within a year or so be on a solid specie basis. It hardly seems possible for anything but war to disturb the general prosperity or check the progress of the country, and of that, fortu- nately, there is no ground for apprehension. New York, as the great commercial metropolis, represents the general condition of the Repub- lic, and here there are all the indications that wo are on the eve of great business activity. Congressman at Large—Who Should He Bet In a previous article we showed why t#@ Congressman at Large should be selected from New York city. By the vicious and partisan districting of the last session of the reform Legislature New York city was allowed only six members when her population called for seven; she has a fraction (132,656) nearly equal to the ratio (which is 136,119) unrepre- sented, | Other portions of the State, republi- @an, were aggrandized to defraud New York city. It is of the first importance to this fall aid fair. Her interests are deeply affected by her federal relations. In all that relates to inter-State contentment, to tariffs, taxation, finance, commerce, foreign interchange and diplomatic intercourse, she is vitally affected, and she should have all strength in Congress. The democratic member from this city who has given most attention to this subject is Mr. S. 8S. Cox. He was one of the committee of conference which had the subject before it, and in~ its last stage that committee not only carried the measure for the supplemental member which the State was entitled to, but by an amend- ment of the bill it left the State free to redis- trict, so. as to remedy the wrong done by the last Winter's legislation at Albany. This fact, among others, has induced the democracy to consider Mr. Cox in connection with the candidacy at large. In our previous article, in speaking of this topic, we said :—‘“It is eminently proper that both parties should choose their candidate from this city.” The republicans have not been advised by us, as they have nominated Mr. Tremain for Con- gressman at Large, who resides in another part of the State. Nevertheless the democracy have the opportunity to be wiser. Mr. Cox has had a large experience in Congress, having en- tered it in 1856, from Columbus, Ohio. He served an agricultural constituency from Ohio for cight years, and for the past eight years has resided in this city. For four years he has forwarded the interests of this city by vigilant and industrious attention, It is to him we owe the lifeboat appropriations more than to any other member. He has uniformly en- | couraged, and voted for, those liberalities of commerce upon which the prosperity of New tions during the Spring and Summéf, and par- metropolis that her representation should be York city depend. He has fought the infamous inquisitorial features of the j tax .laws; he has spoken and voted | for the free registry of ships and against all | special monopolies. He has uniformly op- | posed the income and other onerous taxes. He has always maintained the decencies | of honest public service. The most per- | sistent contest against land grabs made in | Congress was made by him. He would | doubtless serve the State as faithfully as he | served the city and its varied interests. Be- | sides, he has been among the first of our pub- lic men to recognize that the civil war and its consequences called for a progressive policy and the acceptance of what had been done. Liberal in his views, industrious in his habits and honest in his legislation, he would com- | mand if nominated a large vote outside of his | party. Tur Statue or Sm Watter Scott, which has just been completed in Scotland for the ornamentation of our Central Park, was shipped for New York yesterday. The statue is a faithful replica, produced with the great- est care, from a magnificent model, as will be seen by the facts which we append to our news telegram. Tae Atapama Ciatms Arprteation.—The Tribunal of Arbitration for the settlement of the Alabama claims was in session in Geneva yesterday and will meet again to-day. The arbitrators remained in council three hours yesterday. The rule of secrecy is still main- tained; but it is said that the general progress towards a final settlement of the case is satis- factory. The question of the payment of interest on the amounts awarded appears to be a prominent one, if not the most promi- nent, which now presents to the judiciary. The work looks favorable to the idea of an early completion of the entire case, at least in its present shape. ‘The Genuinencss of the Herald's Let-| City Ofictals at Loggerheads—/Fhe | thirty-seven more than the week before’ ters from Dr. Livingstone Agsain Proved—What Must Prevail. ‘We have carefully followed the various phases of doubt which have afflicted some stub- born people regarding the Livingstone letters. Wherever these incredulities seemed based upon honest and sincere motives we have met and overthrown them without any harder feel- ing than an occasional one of pity ; where, on the contrary, as will happen while man is an animal prone to malice and envy, incredulity took the form of contumacious, albeit igno- rant contradiction, we have allowed it to eat itself without in any way helping the hard digestive process. We have noticed the steps in this process in many instances, and are con- tent to say now that except a few insignifi- cant gnata of the press, whose trade is vitu- peration of a microscopic kind, even the con- tumacious will be moved to repentance, or, what is the same thing to us—to silence. In the first moments of this journalistic triumph for civilization the Hzrap presented its success to American journalism rather than absorb the entire merit of the enterprise. The event proved doubly that we were not mis- taken in so doing, Statesmen, scientists and journalists abroad, while duly complimenting this journal, showed unmistakably their ap- preciation of the feat by affirming that it was one of the resulta of a vigorous press system native to America, and America only. In ask- ing our American contemporaries to share our success we did so only at the moment when it was assured; and here again we did not mis- judge the spirit of true American journalism. The extracts which we have from time to time published from the best conducted papers in the United States breathed a broad, gener- ous spirit of recognition, and exhibited in their lines a feeling of conscious pride that it was an American journal which had thrown valuable light on subjects dear to the heart of civilization—namely, the safety of a long-lost hero of humanity, and the secrets of a dark- ened Continent, yet, with God’s help, to be opened up to light and progress. In face, therefore, of the present discussion about handwritings and personalities, we refer with great pleasure to extracts from other papers to be found in another column, which place the question in its proper light, stripped of quib- blings and paltry side issues. The New York Times, irra frank editorial, does not hesitate to avow its confidence in the narrative of our correspondent, upon the sensible ground that when once a fact is indisputably established ‘4t is all nonsense’ to listen to ‘malicious statements” in attempted contravention thereof. Our position on the matter is very simplé— that of supporting what we have placed before the world as the truth, after the most satis- factory evidence to ourselves that it was so. As truth in such cases must prevail, it has gratified, but not astonished us that accumu. |! Yating evidence is being placed in our handg by disinterested Tallvideales Seay Biss in common with our own, is to confirm a fact. The following letter from a scientific gentle- man, versed in the subject he writes upon, will be interesting to our readers :— AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL Soctety’s Rooms, CooréR INSTITUTE, NEW YORK, August 29, 1872. To THE EprTor OF THE HERALD:—- DEak Srir—I have compared the original letter of Dr. David Livingstone, addressed to James Gordon Bennett, Esq., Jr., with an original letter of Dr. David Livingstone, dated River Shire, in Africa, Janoary , 1862, and addressed to the President of the American Geographical Society, and 1 do not hesi- tate to pronounce the handwriting of those two letters to be identical. E. R. STRAZNICEY, Recording Secretary. In yesterday’s Heraup we laid befoke the public the testimony of a gentleman acquainted with Dr. Livingstone and his handwriting in 1865-66. The letter addressed to the Ameri- can Geographical Society, produced by Doctor Straznicky, exhibiting the same strong pecu- liarities of handwriting, was written in Janu- ary, 1862; these make up a chain of evi- dence which, outside other corroboration, would be strong enough to establish the genu- ineneas of the letters, certainly against the mali- cious and mercenary tattle of an obscure being whose brief notoriety is purchased through a public confession of his own shame. Management of Blackwell's Is- lana. The feequent attempts to escape made by prisoners at Blackwell’s Island suggest thoughts of laxity in the discipline of that in- stitution. If the information which has been made public on the authority of one of the officials concerning the appointment of ex- convicts as jailers be correct the insubordina- tion in the prison is at once explained. It is difficult to conceive that the Commissioners of Correction should have knowingly appointed men of this class to positions of trust in which it is essentially necessary that the representa- tive of the law should exercise a moral influ- ence over the felons whom he is charged to watch over. Now, in the case of men known to have been guilty of a crime, it is impossible that such influence could,exist. In addition to this cause of in- subordination the want of workshops on the Island forces the adoption of outdoor labor instead of the more sedentary employments in other prisons. This defect in our Penitentiary is to be regretted for more than one reason’ It deprives the prison of its reformatory char- acter, because there is no opportunity fur- nished to the convicts, who are principally youths, to acquire mechanical skill that would enable them to gain an honest livelihood on leaving the prison. This defect, more even than the occasional escape of a prisoner, ought to decide the authorities to erect workshops without unnecessary delay. The More Pactric Ramroap DrveLopmENt.— The most southern of the Pacific railroad routes—that known as the Texas Pacific Rail- way—seems to be in a fair way of having a line completed trom Texas to California within a few years. Tom Scott has taken the work in hand and shows a determination to push it through. A telegraphic despatch from San Francisco states that his Texas Pacific Rail- way Company has obtained all the rights and property of the San Diego and Gila Railroad Company, with the right of way through San Diego city and county, one hundred acres of tide lands on San Diego bay and a large grant for a terminal depot. Engineer parties are to be put into the field at once to locate the line, and the people and counties along the ronte are offering liberal aid. There will be ample business for this as well as for the other Pacific railroads, and we hope to see it in operation in the course of,three or four years, Comptroller on a Raid. The Commissioner of Public Works and the City Comptroller have got into a controversy in regard to the work done in the former de- partment. The Croton water pipes, in con- formity with long established custom, are laid by day labor, and not by contract, the impor- tance of the work rendering it desirable that itshould be done in the best manner. The wooden pavements in the city, nearly all of which are original frauds, but which, never- theless, have to be kept in order until they shall be removed, are repaired under direction of the department, and not by contract. Both these arrangements meet the Comptroller's dis- approval, who refuses to pay the requisitions of the Commissioner of Public Works, tells him that he does not obey the law, which, in the Comptroller's reading of its provisions, requires him to advertise the work and let it by contract to the lowest bidder, since it costs over one thousand dollars, and declares that the city loses money by the day work system. The Commissioner of Public Works replies to the charge of not obeying the law by quoting the opinion of the law adviser of the Corpora- tion, to whom the matter in dispute was re- ferred, maintaining the legal right of the Com- missioner to do the work as he is doing it, by day work and private contract. The Cpm- missioner aptly says to the Comptroller that where a difference of opinion or a doubt exists as to the correct interpretation of a law he is in duty bound to respect and abide by the de- cision of the Counsel to the Corporation, whom the charter requires him to recognize as the legal adviser of his department. The Commissioner maintains that the laying of the Croton pipes and their repairs can be better and more cheaply done by day work than un- der the usually fraudulent and almost always unsatisfactory system of contract, and shows that in this work the delay of “red tape’ would be injurious to the city interests. Ho makes a point by quoting from the Comptroller himself, who, as Commissioner of Public Parks, has condemned the contract system, and has declared that under it the city has witnessed “frauds in bidding, combinations in bidding, abandonment of contracts, straw securities, lawsuits, injunctions, claims for extra work, and the whole swarm of vexations, arts and artifices in the mystery of contracting that the ingenuity of men bent on gain could devise, in many instances carried to such an extent that reliable, competent mechanics and contractors have left the field of competition, finding it im- possible to compete with the arts of dishon- esty.”’ The Commissioner of Public Works further shows that the Comptroller, as a Park Commissioner, has held the following opinions, embodied in his report, in regard to the work of Croton pipe laying: — ie although the Croton Board is one of the depart- ments of the city government, and is bound by the provisions of the city charter relative to contracts, be Gia: int ty daving of their pee te done by ni ut dy Yigilant super- Intenderlose? mhis Wet? itact por ned 0 this kind of work, and of the damage that might occur from i) unfaithful duty Cpa the careful and Rion conductors of this department are un- willing to subject the public to the serious conse- quences of the performance of work of this charac- ter by contract. We are inclined to regard the opinion of Mr. Green as Park Commissioner as sounder than the opinion of Mr. Green as Comptroller. Under an honest administration of the affairs of the Department of Public Works it is far better that such work as laying and repairing the Croton pipes should be done directly under the superintendence of the department than entrusted to.any contracter. The importance of a sufficient and reliable water supply cannot be overstated, and the business of the Croton Board could not well be more satisfactorily managed than it is at present. It is unfortu- nate for the city if there should be, as we can- not believe there is, any ground for the sus- picions of the Commissioner of Public Works, who says to the Comptroller, “I am compelled toadmit that it would rather appear that it is your purpose to so embarrass this depart- ment in its energetic endeavors for practical reform as to detract from its usefulness and bring discredit upon its administration.’ Promptness and despatch are essentially necessary in most of the business done in the Department of Public Works, and it is not desirable that so impor-, tant a department should be embarrassed by the personal unfriendliness of the Finance Department, especially when the former, like the latter, is in the hands of a “reform” official whose honesty and capacity have been endorsed by the friends of reform in the city. If the work under the Croton Board and other bureaus is properly and honestly performed, the Comptroller should be satisfied, and ye cannot believe that he would allow personal prejudices to involve him in a factious opposi- tion to his, fellow officials to the injury of the public interests. If there is any corruption or dishonesty in the Department of Public Works the Comptroller should expose it at once. The Comptroller has also commenced a singular system with the Health Department which appears to be of questionable expedi- ency. That important department has hereto- fore received its appropriation and paid its own expenses. The Comptroller now requires that all its bills, of every description, shall be sent to the Finance Department for auditing and payment. As that department is not famous for promptness in the despatch of business, and as many of the bills of the Health Department are for small amounts, it will be readily understood that the new rule, if carried out, may greatly embarrass the operations and interfere with the efficiency of the Health Department. Unless some good rea- son can be shown by the Comptroller for this change, it appears to us an undesirable and unnecessary one to make. ‘Work of the Board of Health. A perusal of the weekly reports of the sani- tary officers furnishes ample subjects for thought. We learn that at the cost of three hundred and fifty dollars seventy-eight miles of street gutters have been disinfected, and, gigce the middle of June, almost five hundred miles. Could it be known how many lives this whole- some measure has saved no doubt the taxpay- ers would be well satisfied with the expendi- ture of about two thonsand dollars in this humane work of life preservation and disease prevention, In the work the Health Inspec- tors have not been idle. They made eighteen hundred and eighteen inspections and seven hundred reports and received one hundred complaints. Over one thousand visits were to tenement houses. They condemned three dwellings as uninhabitable. The deaths re- ported were seven hundred and cighty-cight, a jt ‘Twenty-six deaths occurred in consequence of exeessive solar heat, thirty-three from acci- dents or negligence. Fifty-eight per cent of the mortality was of children under five years. ‘The sweepers cleaned two hundred and thirteen miles of streets once, seventy-six miles twice, fifteen miles three times and eight miles four and five times, making an aggregate of three hundred and twelve miles of sweeping; and they removed thirteen thousand seven hundygél and ninety-six loads of dirt, ashes and rubbish at a cost of nine thousand seven hundred and eighty-four dollars. The slaughter houses are reported in a fair sanitary condition. Con- tagious and infectious diseases are reported in very limited numbers, and the conclusion is that, except from the effect of unusual heat, the city is in a fairly healthy state. , The Arizona Diamond Ficlds—An Ugly Report trom London. We have a despatch from London which says that Messrs. Leverson & Co., London, diamond brokers, in a communication to the Times of that city, state that afew months ago an American came to them and bought a large number of dinmonds in the rough, pay- ing no attention whatever to the weight or quality of the stones, and that it is suspected they were used by. the alleged discoverers of the diamond mines in Arizona to sustain their assertions. This is an ugly report in refer- ence to those Arizona mines, though it proves nothing. On the other hand, we have a despatch from Salt Lake City (August 27) which says there is great excitement there in consequence of the receipt of gems from the diamond mines of New Mexico, the Ter- ritory which, east, lies next to Arizona. The rubies, emeralds, opals, garnets and sapphires reseived by the Savage Company, at Salt Lake City, are pronounced genuine; but the dia- monds are to be submitted to New York lapi- daries for a decision. These precious stones may abound in New Mexico and Arizona, or they may be found there to be very few and far between. ‘“Where there is so much smoke there must be some fire,’’ they say; but still we would caution all adventurous young men against venturing into these reported diamond fields, or into these diamond ‘stock speculations, until wa shall have had proof positive that said dia- mond fields are no humbug. Lieutenant Wheeler's scientific exploring expedition, now in Southern Utah, will probably, in the course of the next three or four months, penetrate into these reported diamond regions and give us the facts concerning the presence therein or absence of the precious stones which, it is said by interested parties, can be gathered up baat on thi mountain sides by the bushel. ‘all events, until somo teliable explorers shall have inspected these alleged diamond districts in Arizona and New Moxico and re-' ported thereon, let not our enterprising, specu- lative, credulous and adventurous young men forget the good old axiom that ‘the fool and: his money are soon parted."’ Tue New Manxer Ruxes.—Housekeepers will gladly notice that by an order from the Comptroller's office, after the 1st of Septem- ber, the markets will remain open till the usual winter hour for closing, instead of shut- ting up at five o'clock. Stringent rules are also promulgated for the removal of all filth, shells, garbage and other’ obnoxious matter from the various stands; and occupants are enjoined to keep their premises clean and wholesome. LITERATURE. Father Burke's Discourses. LECTURES AND SERMONS. By the Very Rev. Thomas N. Burke, 0. P. New York: P. M. Haverty. 1872. The volume of lectures and sermons by the distinguished Father Burke, which Haverty has just published, will be welcomed by many readers, besides Irish Catholics. In range of subject and breadth of treatment no work of the same kind which has come from the press in years surpasses it. Beginning with St. Patrick and ending witha sermon on ‘The Divine Commission of the Church,” the volume is replete with topics bearing on Ire- land and Ireland’s religion. Most of the lectures and sermons were delivered in this country, and many of them were revised for publication in book shape from the HERALD’s reports at the time of the delivery. Father Burke accordingly apologizes im his preface for the absence of anything like “style,’” though with his quick appreciation of the force and directness of the press reports of his lectures he can scarcely regret that his sentences are not more ornately and elaborately rounded. Persons accus- tomed to Father Burke's oratory will miss in this volume the graces of his elocution, and it must be confessed that his printed productions lack something of the fire of his spoken efforts. Every really great preacher suffers in the same way, and all of them know that it is hazardous to print even their finest efforts. Some of the best plays on the modern stage maka but sorry reading; the most ornate and powerfc? of the Greek classic drama would be the vehicles for very sorry acting. Shakspeare alone among the playwrights met both requirements and reached the highest excellence in each. To be acknowledged as a really great man as well as a great preacher the same qualities must be found in sermons as in plays. The pulpit ana the platform have their pasteboard as well as the — stage. The tricks of elocution may go far to supply even the lack of genius. Father Burke evidentiy felt this in his hesitation to give his ser- mons and lectures to the world in the more ¥ manent shape they have now |. We think, however, his fears, if he really entertained them, ‘were not well founded. There is in all his efforts « compensation by which ie od in the want of his oratory is gained m the lor suggestive- ness a closer scrutiny affords in his printed ad- dresses, When he relates the history of Ireland as told in her ruins or dwells on the Church as the mother and inspiration of art; when he discourses ofthe national music of Ireland or of music in Catholic worship we would jollow him with de- light, and years could not dispel the in- cantation. To read the same productions yields a different charm and leaves behind it a different spell. In the one case it is the orator, in the other the logician who holds us by his power. That Father Burke is able to do both argues the posses- sion of very grea® faculties, and is tu itself a sum- cient justification for the eet of this book. ‘The subjects where they relate to Ireland will be interesting to most Americans as the views of an eminent Irish Catholic divine, and where they relate to the Church het will commend themselves to all classes as an intelligent discussion of the relations of modera Catholicity to the present needs and circumstances of the world. It is in these respects that the work mostly commends itself. Itisno book of dull sermonizings, but series of discussions on subjects in themselves ot the profoundest interest, and treated with a skill im every way worthy of the reputation of the author of these discourses. The volnme includes Father Burke's funeral oration of O'Connell; some of the ornate sermons which gave him distinction even at Rome; afew of his discourses at Dublin Umi- versity, and nearly all his addresses in this country. The work is well Be and is very handsome, and i¢s contents will not detract from .the reputa- tion of the author, which 18 saying a great (eal THE BISHOP OF RICHMOND. Pope Pius Forwards the Bull Con« firming Rev. James Gibbons in tha Sees WILMtNoTon, N. C., August 29, 1872. The Right Reverend James Giboons, Vicar A) £ tolic of Nortn Carolina, received to-day from P Pius IX. at Rome the bull creating bim Bishop Richmond, Va, He retains jurisdiction over Ne Carolina. Bishop Gibbons was born in Baltimo: in 1834, He was consecrated Vicar Apostolic North Carolina, August 16, 1863, a