The New York Herald Newspaper, December 28, 1872, Page 9

MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS. CONTINUED FROM EIGHTH PAGE. ‘ernment has been proved to be more under a © system than under a salary system. Such has idea of the iramers of all the city char- ters. The fees hitherto paid may have been ex- cessive in percentage, and 1 not prepared to deny that there should long ago have been and should now be a reduction of the percentage. But some percentage shouid be preserved, and it must be borne in mind that perceniages come from the assessment fund paid by owners of property bene- Gted by its improvement, wuile the sulary will be debited against taxation. Very respectiuily, your obedient servant. A. OAKEY HALL, Mayor. THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE. Revolations Concerning the East Afri- can TraMic—Experiences of an Asiatic Expert—What He Knows of the Ce: tres of the Speculation in Human Flesh and Blood—T “Blind” of the Ivory Trad:—Where the Cargoes Are Embarked—Commercial Barter and Slave Trader Apprentices. {From the Times of India, Nov. 5.} Mr, Mathoordas Khetsee, whom we have once Introduced to our readers as the champion of Hin- 400 widows, and who t:as visited Europe and re- sided at Zanzibar and other slave traMcking dis- tricts of Africa for a period of seven years for the * purposes of trade, gives the following account in the Rast Goftar of his experience of the slave trade, which reveals to us details not hitherto tnowa tous. We give Mr. Mathoordas’ version {n his own words, as stated by our weekly contem- porary :— WHAT HE KNOWS OF THE TRAF¥IC. Since the public at large has been exhorted by the press to render every assistance in their power to Sir Bartle Frere and his colleagues I have taken the Uberty to offer what little I kuow of the Hindoo slave traders‘o! Africa, Ihave spent seven years with my family in those parts of the African €on- tinent which are supposed to be the principal foun- tain heads of the obnoxious trade, My father, an (nhabitant of Cutch, died at Zanzibar fifteen years ago, uncle died in the samo African town twenty-live years ago, and my elder brother has been living at Veeboo, the chiel seat of the Airican ‘slave trade, for the last twenty years. Another brother of mine, who is now at Kurrachee, haa tived in Africa for ten years, and my third brother went to Zanzibar four years ago, and {s still there. My elder brother's eldest sun has been carrying on trade at Veebvo with his tather since the year fosn and another of my nephews left bombay for Africa in semi last. In former time slave (rade was at (ts full be! ene in these places, and my family had a share in it, but subseyuently by of exertions of the British government the trade has received a considerable check now. My tamily have now abandoned the trade, but I venture to presume elas my experience is quite enough to be of some ASTATIC INTERESTS AND AGENCIES. The inhabitants of India have the greatest share {nm the slave trade. They are mostly Bhattias, Bun- nias, Khojas and Borahs. Although Borah mer- chants are not known to be slave tradcrs, a large umber of them reside at the principal towns. Vessels from Bombay proceed by the coast near Burawa as far.as Sottala. The native merchants go to Samoo, Mombasa, Zanzibar, Kilva, Queelowa, Mozambique, Madagas- car, Soffala and Kirmani. There are only from five to ten Khojas, about seventy-five Bhattias, and a very large number of Damaun ana Div Bunniaa in Mozambique. Madagascar, called Bookin by tho natives, contains about a thousand Borahs and Khojas, They have theii families with them. In Zanzibar and such other ports the number of Bhattias, Bunnias and Khojas are nearly equal. ~~ “ PARSEE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PROFITS, You will be surprised to hear, perhaps, that *there are about five Parsees in Zanzibar, about the same number in Mozambique, two or three in Veedoo and one or two others here and there. They are ali inhabitants of Damaun and Div. They put on Parsee unliorm, and although they ap- pear not to have anything to do with slave trade, hey are strongly suspected of having some par- ticlpation in it. Cutchee Bunnias generally reside {n Mombasa and Lamoo, while tue Damaun and Div Bunnias live in Mozambique and the sonthern territories. The vessels from Damaun and Div Proceed direct to the African coast with these merchants. *BOCIAL AND DOMESTIC IMMORALITIES AND COM- MERCIAL INTERESTS. These latter go there from their infancy and Bpend their lives in Africa. They live there for ut thirty to thirty-five years, eollegs mone: and return to their native country to get married. Cutchee Bunnias and Bhatiias also go to Africa without their wives or Jamilies, but they keep rican mistresses with them in their houses, ese Women gencrally come irom Bookim and other central towns of Africa, where they are to be had for $100 or $150. They have white skins aud tandsome complexions, At Zanzibar and other well-known places the merchants keep their mistresses concealed in their houses, but in smaller towns they take them out for a walk. In Mozaindique, Veeboo and other Portuguese towns, Portueguese women, and soinetimes even other Furopean women, live with these Hindoo merchants, The western coast of India has a close mercan- tile connection with these places. Gray goods, Tr, ghee, wheat, spices, false pearls, utensils andiron are the principal commodities imported into the coast towns by jarge native firms there, These firma correspond with Hindoo and Khoja Grmsin Bombay. Parents send their chtidren in their minority to Zanzibar to get an insight into the intricacies of trade. A poor person at first obtains B living of, say, ferty dollars a year as cook or me- olal in some firm, After some years he trades on his own account. An intelligent man, who can cead and write, is more appreciated, and gets bet- ter pay. Indian merchants have pushed in so far that not a single town is without at loust oue of them, i PORTUGUESE INTERESTS. — Mozambique, Veeboo, and the Gooja territories being under the Portuguese rule, the trade flour- dshes there with better vigor. On the north the trade is still moderately carried on between Kurawa and Central Madagascar avd down to Sotfaia. Although this trade is in existence, British influence has at least succeeded in making it a Matter of risk. ‘The traders proceed with strict secrecy into the interior of Africa to catch slaves, and they never reveal their real purpose. Ivory being # commod- ity commonly received on the coast and on the dslands from the imterior, these traders carry on the slave trade under cover of the ivory trade. THE SWEDISH AROTIO BXPEDITION, The Stockholm Correspondent states that re-as- ‘suring news hag reached it from Christiana about the Swedish expedition under the direction of M. Nordenskjild, 29 well as about the Norwe- gian fishing feet, whose fate in the Arctic regions caused considerable uneasiness, Five hours aiter the steamer Albert, fitted up by the Norwegian overnment, had left Tromsd eighteen Norwegian Ssnermen arrived at Hainmerfest on board a vessel. Another vessel, which had left Forclandssund at the same time as they had, was separated from teem during the voyage. Other fishermen had made for the port of Tsfjorden, which was still nav- igable on the 6th of November, The vessels of M. Nordenskjtld were altogether at Mosiebay. The reindeer taken on board had all escaped. A steamer was sent from Troms after the Albert, ‘with orders to stop at Hammeriest, to examine The fishermen who had reached that port. A late telegram announces that the provisions of the Nordenskjld expedition are running skort, four ‘vessels being forced to Winter in Moslebay instéad of one, as was originally intended; these vessels are the Polhem, the Onkel, the Adam and the Gladan, Some of the missing fishing-boats have ped to Grabeck for the Winter, The Albert, never- heless, is proceeding in the direction of Spitz- ‘bergen as fast as possible. The vessel irom Tromas overtook her at Fugelte, and then they continued together as far as Hammerfest, where the Troms vessel stopped, ording to orders, THE OOOLIE TRADE IN CUBA, A Live-stock Freight. “Rebarracooned”® in China, {From the Hong Kong Advertiser.) The Spanish steamer Ambolo, which left Macao ou the 7th of October for llavana, with 786 coolies and two boys, put back on the same day in conse- quence of an accident in her machinery, The coolies were rebarracoened, aud the Amboto went Anto the Aberdeen dock, New Forts ON THE RuiNr.—A series of new Yorts (says the Baden correspondent of the Cologne Gantte to be built on the right bank of the ) Rhine, near Strasburg, and the works for this pur- ‘pose will be commenced at the beginning of next ‘year. The most southerly of these forts (Marien), placed about two miles from the Rbine, will com- anand the Altenheim-Labr road; the most easterly «Neumthi) will command the road to Wurtemberg, ‘through the valley of the Rench, These forts will also cover the primcipal roads in the Kinzig Valley, and any one holding them would be able to close two of the most. important passes in the Biack Forest, as, the communication over the Rhine pein tree, a defending army could easily prevent a flan! march on the part or the enemy. The northern fort is close to the village of Auenheim, commands the road from Keh! to Kastadt, and closes the circle of fortresses round Strasburg. Kort Marien Ascight kilometres from Strasburg and 5.6 trom Neumtih. Fort Newmini is 4.6 kilometres from Strasburg, and 3.5 from Anenheim; and Fort Atienhein is 6.5 kilomecres from Strasburg. These Joris will thus command both the territory lying ‘Detween them and each oti ‘Their chief object, however, is to secure a communication across the Ahine fiom rhany with the large entrenched camp formed by \orts Reichstett, Suffelweiersheim, Niederhausverg: Oberhausbergen, aud Wol- Ssheiu, MMW YORK WINTER'S CARNIVAL. The Grand Assault on the Suow Blockade in the City. Embankments Hundreds of Miles Long Thrown Up. How the Banditti Shovellers Bid Their Work. ———— THE GREAT SLEICHING SEASON BEGUN, A Bitter Day and a Slim Display. “OUT ON THE ROAD.” Scenes Along the Ronte to McOomb's Dam Bridge and Fordham—Bluo Noses in Abundanoe. COMING HOME AFTER SUNDOWN. Sketches of Oharacter and Scenery. It 1s the cold, indisputable fact that the grandest exhibition of snow New Yorkers have witnessed for many years was that which nature laid at our feet yesterday morning. It was a cheerlul and glorious spectacle, and, save people aMlicted with bunions and dyspepsia, all else gave it a royal wel- come, Even the “Italian banditti’ from “the passes of the Apennines’ hailed its appearance with joy, The first honest penny these aMlicted fugitives have yet earned in the land of the free came to them yesterday through means of the beautifal snow. Every mother’s son of them able and willing to handle a shovel made as much for half @ day's work as he might expect to get for a month’s labor in the land of his fathers. The lamps were still lighting in the dim, gray morning when the grand assault began upon the snow banks encumbering the side- walks, On a hundred miles of thoroughfare a countless army of shoveliers worked away through the forenooa—worked like men entrenching themselves against a powerful invading host. From the Battery to Harlem breastworks were throwa up that the army of the Potomac never approached in accomplishing during so brief a time and to so great an extent, Fire shovels, coal shovels, mortar shovels and the regular old-fash- ‘oned wooden suow shovels were brought into action, It was THE GRANDEST SIGHT OF SHOVELLING the world ever saw. ‘There was enterprise in it, too, There was keen rivalry between one store- keeper and another—between one housekeeper and another, The Itallam Landitt! and our own ban- ditti, to whom a fail of snow is as welcome as a fall of manna was to the Israelites of old, worked with Savage energy. Every house on aristocratic ave- nues like Fitth and Madison, where Jeames (knee plush ultra of servants) thinks it beneath him to shovel snow off the sidewalk, counted fifty cents ahead to the banditti, and, as a consequence, the banditti went for these and like avenues as they might for a clothing store on fire. The fellow who shovelled through his work the fastest made money the fastest. Having sent the last fake fly- ing from his wooden shovel off his twenty-five tcot extent of sidewalk, he shouldered his weapon aud trotted away to another job next door. Yesterday was TRULY A GREAT DAY for the banditti, One of them is credibly reported to have made $20 between six o’clock and twelve at noon. But, short-sighted as human nature is always, they flattered themselves this snow fall world be a common thing through the Winter, and a large majority of the bandittl (our own clhiefy) knew not themselves from their shovels in the evening so vilely did they abuse malt and other such lively beverages. Broadway was taken in charge by the Tegular banditti of the Street Cleaning depart- ment, and they made pretty clean work of it, While the virgin mantle of snow as yet undefiled and unwrinkled lay over all things, the city pre- sented a wonderful spectacle. A HERALD reporter went up ina balloon—that is to say he went up the fire tower m the Fifieenth ward—to view the scene, and it really looked as if New York had gone to bed and drawn a white counterpane over her. It also looked as if New York was be- ing “‘waked"’ while in this condiffon. The lamps appeared as candies beside the quilt, reminding one of the classic lines referring to the memorable end of Mr. Tim Finnegan, who had numerous tal- low luminaries around his head, and an equally | large collection around his feet. WONDERFUL WALLS, At twelve o’clock noon, thanks to the super- human exertions of the gallant shovel brigade, the sidewalks were as clean and slippery as the kitch- en floor.of a Park row restaurant. The embank- ments thrown up along Broadway and many other streets were marvellous to behold, On the inner side.they looked like solid walls of marble, or rather pig’s lard. At intervals of from twenty to flity Jeet excavations were made to permit pedes- trians crossing from one side of the street to the other, These, too, were amazing, So solid did they look at either side one was tempted to believe that crowbars and nitro- | glycerine were used to effect the cuttings. The cheerfulness that prevailed over all the travail of travel was another striking circumstance, If the suow had only been about six feet deeper the gen- eral hilarity would have been boundless, It is to be hoped we may have a longer and more profound visitation of this delightful stimulant to the nerves and the appetite, for then we shall enjoy such a carnival as nover entered into the wildest dreams of the Romans. THE ABOMINABLE BROADWAY STAGES,’ Sixteen feet only of Broadway were left for ve- hicular locomotion, anu to the distress of every lover of his country and of the glorious pastime of sleighing, this brief space was monopolized by those Most attrocious of ail monstrosities on wheels, the Broadway stages, which were doubled up for the occasion, Forgiveness at such ® mercitul season might be granted them if they had only knocked off their whecls and come down on runners; but no, the beastly things would insist wpon ploughing up and utterly dediing our “beautiful snow.” The Sleighing Carnival, The sieighing carnival began late im the day aa compared with other years, because no one was prepared for so sudden and tremendous a down- fall. It was a stunning avalanche from the skies, and bewildered the brains of every livery stavie keeper in the city. Butsoon the jingle of sleigh bells made the air musical, Yet stiil it was far ad- vanced in the day ere Broadway had much to show in the sleighing line. Abouttwoin the afternoon the fun began in earnest. A SINGULAR SLEIGH AND TEAM, It was at this hour @ representative of the sleigh of the elden time—a survivor of many @ stir Winter—capable in an emergency of accommodat- ing the largest and fattest family of the most pros- perous lager beer saioon in the city, along with the driver, a target excursion and @ brass bana thrown in, It Was ampie and accommodating to the lastdegree, Driven to extremities we might have made room for a travelling cire The team was even more accommodating. Appreciating the character of the freight, they allowed the tuil- } eat latitude of time for an observant e to take in the scenery on the road or [take im oa friend by the way. That | + and grotesque sentinels in the midst of a fairy HkRALD succeeded easily enough tn securing a | YERALD, SATURDAY, team of horses oan be recommended to the whole fraternity of reporters desirous of “doing up” ine leisurely manner the sieighing route from Uaion square to McComb's Dam bridge. Their principle i never to any other team ou the road, and ¥ this sensibie and obliging course of conduct they permit ample scope tor taking a calm survey O1 overy thing. UP THE AVENUR. The Fifth Avenue Hotel was the starting point of yesterday's sieighing. Farther down town than that sleighs were tew and far between, or they were peopled with the mate gender, who, in their hirsute caps and collars, were not lovely to look at, The beauties of the avenue did not show in strength, but still there were enough keep the eye and the fancy active. majority stayed within doors, gat at the plate glass windows and appeared to caat looks of compassion down {rom their brown stone eyries on the people sliding by—many of whom, it must be confessed, refected at the tip 0 the nose the blue In the sky above them. ‘True, in- deed, it was “a nipping and an eager air." ‘rhe ress, hyperborean mivraiiieuse at the North Pole red into us a ceaseless volley of granulated lce- | bere It pierced through buffaio robes and made lght of the toughest shoe leather. Under suoh circumstances no wonder there were no countless thousands of the Jair sex abroad, and of those that were some looked dts- consolate, yet many appeared as happy as tie familiar sandower, Gur sieigh bore up ta the most persistent kind of .a way to the pleasant open space in trout of tne Catnolic cathedral. Here the nor'easter biew with a heaitny flerocness, but we bad to watt till arriving at the Park entrance to apprectate the irresistible force of hygione he brought us from Alaska, UNHAVPY ANIMALS, The most forlorn animals encountered on the Journey were the police cavairy stationed on tho avenue, It was diiticult to tell whether the civio drageon or bis noble charger sighod most for a speedy return of the balmy days of Spring. biped and quadruped sympathizea, uo doubt, and the pitying dimes who sat oenind their (pt eed en- trenchments in the windewsavove thiew down on both looks of tenderest commiaserauon, Once in the Park the scene chanzed, PICTURES IN THR PARK. ‘The snow tay over the wide-spreading lawns like the upper crust on a sugar tart, white, smouth, un- broken and lovely, The evergreens wore dasned with glistening flakes, and the unintermitting oon- trast of colors on every hand, blue noses here (among the men) and red cheeks there (among the girls), gave animation to the pic- ture. It was ail vory nice on fifth avenue, and through the Park, but, Je-roo-sa-lem, when the Sixth avenue Boulevard was reached, low the stormy winds did blow! Most of the teams tore by at & fearful rate, ag ii it were a matter ot life or death—McComb’s Dam Bridge Restaurant or nothing, That reiched, everybody was happy, and everybody Wasted bis toes at the fre beioie re- newing the journey, It was about five o'clock in the aftermoon that the tide 01 carnival turned back in ail its briliiancy tuward the silent city, mystic in the distance, The darkness was then beginnta; to gather, Along the undulating stretch of tne Fordhum road the snow lay on cither side in placid, smooth and shim- mering leyels over the wide fields, not broken by a single footstep of man or beast, aad was really & magnificent and beautiful spectaoie. ON THK BROWS OF THE HILLS the dark, rngged cutiines of the wintry roads con- trasted sharply with tie rest of the landscape, and shadows of a dusky hue were thrown upon the pure, stili surface of white. The wide extent of country that broke upon the view at the ‘bummit of each successive acclivity on the route of the glittering cavalcade of pleasure was pic- turesquely miarked by lowg lines of gray 1ences, against which the banks of ermine were piled in unusual height, and here and there were scattered solitary trees that looked like wierd domain. Their irregular outline were sprinkled with the universal decorations of white, sparklt jewels, and on such as were ol the evergreen kt the ledges of the heavy foliage were laden with great accumulations of snow, that—against the jeep sombre verdure—looked bright and brilliant, THE COSKY VILLAS BY THE WAYSIDE stood among groups of shrubbery that was fantas- ticaly decorated by the fanciful hand of nature in the same impressive fashiun. The rools were loaded with smooth canopies, & foot in depth and which overhung the eaves and the gate posts, and well-curbs presented all sorts of queer end un- sual figures, formed by the funny freaks of the wind when it had wafted the light-wingod flakes to all sorts of odd resting places, Out of an unseen quarry, evermore Furnished with tlle, the lierce artificer Curved his white bastion Round every whirlwind, stake or tree or door; Speeding, the myriad-handed, his wild work, So tancitul, so savage; nought cared he For number or proportion. Mockingly On coop and fennel he hung Parian wreathes, A swan-like torm invests the biddon thorn; And at the gate A tapering turret overtops the work. And when his hours are numbered and the world Was all his own, retiring as he were not Lett, when the sun appeared, astonished Art To mimic in slow structures, stone by stone, Built in an age, the mad wind's night-work, ‘The trolic architecture of the snow. Past alt these pictures, strange for the suburbs oi New York, 4 with projected roof THK SWIFT SLEIGHS slid along, with their thoughtless loads of merry hearts, like the very wind; and the happy beils kept time with their {ingling music to the quick fall of the horses’ hoois in the suow. At this time the road was crowded more than at any other auring the day, and the long line o1 prancing teams and handsome equipages seemed to have no end, asit swept by, uke tue rapid succession of beauti- ful images in vivid dream, Coming back with more rapid pace than when going out, THE KEEN SOUTHWEST BREEZE biew straight in tho face, but its searching breath sent tirough the dlood a tingling sensation of vigor and warnith, while the merry sights and sounds linked with an exquisite excitement so rare and racy as to set the fancy dancing and the heart leaping in an exuberance of pleasure. From behind the fying steeds the powdered snow flew in fine showers like the spray of @ cascade and sparkled in the sunlight. For when MacComb’s dam bridge had been reached add the fleet runners slackened in speed, and went more slowly r the creaking structure witha sharp crisp sound that even nad an accent of melody about It, the afternoon sun at ast had began to peep out from the clouds that since Wednesday had obscured the sky, and suddenly, aa if by the art of magic, THE WHOLE SCENE HAD CHANGED. The snow that heretoiore had simply been spot- lessly white and pure, now Was possessed of a thousand varying charms, and the world glistened and gleamed in the genial [ing of the golden light. ‘rhen the real glory of the sleighing carnival was begun, and thenceforth the groves by the roadside and the bare, ant rocks echoed to silvery peals of laughter from fair and | ruby lips. Joility ruled the hour and the womanly faces that passed were wreathed in witching smiles, while the gruff voices of the men were ren- dered musical by an iustinctive appreciation of the poetry of this line bag of life, ‘Tue representative of the HERALD, bundled up in huge firs and with ears and cheeks half frozen, tumbied out of his equipage at Dodge's and par- wok of the hospitalits there afforded. Here were fathered in the bafroom one or two of the old orsemen who had graced the Lane with their presence: from his earliest recollection. JOVIAL FACED FELLOWS some of them were, with loity Arctic caps and reat fur coats, Their nopby nags were munchin} heir bits impatiently under the shed in the yard, while they chatted professionally over atosming cups. The place, however, was not so crowde as it has formerly been when Tammany munificence was in full flow and the dia- monds in the shirt-bosoms of her magnates sparkled almost as thickly as the flak ol snow upon the road, The dining room tha’ seen some sumptuous “spreads” in its time was feprted and “Alexander,” the negro walter, who a8 a cdniused sort of intellect, was utteriy at a loss what todo upon the entrance of strangers, until a mild-taced virgin somewhat more than “sweet sixteen” gently addressed him by his dis- tinguished Christian name and reminded him of the requirements of duty. He then started for the kitchen, and the hungry wayfarers who had ar- rived sat down to waiting and to melancholy. Both were at length termmated by the arrival of the repast. te sorte Horses were once more brought to the door and the périted Of picasure-seekers started off with louder spirits and more fovial faces, flusned with excitement and pleasure, From the Hariom River to Mount St. Vincent the driving wag jaster, and jocose rivalry was displayed all along the route by the owners of good and ae animals, The picture was wonderful in its variations. Here, .=— - RUSHING ALONG LIKE A METEOR, Came & clean, smooth, neat-limbed mare, of a soft brown cotor, whose nostrils, stretched wide, were fringed with trozen bs Aig and her silky mane filied with ice. Her bells flngied merrily, and she passed ail her rivals at a steady pacé, kept back as she struggied to overcome the curb of the bit | only by the firm resolution of the tall, powerful i inan who sat in the nobby cutter and held the reins tightly, as if he knew the very Soul of nis restive servant. He wore & low, thick cap that covered ail of his head except his eyes and mouth, and from the latter could: be dis- tinguished im the keen air a white cloud of vapor, curling upward and congealing on @ huge, shaggy mustache that drooped irom his upper lip. Under- Heath @ pair of over-jutting eyebrows his dark eyes gleamed like torchlights upon the faces that passed, and seemed to ask their sympathy for the spiendid speed of his favorite. He was A VETERAN LOVER OF THE HORSB, whom all of his fratermty know well. Next, fol- lowing directly in the footsteps of the mare, came vaulting steed with great and strop; rides, who carried his head proudly, and had a clear, mellow eye, that however dasied fire as he moved along. He is a Patcpen, with long, slim legs and a sweeping tail, His dark coat was clad In te formed by the frozen perspiration. The sieigh con- tained & healthy, ruddy-fuced man and a young, golden-haired woman. How gayly they chat und how heartily they jaugh, and how their cheeks giow and their eyes sparcie as they fly past! Few otners venture to follow them in the mad race jor first position in the procession, and the rest of the line goes on at the same rate as velore, only with DECEMBER 28, 1872—WITH SUPPLEMENT, protty, are rendered id whose faces, alread: nf given by the wind an beautiful by the warm fu: weathor, A tast team, with two of the “bho; behind it, dashes by them, and they look back gayly and smile archly, Presently they go ahead of another “rig,” and they cast at the conquered horse and man a taunting glance, in which 1 mingted their triamph and challenge. They are all the way chatting and laugting loud. They are happy. A youthful brother beside the driver is playing the gallant by smoking a cigar. NEXT IN THE PANORAMA is a gruff individual in a sumptuous sled drawn by a pair of beautiful horses. Hew ali alone in bis pleasure, and his face is hard and stern. He ts unhappy. Then come aco ple upon whose heads », wealth and youth have ail descen led. ‘The young man has his arm about tua companion, and she looks with demure eagerness in his iace, and their eyes meet. They are happy. Then there comes with more ponderous speed a great family sleigh, driven by A FROWSY COACHMAN, with @ beery look and smali eyes that peer doubt- fully over the top of the old shawl which is wound about his head, The steeds are rather angular than otherwise. But behind them is the merriest burden o1 cheery hearts in the whole length of the roud pee on, It id 6a familiar party, ‘here +18 the iather, & gra;-haired gen- tieman, with some hundred in the bank, and potoing to werry him; beside Imm lua round. jaced spouse, beauting with contentment, and Opposite, and warmly wrapped In ¢oaks and shawls, & young Woman, with a sweet @ce, and two little children whose cheeks bloum Like the roses of Summer, Every ono knows it is @ family, and 80 every one looks at them witn kindly inquisitiveness, So the scenes change, and all tue characters come and go with different looks and in different circumstances, ‘There were rude, uncushioned biexghs with German butchers in them, following atter a grand turnout with four spanking horses and liveried attendants. There were, however, few sportsmen out whose names, if mun- tioned, would be known to the general public. The only one was Mr. Harry Hill, who, with his fast mare Maggie, bad ventured to try the virtue oi the snow, ie Was accompanied by @ lady whose youth and beauty attracted the at- tention and envy of all his old cronies who saw him on the road, more even than the whirlwind spoed with which he traversed the slippery track behind his fect favorite. MOUNT ST, VINOENT was the most popular stonping, lace, and when the cavalcade arrived here the it was rapidly waning. From the high elevation of tue verunda of the hote: the view was simply sublime. ‘Te yel- low sunset hues tinted the sky from the far north around to tne south with a rioh softness and beauty that cast a reflected glow liko @ tlood of moiten gold over the whole of the white Sparkling seenery. Towards Macomb's Dam Bridge the whole extent o! the Lane lay below and was marked on both sides by long lines of brilliant lights like ribbons of gold, oe in the listance as faras the eye could reach, Faintly, from below, came the sounds of merry carvival echoing those nearer at hand as the sleighs drove by at the foot of the hill. Tho bells sounded like pattering of fairy feet clad in golden sandals upon 8 Ps als of silver, ‘om Mount St. Vincent ‘TO THR Ory the ride was lighted by the stars that had sprung one by one out of the deep blue. The snow glis- tened weirdly, and the convent hill on the right, with its dark, frowning buildings and biack trees, looked io os | picturesque. The Park was almost empty and the greater part of the slcighing parties went homeward by the way of Fifth avenue, which all the way down was crowded until late in the evening. SLEIGHING IN BROOKLYN. Life on the Snow-Clad Streets and Roads Past and Present. “Now for it!” was the expression which arose to many youthful lips, as bright faces gazed out from snug apartments in the houses of the well-to- do people of Brookiyn upon the snowy hillocks which spread out far as the vision could range yes terday morning; “Now for a jolly, good, old-fash- jened sleigh ride, and perhaps hall a dezen jaunts ever the fleecy carpet, before a change in the humor of the Clerk of the Weather dissipates the pleasing prospect.’’ Such expresstons were uttered by many, and such fond hopes were entertained upon taking observations yesterday from the breakfast room window. Even then Old Mother Goose was picking her “New Year's poul- try’ as the white flakes were falling rapidly in tiny particles, which certainly appeared to give color to the anticipation of a protracted sojourn of the Winter covering upon our streets, roads and byways. The grocer, butcher and baker were first to make their appearance upon the streets “on runners,” and the merry jingling of their bells only tended all the more to excite a desire on the part of the customers of the tradespeople to emu- Tate that system of rapid transit. But, dificuities were apparent even to the enthusiastic lover of sleighing. It was observed that THE WORKING SLEIGHS ofthe storekeepers were compelled to remain in the middle of the street whenever they halted to leave their supplies, and that great snow banks which bordered the sidewalks would not admit of the sleighs being brought near the curb, This was certaimly A DRAWBACK. It was a serious obstacle to the little, tender feet of the fair ones, who did “go long for a sleigh ride.”” How were they to reach the sleigh? With those who could make the requisite arrangements for a drive on the runners this trivial diMficulty was soon obviated, Have a passage cut through THE AROTIO BANK, This could be done. The labor was not 80 great, There were poor laboring men standing upon every corner with shovels ready, Waiting ior just such work, Muscular arms were soon brought into requisition, and the brightly polished shovel was not long in delving to the very bottom of the deepest snow bank and clearing a broad way through which the fair ones could pass to the sleigh. Money thus expended was laid out in A CHARITABLE MANNER it helped to allev.ate the wants of fellow creatures, Who, too, could enjoy the delights of the snow-clad re had they the means, but to whom the stipend afforded in this way was far more acceptable aa it relieved an absolute necessity. Be that as it may, one thing 18 certain, by ten o'clock there were MANY PRETTY SLEIGHS IN MOTION upon all sides. There were many bright eyes glis- tening all the brighter for theexhilaration of the motion, Roses glowed to a deeper vermillion upon tue fair cheeks of the warmly muffled, budalo- wrapped oconpants of the handsome wheelless conveyances. ‘The music of happy, cheery voices resounded upon every side, and ita CHARM WAS CONTAGIOUS. Even the plodding pedestrian could not fall to feel the lighter-hearted apd better for its influ- ence. There were difficulties, notwithstanding, attendant upon locomotion yesterday. The roads were not yet broken and THE PIONRER PLBASURISTS suffered the inconventences consequent thereon, The movement was tar from rapid, except wheo the drive was along the car tracks On the beaten course of the plough; then a more rapid and agree- able rate of progress was attainable. 1t happened naturally, theretore, that sieighing parties turned their horses’ heads along the car routes, There were many sieighs along Court street, Fulton av- enue, Flatbush, Myrtie, Grecne, Gates, Third, Ruth and Atintic avenues, On Clinton street, from Fulton to Third place, hundreds of parties found their way—this course having long been @ favorite route with Brooklynites, Some there were who pushed out ee haa street with the hope of reaching rR ect Park, but these enterprising adventurers did hot long continue to pursue the ~-2 |. UNEVEN TENOR OF THE Way. ee There wad tod gréat an acdumulatiol Of snow to be circumferenced (to borrow a phrase from Dan Bryant). They turned back the routes whence they had gone, determined upon abiding their time untli the snow shall have settled down @ little better. Tuen ho rr tne Coney Isiand road! When the angw settles and becomes Moré compact there will be heard a very m uy tintinnabulation of silvery Rela yooh the Isidha road Bye, Toutes in that direction most popular fi 6é ¥ulton avenue, Flatbush aventié, Union street, Third areas fo Prospect Park, over the “drives” out to Franklin avenne, thence tothe Coney Island road. About the terminus of this route with the general public is “Mort Tunison’s—that 1s, the half-way house to the island. Here all sportsmen halt for a iew momenta. John Buckley's, a short distance from the Park turning, is also a general stopping place. But the chief attraction to members of the Prospect Park Association is their own COOL AND AIRY club house, Here it is customary to repair in sieighing times, during a fine evening, end enjoy a warm meal and adance. This programme will be repeated this season unless the signs of the times augur wrong, OF THE PAST. Years ago it was customary for sleighing parties to drive out to John 1. Snediker’s, to the EKight- Mile Honse, near the Union race course, over the old Jamaica plankroad. There they would alight, artake of a leg good supper and ave @ dance, to the inspiration of a full band of music, procured by the host of the inn. But the construction of the Coney Island road in sater years diverted patronage from the Jamaica route, a peauniary Winter harvests of “John 1.” fell off. He sold out, and the scene of jollity of former days, like the harp of Tara, has fed the hall of the Inn. The apartment is now used as @ “dormitory for smali boys’—the truants of Kings county, wno promise to be fit for nothing but Congressmen when they shall have at- tained the years which quailfy them for holding office, The Eight-Mile House is now the County ‘Traant Home. So much for the past and present. The future is promising. The roads of Brooklyn are level and numerous, and with the present that the lovers of sleighing will have ample oppor- increasing fun ana excitement. Thore is a fine, three-acated sied, behind a si¢ek pair of grays, hose color matches well the mantied earth | around. The warm cushions aud robes of tur en | compass A PARTY OF PRETTY GIRL, Whose looks are charmingly rougiah 16 Wicked, | tunity to indalge their taste for that right royal Wiuter pastime ee Panda eo SOCIAL RINGS. Washington Tycoons of Upper-Tendom Un- der the Lens. eee Charming “Affairs” and the Cost Thereof. Delightful Society and Pleasant Appropriations by Complaisant Congress—The Men of Sci- ence and Their Distinguished Ways— Something About the Gay Season. WASHINGTON, Doc, 26, 1872. Washtngton society has, like Saturn and New York potitics, ita “‘ringa"’ clearly defined, and more firmly banded together than the Arch Perpetual Tycoona of the upper degrees of Freemasonry, Few strangers are ever admitted into the festive gatherings of these exclusive sets, and whenever ®@ Congressman ts invited he is made to understand that he is highly honored. THRE SOLBNTIFIO RING 18 headed by the venerable Professor Henry, who ia high custodian of that enlarged architectural toy, the Smithsonian Institution. To make room for his charming family, and to have @ spare bed for @ visiting savant, the Professor has had to benevotently turn over the library of the estab- lishment to Congress, which has givon it sholter at the Capitol and pays the librartan, and he has also donated the entomological specimens to the De- partment of Agriculture, where the bugs are cared for without cost to him. The collections of the exploring expeditions of the government are re- tained, as Congress appropriates $16,000 per annum for their care, and hag been asked this year to donate $20,000 more to Ot up a now museum hall, with $12,000 to heat the establishment. The right-hand man of the Smithsonian, Proiessor Baird, receives some $20,000 for prosecuting his inquiries into the decreaso of food-fishes, and for the introduction of shad imto the Western waters, and the Government Printing Ofice publishes the annual report free, 30 Professor Henry has at his disposal the $39,000 per annum woich Uncle Sam has to pay, because of the investment in worthless bonds of old Smithson’s bequest. But the amount of knowleage “diffused among men" in return for these large appropriations from the public treas- ury is so great that the profane only dare allude to it in whispers, especially those admitted to the charming hospitalities of the institution, THE GOAST SURVEY ia another delightiul nucleus around which may be found some of the most charming people in Wash- ington, although the superintendent, Professor Peirce, is domiciliated at Harvard College. His assistant, Professor Hilyard, who runs the ma- chine, has an attractive house on N street; and of all the pleasant resorts ia the suburbs, none {8 more delightful than ‘Brentwood,’ where the hydrographic man of the concern, Cap- tain Patterson, dispenses rural hospitalities. But the great social charm of the Coast Survey is its “parties” who go North in tne Summer and South in the Winter, anf on which young men out of health or business go, receiving the “compensation to clviuans,” which forms a pleasant item in the sum of $732,000, which Protessor Peirce estimates his expensesat. In ante-bellum days some ignorant barbarian would occasionally rise in Congress to intimate that this survey of the coast had cost too much money, and that it could have been done for half of the millions then spent onit. But of late it is such a convenient haven of refuge for impecunt- ous members of the families of those in power that no member of Congress has the audacity to ques- tion the value of its geodetic connections, its hy- drographic reconnaissances, its magnetic observa- tions, or the social pre-eminence of its officers. ‘True, the engineer corps is doing the same work on the great lakes and across the Continent better and for less money, but the social position of the Coast Survey people, you know, keeps it unchal- heavy covering of snow there can be no doubt but | lenged. A LIGHTHOUSE IN THE SKIES was the derisive term applied by the democrats to President John Quincy Adams’ project for a na- tional observatory, and it was denounced as an unconstitutional expenditure. But finally a “Bu- reau of Navigation” was establisned in the Navy Department ior the regulation of chromometers, and this has grown into a full pledged observatory. There is a full naval , With au admiral at its head, and a dozen or more subordinate official besides *‘clvilians’’ to do the work, the annual cos! being about $25,000 in addition to the pay and al- lowauces of the naval men. It is a charming spot, though, when the malaria is not floating on the ad- jacent low lands, and M. F. Maury, who got it up ‘88 a life-home, but went into Secessia, must often wish himsel( back aguin, What can be more agree- able for a gallant young Kepresentative than to take a hack (paid for out of the contingent expense fund), and escort a/| couple of fair friends to the Observatory, where they can clamber up into the revolving dome and take peeps at the planets? There is @ huge book of cabalistic signs and figures prepared here also, called “The American Ephemeris.” Just think o1 that! Who envies the oficérs or the civilians at the Observatory their places so long as the estab- lishment has to stagger under the responsibiltty of such a work, which would have made Dominic Samson ejeculate, ‘Prodigious |”? ANOTHER EUROPEAN NOTION, which has recently cropped out on thi. same Bu- reau oi Navigation of the Navy, is a “Hydrographic Oftice” tor lon ted to men-of-war and mer- chantmen. ‘The Hydrographer is Commodore Wy- man, the Assistant Hydrographer is Commander Shirk, and there are a dozen subordinate officers. Last year, which was the commencement of the establishment, the bills, other than pay and allow- ances, were $97,500, but this year the jovial Kobe- son asks for $218,300, OTHER SCIENTIFIC MEN are quartered im the Ordnance Worps of the army and of the navy, at the drsenal on Greenieaf’s Point, at the Marine Hospital and in the recesses - of the General Land Office and of the Patent Ofice. ‘Then we have the government explorers, wio go forth each Spring with their ‘appropriations, aud who return in December with accounts of wonder- hts and of their disbursements, Even the old travellers, who saw the Phoenix expire in her odo- ri us nest, whence the regenerated chick svon flew forth, or who had found dead lions slain by the quills shot from its own body by some ‘‘/retiul orcupine,” or who knew that the stare of the Basilisk was death—even these, who saw unicorns graze and heard mermaids sing—were oracies of truth, compared with our explorers. But our Marco Polos and Mendez Pintos are valuable in our “scientiNe society,” as their romances fascinate Congressmen and aid in making the most stingy Western members vote loudly “aye” on the items ol scientific expenditure, THK ELEEMOSYNARY INSTITUTIONS which have established themseives here within the past five-and-twenty years are a part of the “scientific society ring,’’ aad strengthen it much. There is no more delightful drive in pleasant | weather than to the “Government Hospit: Jor the Insane,” where the courteous Supermféendent, Dr. Nicholls, exercises Uboral hospitality, and yet he pes only asked Congress to Appropriato $130,000 tor his disbursement during the next fiscal year, The Columbia Institution tor the Deaf and Dumb, located on Amos Kendall's eit Getate high {5 | another pleasant piace to visit Tn the Summer, oniy requires $43,000 a year to run it, and the Co- Yuppie” Aespat i jor Women and Lying-in sylum {s équally modest jn its demands. ‘the Reform School, located on the picturesque site known as Fort Lincein ot the war, gets along with $9,760, while the Freedmen’s Hospital needs 60,000, Then there Is the Seldiéty’ ltome, that lovely rufal retreat ndrth of the city, maintained bed the fines imposed on living soldicra and tne un- claimed pay of those deceased, amounting to about $100,000 4 year or more, and affording @ charming home for @ few veterans and a favored officers. All the regaid’ retreats for talent and respectability furnish A UNITED STRENGTH which no Congressman can resist, and the million and a half ef money which is voted them is ac- cepted as a paltry eg A) science, which brave men and fair women acknowledge by dispensing delightful hospitality, Vocasionaly Agassiz or some other notable comes to aid by his presence, aud on the whole this scientific wicel is a feature of the government machine, CHRISTMAS CHEER was abundant last night, and there were many pleasant family gatherings, ascending in the social scale from those of the freedmen, in their little shanties on the island, to that at the Executive Mansion, where the young Grants bad 4 jovial time with their cousins, te Dents and the Sharps, while the old people looked on Spprovingly, aiding in the distribution of presents, To-day there is SLEIGHING ON THE AVENUE, with some nobby turnouts, but none that compare with the quaintly carved old Mus- covite ark 0a runners. with which Baron Bodisco used to delight the darkies as it was slowly hauled to and fro by four horses. Pennsylvania avenue, with six inches of level snow trodden down ow its ievel wood pavement, is a grand corso for the exhibition of horses, ladies, sleighs, furs and drivers, and if some men will “lot out” their fast crabs it is because there was too much whiskey iu the egg nog of which they partoox eve starting, aad pot that they desire to disobey the laws, THR GAY SRASON {4 10 ComManca nave end last until Lent. to the delight of hairdressers and setters of kid gloves,18 well a3 to those Who oxpect to achieve conquest. Young Snobbe, who now watks lan- guidiy down the avenue, listiessly swngng Be cane, will be seen dashing off with a partner intoe gulop, having an arm as steady and an eye as quick asone of Full Sheridan's troopers going into w melée, The anxioua mother willbe seen sitting gap- ing against the wall, her eyes telegraphing angry glances when her daughter dances with @ lieutenant, or beaming with raptare when the 14 taken into supper by some foreign noodle of tinction. Musicians wili piay all night aud yawa” ail day, epicures will gourmandize on Wormley’s terrapiy, or Welcher’s boned turkeys, and those who, like your faithful correspondent, have to chront- cle what 1s going on, will doubtless endorse the opinion of Alphonse of Castile, that woman is » creature “qué s'habulte, se déshabilte, et dapiile,” THE MISSISSIPPI {CE-GORGZ. Great Destruction of Steamboat Property and Freight on the Great National Water Route—Tho Coal Supply of Memphis Sub- merged—The Losses About $250,000. Memesis, Dec, 27, 1872 Last night the tee gorged at “Hen and Chickena,’* Just above the city, aud at two o'clock the gorge broke and the ico came dowm with terrifle force, sweeping off the dry docks, then cutting down tes barges of coal belonging to Brown & Jonca, and finally steamer after steamer from the wharf, unt it was thought that not @ single one of the large number there could be saved, ‘The following {a & list 01 the boats carried ow:— Laura, Belle Pike, 5. D. Walt, Undine, Weat Wing and City of Augusta, The towboat Neilie Thomas is in a critical condition, and itis dountful whether she can be saved, as the ice is running vory heavily. The West Wind and S. D. Wait are loaded with cotton, The biuMs ia front of the city and the levee are lined with people watclung the strange spectacie of the destruction by the ice of the boats m the river, Just above the foot of Jefferson atreet lies the 5. D. Walt, crowded on shore and broken in two, Above her is the Belle Pike, sunk to her guards and supported by empty barges, Just below lies the Laura, badly broken. Crewe are bually sugaged in wrecking the steamors im order to save all possible before the ice changes their condition, Just at the water thas lies the West Wind, driven on the bow of the White Star whartbeat, her upper works a complete wreck, but her hull, yee bales of cotton, ts comparatively unta- ured, Just astern and crowded tn the outer guard of the wharfboat lies the Andy Baum, with her upper works badly damaged and the boat in a precarious condition, The whariboat is but little injured. At its stern the Arlington, Glasgow and St. Francis are lying with their guaras and upper works smashed. Owing to the confusion and strenuous efforts of the crews to save everytuimg possible and guar aguinst further danger it is impossible to obtaim retiable data as to losses, The Walt is owned by Elliott Brothers, of Memphis, who are Bow eu gaged im wrecking her and saving ali the cottom possible, The Laura will be a total loss. She is owned by to- Ceptatn James, her commander, ‘The Belie Pike will prove almost a total loss, gether with her cargo of cotton. She la owned by the St. Louis and Naples Packet Company. Se ta being wrecked. ‘The dry docks, after being driven down to the foot of Exchange street, were secured and witt robably be saved, house they and the steamer Pat. Claiborne are in a critical condition; likewise the Nellie Thomas, whose upper works are crushed, The West Wind, belonging to Massingdale & Bo man, of Nashville, is In great peril—having Ser stripped of her upper works and forced against the wharf boat with such power as to break her shafts. The Undine and Helen have broke, and the Summer Koon has sunk out of sight, The Clipper, a towboat, was driven to the head of President’s Island, and will:prove a total loss, Brown & Jones have lost about one hundred and thirty thousand dollars’ worth of coal, leaving only three days’ supplies in the hands of dealers tm: Memphis. The gasworks which supply the city are without a day’s supply, Coal dealers have ad- vanced the prices to $2 per barrel, which will cause great suifering among the poor. When the break-up occurred and,the Andy Baum. was driven down on the wharfboat, Taylor Weils, one of her pilots, attempted to jump from the hury ricane deck to the wharfboat, but fell into the river and was badly crushed by the ice. He was rescued with great dificulty. John Clinton and the barkeeper both made leaps, but were badiy bruised, The James Howard arrived from below about ten o’clock and made several ineflectual em forts to pull the City of Augusta out, without being able to move her. ‘The river ia still rising, having risen three and @ half feet since last eveuing. A gorge formed at Randolph again to-day, but broke in the afternoon. The ice at six o'clock was running heavier than ever, The James Howard succeeded in saving the Undine, Helen Brooke and City of Augusta. The work of wrecking the K. P. Walt, Beile Pike ang West Wind 1s being pushed with great energy. The total loss by the disasters will not tatl shore of a quarter of a miilion dollars, All the steam- ers at the landing have steam up, anticipatin, reater danger to-night. The short supply of coal & the all-absorbing topic, and the question is asked whether the gas companies Can supply thew customers, THE MODOO WAR Redskins Receiving Reinforcee ments—Militia Asked For, SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 27, 1872. A telegram from Yreka says that the Modocs are being reinforced by straggugy indians. Some ot the Pitt River tribes bave joined them. The Oregon volunteers will soon be mustered out, There are 280 soldiers in the fleld. Details for escort and guard duty leave only seventy-five fighting men and only fourteen soldiers at Fort Klamath Reservation to guard 2,500 Indians. Mortars and bombshells are to be smployed. te storming the Indians’ lava-bed stronghold. The citizens of Yreka have appointed P, A, Dorris to go to Sacramento snd ask Governor Booth for a company of volunteers to go to tha. seat of war, which is partly in Oregon and partly ~ in California, on either side of the boundary line, A despatch to-night says that last Saturday @ party of soldiers, en route from Camp Bidwell ta Captain. Berrand’s camp, on Lost River, were at- tacked by about fifty Modoc Indians. Two soldicrs were killed and four wourded, Five mules were killed, The soldiers who were killed were scalped, No Indians are Known to be killed. “THE ERIE GANAL. An Independent Polley Sugyested to the sicmers of the Empire The Burrato, N. Y., Dec, 27, 1872. The Advertiser of this afternoen publishes aa elaborate exposition of an independent canat policy for tho Empire State, from the pen of Israet T. Haten, taking the ground that although the benefits of the ric Canal are national, yet the State of New York is able to take care of ber owm canals without taxjug her own people gy caf oF~ the Union to furnish carrying caparify to move to our metropolitan city the whole export portion of~ Western crops, now aud hereafter, cheaper tham Qny existing or projected route, Me aiso showa, fem mathematical deductions from French setence, the capacity of the Eric Caual and points out how the carly cpgingers were governed by these, im theif formula tables ahd Specifications, in con- structing the original canal ag well as the present enlargement. He further says the only enlarges ment now needed is of braius and honesty in the carfal administration; that the first needed step in canal reform has been accomplished in the elece tion of General Dix; that if vessel, propeller aud raliway owners in Chicago had regulated thelr ex- orbitant freight charges this year by the compara tively cheap transportation of the Erle Canal the Western farmers would not this Winter be burue ing their corn for fu A VERY SAD OCCURRENCE. A Seton Hall College Seminarian Ace cidentally Shot. In Roseville, a suburban portion of Newark, on Christmas Day, a melancholy shooting accident took place, by which a young seminarian of Seton Hall College nearly lose bis life, amd the Catholic Church a probable clergyman. A number of Newarkers had gathered te wit- @ shooting match. Considerable shooting was done all day without anything lappeniug to mar the sport. Towards evening, he ever, one of the marksmen, Mr. Joht Ball, of Bauk street, Newark, slipped witle atint at the target. The rife went of, the low of lead golug in an oblique direction among the spectators, lodging iu the arm of Seminartan devence Brady, who ia about twenty-two Sac of age. Ho was removed to St, Michael's Hospital, where it was found necessary to amputate the arm in order to save hisiife. It is probuble ne wi’ now recover. He is represented by those An knew him as being & young man of morepeen ordinary talent, and, it is said, would hye, The ordained @ Catholic priest in a sortase direce loss of bis arm destroys all his hopes gypdidate tion, however, as it is essential 1 jy vaicaily per- tho priesthood that he shouldy/: Pe the young fect. Deep commiseration ¥aray triguds maaa ia Newark, where he be