The New York Herald Newspaper, May 15, 1873, Page 6

6 BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, Volame XXXVIII.... added ea nearer . AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING, THEATRE COMIQUE, No. 514 Broadway.—Dnaua, Burvesqve aNd O10. BOWERY THEATRE, Bowery.—Rir Van Winxts— Our Jeminy, &c. NEW FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, 728and 730 Broad- way.—D1voncr. WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st.— Four Knaves anp Tuk Pack. Afternoon and evening. ATHENEUM, £85 Broadway.—Granp Variety Enter- ‘TAINMENT. NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway. between Prince and Houston Tux M. 8t&.—AZRAEL; AGiC Cuakm, Matinee. UNION SQUARE TI Broadway.—Frovu Frov. OLYMPIC THEAT! and Bicecker street. WALLACK’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street.—Tuk Squire's Last SHILLiNG. Broadway. between Houston ery DUMPTY. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st. and Eighth fav.—Monte Cristo. BOOTH’S THEATRE, Twenty-third street, corner Sixth avenue.—Axy Ronsant. GERMANIA THEATRE, Fourteenth street, near Third avenue.—Das StirtuNGsrEst. MRS, F. B, CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Unver tue Gasuicut, &¢. STEINWAY HALL, Fourteenth street.—Briurw's REApinas. CENTRAL PARK GARDEN—Sumuxr Niguts’ Con- cemrs. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— Vanisty ENTERTAINMENT. BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSF, Twenty-third st.. corner 6th av.—Necno Mixsraxisy, ac. ‘Matineo at? NEW YORK MUSEUM OF ANATOMY, 618Broadway.— &cimyce anv Art. TRIPLE SHEET. New York, Thursday, May 15, 1873. THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. “THE SOUTH AND WEST ON CHEAP TRANSPOR- TATION AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOP: MENT” —LEADER—SIXxTH PAGE, VICTORY FOR DORREGARRY! A BLOODY AND MOST IMPORTANT BATTLE IN SPAIN! THE CARLIST LEADER, SURPRISED AND ROUTED, SUDDENLY HALTS IN HIS FLIGHT AND FAIRLY OVERWHELMS THE ENEMY! TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER ON BOTH SIDES! A HERALD “SPECIAL” KILLED OR CAPTURED—SEVENTH PAGE. THE NOVA SCOTIA MINE HORRORS! SMOKE AND FLAMES POURING FROM THE SHAFTS IN GREAT QUANTITIES, AND THE PEOPLE FLYING FROM THE SCENE OF TERROR! NAMES OF FIFTY-THREE OF THE VIC- TIMS! EVERY’ PERSON IN THE MINES CERTAINLY DEAD! APPALLING SCENES OF DISTRESS—Tarep Pace. RUSSIA’S WAR WITH KHIVA! THE KHAN PRE- PARING FOR A FURTHER STRUGGLE! THE RUSSIANS DEFEAT A FORCE OF TUR- COMANS, KILLING TWENTY-TWO AND CAPTURING ALL THEIR CAMELS! CAL- GUTTA ADVICES AS TO THE CAMPAIGN— SEVENTH PAGE, THE IDENTIFICATION AND BURIAL OF GEN- ERAL AGRAMONTE! THE HERO'S DEATH A SEVERE BLOW TO THE CAUSE OF CUBA LIBRE—THE SPANISH MINISTERS AGREE UPON AN ELECTORAL REFORM BILL FOR CUBA—SEVENTH Pages, THE SPANISH ELECTIONS—A FRENCH MINIS- TERIAL IMBROGLIO—THE GRAND ARMY REUNION—SEVENTH Pace. BOSTON MERCHANTS AND BANKS BADLY SWINDLED! A BROKER “RAISES” CHECKS TO THE TUNE OF OVER A QUARTER OF A MILLION! THE DISCOVERY AND IMPRISON- MENT OF THE OPERATOR—Tuigp PacE, 4 FERRYBOAT PANIC! RUN INTO BY A COAL BARGE ! THE SINKING OF THE STEAMER HOPE—THE UNITARIAN CONFERENCE— THrp Pace. USURY GIVEN THE FINAL COUP BY THE LEGIS- LATURE! A REGENT CHOSEN! AMEND- MENS TO THE CONSTITUTION AND THE CODE! CORNELL'S DEFENCE—TENTH PaGE. JUST BEFORE THE EXECUTION! AN AFFECT. ING SUENE IN LUSIGNANI’S CELL—COUN- SEL FOR MICHAEL NIXON TRYING TO SECURE A POSTPONEMENT OF THE DREAD SENTENCE OF THE LAW—FourtH Pace. BUSINESS IN THE VARIOUS COURTS—NEWS FROM THE YACHT CLUB HOUSES—NEW SANITARY REGULATIONS FOR THE ME- TROPOLIS—REAL ESTATE SALES—Fovrra Pacer. A “BREAK” IN PACIFIC MAIL! THE STOCK DECLINES OVER FIVE CENT! GOLD AND FORE! XCHANGE ADVANCED! STOCKS DECLINED—SELLING “THE BOSS’ '; REAL ESTATE—FirtH PGE. FATHER ¥LATTERY’S ZEAL REMEMBERED BY HIS PARISHIONERS—THE POLITICAL STRUGGLES IN THE LOCAL ARENA—MA- RINE NEWS—TEntu Pace, Mayor Havemryer’s Anrrametican Propo- siT1oN Sertiep.—Take one from cight and seven or less remain. Can this be called an exchange of rings? Tae Presipent anv His Generats, with the Army of the Potomac, being under the elms, yesterday was a great day to the happy little city of NewHaven. ‘All is quiet on the Potomac.’ Tae New Comuissionrr or THE Unirep Stares to THE Vienna Exrostrioy, Jackson 8. Schultz, is an appointment which gives general satisfaction. As a practical and experienced business man Mr. Schultz is well qualified for the important duty of the general supervision over the United States department of the Vienna fair, and under his direction we hope soon to hear the welcome tidings that the lately empty tables and compartments assigned to the agricultural products and manufactures of our country are handsomely filled with the substantial evidences of American talent, skill and industry. ‘dt is never too late to mend.’ Tue Catcaco Times, referring to Judge Law- rence, of Illinois, remarks that “his attitude as the candidate of the railroad companies presents the first instance in the history of Il- linois, and perhaps the first on this Continent, where a man has sought te get a judicial office as the candidate of a special interest created by the very laws upon which he expects to ad- judicate.”” The Times ought to have learned ere this that the railroad monopolists of the coun- try stop at no obstacles to atfan their pur- poses—even the erming of the jndicial bench 4s not held sacr®i by them. It remains for the people of Illinois to determine whether the railroad candidate for their Supreme Court shall be elected or not. NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, MAY 15, 1873.—TRIPLE SHEET, soath and West on Cheap NEW YORK HERALD oe see and Indastrial De- velopment. The managers of the Congressional Conven- tion at St. Louis and of the proposed Govern- ors’ Convention at Atlanta, as well as others who have some prominence and take an inter- est in these movements, declare that they have no political object in view and that their only purpose is to consider what can be done to promote the material interests of the West and South, the question of cheap transportation for the products of the soil being the principal one to engage their attention. Tho Congress- men and Governors being prominent public men the party press generally has given the movement a cold look, fearing that it might result in a new political issue or some political change. Old parties do not like innovations, anda dominant party, preferring the status quo, clings to the policy that gave it power. The declarations of those taking a leading part in the St. Louis and Atlanta conventions, whether made in sincerity or to allay the apprehensions of party politicians, must for the pres- ent be accepted in good faith. If this movement, in connection with the movements of the Western farmers, should be well encouraged, it must in the end have considerable influence on the politics and governmental policy of the country ; for, after all, the material interests of the people and of different sections of the Republic are the basis of public policy. However, upon the maxim that sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, we shall specially consider the avowed and present object which the conventions referred to and the farmers’ granges have in view. The Mayor of St. Louis, in his opening ad- dress to the Congressional Convention, or Conference, as he preferred to call it, said delegates had not been called there to discuss local attractions, to bring undue influence to bear upon them, or to influence legislation in favor of any particular section, that might injure other sections of our common country. The object was to submit a plain, practical exhibit of the need of the West and South for improved water communication to the ocean. He referred especially to the necessity of mak- ing the navigation of the Mississippi River safe, and instanced the wrecks of thirty-six steamers in a bend of that river only four miles in length—in the ‘(Graveyard Bend,”’ as it was appropriately called. Ho argued that, as cheap and safe transit for the products of the Mississippi valley has, and must always have, great influence on the markets of the world, the removal of obstructions and the deepening of the channel of the great river and its tributaries were necessary. He no- ticed, too, that in consequence of the high rates of freight to the seaboard many farmers had actually burned their corn for fuel, be- cause to transport it would bring them in debt. The Hon. Henry T. Blow observed that cheap transportation was the great thing needed, and added that, though the country is threaded with railroads, over which passen- gers and freight can be transported in all directions, a feeling had grown up in the Mis- sissippi valley, as well as in other parts of the country, that there are existing and extending combinations on the part of railroad cor- porations against the interests of the produc- ing classes. Still he urged a generous treat- ment of these great representatives of capital and enterprise, and remarked that the railroad system of the country was the proudest monu- ment to progress ever made by mortal hands. But he wanted relief for the farmers and in- dustrial interests of the West, and urged com- petition by an extensive system of water navi- gation. In the main these were the argu- ments of the other speakers, all going to show how deeply interested the Western people have become in the question of cheap transporta- tion. The coming Convention of Governors at At- lanta, Ga., is for a like object, and, especially, to consider the subject of making a canal from the Southwest to the Atlantic. So earnest are the Southerners on this matter of developing their material interests that the newspaper organ of Alexander H. Stephens denounces any one who may try to divert the Convention from this object to a political one. The land is rich and productive, and there is labor enough to bring forth a large surplus production for exportation, but outlets to the markets of the world are wanted. This, in brief, is the difficulty and the cause of the efforts we notice. ‘The President, in his Mes- sage to Congress last December, struck the keynote of all these movements, and they are, in fact, a response to his remarks. After re- ferring to the rapid extension of the railroads of the country and the immense value of them, and favorably to the project of a ship canal round Niagara Falls, the President said :—‘‘Looking to the great future growth of the country and the increasing demands of commerce, it might be well, while on this subject, not only to have examined and re- ported upon the various practicable routes for connecting the Mississippi with tide water on the Atlantic, but the feasibility of an almost continuous land-locked navigation from Maine to the Gulf of Mexico. Such a route along our coast would be of great value at all times, and of inestimable value in case of a foreign war.” The President, however, did not recom- mend a large appropriation of money at that time, and only desired preparation to be made and the consideration of the subject by Con- gress. Looking at these significant remarks of the President it seems likely that the move- ments we refer to have been inspired in part by them, and particularly that of the Gover- nors’ Convention at Atlanta. They all appear torbe based on government aid, and this idea runs through everything that has been said upon the subject. Now, while admitting the importance of opening communication by water between the Mississippi valley and the Atlantic seaboard, both in the southern and northern sections of the Republic, and of doing everything possible to cheapen transportation, we cannot approve of a policy that would involve the government in enormous expenditures for internal im- provements. Such a policy would ruin the government financially and lead to far more frightful corruption and demoralization than disgraces the Pacific Railroad. The same ob- jection applivs to the system of internal navigation by canals inside the , Atlantic seaboard which the President recommends, however important that may be in case of war or for commerce. Wherever the several States or private enterprise will undertake such works they ought to receive all the encourage- ment vossible, aud ps far as the federal gov- ernment can aid them incidentally and leziti- mately, short of enormous appropriations or undertaking them itself, it shoulddo so. The State of New York made the Erie Canal with- out federal aid, and has received immense benefit from it. That line of water communi- cation between the West and the Atlantic sea- board carries more freight during the six months in the year it is open than all the rail- roads through the State. Here is a fact worth considering. Then, as to General Grant's idea of canals inside the seaboard, there is an important one already projected, the capital is subscribed, and it will soon be made by private enterprise. We refer to the Maryland and Delaware Ship Canal, which is to connect the Chesapeake Bay, near Baltimore, with the Delaware River between its mouth and Phila- delphia, thus saving a distance by water be- tween Baltimore and New York, over the Ches- apeake route, of two hundred and twenty miles, besides the dangers of a sea voyage round the capes of the bay. When this work is com- pleted coal brought down from the mines by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad will be delivered in New York at about a dol- lar a ton less than at present. Other advan- tages to commerce, as well as to the govern- ment for its vessels of war, will accrue; and all this is to be accomplished by private en- terprise. Why, then, should not other impor- tant internal improvements be made in the same way? The proposition to execute the vast works of this kind which are needed by government and by money from the Treasury is monstrous and would prove “most dis- astrous. But, after all, the railroads must continuo to be the great arteries of commerce, and as their ramification is through and between the different States Congress has the constitutional power to control them. By this we do not mean that the government should purchaso and work them, but that Congress should legislate to restrain their monopoly and to protect the public. It has been decided lately in several high courts that the rail- roads are public highways, and being such it is competent for Congress to prevent exorbitant charges and combinations to oppress the people. The provision of the constitution to regulate commerce among the several States undoubtedly gives this power, That every man, woman and child travelling, every farmer sending his produce to market, and every merchant transporting his goods, should be made to pay fares and freight to meet the interest on bogus capital, or on capi- tal double or treble the actual amount invested on the cost of the railroads, is monstrous. This is the evil the different conventions and farm- ers’ granges should attack. To remedy this through Congress their efforts should be di- rected. The subject of railroad control in one way or another by government, and of cheapening transportation between the dis- tant and rapidly growing West and the sea- board, must soon become an absorbing one, and the public men of the country will have to entertain it. The railroad power is mighty, but in this free country the general interests and will of the public must prevail in the end. An Important Carlist Success=The Difficulties of the Spanish’ Repab- He—Perils of Journalists in War. The struggles at present in progress in Spain are of the highest interest to the stu- dents of governments. Our special despatch describing the important battle of Puente de Eraul, between the Carlists under their dash- ing leader Dorregary and a column of the republican troops under Colonel Novarra, brings before us the state of things in the wild mountain regions of Navarre. There royalism struggles vi ef armis against the young Republic; there the democracy meet a foe contemptible neither in numbers nor courage. The sharp defeat of the republicans at Puente de Eraul shows that even with un- limited means the government would have heavy work before it in subduing the hardy mountaineers who shout and fight for “God and the King.’’ Inflamed with religious pas- sion, which counts so much in war when the soldier is ignorant and the leader knows how to fan it deftly, the rude peasant becomes a hero in his own eyes, and, if he dies, it is as a blessed martyr. The royal pretender be- comes in his eyes the glorified champion of Heaven, and defeat be- comes to him an impossibility while he retains his life. Next in the Carlist ranks must be counted those whose im- pulses do not flow from such unselfish and exalted motives—the nobles and noblemen’s sons of the old régime, whose battle is for power. In our graphic despatch we catch a glimpse of these latter in the cavalry that dashed down on the republican cannon and helped so materially to decide the day at Puenté de Eraul. The untutored men who fight in what they believe to be the: cause of God, and those who strike at the Republic in the cause of a haughty caste, form the ma- terials with which a relic of absolutism op- poses a republic based upon popular will. The difficulties in the way of the republican government may not prove insuperable, If the result of the elections for the Constituent Cortes bea fair indication of the will of the people the government may count on being, ata time not so far in the future, able to de- feat all its enemies in detail. At present the prospect looks, from the outside, rather gloomy. The active and passive elements of the opposition to the Republic are formida- ble. Its finances are not in anything like a flourishing condition, and its supporters in the large cities constitute a dan- ger in themselves. Time is its friend just now. Every day of its existence tends to strengthen it. By the classification of members of the Cortes returned in the elections of Satur- day and Sunday we learn that three hundred and ten Ministerial candidates have been elected out of a total of three hundred and eighty-eight The members not in sympathy with the Ministry have only thirty monarchists among them, the remainder being republicans of different stripes—extreme radicals, inter- nationalists and independent republicans. If this be a correct echo of the voice of the coun- try the Cabinet may be able to concentrate its efforts.on getting the machinery of local government into working order, and push the Carlists into subjection with an over- whelming force. The revolutionary state of affairs all over Spain prevents the government from acting determinedly with either diffi- culty. Not yet sufliciently assured of its strength it is powerless to restrain its own followers, With » Cortes in sympathy if cap | act in this direction more swiftly and effoc- tively. The barrier between liberty and license will be erected by law, and if the authorities are equal to the oceasion order should result. This revolutionary aspect of affairs has a de- terring effect on those who hold the money bags of Europe, and hence the means to fight the Carlists are in great measure lacking. The restoration of order will cure this, for the money bags have no politics, and are at the service of monarch or ‘red,’ provided the security is good. The present, therefore, is the moment for the Carlista to strike, and, as the Hunaxp despatch tells, they are striking with some effect. The battle of Puente de Eraul was, although a brilliant affair, really the defeat of an ad- vance guard. Flying before the republicans, Dorregary separated one column from the pursuing force and routed it. The fact that the Carlist commander continued his retreat after this victory is evidence that the republi- can forces have still the preponderance. Until the Carlist commander is able to take the field on an offensive plan different from tho descents upon small towns and isolated detachments the republican cause cannot be said to be in immediate danger, ‘The fact that a H=paup correspondent was missing at the close of the day, his horse returning riderless to camp, demonstrates the danger which the energetic news gatherer runs in the cause of general enlightenment. As it is unknown whether he was killed or taken pri- soner, we cling to the hope that the latter, as the less formidable alternative, has been the lot of the gallant fellow, who did his duty like a man atthe front. Should it be other- wise, he will have fallen at his post—the place where heroes fall. The Metropolis—Its Growth and Its Prosent Needs. The growth of New York city is one of those remarkable developments which take us all by surprise. It is not yeta century since the City Hall square, scarcely more than half a mile from the Battery, was ‘‘out of town."’ Half a century ago Niblo’s Garden and the old Vauxhall were isolated suburban resorts. It is only ‘a quarter of a century since Union square was almoston the extreme of the city limits, and Fifth avenue, famed then as the fashionable street of New York, is now to some extent a business thor- oughfare below Madison Park. Above all these points is the real city of New York to-day; that part of it which is below Twenty-third street being engulfed by the increasing tide of traffic that has constantly been forcing the haunts of fashion toward the north. We all remember when it was the standing joke of all our city men—even of the people who were born in New York and have seen its wondrous growth—to ridicule the fact that our beautiful Park was called the Central, the real centre at that time being miles to the south. Then there were only four subdivisions of our great city recognized by its sons, downtown and up- town, the east side and west side. Yorkville was then a collection of scattered ham- lets, and Harlem a river town miles away, and only brought nearer to New York by the horse cars and the old Boston road, being called the Third avenue. Nowa new city is built on the east of the Park and another city is springing up on the west. Har- lem, too, is in itself a city. Beyond the river above the straggling villages are rapidly com- ing into the compactness of the large towns across the North and East rivers. All this is growth more marvellous than if a magician had called them all into existence in a single night by the virtues of his wand. It is not, however, as mere wonder that we refer to what New York was and what a great city it has become. This marvellous growth brings with it duties that are not so much enterprise as enterprises. Enterprise is shown in every downtown shop and counting room and shipping office. Enterprises, in the sense in which we would speak of them, are great projects prosecuted for the advantage and convenience ofthe people. The consolidation of these multiform cities into one metropolis in name as well as in fact—into one municipality as well as one metropolis—is in this sense an enterprise. The annexation of lower West- chester is a project of the gravest moment and the greatest importance. It isthe first step toward making New York the master metropo- lis of the world. It was the general belief that Governor Dix would sign the bill recently passed by the Legislature, and thereby con- summate this great scheme, but later news from Albany seems to throw doubt upon his action. He should sign it without delay. The people of this city and of Westchester are evidently largely in favor of the measure—so largely that there is no necessity for delaying @ great work on a point that is little better than a quibble. But we must not forget that its consumma- tion will be only the beginning of what in the end will be the most glorious consum- mation in the history of cities, Tho twin enterprise with annexation is rapid transit. Upon the necessity of completing a project which has long bben recog- nized as the great want of this great city it is unnecessary to enlarge at this time. The im- portance of the project, the relative value of the different schemes which have been pre- sented, and the good to be derived by the peo- ple from rapid communication between the upper and lower parts of the city have been discussed over and over again. Like an- nexation, rapid transit is something to th achieved; but both are in themselves so tt that matters of minor importance must wait till they are achieved. What is = downtown street widening in comparison with the -construction of a great highway from the City Hall to the new city limits? Yet any one of these minor schemes, even one so simple as the proposed widening of Ann street, may arrest so grand a scheme, the greater being compelled to wait upon the lesser project. Nothing must be allowed to interfere with the completion of this great work, and public attention must be concen- trated upon it tillit is finished. The construc- tion of a grand railway to bear our teeming population from the ends of the city will be an achievement worthy of its greatness, but this grand highway will be more than an achieve- ment—it will be the great artery conveying the blood to the heart and’ making it flow through all the veins of the body, the very life of the metropolis. but almost equsl in importance to the well- being of our people, are required as a part of the grand scheme for rapid transit. The new city which is springing up on both sides of the Harlem River must have all the concomitants of a great city—boulevards which shall be the pride of the Continent, streets as solid as the paved highways of the Old World, and bridges which shall rival those of Venice. To get these things in the perfection of beauty and usefulness, wo must get them now. The upper parts of the city are the places where present effort and energy must be expended. These are of paramount importance. In comparison with them every- thing else sinks into insignificance. The op- portunity to secure the great needs of upper New York may pass away before we are aware that it has gone, and if it is lost once it may be lost forever. This makes us anxious to ignore all other projects for the present by compelling them to wait for a more convenient season. We, of course, desire to see improvements in the downtown districts. But anything of this kind is necessarily local in character and affects private rather than public interests. Therefore we think all these minor schemes can afford to wait upon the great good of the great whole. The effect of any serious attempt to call public attention to small and local schemes can only be hurtful to the great measures which just now need all our atten- tion. They are consequently premature, and being premature we condemn them. When the time comes that they can be considered without prejudice to rapid transit and the improvements northward from the Park, it will be time enough to discuss and favor them. Secretary Robeson and the Polaris. Our Washington despatches inform us that Secretary Robeson has telegraphed the United States Consul at St. Johns to instruct Captain Tyson to keep his men together, provide for them amply and see that they do not want for anything, as it is the purpose of the Secretary to send up either the Juniata or Frolic, now at New York, without delay, to bring all the rescued to Washington. We presume that the special object of this proceeding is a thorough inquiry into the circumstances connected with the separation of Captain Tyson and his party from the Polaris, and with their marvellous escape from death on their ice floe and their fortunate rescue. It appears, further, that Mr. Robeson attaches no importance to the opin- ions expressed by prominent navigators that there must have been disaffection, insubor- dination and mutiny on board the Polaris, and that the ship was carefully chosen, strengthened and equipped for the Polar service, and that he would not be sur- prised if Captain Buddington remained with her in the Arctic waters, and, if the vessel was in sea-going condi- tion, attempt himself to return northward. Here, we apprehend, the Secretary of the Navy falls short of his proper line of action in the premises. Captain Tyson, in his state- ment to the Hzratp correspondent, after re- lating the unfortunate attempts of the Polaris and the death of Captain Hall, from his efforts to penetrate the mysteries of the North Pole, says that after wintering in Polaris Bay, 81 38 north latitude, and after failing, June, 1872, in another attempt with boats to push northward, the expedition turned homeward on the 12th of August, and drifted down to latitude 77 35, when a strong southwest gale (August 15) was encountered, the ship being under a heavy pressure. On that night the ship’s crew commenced landing provisions on the ice, ‘the vessel being reported leaking very badly at times.’’ Oaptain Tyson, how- ever, upon inquiry and examination, learned that she was not making more water than she had been all Summer. From this point Cap- tain Tyson and his party on the ice were sep- arated from the ship, and for days, weeks and months drifted down the sea upon their ice floe till rescued by the Tigress. The last that Captain Tyson saw of the ship was neara bend of the land which he took to be Northumber- land Island. She was in the harbor there, her sails were furled and no smoke was visible from her smokestack, the party on the ice at the time being adrift. Now, from all these circumstances, we think it abundantly evident that the ship, when last seen by Captain Tyson, was in distress, and had put into the nearest harbor for safety. Certainly the facts stated. do not justify the opinion that the Polaris was left in a sea- worthy condition. She was leaking, she had put into the nearest inlet and had stopped there, leaving the ship's company adrift on the ice to help themselves, unquestionably because she could not venture to help them. The despatch of a strong steamer, therefore, to search for the Polaris becomes an urgent duty to the Secretary of the Navy. Reform tor Cuba. According fo our cable news of this morning’ the Spanish government has decided upon an Electoral bill for the island of Cuba. The bill, of course, must be submitted to the Constitu- ent Cortes before it can become law. It provides for the enfranchisement of merchants and artisans who pay taxes to the amount of seventy-five pesetas, or fifteen hundred dollars. It would seem also, from the wording of the despatch, that electoral privileges on easy terms are to be extended to officials and to all per- sons who belong to the learned professions not disqualified by crime or otherwise. This bill, no doubt, makes a step in the right direc- tion, but it does not go far enough. It is questionable whether Spain by any system of legislation will be able to satisfy the Cubans. One thing at least is certain—nothing short of the abolition of slavery in the island will be acceptable to the outside world. The time for tinkering has gone by, and, although we can- not refuse to recognize the merits of the pro- posed reform bill, so far as it goes, we do not expect that it will lead to any permanent or satisfactory results. Exceptional legislation cannot but be offensive, and, while neither Porto Rico nor Cuba has any good reason to be well pleased, Cuba hasa special reason to be angry. Itseems absurd for a government which cannot preserve order at home to be legislating for the colonies at all. What is wanted first of all isa stable government at Madrid. When that is done we shall place some confidence in Spanish colonial reform. It would not be wonderful if, before affairs are settled in Spain, Cuba has found her lib- erty and her independence. List or Casvantis ay Kuntoae's, Gux- Other improvements, not so Vash it is true, | BoAr—0 Hea nc ss nab Queen Tc ts pipet }25a-5-ch cpap SRE ngsSaep SERS Prensa ee a AE RE Le A RB Nae a a a i A eA eh tS The Nova Scotia Cosl Mine Catas= tropne. ‘The special Henaup despatches describing the terrible accident at the Drummond colliery in Pictou county, Nova Scotia, will be read with intense interest by the entire community. That the disaster resulted from criminally defi- ant carelessness will add another pang to the horror it will create. The use of gunpowder or any other explosive in coal mines must always be fraught with deadly peril. That it was in this case. used in a lode known to be especially dangerous makes the crime a fear~ ful one, for which those responsible have been made to answer with. their. lives. Life and property have been squandered by that one act in a fearful manner. The scenes of anguish presented by the be- reaved are looked at by the light of a terror that makes them stand out until they becoma appalling. The flames finding vent through the shafts and towering high in the air, the terrific subterranean explosions and the men struggling ineffectually to quench the great conflagration, will remain as horrible Pictures upon the minds of those who read of the disaster. We publish a full list ot the lost, so that those, rich or poor, who may have had friends or relatives among the unfortunate miners may know the worst. Tue Prous Crry or Boston reveals to us by telegraph still another case of financial de- pravity. A broker, and banker too, is charged with altering fignres in stock certifi- cates. Wall street has a name hard enough for all evil intents and purposes, but is fast losing ground before the superior facility for crime which exists in the “‘Hub.’’ Will it be necessary to organize another World’s Jubilee to bring back Boston brokers toa sense of the difference between right and wrong?, PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Henry Ward Beecher is expected in California. Potter Palmer, of Chicago, has had @ shoulder dislocated. Baron De Lassus, of France, is registered at the St. Denis Hotel. Judge J. G. Smith, of Massachusetts, is at the New York Hotel. . Senator Boutwell has been among the orange groves in Florida, Senator Sargent left Washington last Tuesday night for California. H. Bellegarde, of the Austrian Legation, is at the Westminster Hotel. Judge J. P. Southworth, of Mobile, is in town a& the Fifth Avenue Hotel. - Ex-Governor Bullock, of Massachusetts, is stop- ping at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Commander Selfridge, of the United States Navy, is staying at the New York Hotel. Pillon, Military Attaché to the Spanish Embassy, are staying at the Clarendon Hotel. Paymaster W. B. Cushing, of the United States Navy, has arrived at the St. Nicholas Hotel. A log the people of Louisiana could not throw— Kel-logg. They are all at sea in consequence. Governor James E. English, of Connecticut, is among the late arrivals at the St. Nicholas Hotel. + Admiral Polo de Bernabé, the Spanish Minister, his son, Sefior V. Polo, and Lieutenant Commander Chief Justice Palen, of New Mexico, ison a visit to his family in Hudson, this State, enjoying the May mornings on the banks of our noble river. Laura D. Fair has sued the lessees of a hall im San Francisco for damages on account of refusing. to allow her the use of the hall ona certain occa- sion. Judge Leffingwell is the Samson among the criminal lawyers in Iowa, and yet he can count, according to a Western paper, sixty-five murderers he has saved by his jawbone. ‘The late General Meade had a sword presented him by Congress for gallantry in Mexico. During the rebellion some adroit rebel captured it, and now the said rebel offersto return the weapon to the General’s widow upon application. The scandalous report concerning Cnevalier Lobo, the Portuguese Minister, and his contracted: tenancy of a house in Washington is stated to have originated in a refusal on his part to be vio timized by one of the extortionate landlords or landiadies who abound in the national capital, and to whom members of the diplomatic corps often become an easy prey. WEATHER REPORT. ne VS. . i : War DEPARTMENT, OFFICR OF THE CaIEF SIGNAL OFFICER, WasHinGTon, D. C., May 16—1 A. M. Probabilities. For the Middle States and lower lake region northerly and northeasterly winds, diminishing pressure, cool and partly cloudy weather and rain in the southern portion of the former section; for New England and Canada northwesterly and north- erly winds, cool, ciear and partly cloudy weather; for Tennessee, the Gulf and South Atlantic States low barometer, warmer and cloudy weather, with rain, but clearing by the afternoon in the Western Gulf States; for the upper lake region, the North- west and thence to Missouri and Kentucky, north- easterly to northwesterly winds, cloudy, clearing weather, with occasional rain. LITERARY CHIT-CHAT. em peeenpmaipteninnite THe GREAT woRK of Maxime du Camp on Paris has reached its fourth volume, which fs full of powerlul, yet exact and truthful, portraiture ag the preceding volumes. A POSTHUMOUS VOLUME Of Essays from the pen of the once famous Willlam Godwin has appeared in London. They were writtenin the best years of his long and laborious life, and contain the matured thoughts of the author of ‘Pelitical Justice” and a score of other volumes. They deal largely with religious and social questions, and are interesting as the frankly expressed notions of a remarkabie man anda contribution to the history of scepti- asm. ‘THE British Quarterly puts Geerge Eliot, as @ Rovelist, above Sir Walter Scott. “She paints with Miss Austen's unerring humor and accuracy, and ‘ith Sir Walter's masculine breadth. Where are there in George Eliot’s stories such fantastic and unreal figures as Fenella, in ‘Peveril of the Peak,’ or Meg Merrilies, in ‘Guy Mannering?’ MR, MACDONELL 1s charged in the London Times with having libelled the climate, the government and the people of the Argentine Republic in his recent report on “La Plata as a Field for British’ Emigration,” and Mr. Francis Ulare Ford, of the British Legation at Washington, is quoted agains him. M. PELLEPoRT, the manager of the Paris Rappel, and M. Locroy, the editor, have each been sen- tenced to a montn’s imprisonment anda fine of 600 francs. And this is French liberty | Tue Spectator pronounces Leconte de Lisle, author of “Potmes Barbares,” the greatest living French poet, after Victor Hugo. He delights in virgin forests, in tropical landscapes, in the royalty of wild beasts. His poems are full of a certain juxuriant vivacity, warm color and power of imag- ination, such as are not found in any other French verse of recent times. Tak MISSES HoRNER’s “Walks in Florence,’? while an admirable and minute guide book—an extended Murray, in fact—whoily wants the poetic. element which invests that city of fowers in the mind of all lovers of the beautiful, ‘THE Spectator is loud in praise of Miss Harriet Preston’s translation of “Miréio,” the Provencak poem of Frederic Mistral, which it calts “a distinct addition to the Itterature ef the English language.’*, PROFESSOR TYNDALL lectured at the Royal Inst= tution lately on Niagara to a crowded audience,’ Sir Henry Holland presiding. He predicted that the American fall would in time be abolished, leav~ ing only a whirlpool. He was enthusiastic ip hia brawae Of America and AmMgriGAnse