The New York Herald Newspaper, July 23, 1873, Page 4

4 DELAWARE WATER GA The Season Quiet but Very Full. Two Hundred Guests at One House, One Hundred and Fifty at Another. Popular Scepticism with Re- gard to the Mountains. George La Bar, the Water Gap Centenarian. He Is 11 Years Old Now, and the Philadel- phians Ouly Ask Him to Live Until 1876, Intense Excitement at the Water Gap and the Cause of It. ‘What the Water Gappers Think of the Dela- ware, Lackawanna and West- ern Railroad. Philosophical Reflections Upon the Typical Gum-Drop Boy. DELAWARE WaTER Gar, July 21, 1873. What constitutes a mountain and what consti- ‘tutes a hill is sometimes, no doubt, as dificult to determine as the difference between @ great man andasmall. The one often merges into the other, and we lose the vanishing point and become inca- pable of explanation. The wooded protubtrances in front of the principal hotel at the Delaware Water Gap belong to this order. It isthe fashion + Of the guests there (though why people who pay their way, and pay it well, too, at a public cara- vansery should be denominated “guests” is a prob- Jem whose solution is sunk deep in the breasts of hotel proprietors)—it is the fashion of the guests at this inn to while odd moments Bway in speculating as to the height of these majestic prominences. The most practical way of measuring it is to walk up one of them alter breakfast; but.as this is apt to awaken the prejudices and to interfere with a punctual return to dinner, perhaps it cannot with confl- dence be recommended. There is a general dispo- sition, however, to discredit the statement of the guide book and the asseveration of its compiler that one of the mountains—Mount Tammany (which every New Yorker firmly believes to have becn named alter a once celebrated “ring ”)—1s 1,600 feet high and the other 1,500. These statements, I am sorry to say, are attributed to the peculiar de- pravity with which the hearts of landlords among the mountains are supposed to brim and which leads them to manufacture capital for themselves } out of the credulity of their victims—I{ mean their * guests.” A not unpleasant place is the Water Gap to re- main in for a week or two, if you like a quiet Sojourn with nature and are not in quest of excite- ment. There are three principal hotels and about @ dozen smaller ones and private families who take boarders—I should say who receive inmates for the Summer; for your reauced gentiewoman of rustic life has quite as much pride and sensitiveness on the subject of taking boarders as her more genteel and languishing city sister bas. The board at the principal hotels is twenty-one dollars per week ; at the private houses it varies all the way between eight dollars and fifteen. None of the hotels are ab- soiutely frst class, though the two I have mentioned have many pleasant qualities and are charmingly situated. From the summit of one @ magnificent view is obtained of the fair expanses sacred to the memory of Netawatawees and Teedyuscung, and watered by streams once known as the Minisink and the Maccariskittang. The locality is steeped in Indian traditions. You fancy the complexion of the primeval savage in the shifting shadows cast by clouds upon the mountains’ foreheads, and you bear the splash of the canoe and the whirr of the arrow when you take an evening walk in the di- rection of the Lovers’ Leap or the Hunter’s Spring. WALKS AND DRIVES, It is my private impression that immediately after dinner is swallowed every guest at the Water Gap immediately betakes himself to bed, there to replenish his exhausted powers until na- ture and the gong summon him to tea, four hours after. You have your choice of breakfast from eight to ten, dinner at two, tea at haif-past six and supper at half-past erght. I cannot say I admire the last arrangement. I object to it on humani- tarian grounds. It looks too much like a deliberate | attempt on the part of the hotel preprieter to fatten upon the indigestion of his fellow mortals, To be required to eat another meal before the first is digested is to make a@ corner in dys- persia and invoke a Black Friday in the Wall street of healthe However, | the fact remains that, with the cure clusion Of the dinner hour every mortal, excepting the hotel clerk and the hotel proprictor, disappear as silently as ascene at Booth’s. They leave the dining room with countenances encumbered with | @ sense of duty to be performed, and the last tmat | is seen of them they are trudging solemnly up ftairs, as though a prayer meeting were in every | dormitory and persoual experience were the oraer Of the day. it is due to the Water Gap to say that this shameful and flagitiou® proceeding does injus- | tice to the beauty of its walks and rides. Of the | former of course you may take as many as there | are points in the compass. The drives, too, are numerous. The favorites are those | Which conduct to Castie Rock, the State “factories and quarries, the New Jersey Hills, Cherry Valley and Stroudsburg, Crystal | Hull, Marshall's Fadis, Shawnee Hill, Transue’s | Knob, Buttermilk Falls ana Buskill Falls, To | teach the summit of Mount Minst is the ambition | of every one who remains longat the Gap. A cir- cuitous drive of six miles will attain that object, but # pleasanter method is by horseback or by foot via Prospect Rock, © Still neither riding nor walk- ing is indulged in here to an extent at all propor. uonate to the number of visitors, of Whom 200 a: at one of the principal hoteis and 150 at another. Occamonally an old-fashioned team drives up to the door aud a sober couple get in and are roiled wolemnly out of sight. ere is no dash and twinkle ere, ‘here is ali the difference between existence at a secluded spot like | Water Gap at a loud and fashionable watering place that there is between @ cataract and a canal. Most people will prefer the cataract, admire the largeness of iis sparkle and the richness of its foam ; saturate themselves with the occasional rainbow that bashes it, and ‘aelanke in the spontaneity of its rush and roar, at 18 all very well for young people, perhaps, and for as many old people as can stand it; but here is pateriam ng, who infinitely prefers the serenity ofthe canal. The lazy motion of the boat and the | sober — Of the horses are quite enough for him. | All right—Long Branch for the ene, the Delaware ‘Water Gap for the other. And here comes a party of pretty pedestrians, carrying crooks, like Uelia and Rosalind in the Forest of Arden, to reconcile us to the sobriety of mountain life by their pic- turesque dress and vivacity. THE CENTENARIAN, Do not let me forget one of the curiositigs of the Gap, Mr. George La Bar, Who seems to liave won belt trom Death aiter a friendly conducted con- test im the ring of life. How old is he? J hear you | Say. Now don’t ask me, Of course he Js a hundred er he would not be a centenarian; but when you ask me how many yeai ig more than that the veracity of my nature ks from areply. Let ‘us let well enough alone. If the poor old gentie- man has really lived one century | don’t see why we should expect him to go through uwnother, luerely jor our accommodation. Lie 18 too serio’ & Performance to be thus heartlessly encored. Well, then, people do say that Mr. La Bar will be 111 next February, and that the Philadel- puians have already sent'a delegation to him to Tese enna Se. jive mati pore in order to aah heir ¢ opie who have shaken han with General ‘Waantng ton. Ihave no objection to firat clause in the Declaration of Independence tells us is “inalienable” entitles him to get just as much Of it as he can, and for my part, I have no objection to finding him several fig older each succes- sive year that I visitthe Water Gap. This kind of thin ows on one. When @ man has once reached @ hundred there is no saying what he may not do, Centenarians are misers 0! vitality, and the more years you ascribe to them the more ser will take. They have got possession of so muc! time that they tt into a habit of Gespiting eternity. Now, why aman should put on airs for having acquired a large quantity of what, without committing a crime, he sould not have prevented ig what I fail to understand, ‘Bar belongs to thi He seems to be asensible, quiet, unasguming, cente- narian, not at all disposed to lord it over people who have the misfortune to be seventy or eighty ears youngey. I should like to take Dr. Hall or yr. Dio Lewis to see him. Speaking in a strictly sanitary light, andin that in which these gentie- men would view the subject, one yht say that’) Mr. La Bar is a triumphant instance of the beauty of originale sin. He has smoked from his’ youth, Tobacco came as natural to him as early piety. He never refuses a friendly’ glass, when the glass is really friendly and not o! that false kind which induces @ man to put an enemy into his mouth, Don’t talk to me of wheaten rits ‘and total abstinence alter this. 1 don’t now how many acres of grass Mr. La Bar can mow betore breakfast or what kind of Ee he can read without glasses. One feels @ delicacy in ask- ing such questions, you know. Besides, we have 80 many centenarians in the United States who can mow so piapy matutinal acres and read the Tiad in a nutshell with the naked eye, that the thing ceases to be a novelty. I never saw & cente- narian beiore, and one feels a longing to touch the hand that has touched the hand of Washtngton. You can {eel the magnetism of patriotism, and something of the marrow of 1776 thrilis into your backbone. There is that hereditary favor in it which characterizes the laying on of ids mm the Apostolic Church, STYLE OF PEOPLE AT THE GAP. The inquiry as to what kind of je visit the Delaware Water is natural, and there may be a way of answering it without wounding any one’s feelings. It is no crime not to be of the first fashion and style; but if it were @ crime it would be one which the majority of the present visitors here have hopelessly committed. But which is the bet- ter, to hobnob with a crowd composed o! princes and parvenues or to find yourself among a circle of honest and homely souls, whose lives, in the main, are ag honest as they are cheerful? The creme do not come to the Water Gap, bat the @ de la where or’ people who are a thousand times than the Water Gappers repair. I pl: Mrs. Smith, who is considered quite a leader in the little inland town where she resides, (sep her knife in her mouth, her conduct 1s not quite so bad ag that of the beautiful Miss Bellaston, the New York belle, who has a finger in everybody’s social ple. Plenty of good solid country families take up their residence here for the Summer. They are not the style of persons who give prestige to me- tropolitan society, and yet there are some sprin- klings of them, too, large enough to make them- selves felt and to invite comparison la jeaunesse dorée does not obtain, Tho brilliant scapegrace, the foreign count, the titled adventurer, plies ii! ame somewhere else. I won't say, as a sentimen- alist would, that the breath of the mountains is too pure for him, for that would be nothing but &.drop of poetic milk and water, bat he don’t ind here the material upon which to exercise his skill. Count Deadly Darke would find no chance with a girl who belteves that her father and mother are the best people that ever lived, and who goes into Taptures over a collection of Indian arrow heads, You observe that there is noexcitement here. Yes, there is too. I questioned a very amiable and in- telligent gentleman on the subject, who gave me abundant information. “You lead a very quiet life here, sir,” said I. “O, not at all,” was the reply. “The peace of nature lies upon all things,” I ventured to say, pointing to the sphinx-like clouds which floated imperturbably above us folding their aris of fleece. This poetic similituae, however, I did net give utterance to there and then, but gar- nered it up for present use. “Oh, Lassure you, I lead quite an exciting life,” replied the gentleman. “The calmness of those grand old woods, the re- pose of those primeval forests,” I ventured to Sug gest, sweeping my hand over the landscape wit! comprehensive generalization. As the gentleman had lived among them for sixty years perhaps he could not appreciate my young and unfledged enthusiasm. “Still there ia @ great deal of excitement up here,” he continued. “Only the other day we had a terrible time here—a regwar sensation. ' “indeed? I saw nothing of it in the HeRaLp,” [ replied, anxious to learn the particulars of the bani aha = “No. But the place was one scene of wild ex- citement. The house was divided into factions, and for some time there was no telling what would be the result,’ and the speaker paused, evidently oppressed with painful recollections. “Might 1 ask the nature of the calamity?’ I in- quired, feeling a delicacy at encroaching on the painful theme. ‘worse “Well, sir, do assure you the excitement was most intense,” pursued the geptieman. “I have seldom seen anything like it at the Water Gap. Doctors were sent for and the whoie house was aroused, and for some time we didn’t know whether he would live or die.” “Who was the murderer? Did he escape?” I asked, my mind reverting to the characteristic edies of the day. “Oh! it was no murder—only a case of whooping- cough, and as it was the first we had ever had we were naturally alarmed.” GOODBY, AND COME AGAIN. After that I took a long boating, and felt better on my return. Those who are fond of dancing and music may joy themselves on alternate nights at the two principal hotels at the Water Gap, and those who are fond of having a subject of abuse may join in the general criticism applied to the unpunctuality of those trains of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad which stop at this place, and which display a charming capriciousness in their moments of arrival and departure. am one of the most amiable Of men, as we all are, but I have tvs jevances in connection with the Delaware ‘ater Gap. One is the un- | punctuality of the trains above alluded to | and the other is the evil genius known as | the “gum drop boy,” who haunts not one line of | travel particularly, but all. No doubt he is an ex- cellent creature in his domestic relations, supports | disabled relatives, puts his money in the savings | bank and does all sorts of other disinterested acts. But Ged made humanity and the railroad corpora- | tion made the gum drop boy—which is quite as true | as What Cowper says, when he declares that God | made the country and man made the town. Do not tell me that the gum drop boy is like other boys. I tell you he isnot. He was born on the engine | and weaned in the baggage car. He sucked Pales- tine almona canay with his mother's milk, and chewed gum drops all the way up to ado- lescence. p corn furnished his side dishes and fig paste was his pidce dé resistance. He went to school to the dime novel and finished his edu- cation on the railway editions. He never grows old, and when he reaches @ certain age some other youth, reared in a@ manner equally mysteri- ous, takes his place. He has a fatal eye and a rapid tongue, and if ever you buy of bim you are | lost forever. He lies in wait for you (he or one of his fellows), and after the lapse of years, mag- netized by the glamour he early cast around your spirit, you find yourself still madly buying gum | drops and dime novels and bewaliing the ignowin- ious thraldom, If there are many such open-air places as the Water Gap where one may occasion- ally take deep inspirations and relieve the spirit, let us look up and be giad. BOARD OF EDUCATION. Special Meeting Yesterday Afternoon— The Normal Scheol Furniture—The Nineteenth Ward School Differences Settled. A special meeting of the Board of Education was held yesterday afternoon, President Nieison in the chair. Present Commissioners Hoe, Halstead, Wetmore, Dowd, Man, Lewis, Farr, Vermilye, Beardsiee, Patterson, Jenkins, West, Traud, and Townsend, President Nielson said that, as the specfal matter which wasto be considered had not been stated in the call, it would be necessary to have a two- third vote on any matter which might be brought forward for consideration, before it be submitted for discussion to the members. The reading of the Minutes was, on motion, dispensed with. A letter from the Comptroller, requesting weekly state- ments from the several schools to be made to him, was read, ordered to be placed on the minutes, an referred to the Finance Committee, Mr. Farr, of the Normal School Committee, in View of the fact that the lease of the old Normal School expires on the ist of August, offered the {ol- lowing resolutior Whereas the base of the buildii street expires on the Ist of August, itis the dutj Board wo vacate and leave in good’ condition sa the fourth of the | Resolved, That the Fi ci ape solved, That the Finance Co: e | ake an appropriation ot $0 tu Femove the furniture, 00ks. ard, Axtures, &e., books, Wackboard, to the new building in The resolution was adopted and referred to the Finance Committee, with instruction to report im- | mediately. The Nineteenth Ward Committee have at last arrived at a sojution of the trouble in ward school No. 63, where Miss Bayard, the vice principal, tried so awlully hard to get Mrs, Galligan’s place in the Principaiship. Mrs, L. Galligan, of No, 27, is to be transferred as Principal of Primary School No. 33; Miss i. A. Martin, of No. 33, to go as Prin- cipal of No. 27; Miss Isabella B. F. R. O'Bryan is to 0 as Vice Principal to No. 53, and Miss L. A. Scan- jan, Of No. 58, Is to go to No, 27. A recommendation irom the Committee on Fur- niture to donate some of the furniture of the Nor- mal School to the New York Juvenile Asylum was laid on the table‘after a ilttle debate. The Finance Committee reported its financtal ability to appropriate $600 tor removing the Normal School farniture. A resolution to close Primary School No. 6 and transier the teachers to School No. 8 was read and adopted. ‘The Board adjourned to meet agaip op the first Mr, La bar's being ‘The right to lle which the Wednesday in September. Naturally I | DIX’S LAND. An Interview with the Governor. at His Summer Home. A Scholar, Statesman and Scldier in His Sea- side Seclusion—The Strange Origin of a Bumor—How Executive Business Is Conducted at the Seaside—Vetoos by the Bushel—The Newspa- per Claims Bill Killed— AHappy Guberna- torial Family, WasTuaurtow, L. I., July 22, 1878. On a broad lbwiand fronting Great Oyster Bay, about three miles from the station of Westhampton, on the Long Island Railroad, stands “Seafield,”” the large Summer mansion of the present Gov- ernor of New York. Here, secluded as in an African wilderness from the frivolous gayeties of Saratoga and Long Branch, within hearing of the heavy roll of the sea and far-distant glimpses of passing ships, surrounded only by his immediate family and seek- ing only the healthy pleasures of the hunt, the sea air, the rural drive, the sail and the surf, Governor Dix takes his Suntmer leisure. His seaside home isa broad-halled, two story edifice, all of wood, carved and fitted so artistically that no sign of paint or plaster is to be seen, with a wide piazza, around the whole building, and with broad win- dows reaching to the floor. Wide avenues lead to the door, and a circular lawn ornaments, as well a8 possible without shade trees, the front yard. A TALL WINDMILL flutters at the back of the house day and night, for- ever busy at its one special detail of pumping water into the tank. Pictures and books adorn the inner part of the house, such as culture and taste alone could seiect, and among these the Governor manages to pass his Summer. The placid waters of Quantogue Bay invite to rowing, and three row- boats are moored upon its banks. The ocean in front presents unusual inducements for deep-sea fishing, and sall-boats are readily available. The road beds are firm and level, and the Governor hi spanking team, But hunting is his sport nd gunning is his delight. Therefore, he not only a hag all the armament necessary, but he has a pond on his farm, a regular marshy, meadow pond, where snipe flock in profusion, purposely, it might seem, ‘to invite him to a *pop.”” Your correspondent arrived here under peculiar circumstances. He come under the impres- sion that Governor Dix was ill, probably very ill— worse. The vision of an immense journalistic tri- umpn 80 far occupied hia mind that ne thought of that even while he mourned the Pane seizure of the good statesman. He begrudged the exclu- sive iniormation which he supposed he had re- ceived, and saw in every ey acquaintance a rival journalist. He dared not a&k any one if the report were true. He might divulge the secret thereby unwittingly to an opponent. So he rematned as dumb as an oyster, and col tulated himself when he reached the platiorm at Westhampton and saw no one bearing the faintest resemblance toa news- paper man get off but himself. THE SECRET WAS SAFR, It was dark when your correspondent, having faithfully hugged his secret to his soul, turned into the avenue that leads to Governor Dix’s home. A aaa sat on the piazza. In the darkening twi- t the dresses of men and women could alone be distinguished. One among pee party was smoking. All were talking merrily. Could it be possible? Surely, the Governor could not be so very ill, after all. . A short, lithe figure, dressed in y, Tose from a rocking chair a8 your correspondent advanced, and in the light of the lamp streaming from the parlor he recognized the FACB OF GOVERNOR DIX. Sick, indeed! An unusually bright glow of health carmimed his cheeks and brightened his eyes. its , Governor,” said I, in astonishment, “you are well?’ “Yes, thank you,” said he, “I have seldom been better; come in.” And with that we entered the parlor, where, as you will observe, I immediately changed tactics, so as to make AN “INTERVIEW” of what was originaliy’expected to ve a sick-room scene, “We had information in New York to-day, Gov- ernor, that you were very ill.” “1, {ut How did st come?” T proceeded to explain, and discovered that the Governor's little granddaughter was the invalid, and that a telegram to New York for a doctor for her had given rise to the report. “I ill,” said the governor, when the mistake had been made clear, “I went out SHOOTING this morning at six o’clock at the Pond and killed thirty birds.” “Wertainly that does not look like being sick!” “Moreover, I have been writing out vetoes to number of bills this afternoon and draiting skeleton of my objections to others.” “Do you attend to official business here, too?’’ OFFICIAL BUSINESS. “Oh yes! Ireceived a big budget of papers from Albany to-day which I must look over.” “Have you signed any bills of importance lately which I could mention” “Thave not signed any recently, and I will not | sign any more. A big batch I nave on hand now | are all objectionable in some respects, and I shall | interpose my objections.” THE NBWSPAPER CLAIMS BILL VETOED. “Could I name some of tbe most important ones?’ “Certainly. The “Newspaper Claims bill” is one that may be of interest to you gentlemen, Iam just preparing my veto to that.” “Do you think it a swinddie?” “Well, there are many objectionable points in it. I know it was denounced as fraudulent by some Of the best Senators in Alban: ne ng | best Senators in Albi TT Sh Removal bill, for removing Sing 0, is also objectionable, and I have my objections to that nearly written out. There are various others that Ido not remember just now—one of them, I believe, of much importance. THR SUPPLY BILL “Have you signed the Supply bill, Governor ?’” “Oh, yes; I signed that sometime ago.” “There was some difficulty relating to it be- | tween the Speaker and the Clerk of the Assem- biy??? Yves, The Speaker had gone home, I believe, | before signing it, and had requested the Clerk to send printed copies round to each member of the conference committees; but I should hardly think they would be enabled to vouch for the correctness of each item, after so long a lapse of time.’ sate you not believe it Was a comparatively clean “Very. It appropriated about three million dol- lars, which is @ million less than the year before, and I think there was very little unearned or un- deserved money given away by it.” A COMPLIMENT. “Senator D. P. Wood, who had chi of it in the Senate, seemed very strict and careft thoro watch-dog.”’ ig gi nit rene “A very excellent man, indeed. He did a great deal of work, for which he received little reward and made many enemies. I hope he will be Te- turned.”” The conversation here turned to social topics, the Governor explaining the conveniences of his resi- dence, and aiter a short look around.the place, the two joined the family, which had remained on the laze, The famty consisted of Mra. Dix, | Rev. Morgan A. Dix, rector of Trinity church and son of the Governor, Mr. Walsh, the son-in-law, Mrs. Walsh and Mrs. Blake, the daughters, alto- gether a family reunion by the sounding sea, and | except for the little babe, sufferin; with the ills | that babyhood is liable to, as healthy and hearty | @ family, even at the age of seventy-five, as one could expect to see. Aman who goes snipehunt- ing at six in the morning, and vetoes haif @ dozen bills beiore dinner time, is not a fair object for obituaries, and Governor Dix does not propose to be particepa to a journalistic sensation ef that sort for some time to come. GENERAL QUESADA, Charges Made Against Him, A reporter of the Heratp had an interview yesterday with General Quesada and Don Carlos Castiio (who represent the Cuban Republic in this country), in reference to certain state- ments made by one ofthe morning papers accusing him of having exaggerated the number of Spanish prisoners of war which he had shot as com- mander-in-chief, &c, “Iam 80 busy sending arms and ammunition to Reply to | Cuba,” he General said, with great courtesy, “that I really have no time to engage in @ con- troversy witha newspaper. I have always en- the Joyed confidence of the government and the army, while in Gaba, and I was the only commander-in-chief the Re- public ever had, for no other commander-in-chief was appointed after I resigned. afterwards L re- ceived the highest appointment ogtside my coun- try which is in the gitt of the Republic—the mission to represent free Gaba in this country—and this is enough for me. I have no time tp answer newspa- per charges, a8 all my time is taken up send rifles and ammunition to Cuba,” Don Carlos Castitio made a similar ement, ing expressed his satisfaction at seeing ‘ntative of the HekALD, he said:—l am & iriend of the HeRALD and would do alll could for your great paper, but a sense of the dignity which attaches to my peaition as agent of the Cuban Re- public here forbids me to notice hewspaper state- ments reflecting upon General Quesada," CHESARISM IN AMERICA. General Grant and His Third Term. ql Further Extracts from the American Press. (From the New York World (democratic), July 18.) For the last week or two, the press has been dis- cussing, with more or less interest, the possibility cf President Grant’s running for a third term, and the consequences to our institutions of so alarm- ing an innovation. * * * Nearly all of the most distinguished statesmen of the last generation thought that the re-eligibility of our Presidents threatened the ultimate subversion of our free in- stitutions. The ground oftheir apprehensions was the potent influence of the executive patronage in controlling party nominations, and the temptation to which every President is exposed to shape his administration during nis firat term with @ view to promote his re-election instead of devoting himsélf to the public welfare. ‘These fears had acquired considerable strength and were expressed*with great emphasis before the revenue of the government exceeded thirty millions, The revenue has now grown to nearly four hundred millions, and the evil and danger have become proportianally colossal The fact that the custom which limited our Presidents to two terms seems to be lusing its hold on public feeling, and that almost our whole press is discuss- ing what, until now, would have been regarded as the unsupposable question of re-electing a Preai- deat who has entered upon his second term, marks @great change in the average estimate of the overshadowing ability of a Presidential incumbent to perpetuate his power by the use of his patron- age. Long before third. terms were thought of as even remotely possible many of our wisest statesmen made efforts towards an amendment of the Constitution limiting the President to a single term. When, many years later, the Southern States seceded, and their leaders had strong motives for conciliating public opinion by intro- ducing reforms, they extended the term of the Confederate President to six years, and made him ineligible to @ second, There was no objection to this change in the South, and there would, prob- ably, be not much in the North if an occasion should naturally arise for revising the federal Con- stitution, Aside from the selfisn interest of General Grant and his sycophants, the only considerable obstavle to this reform is the sluggishness of pub- lic feeling, which seldom moves till some great oc- casion arouses it. In view of the supposed aspira- tions of President Grant the subject*has become one of great importance and rises to the first mag- nitude among that class of political questions which do not take a party character. For obvious reasons no true friend of reform can at present wish it to be made a party issue. The Constitution cannot be amended without the concurrence of three-fourths of the States. It requires a majority Of two-thirds of both houses of Congress even to submit an amendment to the States for their rati- fication ; and Congress is solargely republican that uniess both parties favor this reform it cannot be carried. * * * Itisin the power of the republican statesmen to bring this question of Cwesarism to a speedy test, and we hope they will mantfully do their duty. Let Senator Morton, who broke ground in this direction last winter, or some other republican of similar standing, propose an amendment at the beginning of the next ses- sion and resolutely press it to avote. If Grant is not looking wistfully to a third term there will be no substantial opposition. But if the subject is postponed, evaded and finally smothered by par- Mamentary tactics or the prétence of other busi- ness, the ambitious designs of the administration willbe disclosed and the country be forewarned and forearmed. We deprecate all attempts to make this a party question unti! the republicans in Congress have had a fair opportunity to make it Clear that they wil not lend themselves as accom- Plices in establishing imperialism on the ruins of American liberty. {From the Abingdon Virginian (democratic), Jaly 18.) The New York HERALD is at work considering the probability of a third term for General Grant, denouncing it as inconsistent with true repub- licanism, and predicting the disastrous conse, quences which would follow it. Wheter the warn- ing it gives in its elaborate articles i§ sincere, or whether these are but preludes to win attention and support to such a scheme as another term for General Grant, to be followed by the empire, yet re- mains to be seen, but that the danger of such a result really coniropts thé American people is fully shown. There are, of course, Many ambi- tions men whose hopes of self-aggrandizement might induce them to support such a treacherous course. The increase of luxury and wealth in the hands of a bogus aristocracy begets a desire for distinction and gewgaws which a titled nobility, itis presumed, might indulge, and thus is found another element favorable to such a change. But the most powerful and most numerous element, and from whom most danger might be appre- hended, is the timid and fearful moneyed class, the mercantile g@gnd commercial men, who dread changes and elections far more than they do the eternal future which awaits them; the men who feared that the success of Mr. Greeley would result in financial chaos and de- struction; the men who have no patriotism outside of asordid materialism which has wrecked every previous attempt of self-government, and who would vote for anything or set of men who would guarantee the repose of peace @nd the maintenance of the value of government bonds. Here are the elements, plastic and powerful, which present themselves as the instruments whereby an ambitious, selfish nature like Grant’s, under the only persua- stons of men like Conkling and others who fawn ‘around him, could be induced to believe itself cated, like Cesar, Napoleon or Cromwell, to ele- vate} ATESE inidhe gad? The spectous plea that the “cquntry needs his services.” When any one man becomes indispensable to this country itsin- capacity for self-government is at once admitted, and we should tear down the flag which waves over it, for then it becomes indeed a “faunting lie.” (From the Washington (Iowa) Gazette, July 15.) The New YorK HERALD sees a disposition to | make Grant tne candidate of the radical party for the Presidency three years hence. In this move it has no sympathy, but apprehends danger. It may well take alarm. Ali men who love liberty and constitutional government may do so likewise. There has been much in the last eight years to cause the thoughfal and good to become alarmed. ‘The basis of free government is being subverted and the people seem willing to sit by and see it done, without a struggle to avoid it. Grant is low, sordid and selfish—just the kind of man, under whom othen countries bave lost their liberties. ‘The people must not establish the precedent of electing a President the third time. The HeraLp sees it, (From the Charleston News (democrat), July 16.) * * * A strong plank in the Heratp platform 1s its demand thut the Southern States be recon- structed “with generosity, manliness and wise statesmanship.”” Wherever, in the South, the radicals rule, there is lying and stealing, private oppression and public wrong. That radical rule is the offshoot ana creature of the federal govern- ment, and for it the federal government ts respon- sible, Reconstruction opened the stable doors, and the radical knaves, who entered in, stole the horse and cleaned out the manger. The HeraLp proposes to lock the door and pursue the thieves, It ia not too late to do good; nor 1s it too late to secure to every Southern State @ government which shall know no distinction of race or party in dealing with public questions, and in which there shall be no taxation without representation. Itis true that the Southern States can, in time, reform theie governments without the help of the HgraLp’s new departare. But in what time? In ten years or twenty or afty? And NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 1873.-TRIPLE SHEET. . every yoar of insecurity and rascality is 8 loms to the entire country. Insecurity and rascaltty dt- ‘minish production and increase consumption; the Knife cuts with both cages. This is a direct injary to every citizen in the United States whose indi- vidual measurably depends upon the Prosperity of the Union, And beyond the questions of Southern reconstruction and the reconstrcstion of the finances, iooms up the issue between Omear- ism and republicaniam—“the dominant issue,” as the HBRaLD calls it. It is # tardy awakening, but the HeRaLD will have earnest coadjutors, and it may be possible to arouse the people to a sense of the magnitude of the danger which threatens them. At all events the task is a grand one for any journalist to undertake; it is one bythe side of which the Livingstone expedition and the march of MacGahan to Khiva are a8 the freaks of the mountebank to the elevated purpose of the states- man. {From the Montgomery (Ala.) Mail (democratic), ‘ July 15.) . The particular attention of our readers is invited to the extraordinary article from the New York HERALD, published on our first page. This is the second of a series of four contributions on the im- Portant subject, the three last of whicn we propose to publish entire. Wedo not iptend.to comment at length on these articles, evidently written with great care and prepared by an unusually able pen, until the last of the series shall be placed before the eyes of our readers. The firat article of the series is written on the text, “Have We a Republican Form of Government?” It is a pity the HERALD had not asked this question years go, and it isa still greater pity that the HeRALD had not struggled against certain things being done, which, having been done by the HERALD’s assistance and collusion, now makes it necessary to ask the question of the ignorant, conceited, un- Principled, corrupt radical party of tne United States—“Have we a republican government ?’ We say radical party, for it ia plain now to tne intelligence of a large majority of the people that the radical party is primarily and altogether re- sponsible for the decay and downfall of {ree iusti- tutions in the United States, {From the Boston Globe (republican), July 17.) To make a man responsible for others’ ignorance of his character, and on the strength of this and the natural desire of the onder officials of the gov- ernment to retain their places, to charge him with @ design to subvert the Republic, is certainly cap- ping the climax of absurdity. Even if the Presi- dent desired a third term, of which there is no evi- dence, there is nothing in this of a Cmsarist ten- dency. The constitution does not limit the tenure of the Executtve office, and even the perverse logic of the HERALD cannot convert compliance with its provisions into treasonable designs. What we know of Cmsar and Grant constrains us to say that their characters are chiefly remarkable for their dissimilarity. To be sure they were both suc- cessful soldiers, but not even his most ardent admirer ,will claim for Grant Cwsar’s many- sided greatness, any more than the demoniac nature which Niebuhr ascribes to the great Roman. Our President has certainly had no such adulation to turn his head as that which tempted the fore- most man of all this world. The liveliest imagina- tion can hardly transform the President of the Re- public, riding in his barouche at Long Branch, into the Imperator whose statues were carried in procession with those of the gods; whose image was stamped on the public money; to whom altars were erected and worship offered, and who was allowed to wear at all times upon his head a laurel crown. These were the honors decreed to the con- ‘queror of Pompey and of Pompey’s son by a servile Senate; but the conqueror of Lee has never had a Legislature at his beck. Nothing in Grant’s career recalls the Cwsar except his victories. He has never been charged with writing commentaries on the civil war, and the most ardent patriot can de- tect no treason in his acts. (From the Raleigh (N.C.) Sentinel (opposition), July 15.) * * * Charles V. abdicated in favor of his son Philip. Amadeus the other day resigned the Spanish throne. Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, is meditating sucha step. But oar King, Ulysses the First, will continue to the end of his natural days to be the idol of office-holders and the patron saint of horse-racers, and will alternate between the White House and the cotfage on “Long Island's sea girt shore." That the continuance of such a ruler would be a greatand lamentable aMiction we readily acknowl- edge. But if he and his rapacious ofice-holders de- termine to have him continue for a third, or even a fourth and filth term, with the experience of last year before us, we do not see how his re-election can be prevented. The leading and most influen- tial republican in the North could not secure even one Northern State against him last year. Nor do Fe believe that any democrat or republican can get two Northern States in 1876, if Grant is again nomi- nated by another office-holders’ convention. Backed by the United States Treasury and 60,000 office-holders, Grant is immensely strong. ‘THE HERALD AND THE SOUTHERN RADI- cal ote [From the Montgomery (Ala.) Mall, July 19.) While the New York HERALD, published in the Northern section, with its million of datly readers in the United states and throughout the habitable globe, is holding up with a fearless hand the mirror to these strange and fateful times—times so full of evil and of the darkest perils to ail, and so pecu- ltarly tull of humiliation, bitterness and suffering for us of the South—ti® litle Southern radical newspapers fawn upon and toady, with restless and disgusting eagerness, the Washington powers. They insist itis all right to govern the Southern States with negro voters and to degrade us with unmistakable marks and badges of inferiority. They display, apparently without shame, the negro uniform they wear for pay, because it is the symbol of the national radical party South, According to these miserable mercenaries the whole South has been made free and prosperous by reconstruction; the acalawags are the prophets of our new politi- cal glory, and the carpet-baggers the chosen patriarchs and saints necessary to teach us states- manship and religion; while. the darkies are su-. pertor to white men in affairs of government. The men who aspired to and fought for Southern inde- pendence, ana to defend their property and homes from armed invasion, although now fully accepting | the situation as | biding, peaceful and hard- working citizens, and although they coffstitute, as individuals and in the mass, the very brains and-; bone and sinew of the land—these men, according to the little treacherous radical papers, are in the habit of complaining of tl! government without reason, and deserve all the pains and penalties which can be possibly visited upon them. The New York Hera.p thinks otherwise. POLITICAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. Our Minister to France has a blunt way of putting it when he says:—“The people don’t send their representatives to Congress to live like princes, buck the tiger and keep half-a-dozen mistresses.” Here is a clean sweep of office-holders which the Governor of Texas demands from President Grant just because they don’t exactly agree with the eforesaid Governor on certain points in State politics:—Parnell, United States Marshal; General Clarke, Postmaster at Galves- ton; Colonel Whittelesy, Postmaster at Houston; Colonel Piats, Collector of Customs of Corpus Christi, and Taylor, Collector of Internal Revenue, It is @ curious fact that while the Governor wants these oMcials removed, they re. turn the favor by wanting to have the Governor himself removed, Parson-Senator Brownlow’s third epistle to Gen- eral D. H. Hil, of North Carolina, sounds as if it had been written at “Yuba Dam,” a town in Cali- fornia. “In these days of gigantic moneyed operations,” says the Rochester Union—“these days of moneyed control of Presidents and Governors, Congresses THE WARDS ISLAND WAR. —_—_—+—___ Catholic and Protestant Interesta in the Board of ‘The greatest interest was felt in this city yester- day with reference to the meeting of the Commis- sioners of Emigration at Castile Garden, which was announced to take place at two o’clock. It was generally expected that Mr. Stephenson, who had been appointed chairman of the Wai Island Committee by Mr. Hurlburt, would make his report concerning the religious warfare now raging on Ward's Island. It may be remembered that con- siderable comment took place at the last meeting on Mr. Stephenson’s action in not submitting the sald report. Like all matters of religious strife, the bitterness inciaental to the question has grown from day to day in the minds of the Commissioners of Emigration, who felt aggrieved at the dilatory line of conduct pursued by Mr, Stephenson, who, instead of furnishing the report with due diligence, has wasted valuable time in its preparation, As might be supposed, they were all on the tiptoe of expectation to see yesterday what the parturient mountain had brought forth, and to stand firm to their Catholic or Protestant points of view in the matter. 3 THE PLAY OF HAMLET WITHOUT THE WITTY DANR. Shortly before two o’clock three of the-Corfimis- aioners of Emigration might have been seen walk- ing in hot haste a¥ross the Battery, mopping their moistened brows with their bandannas, for the sun poured down its rays upon the little band with almost tropical force. The board room was soon reached, and after the Commissioners had surveyed the clock they re- joiced to find that they were on time, two o'clock having been appointed asthe trysting hour, and after several heavy draughts of ice water the heated party threw. themselves into luxurious chairs and awaited for some time, with patience, the arrival of their President with the delayed re- Port on the Ward’s Island religious warfare. Quar- ter past, half- two, @ quarter to three and three o'clock arrived and passea, but still no sign of Mr, Stephenson nor any word explaining or apologizing for his absence. PATIENCE CEASERS TO BECOME A VIRTUE. After fretting and fuming for a mortal hour the three gentlemen in questioi—viz., Messrs. Lynch, Quinian and Starr—resolved that it- was foolish: ness on their part to waste any more time in wait- ing, and with conside:able indignation it was re- solved to adjourn the meeting sine die. Vexed and disgusted, the Commissioners told the representatives of the press that it would be use- less to wait any longer. The HERALD representa- tive accordingly took his departure, but had hardly reached Bowling Green when he met the absent hero of the day. Tke reporter instantly button- holed Mr. Stephenson (figuratively spealeng) and asked him if he intendef to present his report to his brother Commissioners at once. oo STEPHENSON—What paper do you represent, . t REPORTER—The HERALD. - STEPHENSON—Y our paper has misrepresented me, sir. Iwant the truth, and nothing but the truth, said about me (with dignity and in a basso profyndo voice). Seeing that Mr. Stephenson was suffering under an imi ry grievance, the reporter allowed tne subject to drop, and walked on in silence by his side until the room was reached, where the three patient Commissioners were found about taking their departure. * Wi ILARED. AB, DEC! Mr. Stephenson quietly took his seat as if the hour at whion he had arrived was the correct time, and commenced a desultory conversation with his brother Commissioners. All felt that they were treading on the edge of a volcano which might ex- [ome at any moment. Mr. Lynch, President of the h Emigration Society and a tine-honored mem- ber of the Board of Commissioners, asked Mr. Stephenson if he would kindly allow him to see the report of the Ward’s Island church question, To this request, made in a most courteous tone, a curt refusal was the only reply! pe Considering their previous resolation not to hold any meeting, after Nt reasonable time, the meeting adhered to their former resolution to journ sine die. The pro- d meeting of yesterday, it must be remem- Fa Was 8B called by Mr. Stephenson in quality o1 President of the Ward’s a Com- mittee. |eW WITH MR. LYNCH. Subsequently a HERALD reporter paid a visit to the office of Mr. Lynch in Broadway to see if that oo, s representing the Ii Emigration ciety, would consent to give his views on the vexed question of worship on Ward’s Island. eREPORTER—I have come to see if you will favor me with your views on the Ward’s Island religious warfare, Mr. Lynch. Mr. Lyncn—i have a mortal objection to being interviewed, but as the geestion at stake is one in which I feel so Ln terested, I will willingly speak frankly witl you on the subject. I espouse the cause of the separate Cg oe and maintain that separate chapels sh be provided tor the important denominations of Christian worshippers on Ward’s Isiand im the interest of the emigrants there located. The early Commis‘ioners of Emigration who served on the Board a quarter of S century ago were of this same belief, as they recognized that the emigrants were Pa{netpatt composed of the two great divisions of Christianity, known as Catho- lics and Protestants, and from the earliest time in the history of the Emigration Commissioners a Protestant and a Catholic chaplain were appointed, and their salaries were paid out of the emigrant head money. SEPARATE WORSHIP SINCE 1! Since the year 1853 Protestants and Catholics have had separate places of worship. The Protestants have had a commodious chapel in the second story of @ substantial brick building, the first a at present used at night asa dormitory for healthy boys. The place of worship in question has always been sufficiently commodius, and is properly and neatly Otted up for religious uses. THE CATHOLIC CHAPEL was also la enough, but was inconveniently located on the fiith si of a frame building known as the nursery. Two years 8g, in conse- uence of the great crowds that flocked to tha Jatholic chapel, the floors gave way and the roof sagged out, and the building was declared by com- 4 nt pronisgoyy pnseie. in (his state of affairs he last Board of Cominissioners of Emigration re- solved to erect a new chapel, bel at that time fifsh of funds, holding upwards of three hundred thousand dollars cash in hand,-and possessing real estate valued at $2,000,000. The new oy was accordingly erected at acost of $30,000, and Warden Welles was instructed to transfer the effects of the old Catholic chapel to thenew. The transfer was made and the Catholics placed in Possession last Winter. 8 THE ACTION OF THE NEW BOARD. When the new Commissioners they were di to abolish the Protestant cha and to have but one church for the use of all ions, whether Jew or Gentile, Uhristian or ‘The subject was referred to the Ward’s Island Committee for investigation, and the com- mittee has held already one meeting on the matter at issue, and you know of to-day’s abortive meetr It 18 maintained that there is no need to aboli the Protestant chapel, that as Protestants form a large portion of the emigrants who land here, they ought to be allowed to remain in session of their own chapel. The Catholics are equally eager to maintain ssion of their Place of worship. 1 therefore think it unnecessary to deprive either one or the other of their chapel. Thanking Mr. Lynch tor his courtesy the reporter withdrew. THR REPORT OF MR. STEPHENSON, It is generally understood that the report of Mr. Stephenson fs in favor of ap but one piace of worship for both Protestants and Catholics. itis it that a minority report is being pre- pared pl@ading for separate places of worship. The German Catholic societies in this city, claim- ing over bg! thousand members, are greatly in- terested in the matter and are in favor of separate laces of worship. Both the chaplains on Ward's island are Germans—the Protestant chaplain, Rev. Mr. Schmidt, is @ Prussian, while the Catholic chaplain, Mr. Prachensky, is a Bohemian, It has been asserted on mary hands that if na settlement of this matter is made before the Win- ter comes, when 3,000 emigrants are occasionally on the isiand, fizyting will take place on Ward's Island, between rrotestants and Catholics, SUDDEN DEATH. Complaint Against a Coroner. At three o'clock yesterday afternoon two gentle. men called at the Coroners’ office, one of whom, entered a grievous complaint concerning the case of Mrs. Eimira Cooper, a Widow, twenty-three years of age, who had died suddenly anout three o'clock that morning at her residence, 239 West Thirty-first street. Coroner Kessler or his deputy had been notified of the death early in the morning, but no official action towards nolding an inquest had been taken up to the time the gentleman, much excited, if not angry, left home to learn the cause of the delay in the matt In the meantime the corpse lay in her ame a8 When discovered, and, decom- and Legislatures, the people’s only reliance isa free and independent press.” There scarcely ever as @ truer thing uttered in fewer words, set in, filled the honse with intolerable 5 ach, Ca suMcient to breed a contagion. There should be no excuse net delay in cases like the above, i kept waiting such amun- _