The New York Herald Newspaper, December 2, 1873, Page 6

| 4 F j "NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET, - JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the \gear, Four cents per copy. Annual subscription Volume XXXVI. a eee = AMUSEMENTS THIS EVENING. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Eighth ay. and Twenty-third et.—Humery Domery Apxoan. PARK THEATRE, Brooklyn, opposite City Hall— Daw Macpauxy. elas LYCEUM THEATRE, fourteenth st—Stinn Waters Bun Dene. BOOTH’S THEATRE. Sixth av. and Twenty-third st— Wicker or Leave Mane METROPOLITAN THEATRE, 585 Broadway.—Variery BEyrentainncnt, MRS. F. B, coxway's BROOKLYN THEATRE.— Genava Cnoss. + TARATRE COMIQUE, No. 514 Broadway.—V arierr NTERTAINMENT. OLYMPIO THEATRE, Broadway, between Houston ‘end Bleecker sts.—Exocu AxpEN. NIBLO'S GARDEN, Brondway, between Prince and Wouston sts.—Tne Buack Cxoox, \ WALLAOR’S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth ‘street. —Tne Liar, UNION SQUARE THEATRE, roadway.—Tux Wickxp W oxi. Union square, near AQADEMY OF MUSIC, Mth street and Irving place.— Guanp Concent. YS MUSEUM, Broadway, corner Thirtieth st.— tierusreopy’s Fruenp, &c. Afternoon and evening. BROADWAY THEATRE, 728 and 730 Broadway.—A ark’s DREAM. GERMANIA THEATRE, Mth street and 3d avenue.— Bxoxxn’ Gxscuicuty, &c. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, No. 201 Bowery.— Nanrery Enrertauyaxyt. Matinee at 2}g. BRYANTS OPERA HOUSE, Twenty-third st., corner Bixth ay.—Nscro Minstrersy, &c. IRVING HALL, corner of Irving place and 16th st— Guano Concert. ASSOCIATION HALL. 234 gtreet and 4th avenue.— Becture—“Covurts anp Jars." ‘THE RINK, 34 avenue and 64th street.—MxNaGERIE AND Muskvs. Afternoon and evening, New York, Tuesday, Dec, 2, 1873. ; we ss is ha WHE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. }ONE MORE MARINE DISASTER! THE CATAS- TROPHE TO THE VILLE DU HAVRE”— LEADING ARTICLE—SIXTH Pace. \aNorHeR HORROR-BURDENED ATLANTIC CA- LAMITY! THE STEAMSHIP VILLE DU HAVRE COLLIDES WITH THE SHIP LOCH EARN AND SINKS IN TWELVE MINUTES! BUT 87 PERSONS SAVED OUT OF 226 IM- PERILLED! AWFUL MOMENTS ON THE DOOMED SEA-PALACE—THIRD AND SEVENTH Pages SERIOUS ILLNESS OF THE GERMAN EMPEROR! HE HAS TO BE WHEELED FROM HIS BED TO THE TABLE! THE EX-QUEEN ELIZA- BETH LOUISE FATALLY PROSTRATED— SEVENTH PAGE. PUBA’s FIGHT FOR FREEDOM! THE BATTLES OF LA ZANJA AND HOLGUIN! CESPEDES SUCCEEDED BY CISNEROS 1N THE PRES- IDENCY—FourtH PaGg, WaousTer SOLER APPOINTED HONORARY COL- A ONEL OF THK HAVANA VOLUNTEERS— AMERICAN THANKSGIVING BANQUET IN THE RUSSIAN CAPITAL—SEVENTH PaGE. YONGRESS MEETS AND ORGANIZES! SENATOR SUMNER STILL A CIVIL RIGHTER! THE SALARY GRABBERS REBUKED! “NO MORMONS NEED APPLY"—FirTH PaGE. NEWS FROM WASHINGTON—SENATOR SUMNER SERENADED BY HIS COLORED AD- MIRERS—Tarmp Pace. Surcues..a, THE MURDERER, TO BE HANGED NEXT FRIDAY—IMPORTANT GENERAL , NEWS—TeEnNTH Pace. PaRpixaL PECCI, THE COMING ROMAN PON- TIFF—THE SINKING OF THE ARIEL— CHINA AND THE CUOLIES—JAPAN PRO- GRESSING—FourtTH Pas. YRELAND’S STRUGGLE FOR HOME RULE! THE BITTER WAR WAGED UPON THE UNION! FENIANISM—FOURTH PAGE, HE WALL STREET WILL-0’-THE-WISP! TRICKS OF THE BUCHU UPERATORS EXPOSED BY THE COMPTROLLER UF THE CURRENCY! FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL OPERA- TIONS YESTERDAY—NinTH Paces. JHON. GEORGE BH. WILKIAMS, TRE NOMINEE FOR THE CHIEF JUSTICESHIP—FEDERAL CAPITAL NOTES—AFFAIRS IN THE CEN- TRAL AND SOUTH AMERICAN REPUB- LICS—Firta Pace. -EcaL BUSINESS, YESTERDA Y—PROSECUTING THE RING—“TROTTING” AT FLEETWOOD— ART GLIMPSES—THE CITY FATHERS— EIGHTH PaGE. Tae Hatem Exprosion—Tux Coroner's Yupomenr.—On Saturday, it will be remem- ered, the Coroner's jury brought in their ‘erdict in the matter of the Harlem boiler ex- \plosion, by which seven persons were instan- ‘taneously killed. The jury found the con- ftractors and engineer guilty of criminal negli- gence. Yesterday the Coroner pronounced judgment, committing Coyne and Beemer, the sub-contractors, and John Barnum, the engi- meer, to the Tombs without bail. John Bal- more, the owner of the boiler, is held in ‘fifteen thousand dollars bail, and A. 8. Came- on, who sold the boiler to Balmore, is held fin five thousand dollars. Coroner Kessler has won the gratitude of the community by the manner in which he has acted in this case. It is to be hoped that the example.of the Cor- oner will be imitated in higher quarters, and that by the proper tribunal such justice shall ‘be administered to the guilty parties that life ‘will be rendered more safe in all parts of this great and growing city. Such recklessness as ‘was manifested in this case ought not to escape punishment. Iycreasz om THE Pustic Dept.—The “off year’ in politics seems to be a bad year for the liquidation of our public indebtedness, Although the month of September showed a reduction of about two millions in the national debt the month of October exhibited an in- rease of over three millions, and now the Official statement for the past month of No- vember presents an increase of over nine mill- fons, making the total debt, less cash in the treasury, December 1, $2,150,862,053. It would therefore appear that the less we have ‘of “off years” in our political affairs the better ‘it will be for our national pecuniary obliga- tions. It is gratifying to learn, however, that ‘we have nearly a hundred and fourteen millions Yin coin and coin certificates in the Treasury, which will be o good thing to fall back upon in case of emergency. cay Sits) One More Merine Disaster—The Catas- | iron ship, and the exploded notion of buildmg trophe to the Ville du Havre. Another appalling catastrophe has occurred on the Atlantic Ocean, No event with which we are acquainted—and, surely, no imagma- tion—can equal in circumstances of tragic ter- ror the dreadfully simple story of the loss of the Ville du Havre. Cut to tho water's edge by asingle blow, and sent to the bottom in forty minutes, with two hundred and twenty- seven persons—such is the cruolly plain and barbarously downright chronicle of a calamity that has desolated hundreds of homes and ruined, no doubt, a world of hopes. In how brief a space aro all its incidents crowded! At one moment these hundreds of passengers are sleeping tranquilly in apparent security, having full confidence in the stanch ship and the careful captain, despite the heavy night and the stormy wind, and in the next moment there is a wild rushing to and fro, a frantic struggle for safety, and the sea goes over all ; the scream of fear and agony is lost in the wind and the wave together, and in three- quarters of an hour from that time of appar- ent safety the ship is gone down, and no trace is left of her but the few creatures more fortunate than their fellows who are left strug- gling on the surface clinging to floating things in the desperate endeavor to keep up till the boats shall come. Without warning all the others have gone to their account; and not merely without warning, but perhaps in many cases with scarcely an intelligent conscious- ness of the fatal event. They were wakened, many of them perhaps by the rushing into their staterooms of that furious sea from which there was no escape for them; or they leaped from their berths into the water already rapidly filling the rooms, and before they clambered up again there was no longer any space between the surface and the ceiling. One may scarcely dare imagine the heartrend- ing cries, the fearful histories of those few moments down below before the relentless sea ended all; and the story is sufficiently dread- ful without such vain attempts. With the facts before us it is difficult to thoroughly understand the disaster. There are some points in the reports that seem to in- volve inevitable contradictions. We are told there was a fog, as accounting for the failure of the ship to see the steamer's lights; and yet thata gale was blowing—in the presence of which certainly the fog must have disap- peared. Neither can we understand how, in the thick weather and the high wind, the boats that the ship sent out could live and find their way; and yet the women who were rescued and many of the men were taken up by these boats. Half the acute perception that was necessary for the Loch Earn’s boats to find these perishing women tossing hither and thither on the boisterous sea should have sufficed to make out the steamer’s lights and keep the vessels clear of one another; and if the ship could pick up her boats again by sig- nals addressed either to the eye or the ear, how was it that the steamer’s signals were hidden and her fog trumpet unheard? It is not possible to suppose that the steamer’s lights were not in order. First class ocean steamers are sailed too carefully as to these obvious precautions for such an hypothesis as the absence of her lights to be admissible. Yet it will need to be very sufficiently proved that there was not negligence of some sort. In the case of the United States steamer Oneida, cut down in broad daylight and inhumanly aban- doned by the British ship Bombay, there was certainly negligence. So there was in the case of the Northfleet, emigrant ship, sent to the bottom with nearly all on board by the Spanish steamer Murillo. In the case of the Collins steamer Arctic, that in a dense fog collided with a small vessel on the Newfound- land banks and went down, it was thought at the time that a properly diligent lookout might have prevented the accident. That there was a criminal negligence in the navi- gation of the steamship Atlantic no one can for a moment doubt. And as these events, all more or less resembling the present ca- lamity, were partly or wholly due to some oversight, some momentary lapse of that earnest vigilance that is necessary to safety, we fear we may yet be compelled to add to the history of this disaster the painful reflection that it might have been prevented. It is pos- sible to conceive of such an accident happen- ing with every precaution taken—a catastrophe defying human care and the preventive pro- vision of human foresight; and when we con- sider the number of ships on the sea and the ceaseless trail of maritime traffic and the comparative infrequency of these disasters, we must assent that the provisions taken to in- sure safety are wonderfully adapted to their end; and we must admit that there is the less cause for wonder if they do sometimes fail. The Ville du Havre was an iron ship, and one blow sent her to the bottom. It was the same with the Atlantic; and in neither case would a similar injury have been equally fatal to wooden ships. Compare with the huge bulk of these ocean steamers their vast dimensions as to size and tonnage—the thickness, or thinness, rather, of the iron plates which are all that stand between the passengers and a watery grave—and we shall see that the protection afforded is necessarily of the most flimsy character. An ordinary kitchen utensil, made of sheet tin, has a far greater thickness in proportion to its size than the skin of the ship has in proportion to the ship’s size; for, while the iron plates are perhaps no thicker than thirty or forty sheets of tin, millions of uten- sils would scarcely aggregate the capacity of a steamer like the Ville du Havre. Compared to the size of such a vessel and the power with which she is impelled, her iron plates have scarcely the resistance of an egg shell, and are shattered quite as easily under the fearful force of collision with another ship. When the Atlantic ran on the rocks near Halifax the jagged stone tore through her iron plate as easily as the blunt, short knife is pushed through the thin cover of a sardine box. This is all the protection the naval architecture of our day yields to human life, and yet the world is startled when some hundreds of pas- sengers are thus rushed out of existence, Ships of this sort are built with a view to all the contingencies of navigation save the ever imminent one of accidents. No thought seems to be taken for safety against what is shown to be so likely an occurrence as the destruc- tion of the ship by collision. It is, of course, possible that collision will send down a wooden ship also; but it is certain that such a fact involves the absolute destruction of an ships in compartments seems to have proved a hopeless failure. Have the ingenious con- structors of passenger ships no contrivance against the difficulties of the caso thus put before them by facts like this collision, or must passengers who wish to have a fair chance to pass the sea im safety wait for wooden ships ? The Henaxp special despatches from Lon- don tell the story of this calamity in the graphic words of the survivors whom our cor- respondents have seen, and scarcely leave any detail untouched that may cnable us to realize the picture; but the actual cause of the event is still not apparent. The Opening of the Forty-third Con- gress—First Day’s Proceedings. The proceedings of the first session of the Forty-third Congress are inter- esting, particularly in the bills and reso- lutions introduced in the Senate, as fore- shadowing some of the important meas- ures which will be discussed and probably acted upon during the present session. First came Mr. Sumner with his General Civil Rights bill, as usual, who next presented a bill to establish equal rights in tho public schools of Washington and Georgetown; and next a bill to authorize the issue of compound interest notes as a substitute for legal tenders; and next a bill to protect persons against in- veigling from abroad, or kidnapping, forcible restraint or involuntary servitude. He re- ferred to the five thousand chlidren kidnapped in Italy, and now held in servitude in this country. Mr. Sum- ner next introduced a bill to provide for the adjustment of those old French spoliation claims, and next, two joint resolutions—one proposing an amendment of the Constitution, whereby the President of the United States shall be elected directly by the people, and the other providing that he shall be elected for term of six years and limited to one term. The introduction of these bills and resolu- tions by Mr. Sumner on the opening day of the session is equivalent to a notice that he intends to push them, and that particularly on his civil rights measures it is his purpose to compel the republicans of the Senate to ‘face the music.”” The agitation of the back pay and increased salary bill of the last Congress, though virtu- ally dropped by the democrats of the House in the nomination of Mr. Fernando Wood as their candidate for Speaker, is still an agitation which survives in the Senate. For example, Mr. Conkling introduced a bill relating to cer- tain moneys appropriated for members of Congress, and Mr. Wright submitted his little bill to repeal the obnoxious back-pay act. So much for the pressure of public opinion. Other tubs may be thrown to the whale for his amuse- ment on this question, but when the two houses shall have entered into the practical business of the session the increased salary and back-pay bills, we apprehend, will be cast aside and forgotten. In fact, the only feature of this bill that was really a fraud, or the obtaining in violation of an implied con- tract, was the back-pay clause, and that device can be effectively reached only through an amendment of the constitution. Among the measures or propositions intro- duced touching our financial affairs were several for the repeal of the Bankrupt law or certain parts thereof, one for free banking, and a resolution instructing the Finance Com- mittee to consider and report remedies for our present financial embarrassments. The most interesting notice given during the day was that from Mr. Sumner of a telegraphic de- spatch, addressed to himself and Mr. Cam- eron, which he had received from several members of the Spanish Cortes—no doubt in reference to the Virginius outrages—a paper which he desired by unanimous consent to have read; but as Mr. Sherman and Mr. Conkling objected to the reading of this de- spatch from a foreign government in advance of the President’s Message the reading was deferred. At half-past one P. M., no infor- mation of the organization of the House having been received, the Senate adjourned, whereby the reception and reading of the Message to the two houses were postponed till to-day. The day in the House was spent in the elec- tion of the Speaker (Mr. Blaine being chosen for another term) and other officers, and in the ‘swearing in’’ of the members, and in the distribution of their seats by lottery, Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts, the oldest continuous member of the body, and Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia (late Vice President of the late Southern Confederacy), being first allowed the privilege each of selecting the seat which he preferred. This was a graceful com- pliment in each case, particularly to Mr. Stephens, in his restoration to the national legislature, in which he had distinguished himself as a constitutional debater and asa party leader before the war. The President's Message, for which all the needful pFeparations had been made for an immediate distribution to the press, yesterday, with the announcement of the reading of the document in the Capitol, will be the first thing in order to-day in the two houses, and they meet at noon. Derantuent Estimates ror 1874-5.—The official reports show that the grand total of the department estimates for the year 1875 amounts to $319,198,736; for 1874, $308,323,256—an increase of nearly $11,000,000 on a peace basis. The appropriations for 1874 fall short over $2,000,000 of the estimates—a deficiency that will have to be supplied by the present Congress. In the War Department estimates there is an increase of nearly $5,000,000; while in the Navy Department estimates there is a decrease ot over $2,373,000 in the estimates for 1875 as com- pared with those for 1874—an exhibit that does not indicate the prevalence of the idea in that department that in time of peace it is well to prepare for war. 7 ‘Tae Heatran or tHe German Emperor is ro- ported in a Henaup special despatch from Berlin as being very precarious. When so powerful a sovereign draws towards the close of his days the world of speculation is ready to oceupy itself on the prospects for his nation should the inevitable arrive. Kaiser Wilhelm will leave behind him a proud heritage, whose strength now appears typical of the iron age. He is said to be bodily very feeble. The news also comes that the widow of the late King Frederick IV. is at the point of death, so that the house of Hohenzollern seems esvecially afflicted just now, bak Ho SR 4 NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, DSUEMBER 2, 1873—TRIPLE particular case, without insisting tht the} Dr Tyne, Jr, and the Gadaaeal The Alleged Settlement with Spain at the Price of National Honor. There appears to be some ground for hope that the disgraceful compromise alleged to have been agreed upon by our government in the Virginius affair has not been concluded, and that the arrogance and insubordination of the Spanish-Cubans, to which the enormity of the outrage, if not its inception, is due, may yet be the means of saving us from national dishonor. The confusion and contradiction which distinguish the semi-official utterances from Washington certainly render it unsafo to place much reliance upon thom ; but when the hint that “‘the government is not without fears that we may yet be compelled to adopt extreme measures’ follows closely on the heels of the apparently authoritative announcement that the negotiations between our Secretary of State and the Spanish Minister have been concluded by the signing of a protocol, we are disposed to credit the latest statement, inasmuch as it harmonizes with the general belief that any terms agreed upon at Madrid will be repudiated in Cuba The President’s Message, which will be com- municated to Congress to-day, will probably clear up all these uncertain points and enable us to better estimate the character of the pro- posed settlement from the correspondence which has passed between the two govern. ments; unless, indeed, the mantle of diplo- matio mystery should still remain wrapped around the subject, on the plea that it has not yet been moulded into a shape sufficiently decent and presentable to meet the public eye. We prefer to await the full disclosures, which we hope may be made to-day, before indulg- ing in any further criticisms of the action of our government, especially since the finality of the reported compromise remains an open question. It is always an unthankful task to condemn the position taken by our own nation in a controversy with a foreign Power. We cannot brand our recognized authorities with dishonor without dishonoring the Repub- lic in the eyes of the world. If our Secretary of State should be allowed to make a shameful surrender of our national honor the shame is not upon him as an individual, but upon the United States as a nation. Hence we desire to hope, until hope shall be no longer possi- ble, that the terms of the Fish-Polo protocol have been misrepresented; that they were semi-officially put forth as a diplomatic ruse in order to test the public endurance, or for some other object; that they have been indig- nantly repudiated by our soldier President; that something has intervened to save us from the degradation of national cow- ardice and dishonor. But there are some points involved in the reported protocol to which we cannot too soon direct the attention of Congress, for they materially affect the in- terests as well as the honor of the American government, Supposing the Virginius to be ultimately adjudged to have properly carried American papers and borne the American flag, the atonement to be made by Spain for her seizure on the high seas, for the tearing down of her colors, and for the massacre of the larger portion of her pas- sengers and crew without trial and in defiance of the protest of the American Consul, is the surrender of the vessel, a salute to our flag, and the delivery to our authorities of the few survivors. The ques- tion as to the payment of damages is reserved for future consideration and does not enter into the settlement at all; but Spain guar- antees to institute proceedings against any of her authorities who may have violated either law or treaty stipulations. This is absolutely all we are to get from Spain in the way of reparation under the most favorable circum- stances. The two principal concessions, the surrender of the Virginius and of the sur- viving passengers and crew, ought to have been demanded and compelled by our govern- ment, not through paper protocols at Wash- ington, but with loaded guns in the Cuban ports, as o preliminary to the entertainment of any propositions for a peaceful atonement for the outrage. The remaining conditions signify nothing. The salute to our flag isa ‘mere empty show, to be followed by new insults on the morrow. The “proceedings” against the bloodthirsty little butcher, Bur- riel, for any “violation of law or treaty stipulations’ he may have committed—pro- ceedings to be instituted in the land where his savage murders have been cheered by a brntal populace and celebrated by bell ringing and bull fights—is an insulting farce. Reversing the picture, if Spain shall succeed in satisfying our complaisant and easily government that the Virgin- ius had no right to the American flag or Amer- ican papers, then our flag is not to be saluted, and we are to pledge our national faith to institute proceedings against the vessel and the surviving parties who have violated the laws of the United States, In all this there is not one word of regret for the past, not the most trifling recantation of any of-the unauthorized powers claimed by the Spanish rulers of Cuba; nota single pro- tection against a repetition of the ont- rages perpetrated upon Americans for the last five years, and of which the Virginius massacre was only ® natural sequence. Spain does not say that the Tornado had no right to seize the Virginius on the high seas in a time of alleged peace and carry her into a Cuban port; that Burriel ‘had no right to take the lives of the persons found on board, whatever may have been the char- acter of the vessel, without trial and without due notice to the United States. She only agrees to return the vessel and the survivors and to salute our flag if it shall be found that she did not have even the shallow justification of her own proclamations to seize the vessel and murder all but a few of her passengers and crew. She may fulfil the conditions of the shameful protocol to-day, and to-morrow the Tornado or the Arapiles, which we have just kindly helped to put into fighting condition, may capture on the high seas another suspi- cious vessel bearing the American flag, carry the prize into a Cuban port, murder the pas. sengers and crew, suppress our Consul’s official despatches, treat his protests with con- tempt and plead the suspicion of ‘‘pitacy’’in justification, By the very terms of the settle- ment we give up the right of our ocean com- merce to immunity from visitation or search on the high seas in time of pence, the princi- ple for which we fought a war with England and which we have ever since maintained. When we accevt a simple reparation in thia SHEET. power of visitation and search claimed by Spain shall be officially abandoned, wm? in fact recognizo that right, and leave Tho attitude of Dr. Tyng, Jr., towards the Protestant Episcopal Church, a Church of the proclamations of Dulce and De Rodas still | ‘which he is an ordained minister, is becoming in force. Spain does not admit that the cap- ture of the Virginius was a violation of law or treaty stipulations, and she can repeat the act to-morrow without any breach of the terms of settlement in this single case. Spain does not admit that the murder of poor Fry and his fellow victims without trial was a violation of law or treaty stipulations, regardloss of the character of the Virginius, and her Cuban butchers may slaughter another vossel load to-morrow under like circumstances if they should feel so disposed. Hence the disgrace- ful protocol, if correctly reported, gives us no protection against insult, outrage and murder in the future, and actually concedes to Spain, by implication, the right to visit, search and seize our vessels on the high seas in a time of professed peace. These are matters for Con- gress to consider, for our Senators and Repre- sentatives may yet be called upon to save us from national dishonor. The Report of Secretary Robeson. Secretary Robeson’s report of the operations of our navy during the past year, while it indicates that he has made good use of the paltry material at his disposal, only goes to confirm the deplorable weakness of the vessels noticed from time to timo in the Hzraxp. There are but one hundred and sixty-five ves- sels of all classes in the service, and of these but forty-five have been in commission up to the moment of the Santiago massacre. The eight new sloops of war authorized by the last Congress, Mr. Robeson thinks, will be crodita- ble to the navy, and we are informed that they are in various stages of construction at the public and private yards. After referring to | the different squadrons and the service they have performed in all parts of the world in protecting and forwarding American interests, we are furnished with a careful synopsis of the explorations made by the difforent naval expeditions, which we may truly characterize as without parallel in the scientific achieve- ments of our time. Passing from these operations to a consideration of the police of the different navy yards, the Secretary makes some very sound suggestions, which we hopo will not be ignored by Congress. The money demand does not reach twenty millions of dollars for the ensuing year. We regret that Mr. Robeson did not state in more emphatic and explicit terms the needs of the navy respecting an armament commensurate with the dignity of the United States. Yet he uses some very nicely pointed phrases, which may not be lost on our Yo- semite legislators, and particularly when he refers to the personnel—‘‘L believe that the activity, skill, science aud experience of our navy will be found equal to any difficulty which courage dares to meet or energy will avail to conquer.” What Are We Going To Do the Poor? It is about time that the city government should act honestly with the poor laborers, and let them know whether they are to obtain any public work to help them over the severe winter or to trust to their own resources alone. They have been promised such aid by the Finance Department, which alone can provide the means, and yet the Comptroller obstructs and defeats every proposition that looks to their employment. A resolution is before the for Board of Assistant Aldermen, authoriz- ing the Department of Public Works to complete and perfect certain jobs, and repairs by day labor, which would give employment to a large number of men; and now the Comptroller steps in and opposes its passage on the plea that the charter re- quires all such work to be done by cou- tract. The charter does provide for the contract system in such _ cases, ‘unless otherwise ordered by a vote of three-fourths of the members elected to the Common Council.” These are the words of the charter, and the Comptroller's opposition is merely factious and designed to prevent the work from being done at all. If Mr. Green has bankrupted the city treasury by his incompetency and cannot get money to run the city government he should give place to @ more competent financier. He will prob- ably find the means to pay an Albany counsel one hundred dollars a day fee and twelve dol- lars a day for his hotel bill as soon as the Legislature meets, as he did last winter ; but it is of far greater importance to the city that he should find means to give work to the hun- dreds of starving laborers whose employment will be an advantage to the city as well as a blessing to their suffering families. The Successor of Pius IX, At any moment Pius IX. may passaway. The feeble condition of his health and his great age have suggested to the prelates in authority the wisdom of fixing upon some Cardinal who shall replace the reigning Pontiff immediately upon his demise. The London Hour, a newly started journal of mild tory proclivities, pre- tends to have editorial information that Car- dinal Pecci, Archbishop of Perugia, is the coming Pope. We can see no reason to doukt that the parties within the College of Cardi- nals have been anxiously canvassing the names of their own members, in order that no chaotic session may follow the termination of the present Pontificate. It seems plausible also that they have determined upon an Italian Cardinal, because Italy has a larger represen- tation among these first dignitaries of the Church than any other nation—indeed, the Italian influence is insurmountable. It is said that Cardinal Pecci, while holding strictly to the doctrines of the spirituality, is of a conciliatory turn of mind in matters relating to the temporal government of the Church, and that he is popular even among the free thinkers. We doubt if it will ever be possible to elect a Pope with finer personal attributes than Pius IX.; yot there is great wisdom in selecting an Archbishop who, by an unblem- ished life, can command the respect of his enemies as well as the devotion of his friends and followers, Joven How's Rervx to Ex-Paesrpent Jouxson.—Judge Advocate Holt replies to ex- Prosident Johnson on the subject of who was or who was not to blame for the execution of Mrs, Surratt with the rest of the Washington conspirators. The whole discussion ix dis- tasteful to the good sense of the community, and the sooner it sinks into oblivion the better for all parties concerned, very peculiar. It is evidently the Doctor's opinion, that the Protestant Episcopal Church, both in England and the United States, is marching bodily and, notwithstanding the halt at Putioli, with a very determined step towards Rome. It is not unnatural that the Doctor should be somewhat grieved and event angry because of the contempt with which he: and his party are treated. According to the Doctor there is not the slightest hope of reformation. In his sermon on Sunday even- ing he asked the question, ‘Is there any hope of reformation?” and he answored ‘None. If the ship is sinking, if all hope must be abandoned, we should think the Doctor and his evangelical friends would have no diffi- culty in deciding what should be done, They should leave the ship at once. Butno, It would be “craven” to “give up.” Tho evan- gelicals, he says, must stand their ground. There must be powerful attractions about the Protestant Episcopal Church when a sensible, clear headed, earnest Divine can speak and actin this manner. Dr. Tyng may see con- sistency in his course of conduct; but, we con- fess, we cannot, if the sermon of Sunday even- ing faithfully represents his views. * Tue Carer Jusricesnr.—Attorney General Williams has been tendered the vacant Chief Justiceship and has accepted it Colonel B. H. Bristow, of Kentucky, will be appointed Attorney General in his stead. Both nominations will be submitted to the Senate to-day. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Captain Danesi, of the Italian Army, is staying at the Everett House. Captain W. A. Rafferty, United States Army, is quartered at the Everett House, Lieutenant Bloomfeld Molivaine, United States Navy, ia at the Albemarle Hotel. Paymaster S, D. Hurlbut, United States Navy, is Tegistered at the Everett House. Dr. W. Gilfillan, of Brooklyn Heights, is back from an all-summer tour of Europe. Ex-Governor Horatio Seymour has returned to his quarters at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Ex-Mayor Dwight, of Binghamton, is among the recent arrivals at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Two of the nephews of the Ameer of Cabul have enlisted themselves in the British Army at Lahore, . Judge Platt Potter, of Schenectady, has decided to remain for a short time at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, Thomas Fairbanks, the Vermont scale manufac turer, ig among the men of weight at the Aster House. Count Antonio Greppi, as Consul for Italy, has arrived in Panama, to which city he has been ap- appointed. Robert J. Oglesby, United States Senator from Minois, wag, married at Elkhart, lil., on the 19th ult., to Mrs. Emma Keyes, Henry P. Haven, the republican candidate fer Governor of Connecticut at the last election, has apartments at the Glenham Hotel. The Richmond Enquirer remarks that people heretofore have been going to Cuba to recruit. They should now recruit to go to Cuba. General N. B. Forrest, of Tennessee, has ten- dered his services, with an indefinite force, to Gen- eral Sherman in case of a war with Spain. Norman Wiard’s big gun drove a conical shot a&: 160 feet distance through 15 inches of iron inam experimental trial in Boston Harbor last week. General Tom Benton Smith has proposed to Gov- ernor Brown, of Tennessee, to raise a regiment of 500 men, between 18 and 36 years of age, tor ser- vice in Cuba. Andrew S, Donnan has dissppeared from Austin, Texas, carrying with him $1,900 in State bonds, worth in Wall street 82 cents on the dollar. This is the shabbiest steal of the day, AMUSEMENTS, Italian Opera—Gli Ugonotti. ‘The last performance of the che/-d’auvre of Mey- erbeer took place last evening before a very bril- Mant audience. The Strakosch opera company might rest their well earned reputation for excel- lence over all predecessors in their magnificent in- terpretation of this, the greatest of lyric works, without reference to their triumphs in other operas. The general symmetry of the performance, an elegant and artistic mounting to the peerless gem contributed by Mme. Nilsson and Signor Cam- paniniin the grand duo of, the fourth aot, chal lenges admiration both for the sake of art and nov- elty. The very badinage of the friends of Nevers, in the first act, is given with the same girlish and artistic spirit as the “Rataplan” or “The Blessing of the Daggers.” Such perfection of ensemdle in one of the grandest and most trying of operas has been hitherto unknown in the his tor of opera in New York, and even without the transcendent talents displayea by Mme. Nilsson and Signor Campanini in the rdles of Valentine and Raoul, the periormance would bea memorable one. Mlle. Maresi, Miss Oary and Messrs. Nannetti, Maurel and Del Puente were im excellent voice last evening, and,the chorus orchestra, under the able’ diréction of Muzto, were sans reproche. The usual furor of ex- citement prevalled at the close of the foarth act, and the great prima donna and the no less great tenor were recalled several times. Mr. Strakosch is en- titled to the thanks and cordial support of the en- ture musical public for presenting to them an 0) company which has not been equalled by organization since the celebrated Havana layed at Castle Garden. ‘‘AYda’’ will be given. om ednesday evening. Musical and Dramatic Notes. Miss Neilson was to appear at Quincy, IlL.,. last night, and Miss Clara Morris in Philadelphia, The new Sebue in “The Wicked World,” at the Union Square Theatre, is Miss Mary Griswold. ‘The operatic concert for the Scandinavian poor, in which Madame Nilsson participates, takes place this evening at the Academy of Music. To Mr. John E. Owens, in the performance of Major De Boots and Solon Shingle, the patrons of Wood's Museum last evening were indebted for & great deal of enjoyment. It would, indeed, be & dull audience that Mr. Owens could not gratify; but it would be a duller congregation that this en- joyable comedian’s present company could. satisfy with dramatic art. ‘The cast of “The Ticket of Leave Man,” in which Mr. W. J. Florence made his reappearance at Booth’s Theatre last night, is better this year tham last, owing to the fact that Mrs. Florence is again playing her old part of Emily St. Evremond. If be true, as the playbill asserts, that Mr. Florenee has played Bob Brierly over 10,000 times, the pub lic has had anlopportunity of becoming pretty thoroughly acquainted with his acting in the part, Under such circumstances criticism is superfinons, We read in the play bill that “the popular origi nal comedy,” entitled ‘A Life’s Dream,” in whiot Mr. W. H. Lingard and Miss Alice Dunning ap- peared at the Broadway Theatre last night, hae been “played by them over 400 times,’* Er it had not been set down in the bill we should not have believed it. Had it been the first we should have suggested that it be the last time. It has been re- marked, we believe, in private circles, that Mr. D’Orsay Ogden is a very bad actor, but Mr. Ogden has found his match in the Lingards and in Mr. Thomas Whiffen, the leading man of their “dramatic organization.” A worse performance it is impossible to conceive of, though it is some what relieved by Mr. Lingard’s “sketches,” which follow the play. Allthe real honors of the o¢om sion were carried off by Mr. B. Mollenhauer, who last night assumed the direction of the orchestra, “YACHTING NOTE, The sohooner yacht Enchantress, N.W.Y.0,, Cap» tain Fairchitd, which leit this port on Sunday, November 9, for Gowen, srrices of Horst ( aoe