The New York Herald Newspaper, February 7, 1874, Page 6

6 NEW YOR NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. ii Sac THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the Four cents per cepy. Annual subscription ear, price $12. All business or news Setters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New Yorke HERALD. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. Subscriptions and Advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING THEATRE COMIQUE, No. 51¢ Broadwa: BAWN, AND VARIETY ENTERTAIN .; Closes at 10:30 P.M. Mat. gnee at 2:80 2 P.M. ROOTH’S THEATRE, Sixth avenue and Twenty-third street.—ELENE, at 745 P.M. closes at 103 M. Mrs. J. 8. Booth. Matinee at 1:30 P. M.; closes: M, 20 P. WALLACK'S THEATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street —MONEY, at 8 P. 3 closes at P.M, Mr. Lester Wallack, Miss Jeffre Lewis, Matinee at 1:3) P.M. OLYMPIC THEATRE, Broadway, between Housto reets.— VAUDEVILLE and NOVEL NT and Holman Opera ‘troupe, at 8 P. i P.M, Matinee at 2 P. M. BROOKLYN P THEATRE, opposite City Hall, Brooklyn—OUR |" AMERICAN COUSIN, at 8 P.M; "C! atlisS P.M.” Mr, EA. Sothern, MRS, CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, Washington street, Brookiyn.—THE STRANGH P.M; closesatll P.M, LADY AUDLEY'S at Matinee. Mrs. Bow. BOWERY THEATRE, ASSIM; FORTY THIEVRS, Begins at M. Miss Laura Alberta. Bowery.—P. 8 P.M. ; closes at li P. err. ‘ METROPOLITAN THEATRE, No. 585 Broadway.—VARIETY EN1 MENT, at 7:45 P. M.; closes at 10:30 P.M. Matinee at 2:20 P. M. NIBLO’S GARDEN, Broadway, between Prince and Houston streets —THE GOOD FOR NOTHING; THE WRONG MAN IN THE RIGHT PLACE. | Begins at 8.P. Mo: closes at 10:30 2. M Vokes Family. Matinee at 1:30 P. M. ; closes at 4:30 P.M WooD’s MUSEUM, Broadway. corner Thirtieth street—PUSS IN BOOTS. at2 P. M.; closes 0 P.M. TEN NIGHTS IN A BARROOM, at 8 P. P.M. FIFTE NUK THEATRE, ‘Twenty-third stree ‘M.; closes at 10:30 P Matinee at 130 P. M. oadway.—FOLLINE, at P. Br Mr. Harkins, Miss Ada Dyas. GRAND O Fighth avenue and Iw: DUMPTY ABROAD, at 7:45 Ur. @. L. ERA HOUSE, ty-third — street,—HUMPTY y M.< closes at 10:45 P. M. Fox. Matinee at 1:80 P. M. GERMA\ Fourteenth street. —EIN closes at 11 P.M. A THEATRE, VORNEHME ENE, at8P. M.; LYC Fourteenth street —DR PEKFORMANCE for b late French comedian, THEATRE, ATIC and VA of family of Ki . M.; closes at LI P OPERA HOUS! NTERTAINMEN' TONY PASTOR —VARIETY M.; closes ut Ti P. M. Matine BRYANT’S OPERA TOUSh, Twenty-third str ner of Si ELLA'IN BLAC! Ns' M.; closes at 10 Matinee Founding Asylum. . te, ats P, RE s at 2P. M.—Beneatt of COLOSSEUM, Broadway, corner of Thirty-fith street.-PARIS BY NIGHT, at 1 P. M.; closes at SU. M.; same at7 P. M.; closes at 10 P. M. | STRINWAY HALL, | atinee at 2 P.M. THEODORE Fourteenth | stree THOMAS’ CONCE = New York, Saturday, Feb. 7, 18 IPLE SHEET. | | a | | THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. | ‘To-Day’s Contents of the Herald. DISASTRUUS RESULTS OF THE GLADSTONE | COUP! THE BRITISH PREMIER “HOIST | ® BY HIS OWN PETARD” IN THE ELEC- TIONS! HE IS SAID TO HAVE RE- SIGNED! THE HOME RULERS 8¥ ‘PIN IRELAND! LONDON GONE CUNSERVA- TIVE! PRESS VIEWS—SEVENTH PAGE. SEARCHING ANALYSIS OF THE GRAND PARTY STRUGGLE IN GREAT BRITAIN! POUPU- LAR DISTRUST OF THE TORIES—FirTa | PAGE. MINISTER SICKLES BIDS OFFICIAL FAR. TO THE DONS—M. BUFFET RE-ELE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH ASSEMBLY— SEVENTH Pace. CHOLERA LESS FATAL IN ACHEEN! A DUTCH RECONNOITRING PARTY SEVERELY HAN- DLED—SEVENTH PAGE. MURDERERS SWUNG INTO ETERNITY! MARY- LAND FAVORED WITH A DOUBLE EXECU- TION! DAVIS AND McCOTTER—TENTH PAGE. LL ‘THE LOUISIANA MUDDLE IN PROCESS OF SO- LUTION! THE PRESIDENT’S SITION | FRAUDS IN THE INDIAN BUREAU—TaiRD Pace. CONGRESSIONAL ACTION ON THE BANK- RUPTCY, BOUNTY AND DISTRICT BILLS— CHURCH LECTURES—SKATING AND CURL- ING—FINANCIAL STATUS OF THE CITY— EIGHTH Pace. THE NEW YORK YACHT CLUB ANNUAL MEET- ING! OFFICERS ELECTED! THe NE REGATTA! CLASSIFICATION AND WINTER QUARTERS—ENGLISH YACHTING PROS- PECTS—FourTH Pace. SARATOGA LAKE TO BE THE COURSE FOR THE INTER-COLLEGIATE RE- GATTA! PRINCETON PREPARING—GOVER- NOR McENERY ON LOUISIANA AFFAIRS— THE LABOR STRIKES—Firta Pac WOMAN’S RIGHTS IN ITS NEW PHASE! THE OHIO RUMSELLERS CRYING “PECCAVI!” A VIGOROUS CAMPAIGN—SEVENTH Pace. RAPID TRANSIT BILLS MULTIPLYING IN THE LEGISLATURE! PROPOSED UNION OF NEW YORK AND BROOKLYN—THIRD Pace. UNITED STATES ARMY CHANGES IN 1874! THE | trusted to their hands and will remain under | Cassio sue her is, perhaps, not of especial con- | POSTS AND POSITIONS OF OFFICERS OF | their control until its completion. This may | gequence to the mass of men in these hard | ALL GRADES AND ALL ARMS—BRIGHAM YOUNGS ANTE-PROPHETIC CAREER—A MORRISANIA HORROR—FourtTH Page. FINANCIAL AND COMMERCIAL UPERATIONS— NINTH PAGE. AR, at SECRET | | imagined that a majority of the people do | | sired work would be assured. As we have | New York—What Will the tare Do? The Railroad Committee of the Assembly will meet on Thursday of next week to hear Persons opposed to the New York Elevated Railroad. As the subject of rapid transit is of such great interest there will, no | doubt, be a large attendance. We do not | know exactly what the object of the hearing is; but two points suggest themselves in con- nection with it. In the first place, the Com- mittee on the Affairs of Cities appears to be a more appropriate reference for the bills in relation to rapid transit than the Railroad Committee, and, in the next place, such a hearing as that now announced seems to be a trifling with the subject and a sheer waste of time. The Legislature can require no | argument to prove what is established by facts—the absolute necessity of some | means of rapid transit in New York. | If they desire to know who are the op- ponents of this great public boon we can supply them with the information without the delay or trouble of a committee meoting. They comprise all those who make money out | of the inconvenience and injury of the people. First come the stockholders of the city horse car lines, who have now a monopoly of the passenger traffic, and realize enormous profits | out of their several roads. Next, the prop- | erty owners in Brooklyn and New Jersey, who are benefited in proportion as the property | owners in the upper parts of our own city are | injured by the want of rapid transit. Nezt, the ferry companies on both sides of the city, whose business might be materially decreased if we kept in New York the thousands who are now driven to find homes across the rivers. Lastly, a few selfish, narrow- | minded millionnaires, whose muddled in- tellects induce them to fear that their | property may be depreciated if steam railroads | should be suffered to run through the city, | and who think far more of saving the dollars | with which they are surfeited than in pro- Legisla- moting the general prosperity. All these interests will be represented before the committee and will denounce an _ ele- vated road, an underground road, or any project that may be advanced. But it is time that the Legislature should turn a deaf ear to these selfish opponents of a great public work, absolutely demanded by the necessities of the people of the metropolis; and when we find them invited to go to Albany to be heard against this or that scheme of rapid transit we cannot resist the suspicion that a bid is made for those solid “arguments” so much in vogue at Albany in former sessions. There is but one direct, business-like and honest way of treating this rapid transit question, and if our present representatives at the State capital do not desire to take rank with the notorious jobbers and corruptionists | of past Legislatures they will promptly reject | | all other propositions. That way is to create | a rapid transit commission, just as the origi- | nal Central Park Commission was created, and to place in the hands of the Commis- | sioners the whole power in relation to the | | subject. No sound argument can be ad- vanced against such a disposal of the ques- | | tion. Rapid transit in New Yorkis essentially | a local matter. It affects the interests of all There may be some little difference of opin- ion as to whether the city should build the | road at itsown cost, giving the citizens the full benefit of all the profits to be realized out of the business in low fares and ample accommodations; but if it should be | lature this session such a law as we propose. If this is to be the solution of the problem, then it is waste of time for the House to consider private propositions. The plan of construc- tion, like all other matters, will be left to the commission, who will have plenty of projects from which to choose. The correspondence published in the Hznarp has already thrown out many useful suggestions. The under- ground plans; the elevated plans, such as the “Gilbert;” the viaduct built of masonry; the sunken road between blocks, bridged at the street crossings, all have their advocates. The finul decision of the commissioners would be reached from the considerations of speed and economy in construction, durability and pub- lic convenience. The advantages of the over- ground propositions to the underground are mainly that the cost can be more accu- rately calculated; that the work can be more rapidly done; that nothing is left to chance or experiment; and, finally, that people would rather travel above ground than through a tunnel. Still, any plan that is found to be practical and to promise success would be adopted by an honest commission. Besides, the commission would also have the opportu- nity to consider the practicability of making the riverside streets as proposed some time ago, and building a viaduct railroad along them without any cost for right of way. We are confident that the people of New York ap- prove of the proposition to place the control of this rapid transit question entirely in their own hands, through a responsible and accept- able commission, and it is to be hoped that the State Legislature will no longer dally sus- piciously with the subject. The Elections in Great Britain. The news of this morning does not warrant us to promise as yet any decisive opinion as to the final result of the present election con- test in Great Britain. Up to yesterday morn- ing four hundred and twenty members had been elected. Of these two hundred and twenty-seven are conservatives and one hun- dred and ninety-three are liberals and home rulers. The returns from Scotland and Ire- land come slowly in; but such returns as we have show that in both kingdoms public sen- timent has changed somewhat since the last general election. The polling yesterday de- veloped the home rulers in strength and showed a continued conservative increase. After the last general election Mr. Gladstone found himself at the head of: a party which was so strong that it could treat opposition with contempt. His powerful majority made him almost deapotic. No Prime Minister in many years has conducted public affairs with so high a hand. At the same time | in all that he has done be has had a gin- gle eye to the highest welfare of the empire. He sought power for the purpose of abolishing certain standing grievances; and when the power was placed in his hands he stood to his word and labored to redeem his pledges. If his legislation in the interests of the Irish people should be found to have the effect of compelling him to relinquish the reins of gov- ernment, or if, as rumored, he has already resigned, he will always have the satisfaction of knowing that his name will live in history ‘in connection with great reforms and noble e—crxper. | the people and of all the property in the city. | principles. If he has not completely recon- ciled Ireland to English rule he has removed two great grievances, and time will ultimately prove the beneficial character of his legisla- tion. His Irish Church and land reforms ; his bold though unsuccessful attempt at Irish University reform; his abolition of purchase in the army ; his educational reforms for Eng- not favor the investment that point submission of the question to the electors at | the next election. This would remove the only plausible objection that can be raised to the proposition. With commissioners of high social standing, irreproachable character, ex- | perience, capacity and energy, the interests of the city would be safe, there would be no dan- ger of the adoption of any impracticable scheme, and the completion of the much de- ready shown, the profits of rapid transit in | | New York are not problematical, and hence, | while the people could well afford to pay an ‘annual tax if necessary for the support of a | steam railroad through the city, it is certain | that the receipts would be sufficient to pay the | interest and to provide for the redemption of the bonds. As population increases and the | passenger traffic becomes larger a railroad built and owned by the people could be run | while on a road owned bya corporation the | fare would be kept up and the enhanced profits | would be swallowed up by the stockholders in | | increased dividends, | There must be no mistake, however, as to the manner in which the people of New York land and Scotland—these, taken in connection | could be settled by a provision for the | With the happy results of the Washington Treaty, will make his first tenure of office as Prime Minister one of the most memorable in history. If he has ruled with too high a hand, | and pushed his measures with too much in- tensity of purpose, it has been less for selfish | ends than for the general welfare of the } | empire. When a man fights for great prin- ciples and witha due regard to the public good he can afford to stand defeat, for in | such a case defeat is no dishonor. It is far | from certain, however, that Mr. Gladstone | will be defeated. It begins to seem probable that in the next Parliament the liberal ma- | jority will be somewhat diminished, if it does not disappear; that parties will be more equally divided, and .that consequently for | some time to come there will not be any ex- treme legislation. Lovtsrana.—We print in another column an ED at a low rate of fare—probably at three cents— | interview of a Hzratp reporter with Mr. McEnery, the rightful Governor of Louisiana, now excluded from his office by federal au- thority. He takes a hopeful view of the pos- sibilities of his case. Sovp Krrcnens.—Our streets swarm with grown people and children who beg with the | desire to be represented in this matter of | rapid transit. A bill is before the Legislature which provides that the Mayor and Common- | | alty shall have the exclusive authority to con- | | struct a rapid transit road in any form or according to any plan and through any streets the Common Council may determine upon. | This proposition may appear fair enough upon | | its face, but the citizens of New York do not | | desire any such exercise of popular sov- | ereignty. The Mayor changes every second | year, and the Common Council does not usually command the confidence of the peo- ple. We might have one plan of rapid transit agreed upon to-day which would be upset on the election of a new Mayor and a new Com- mon Council before any material ress had been made upon the prog: | work, | declaration that they are hungry, and it is probably true. Distress exceeds its ordinary limits, comes out of its usual districts and forces itself with pitiful appeal into streets unaccustomed to see it, and into houses on all sorts of pretexts. It is even reported that there have been some cases of starvation. Are the resources of the public charities equal to the occasion, and are their efforts equal to their resources? Exactly how all the large | amount of money given for charity is spent | | does not appear, but some proportion of it | applied to the establishment of free soup kitchens at different points in the city would do great service in these severe days and nights. Lucca Surs.—Mme. Lucca announces that and thus we might be kept for ten | she has not been sned by a manager, but that, or fifteen years longer without the relief so much needed by the city. If we have a commission appointed in which the people | | can have full confidence the work will be en- not suit the politicians, but it will satisfy the : on the contrary, she has sued an erratic gentleman of that vocation—a difference that is, no doubt, of some moment to the parties interested. But whether she do sue Cassio or | ; times. Doubtless the error, if error there was, | people in whose interest rapid transit is de- | arose from the pardonable gallantry of the | manded. If the fate of the Central P ark had | first reporter who dealt with the delitate | baggers, not because they are carpet-baggers, | been dependent on the Mayors and Common | topic, and who, perhaps, assumed that the | but because they are corrupt. DIPORTANT MARINE svrr! GENERAL LEGAL | Councils holding office since the great work | aay should always be the object in every suit. SUMMARIES—OUR NAVY—ELEvENTH PAGE. was first projected the Park would not have | been the success it now is. We desire that Tue Anmy Reotster,—Elsewhere will be Tur Ram or THE Srare Coystapvrany the subject of rapid transit shall be placed found a synopsis of the contents of this useful pon a few liquor dealers in Boston has caused | within the absolute control of the people of document for 1874. It appears that the actual ® good deal of excitement in that city. The New York and taken out of the reach of the number of commissioned officers on the active Transcript calls it theft under color of Jaw. It | State Legislature; but we are not willing that it list is two thousand and seventy-seven, and ‘was an outrage, doubtless—an outrage which could do no possible good to the cause of tem- perance, but the Legislature is more to blame for it than the constabulary. shall be transferred from one set of jobbers only | to be placed within the control of a yet more | greedy and unscrupulous set of operators. Mr. Fastman’s bill in the Assembly affords | not three thousand, as counted in our article | yesterday, Our number was derived from the statement in Congress that we had one com- missioned officgr to every ten soldiers, Against Liquor Dealers Out West. In Persia and other Oriental countries the religious sect called Dervises have a fashion of squatting themselves before the house of a person they intend to extort something from, and by keeping up a continual and dismal howling finally force their victim to comply with theirdemands, The scheme was once tried by one of the howlers before the resi- dence of the British Ambassador at the Per- sian Court, and so annoying did the fellow be- come that the Minister appealed to the au- thorities to have the nuisance abated. But it was out of the power of the authorities to ex- tend relief, inasmuch as the howler was a devotee in the Mahometan faith, was only performing one of the rites of the Church,’ and the complainant was nothing but a foreign infidel. Finding there was no other method of getting rid of the annoyance the Ambassa- dor finally ordered a stone wall to be built around the religious shrieker, but it had not reached higher than his head when the fanatic leaped out and vanished from the premises, leaving his object of extortion unaccom- plished. This Oricntal practice of bringing the force of religious fanaticism to play against an al- leged evil is now being exhibited in the West- ern and in some parts of the Eastern section of this country. It consists of a raid or shrieking crusade against liquor dealers and drug stores where spirits are dispensed for any purpose, not excepting medicinal. The performances consist in parties of ladies visit- ing the liquor saloons and laying down the law and the gospel of the sin of selling the ardent. In some cases where they come across a hardened sinner they erect canvas sheds and shanties, and keep up their howl- ings and exhortations until the poor deater hardly knows which is best for him to do, knock his tormentors on the head, knock in the heads of his liquor casks or beat his own brains out in pure des- peration. In one instance an incorrigible laborer in the vineyard of Bacchus was visited by a select company of these Buckeye dervises, who immediately commenced opera- tions by praying for the offending dealer in the objectionable. So long as they kept on pray- ing they experienced little difficulty, but when they raised their voices in singing it seemed more like a congregation of sneezers than a hymn-singing one. The rascally saloon keeper had deliberately sprinkled red pepper on the floor and on the hot stove, and when the choristers began singing a hymn it sounded something like this: — When I can (‘‘atechew 1") Tead my title clear (‘at- chew!” “at-chew!”) To man—(“‘at-chew !’—‘‘chew !”)—sions in the skies hot: -a-at-chew |’’ “chew !’? T'll bid (‘*a-a-at-chew !”"—*‘at-chew |”) farewell (‘‘at- chew!’ “at-chew”) to every fear (‘‘at- chew!” “chew !" «chew 1") And wipe (a-a-a-chew!” ‘‘at-chew |’’) my weeping (“atl chew!” “chew!”) eyes. (General chorus. “Atchew!” “at-chew!” “at-chew!? ‘‘a-a-chew!”” “chew!” “chow-wew !!! Spoken—“Oh, by poor doze a’d eyes !’’) Of course the poor crusaders had to beat a retreat; and they did so, vowing that they would not be sneezed at or be compelled to sneeze by all the myrmidons of King Alcohol in Moscow. In another case the temperance enthusiasts encountered a contumelious gin-butcher, who turned them out of his saloon into the street. But they determined not to “give it up so,” and declared they would yet pray him out of his boots and his rattlesnake whiskey too. The next day it rained and the weather was unsuitable for outside demonstrations. But, nothing daunted, these fearless champions of temperance or dead-shot exterminators of vile poisons rigged up a house on a@ wagon body, a sort of peripatetic temperance machine, and went to the saloon, and if that wretched whiskey Millerite did not hear his case argued in fine style it was not because these indignant women had no tongues. But still finding him obstinate and unyielding, they went at him at night with Drummond lights, so that the features of | those who visited his saloon could be dis- cerned and their names duly recorded in the | book of the unsanctified. If they find there is no virtue in prayer in his case, or conclude that he is past praying for, they ara determined to give him a foretaste of what he may expect hereafter by illuminating his wicked pathway in this world. When last heard from this obdurate liquor dealer was hunting up a few cases of smallpox to place on his premises, and it will be curious to see what effect this piece of strategy will have upon his tormentors. In other instances the law has had to inter- vene to prevent these Ohio temperance enthu- siasts from carrying their hostilities against the common enemy to excess and thereby inflict permanent damage upon a legitimate business like that of the druggist or apothe- cary. But they seem to be o determined band of propagandists, and when they set themselves down before a liquor saloon with the intention of praying or howling the vender of the villanous stuff into compliance with their demands they are not likely, in imitation of Jem Baggs, the wandering minstrel, to ‘‘move off for anything under a shilling.’’ Porrrica, Consistency IN THE SouTH.—It is not always easy to understand the logic of politicians in the South. We find the Jack- son Clarion, for instance, claiming that the conservatives of Mississippi ought to be rec- ognized in the next election for United States Senator, while bewailing the fact that the ne- groes are not allowed a proportionate share of the offices by the republican party. In the event of the recognition of the conservatives the Clarion demands ‘a genuine, bond fide representative of the people,’ naming Jeff Davis first in its list; but if recognition can- not be obtained it would prefer two negro Senators. Would the Clarion teach us that no white man, unless he was an “original seces- sionist,"’ is fit to represent a Southern State in Congress? This is as shortsighted as the policy of the republicans in electing carpet- Inepauates.—The Inebriates’ Home of Kings | county, the report of which is given else- where, treated 239 drunkards in the past year, and claims that old customers, who have been burdens on the county institutions for years, are never heard of again after they have passed through its wards. There were only three deaths, however ; but it has the wit to induce ts patients to go to remote parts. Perhaps they come over to this city, K HERALD, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1874—TRIPLE SHEET. Fhe Question of Rapid Transit in | somo hope that we may secure from the Legis- | The Praying and Howling Crusade | Oceanic Telegraphy and Meteorology. An English enginecring journal has recently published the outlines of » novel and admira- ble plan for extending the present system of oceanic telegraphy. The practical object is the application of acoustic, optical and elec- tric telegraphy to meteorology and navigation. Vast as are the benefits and utilities of the electric telegraph, the author of the new sys- tem points out that its new sphere is limited by our means for establishing the wire circuit, and the prodigies of electricity terminate whenever the continuity of its current is broken. The mammoth steamship, although nearing her port, is therefore beyond the reach of warning by the electric telegraph, when perhaps one signal might save her from destruction. To supplement the electric telegraph it is Proposed to combine with it the use of sound and light. Acoustic and optical telegraphs, while for general purposes far more limited in their reach than the electric, when the lat- ter can establish its conducting wires, do not demand this condition, and might be ex- clusively employed at coast stations. The acoustic e>paratus, it is contended, could con- vey its messag:s far out to sea, and so could the optical, especially when employed on dan- gerous capes and headlands, There can be no doubt that our coast signal and life-saving system might utilize such ap- paratus. Instead of spending large sums of money, as the electric telegraph requires, to lay a cable as a medium, the ocean itself fur- nishes a medium for the transmission of the acoustic telegraph. It is said that the can- nonade at Waterloo was heard at Dover, and the sea fight between the Dutch and English in 1672 was audiblo ao distance of two hundred miles. It is well known that sound is propagated through water with about four and a quarter times the velocity through air—that is, about five thousand feet a second. The experiments made on the Lake ot Geneva, by means of a bell and speaking trumpet under the water, proved that the stroke of the bell produced a sound which crossed the lake (a distance of eight miles) in nine seconds. Parry stated that during the Arctic winter sounds were propagated to great distances, and conversa- tion could be carried on at the distance of a mile. By means of tubes the feeblest sounds may be conveyed to incredible distances, sug- gesting the great value of an acoustical ap- paratus for signalling and telegraphy on ex- posed seacoasts, or wherever the laying of a cable is impracticable. An acoustical code of signals might be easily constructed by vary- ing the tones of voice or the number of bell taps. The acoustical signals might, also, easily avail in dense fogs for cautioning ves- sels against shoals and collisions. At some points on our Atlantic coast float- ing stations, a few miles from shoal water and connected by pneumatic tubes with outlying buoys, would probably prove of great value to navigators. That the mere mechanical details for realizing such a method can be easily worked out no one can doubt. Ocean tele- graphy on the high seas is now in a very crude and primitive state, confined to the employment of a few rockets and flags, when, certainly, the more scientific and far-reaching apparatus ought to be added for greater safety and security. We cannot see why this simple and scientific design cannot be made to do great service for the mariner and greatly assist the meteorologist in his predictions. Could the proposed system be fully carried out we should, indeed, be nearing the desired day when the tempests that are about to over- take the seaman will be to him as well known beforehand as the grades and curves of the railway to the locomotive driver. The me- teorological coast stations, on the seaboard, would furnish means for testing the practica- bility of this important engineering con- trivance. Wxo Is Buicuam Youna?—Some five or six weeks ago we published a letter from Stockton-on-Tees, England, covering a state- ment of remarkable facts, which the writer believed justified him in the conclusion that a certain William Brigham, of Stockton, a natu- ralson of aman named Young and a woman named Brigham, was no less a personage than Brigham Young, the Mormon Prophet; and that, ifso, the first wife of Brigham Young, an old woman still living in England and ina state of extreme poverty, has a claim upon him for support which he cannot safely disregard. We publish to-day on the same subject a circumstantial statement from an English paper, which materially strengthens the prima facie case of Mrs, Brigham, of Eng- land, as the first wife of Brigham Young, of Utah. CommANDER Sm Lampron Lonrarnz, Bart., at present in command of Her Britannic Maj- esty's ship Niobe, whose name will not readily be forgotten by our citizens for the determined part he took in the Santiago de Cuba affair, has been promoted by the British Admiralty to the rank of post cap- tain in the Royal Navy for his gallant conduct. Consequently he will have to resign his ap- pointment on the West Indian station and proceed to England. The manner in which the British government recognizes the gallant acts of its officers might be studied to advan- tage by our own government. Maryianp Munprrers Hancep.—Yester- day the murderers Davis and McCotter suf- fered the extreme penalty of the law. Both confessed the crimes for which they were sen- tenced only when all hope of Executive clem- ency had vanished. As set forth in our special despatches from Westminster and Cambridge this morning, every legal effort was made to save them from the gallows ; but it is clear, from the statements of the culprits, that Governor Whyte acted wisely in refusing to set aside the verdicts of the juries. Tue Starx Carrrou.—The State Senate yes- terday passed a bill appropriating one hun- dred thousand dollars tor the resumption of work on the new State Capitol. The appro- priation would, doubtless, have been larger had there been any money in the Treasury “not otherwise appropriated.” Tae Scuoon Book Swinprx has long vexed nearly every sohool district in the country. The Missouri Legislature, to correct the evil, is considering bill which provides for a universal series of text books, to be prepared by the State Superintendent of Schools and to be copyrightéd by the State. Uniformity, at leant. ia needed in every State, A Double Session of the Oyer and Tere miner. There are a number of prisoners in the Tombs who have been confined for terms vary- ing from three years to three months, awaiting trial for criminal offences. There should be no occasion for such delay, and there would be none but for the fact that the business be- fore the Oyer and Terminer is larger than any one court can dispose of Our criminal cases in New York are getting to be very similar to the old chancery cases in England; they threaten to hang on until the parties interested in them grow from black-haired youths into gray-haired old men before a final decision is reached. About two years ago a law was passed authorizing a double session of. the Court of General Sessions of the Peace when the accumulations and the pressure of criminal business shall, in the discretion of the Recorder or City Judge, demand it. Thig law has been found to work well, and hag enabled the Court to dispose of a large num- ber of cases which would not have been reached but for the double session. The re- lief thus afforded is not, however, sufficient, and we needa law authorizing also double sessions of the Oyer and Terminer. The criminal cases should be worked off quickly and the jails relieved. The best’ way to ac+ complish this is by holding two Courts of Oyer and Terminer as well as two Courts of the General Sessions at the same time. Limiting the Session of the Legisia-. ture. By its limitation of the per diem allowance of members of the Legislature the constitution of this State seems to favor the notion that the yearly session of the lawmakers should be re- strained to the period of a hundred days, though the fact that members are permitted to continue to serve the State without salary be- yond that period indicates also that the framers of the constitution gave the hint for the limitation with becoming modesty. Occa- sions may possibly arise when the Legislature ought to be perfectly free to continue its ses- sions to any period deemed proper, and it is for this reason that the constitution has not specifically assigned a term to the session. In- asmuch, however, as the occasion has never yet arisen when all the legitimate legislation of any session could not be done in less than a hundred days, it is much to be regretted that it is the practice to extend the session beyond the indicated period. It is desirable that the session should be as short as possible. Twenty or thirty days are amply sufficient for the legislative business of every year, and not an hour more is ever given to that business ; but the remainder time is devoted to jobbing and to those practices of buying and selling votes that have made the State capital a mar- ket and the State legislators mere retail ped- lers of political power. Naturally worthies of this sort assume the loftiest possible stand- ard of virtue and dignity, and denounce as buncombe the proposition to shorten the sese sion made just now again, as it has been fre- quently hitherto; but wo apprehend that members of the Legislature will talk bun- combe or do worse, and they had better talk buncombe, especially when it has a tendency to urge them to go home. An Arram or Honor.—General La Mar mora has received two months’ leave of ab- sence from the Italian Chamber of Deputies, and this is a somewhat ostentatious way of letting the world know he wishes to be free to leave the country if necessary, and that the date of his return may be uncertain. “A reviendra & Paques, ou la Trinité” Perhaps he proposes to challenge Bismarck. Advice would be thrown away on a desperate gentle- man of this sort, and ours, moreover, would reach him too late; otherwise we would tell him he had better stay at home. Bismarck is avery lucky man, and La Marmora has hitherto been precisely the other sort of man, and this is scarcely a case in which the luck is likely to run out and change on cither side. it was an ugly observation for Bismarck to say that La Marmora’s statement was a lie. But he was in a tight place at the time, and broke through without regard to whose toes | he might tread on ; and that is precisely what he will do again. He is a very tough cus- tomer, and La Marmora will do well to leave him alone. Srnrxes.—Puddlers are on a strike in Trens ton because they only get four dollars anda half a day. Russta AND THE CENTENNIAL.—Baron Offen. burg, the representative at Washington of the Czar of Russia, denies that his government has expressed an opinion unfavorable to the Centennial, and this denial is, of course, en- titled to full credit. Russian diplomacy is too thoroughly inspired with the spirit of true politeness and proper consideration to have let slip the observation reported as coming from St. Petersburg, and which the Baron now corrects. There is plenty of time yet to learn what the Centennial will be, and we doubt not it will prove worthy the occasion it is intended to commemorate. A Goop Movement 1n Tammany.—The ques- tion of rapid transit is evidently taking hold of the public, for even the Tammany General Committee has stepped aside from its political course to take it up. The report presented by Mr. John Kelly on the permanent organiza- tion of the General Committee urges, among other things, rapid transit for New York as “of the utmost importance and now demand- ing immediate attention.” ‘That is the way to talk, and if the republican organizations will co-operate in the matter, leaving politics and jobbery out of the question, we shall soon have what the city so much needs. Gop Sreapr.—The price of gold has fluc. tuated very little during the last week, not- withstanding all the talk in Congress about inflating the currency. It has stood between 111 and 112, and for tho greater part of the time at 111} to 111§. Even the gold opora- tors cannot disturb it. The truth is, when the Secretary of the Treasury keeps out of the market, as he has been compelled todo lately, and our exports are larger and imports smaller comparatively, there is nothing to cause a dise turbance. If Congress would let the currency alone and we should have a healthy state of trade gold would gradually decline. Tue Banxrvurt Brit. in the Sena‘e and the Army Appropriation bill in the Hoase were the leading subjects of discussion,‘in Qengreas yesterday,