The New York Herald Newspaper, February 13, 1874, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD SROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD, pudiished every day in the gear, Four cents per copy. Annual subscription ‘Price $18. All business or news letters and telegraphic despatches must be addressed New Your Bmw. 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 ’ yeceived and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. Volume XXXIX.......... . No. a¢ | — —_ — 4 (AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING BOWERY THEATRE, tBowery.—POMP; OR WAY DOWN SOUTH, at 8 P.M; loves att P. a METROPOLITAN Bs $85 Broadway.—VARIETY 5 BLM. ; closes at 10:30 P.M. THE \TRE, ENTERTAINMENT, at [BLO’S GARDEN, tween Prince and Houston street. —THE peony TUE KITCHEN; MOKE BLUSDBES NONE. ins at 8 P.M; closes at 10:30 ¥. jokes Family. = \ woan's Meas STK, at 3 rosdwa th street. — ‘ reece at tO FM. ABETTE, at 8 P.M; iploees at i? NU THEATRE, Broadway. —FOLLINE, at 8 P. Mr. Harkins, Miss Ada Dyas. ‘twenty-third street mty- treet Qa; closes at 10:30 P. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, 3 4 ‘Twenty-third street.-HUMPTY ens cHOOL wud” VARIETY. ENTERTAIN. Mr.@. L. Fox, ENT, at 8 P. M.; closes at 10:45 P. M. THEATRE COMIGUR, 0. 514 Broadway. —VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, ’at 8 P. BL. ; closes at 10 30 P.M. BOOTH’S THEATRE, eye avenue anq Twenty-tmant street SELENE, at 7:45 f. M,; cloves at 10:30 PM. Mra. J. B. Booth. WALLACK’S THEATRE, roadway and Thirteenth street —MONEY, at 8P. M.; jooos at LL F.M, Mr. Lester Wallack, Miss Jeffreys ae OLYMPIC THEATRE, oadway, between Houston, and Bleecker streets — AUDEV ‘LLE and NOVELTY ENTERTAINMENT and jolmaa Opera Troupe, at §P. M.; closes at 11 P. M. GERMANIA THEATRE, ourteenth street EINE VORNEHME EGE, at8 P.M; loses at Lt P.M. BROOKLYN PARK THEATRE, bhaypet #3, Hall, Brooklyn —MARITANA at8 P.M; P.M.’ Kellogg English Upera Company. MRS. CONWAY'S BROOKLYN THEATRE, Washington street, Brooklyn —cLIZABETH, at 5 P. M.; wioses at ll P. M. “Mrs. Bowers, STEINWAY HALL, ‘ourteenth street—CONCERT of Caroline Richings’ | usical Union, at $ P. M.; closes.atl0 P, M. TONY PASTOR'S OPERA HOUSE, lo. 201 Bowery.—VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT, at 8 P. 23 Cloves at TP. Mt. | BRYANT’S OPERA HOUSE, nty-third street, corner of Sixth avenue.—CINDER- LLA IN BLACK, NEGRO MINSTRELSY, &c., at 8 P. {Closes at 10 P. COLOSSEUM, Broadway. corner of Thirty-fiith street.—PARIS BY WIGHT, at 1 P.M; closes at SP. M; same at7 P. M.; at lop. M. BAIN HALL, Great Jones street and a hag place.—THE PIL- | GRIM, 068 P.M. ; closes at 10 P. | ‘TRIPLE SHEET. Feb. New York, Friday, 13, THE NEWS OF YESTERDAY. WZo-Day’s Contents of the Herald. 1874. “HE POOR WE HAVE WITH US! OCCUPANTS OF THE STATION HOUSES! MORE UNFOR- TUNATES, VAGABONDS AND OUTCASTS! | THE WORK OF THE CHARITABLE SO- | CIETIES! INDIVIDUAL BENEVOLENCE— FounTH PaGE. FURTHER TRIBUTES TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE JAMES W. GERARD! EXPRESSION OF THE BENCH AND BAR—NEW YORK’S SLEIGHING CARNIVAL! WHO WERE UUT ON THE “RUNNERS’—ENGLAND’S FOR- EIGN POLICY! SPEECH BY PREMIER GLADSTONE—EIcHuTy Pace. THE LUDERKRANZ BALL AT THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC! REIGN OF PRINCE CARNIVAL! | A GORGEOUS FESTIVITY—SEVENTH PaGE. ELLOW FEVER IN SUUTH AMERICA! TERRI- | BLE MORTALITY! ESOAPING FROM THE CITIES—THE ENGLISH ELECTIONS! CON- SEKVATIVE GAINS—THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA’S VISIT TO THE CZAR! ITS | POLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE—THE BONA- PARTE ROYALISTS—ILLNESS OF ROMAN CARDINALS—TEFR DEPARTURE OF THE BRITISH ARMY FROM ASHANTEE—Srvgnra | Paces. @NWARD MARCH OF THE PATRIOTS IN CUBA! | FRIGHTENED HAVANESE! 1HE DRAFT— AFFAIRS IN THE NEW DOMINION! DISSO- LUTION OF THE DECOSMOS MINISTRY AT VICTORIA—THE ISTHMIAN CANAL PROB- | LEM! LETTER FROM CAPTAIN SHUFELDT~ | Firrg Pacer. THE CONGRESSIONAL INFLATION-EQUALIZA- TION SCHEME! MR. DAWES’ FINANCIAL PHILIPPIC! WHAT OUR SOLONS AKE | DOING IN WASHINGTON—Tnuirp Pace. | ALBANY MATTERS! THE CONSTITUTIONAL, | AMENDMENTS AND MORE SPECIAL LEG. | ISLATION—TrxTH PAGE. | THE ICE HARVEST! NO FEARS OF A FAILING crop! WORK UP THE HUDSON—Turrp PaGE. THE SIMMONS-DURYEA MURDER TRIAL TO COMMENCE THIS MORNING! PROCEED- 1NGS IN THE VARIOUS COURTS—EL&vEsTH Pace. WALL STREET YESTERDAY! CONGRESS AND THE LEGAL TENDER QUESTION—THE MARKETS—Nintu Pace. Economy.—Mr. Dawes yesterday argued ‘elaborately for reduction of our national ex- penditures, and made some good propositions, One of these was for the abolition of thirty custom houses, which could not be improved unless he had said sixty. Another was for the abolition of pension agencies and the | payment of all pensions from Washington | through the Post Office. Baraxrast yor Two Cznts.—Boston is still | ahead. One of its many sages has made a | discovery which will enable the Bostonians to | make a hearty meal for two cents. We would urge the sending of » number of our poor down to the Hub in order that we may profit by the discovery. Two cents for a breakfast is deoidedly cheap. ———+—— | | | | NEW YORK HERALD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1874.—-TRIPLE SHEET, lieve the Hungry. Foremost in the number of topics of public interest now before the people of thus city is the condition of the poor. Many thousands ot persons ordinarily employed are idle, and as they mostly lived only ‘from hand to mouth” while in the regular receipt of wages it is to be presumed they are now in want. It neods little imagi to conceive the misery that regults from any considerable loss of employ- ment with those whose labor is their only sup- port, for unfortunately the subject is but too familiar in every great city; but loss of em- ployment as it commonly occurs is a small evil by comparison with that now upon us, Our whole population below those actually in- dependent has felt the weight of the monetary calamity, and many of those who are generally well-to-do are pow in siraitened circum- stances. In acrisis that cramps people of these classes the less fortunate find themselves at the | verge of starvation, ‘Twenty thousand isa very | small computation for the number of men now idle who usually support themselves and fam- | ilies by their labor ; yet this number supposes | not less than sixty thousand persons—men, women and children, the workmen and their families—without means and dependent upon charity. And there are probably more work- ingwomen idle than workingmen, for the occu- pationsin which women are engaged are those | that are more strictly related to luxurious tastes—occupations, therefore, which are dis- continued in times when scarcely any one feels ‘flush,’ simply because there is no sale for the products of these industries. It is not assumed that the obligation to care for the poor is any more binding upon us because especially of the greater number now in want ; but there are apparently some persons who are so ignorant of the condition of the city as not to be aware of the present distress, or s0 heedless and heartless as not to care for it, and it isin reference to their doubts that we outline the clear facts of the misery of a por- tion of our people. For the credit of journalism it is to be re- gretted that any member of the fraternity in | this city should be so ignorant of the con- | dition of the people as to suppose our accounts | of distress were chimerical, or, if not igno- | rant, should regard the distress with such | heartless indifference as to treat the endeavor | to attract attention to the subject as a “‘news- | paper sensation.”’ For our part, we make no | pretence to especial virtue, and we believe if there are journalistic Pharisees we are hardly in that category; but we act thoroughly in | the spirit of that good line of Terence which | the Spectator made famous as a principle for | newspapers—‘‘Nothing human is indifferent | to us.'’ We chronicle the distress as it exists jin the city because it is our function to give the news, and the condition of ; the people seems to us an important | | part of the news, particularly when, within the limits of the city, very great numbers are living on the charity gathered from day to | day. Starvation is not so common a fact in this city that its possibility on any large scale can be contemplated in a trivial spirit by | every one. It is certain that, though there have been other times when there was great | distress here, there bas never been any season so severe upon the poor as the present, and we have endeavored to lay before the public a true picture of the trouble, believing the simple facts in such cases to constitute the most effective appeal to the affluent. If this | is denounced as creating a ‘‘newspaper sensa- tion” we do not believe the denunciation will weigh so heavily upon usas upon those who have the bad taste to make it. Some definite objections are made to the proposition for the establishment of soup kitchens. This proposition has been urged by us, though certainly none of our readers are so poorly informed that they need to be told fhe idea is one that has been often acted on in many cities. It was urged by us asa practical and immediate means of relieving a larger number of poor persons than can be | relieved in any other way. It is objected that | Condition of the Poor—Hew +o Re- | We shall be very glad to it “does not reach the most deserving poor— the silent sufferers, who are ashamed to beg | that any single means of assistance can reach | all the classes ot the poor. | ment against a certain plan that it only re- | lieves nine out of ten who are hungry and | leaves the tenth man to be assisted by some | other means? As for the “‘silent sufferers,’’ we regard them with due respect, but only with due respect; and we do not believe that in the wretched homes of the city poor there is a father or » mother who will see their little ones starve when he or she knows that just down the street a dish of good soup can be obtained. Other ob- jections are that the establishment of soup kitchens will ‘‘pauperize the poor;” that they will support persons on strike as well as the more legitimately needy; that they will draw to this city all the vagrants of adjoining States, and that they will prevent the revival | of business by taking from the laboring classes the inducement to resume their occu- pations. Our opinion of the press is better than to suppose such arguments give the staple of its intelligence: In the last point it will be seen there is a gratuitous insult to the poor generally. It is gravely argued there that they will not accept employment while they can live at publicexpense. There must be great ignorance of the American character when it is supposed that any class of our people will depend on charity if they can help them- selves, As for the attraction the soup kitchens will have for the vagrants of the country at large, it is a pity we are not in- | formed who intends to furnish them with | their railway tickets to come hither. Some tramps will come in, no doubt, from the smaller towns near us; but shall we let our own poor starve lest we give food to those who may scarcely deserve it? It is held on the highest authority to be better that many guilty should escape punishment rather than that one righteous man should be lost; and be wasted on those that defraud charity one who might in humble honesty starve without it. The nome of Mr. C. L. Brace appears in queer relation with the objection to the sys- tem urged by us for feeding the poor. Mr. Brace’s name is well known to the contrib- uting public through his labors in connection with the Children’s Aid Society. All that he can do to assist the poor in the present crisis \it is surely desirable that he should do, apd | and truly need assistance.” No one pretends | | it must equally be preferred that much should | rather than that food should be wanting to | hear that he has done a great deal. From his letter published yes- terday, however, we should judge that his philanthropy does not come within the sphere of what is most needed at present. He says: — «We do not help children if they refuse to go to school."’ Perhaps it is only original ain in us that makes this sentence sound wonderfully like the ‘flannel shirt and moral tract” of the Rev. Aminadab Sleek; but, however that may be, what the present occasion requires is not so much the charitable alphabet as food for the hungry. If the children are to be taught we should like to send them to the public schools, which the people pay for and which are better than the schools that are sustained for no other purpose than that Mr. Brace may administer them; and if Mr. Brace is the only medium by which assistance is to be given to the poor we are afraid so much will be lost by the way that hunger will not be appeased. In twenty years Mr. Brace has collected one million and » half dollars, and in the last year alone seventy-five thousand dollars was spent in his society for salaries—fifteen thousand dollars of which, if we are not greatly mistaken, was paid to persons named Brace, members of his family. His charity, therefore, seems to us exactly the kind of charity not wanted in this crisis. Charity collected in order that the collectors may be kept for life in well-salaried places is the sort that tends to defeat rather than to aid phil- anthropic purposes. Just now the need is for unsalaried benevolence that feeds the hungry. Tux Tueatres AND THE Poor.—The New York theatres are all prosperous, and they owe their prosperity to the people who patronize them so liberally. It is very proper that the theatrical proprietors who depend so entirely upon the public should share in the work of relieving the unemployed poor in a season of unusual distress. Several entertainments, the proceeds of which have been devoted to charity, have already taken place, most of them amateur performances, or performances arranged by persons outside the theatrical profession. The members of the several com- panies have displayed a praiseworthy readi- ness to give their services gratis on such occa- sions, often at no little expense and trouble to themselves, The managers have now a good opportunity to aid in the good work, and a series of nights set apart at the different houses for charitable performances, each theatre taking o different night, would no doubt realizea handsome sum for the desti- tute, and would not in the end prove any loss to the proprietors. We suggest to our the- atrical managers that they meet and arrange such a programme. There are about twenty places of amusement in the city, including minstrels, and these might furnish about three weeks’ performances—one every night— each one of which would no doubt be pecu- niarily a success. Tse CENTENNIAL QuESTION aT ALBANY.— The copcurrent resolution of our State Legis- lature of 1871 appointing a commission to the Centennial celebration was yesterday annulled in the Assembly, as was also the legislative action on this subject of the day previous. It | appears, however, that the annulling resola- tion was adopted because the names of W. M. Tweed and Thomas C. Fields were enrolled as members of the commission. We do not un- derstand from this action of the Legislature that no other commission will be appointed or that nothing will be done to promote the Cen- tennial. To refuse any official participation in that celebration would be mean, churlish and unpatriotic and unworthy of the Empire State. Whatever can be done without job- bery or a lavish appropriation of money by the government of this State to make the Centen- nial a grand affair should not be left undone. But ay regards the money necessary to carry out the project, that should be raised by the voluntary subscriptions of the American peo- ple, and it could be so raised under proper management. Tue Fort St. Pamir Canat.—The New Orleans journals have a singular way of con- ducting their controversies with the Henaup. We printed a few words of warning the other day against Congress undertaking any com- nat | prehensive plan of river improvements, where- Bat is it an argu- | upon the Times declares that the national gov- ernment is as much bound to open a channel at the mouth of the Mississippi as to blow out the rocky barriers at Hell Gate, and the Pica- yune jumps at the conclusion that our article was aimed at the Fort St. Philip Canal. Our contemporaries have arrived at mistaken con- clusions. We fully recognize the necessity of ® commercial city like New Orleans having an outlet to the sea, but, like our own rapid tran- sit projects, the feasibility of the plans sug- gested is a question of greater difficulty than the realization after the feasibility is ascer- tained. Itis impossible to keep a ship chan- nel open from year to year at the mouth of the Mississippi, and in spite of the opinions of Major Howell and the promised recommen- dations of General Humphreys we are not sure sship canal can be constructed through the marshes between the city and the sea, Tae Crry Parison Joz.—The bill to repeal the law authorizing the location and building of a new City Prison in place of the Tombs passed the Assembly yesterday by a unanimous vote. It should pass the Senate in the same manner, The law had the unsavory odor of a job. The Tombs will answer well enough for the present, and, indeed, if we can secure such legislation as will facilitate the trial of prisoners, its accommodations will be ample tor some years to come. There are other public improvements of far greater im- portance to the people than the building of new prison. We should have rapid transit before anything else, and should husband our resources for that. The persons who managed to get the building of the new prison into their hands can afford to await more prosper- ous times for so promising a job. Tae Inprans.—Another murder by the Indians is reported and a consequent demand for protection whieh will involve the move- ment of troops. Murders o this sort prove expensive, Tricninosts.—Just at present the sale of pork out West is ‘‘killed,” for people have no disposition to eat meat that may contain certain death. Possibly this disease may effect a prohibition on pork as decided as the law of Moses. Scancrry or Turtrves. —They have offered a reward over in Jersey City for Hamilton, the defaulter. Iutermational Weather Science Inau- gurated. The long proposed system of international weather reports has at last been inaugurated. The Signal Office has just received the first bulletin from M. Quetelet, the distinguished meteorologist of Utrecht. The British, Rus- sian, Norwegian, Danish and Austrian govern- mental weather bureaus have entered into an arrangement for the exchange of international weather observations, The Meteorological Congress, convened at Vienna last September, unanimously recommended to all the powers there represented the exchange of at least one uniform observation that would enable the scientist to construct daily synoptic charts. These are designed to show, at a glance, the atmospheric conditions, with their undulations and cyclonic depressions, as they overspread the whole hemisphere at a given moment. The readings of the barometer, and all the other meteoric observations which go to make up the daily international report, are, there- fore, all taken synchronously, at twenty- five minutes to eight o'clock A. M. of Washington time. In addition to the nationalities now oo-operating in this vast scheme of international science Turkey and France will probably soon be enlisted, and their observations be interchanged with ours, Efforts, too, it is understood, are in promising progress for the further extension of the system to India and China, where meteorological investigations have engaged populsr interest. When this is accomplished (and it is obviously a mere questitn of time) the whole Northern Hemisphere will be belted with a network of meteorological stations co-operating in the grand international science enterprise. Into the vast volume of official research which will then flow numerous scientific societies, associations and individuals will pour their contributing streams and rills. The only gaps in the zone of stations will be the oceans. But evidently this very fact shows the necessity for speedy provision for supplying, by marine observations, the felt deficiency. The Hzraxp has earnestly urged the systematic collection and utilization of the invaluable log books and storm data brought into port by every steamer and almost every sailer. Thus, besides amassing material for the meteorologist, from which he might wrest many secrets from the Storm King, and learn the mysteries of the oceanic climate and cir- culation, the mariner would himself be greatly enlightened in the knowledge peculiarly needed in his respousible profession. The inauguration of this cosmopolitan sys- tem marks a new and significant era in scien- tific inquiry. Meteorology is not an isolated science, and must be studied over a wide and varied field of atmospheric evolutions. Its de- ductions intimately concern the interests of agriculture, inland and foreign commerce, navigation and sanitary economy, the march of epidemics, the changes of local climates and countless other interests of mankind. The interchange of ideas can be no less ad- vantageous than the interchange of physical observations, as provided for in this new sys- tem, while the immediate and tangible benefits must soon follow. There remains little more to be desired now but the perfection of some system which may convert our large fleets of ocean steamers and the mercantile marine into so many floating observatories—countless co-operators in ad- vancing a science in which every sailor natu- rally takes the deepest interest. Russia and Austria. On the evening of the 11th the Emperor Francis Joseph left Vienna on a visit to the Czar at St. Petersburg. This visit may be one of courtesy only ; but it is rather uncommon, in times of peace, for such visits to be made at this season of the year. The marriage which was recently celebrated at St. Peters- burg, and which brought into such close alliance the royal families of Great Britain and Russia, may have something to do with the matter. Russia and Austria have not been sufficiently en rapport since the Czar so suddenly left Vienna and the World's Fair last summer. A little too much attention was paid by the Emperor Francis Joseph to the son and heir of King George, late of Hanover. The Czar, pro-Prussian as he is, did not like it, and so left the Austrian capital hurriedly and somewhat in a pet. Austria cannot afford to have the German Empire against her on the one hand and the Russian Empire against her on the other, both having the sympathy of England. Let us hope that the imperial visit and the mutual congratulations incident thereto will have the effect of making an endof the little unpleasantness. At present there is no special need of a European war. It may yet be found out, too, that Austria has some sort of mission to accomplish in the European community of nations. Coa ror tHe Poon.—New York begins to be fully alive to the suffering which exists among its poor. There is something noble and soul inspiring in the present outflow of cbarity. It is another proof that if great cities are the chief seats of wickedness they are also the centres in which the higher forms of Christian excellence find their fullest develop- ment. It now seems as if fair provision were about to be made for the wants of the hungry. On no account must the poor be allowed to starve. But fuel at this season of the year is almost as necessary as food. A few thousand |, tons of coal wisely distributed would largely relieve the distress of the situation. We offer this suggestion to the coal masters and to the railroad companies. Let them think of the blessings which it is in their power to dis- pense, and let them dispense the blessings at - once. Tae Potrrican Srrvation in Great Britain is still of such s character as to create un- certainty and to encourage a large amount of speculation. The defeat of the liberals is now conceded, although Mr. Gladstone, no doubt for reasons justifiable to himself, still clings to office. A few days ago the Henatp suggested that a conservative-liberal govern- ment, with Lord Derby at its head, would command extensive approval throughout the three kingdoms. Mr. Gladstone, it is now manifest, is, in the opinion of British electors, too adventurous and somewhat dangerously radical. Mr. Disraeli, with all his unquestioned ability, is too tricky and fertile in expedient ever to command the confidence of all ranks and classes in the community. Earl Derby is conservative and cautious, yet a man of high euligre, of sound judgment and of advanced liberal opinions. We are not surprised, there- fore, to learn that there is considerable specu- lation as to whether Mr. Disraeli or Lord Derby will be the next Prime Minister of England. Tas Enp or rae Asnanrze Was.—The return of the British army from Coomassie is announced in despatches from the Gold Coast. The war has been an almost bloodless one, and reflects great credit on the coolness, energy and foresight of the British General. There is little doubt that the policy adopted by General Wolseley of refusing to waste the lives of his men in useless skirmishing with a savage foe was a wise one, and the direct march on Coomassie, though criticised at first, has shown by its results that the British Com- mander correctly estimated the enemy to whom he was opposed. Fovancz.—The internationals bave peti- tioned Congress to ‘call in its bonds.’’ No answer yet received from Congress. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Postmaster J. F. Smyth, of Albany, is staying at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Major Walker McFarland, United States Army, is quartered at the Glenham Hotel. Assistant Attorney General 0, H. Hill arrived last evening at the Brevoort House. Judge William F. Allen, of the Court of Appeals, bas apartments at the Hotel Brunswick. Comptroller Neilson K, Hopkins is among the re- cent arrivals at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Ex-Congressman Milo Goodrich, of Dryden, N. Y., 18 stopping at the Fifth Avenue Hotel Charles Parrish, the Pennsylvania coal king, oc- cupiea his old quarters at the Gilsey House. The widow, son and daughter of G. P. R. James, the novelist, are residing at Eau Claire, Wis. Kurd von Scnldzer, the German Minister, has ar- rived at the Brevoort House from ‘Washington. Hon. Zebulon B, Vance, of North Carolina, will deliver a lecture in Baltimore on the 17th inst. Asa Packer, of Mauch Chunk, Pa., began life as a canal boat driver and ts now worth $25,000,000, ‘The genuine old original John Smith is dead. He gave out at the age of 100 years in Merriwether, Ga. Miss Mary Chariton has been elected Third Assistant Clerk of the llinois House of Representa- tives. Dr. Francis Hoyt, who was born in Bavaria in 1771, died in Columbus, Ohio, on the 7tn inst., aged 103 years, Congressman William J, Albert, of Maryland, has received news of the death o1 his daughter at Ber- lin, Germany. Rev, Dr. Dekoven, a high churchman, is the most prominent of the candidates for the bishopric of Wisconsin. Aconyverted Indian chief, who calis himself Sun- rise, is preaching in the Methodist churches of New Jersey. Mrs. Maxwell is engrossing clerk, Mrs. Elliott is Postmaster and Mrs, Quixon is paper folder for the lows Legisiature, Messrs. William B, Ogden and William ©. Shel- don, of this city, are at the Grand National Hotel, in Jacksonville, Fla. J. Hegermann Lindencrone, Chargé d’Affaires of Denmark at Washington, is temporarily residing at the Brevoort House. The De Young Brothers, of the San Francisco Chronicle, have been put under bonds to keep the peace toward B. F. Napthaly, of tie Sun, of the same city. The amenities of California journalism Were several days ago illustrated by some ill- directed shooting be: ween these writers. Calcraft, the celebrated English hangman, bav- ing become anxious, being very old, to give up his trade, a number of persons show a desire to suc- ceed him. Among these is a Mr, Anderson, a phy. siclan, and @ man of independent property. He hag for years been an intimate of Calcraft, and has assisted him in several executions. At the triple execution in Gloucester, England, Anderson acted alone for Calcraft, to whom he sent the fees, re- taining for himself only the allowance for personal | expenses. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE, Transters of Officers, WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 1874. Lieutenant E. W. Very is ordered to the Wash- ington Navy Yard; Pay Director Caspar J. Schenck, to the Mare Island Navy Yard; Lieutenant Joseph J. Jones is detached from the Mahopac and or- derea to the Gettysburg; First Assistant Engtneer E. T. Phillippi is detached from the naval station at League Island and ordered to the Kansas. THE FLEET MANG@UVBES, Fair Weather at Florida Bay Yester- @ay—The Monitors at Target Practice at Key West. FLoripA Bay, Feb. 12, 1874, The fleet exercises were continued to-day under sail. The men were drilled alo!t in the preparing and manipulation of the rigging for battle, The weather is delightful. At Key West the monitors Saugus, Mahopac ana Manhattan had target practice to-day. EPISOOPAL CONVENTION IN WISCONSIN, MILWAUKEE, Feb. 12, 1874, The Episcopal Convention reassembled at nine o’ciock this morning. The greater part of the forenoon was occupied in the discussion of the charges made against Dr. De Koven by the Nasho- tah professors, especially the pamphlet by Dr. Eager, of Nashotah, entitled ‘Principles, Not Men,” and which was aimed at the principies of Dr. De Koven. A firebrand was thrown into the Convention in the shape of a document, signed by four young students at Nashotan, declaring that Dr. Eager had stated that tne pamphiet was wriiten ior political effect. To end the discussion and personalities, which bade lair to pony the Convention for several days, Mr. joses Strong moved that the debate terminate at nine P. M, and the business of electing a bishop de proceeded with, Dr. De Koven rose and asked the privilege of the floor for the last hour, between eight and nine P. M. to define his position. This was objected to on the ground that it would be unfair to the Hoff- man party to * Sea to the election of a bishop under the spell of the Protessor’s eloguence, Dr. De Koven declined making any statement under any other conditions. one J the argument on this point the Convention ad- journed until two P. M. The faction Opposing the extreme ritualists or De Koven rty are conservatives, not Cum- minsites. There are said to be only a few of the Cummins party in this diocese. The excitement runs very Bien, and each step is hotly contested, ‘with very bitter feelings on both sides, THE NEW OKUROH MOVEMENT, PHILADELPHIA, Pa., Feb. 12, 1874. Bishop Cummins, founder of the Reformed Epis- copal Church, delivered an address to-night in the Taberpacie Presbyterian church on the subject of the new Church movement. He recited the labors of the General Vonvention of the Protestant Epis- copal Charch which met in Philadelphia in 1785, | and said if the Prayer Book as it was then revised had remained with the Church the latter would have by this time overspread the land, He oar upon Bishop Seabury, of Connec- tucat, the work of restoring, in 1789, the errors which had been taken from the Prayer Book in 1786, and said that the Church at this day uses the Prayer Book thus handed down, and which came originally from the poliuted source of Charles the Second, in whose days it had been revised, A. D. 1641. He a the withdrawal from the Prot- estant Episcopal Church on the ground that its Prayer Book 1s corrupting. That reformation must be begun outside the Church, and not within its pee i 5 patti Kade and quoted in sup- ort of this position the action of Luther, Joan ‘esley and the Old Catholics. ANNIVERSARY OP LINOOLN’S BIRTH. Burrawo, N, Y., Feb, 12, 1874 The anniversary of Lincoin’s birth, was cel- ebrated here by exercises in the various public schools this morning, and appropriate exercises by the citizens at St. James’ Hall tuis evening. THE SYRACUSE MAYORALTY. Syracuse, N. Y., Feb. 12, 1874, The democrats have nominated Nathan F. Graves for Mayor. The republican nominee 1s James J, Belden, The election takes piace on Tuesday next, 5 ST. VALENTINE'S DAY. To-morrow, by common consent, has been set apart assacred to Love. It ts Cupid's carnival, and though we write it with the name of a noly bishop and martyr it still preserves, through every change, a tinge of its pagan origin, Why the name of St. Valentine has been associated with & love festival is unknown, and DO ex- tant history furnishes any clew by which the mystery might be satisfactorily solved. Little is known about St. Valentine, save that some time in the third ceutury of the Coris- tian era he was beaten with sticks and then bad his head cut of; but whether love had anything to do with his killing there remains no eviaence te show. The association of St. Valentine with the lovesick ts a8 unaccountable as love itself, it is strongly suspected, however, that the good man had nothing whatever to do with the ceremonies of the day, which are supposed to have sprung from feelings and desires old as the world. Some of the learned, who dive into old books ta search of the origin of things, throw St. Valentine overboard as an interloper, and assure us that Valentine Day is but the continua- tion of the Lupercalia, festivais established in Pagan Rome tn honor of the god Pun. They began on the 15th of February. According te Plutarch they were instituled by the Romans in honor of the she wolf that suckied Romulus and Remus, But the opinion of even this respectable authority is questioned, and both Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus attribute the in- troduction of the Lupercalia into Italy to Evan- der, aud seek to connect them with the Lycwan festivais observed in Arcadia, Whether St. Valen- tine’s Day can justly lay claim to so remote an origin or not, it seems certain that the ceremonies connected with it are much older than the saint with whose name they have become interwoven. The modern festival probably grew out of some deeply rooted pagan rite, just ag we owe the bonfires on St. John’s Eve lighted by tne Christian peasantry to the, fres lighted In remote age by the worshippers of Baal. ‘rhe early Christians found it necessary in order to eradicate paganism to adopt many of the principal pagan feasts, and convert them tnto fes- tivals in honor of saints, and tt is probable that this course was pursued with the Lupercalia ts strengthened by @ coincidence in the ceremonies observed in the pagan ‘estival as well as the oc- currence of St. Valentine’s Day on the eve of the Lupercalia. During the feasts in honor of Pan and Juno the names of a number of young women were put into a box and drawn by men as chance directed, and this custom, which was always an important part of the proper celebration of St, Vaientine’s Day, seems to be the first record we possess of the origin of choosing valentines, In time the practice of choosing mates became recip- Tocal, and all persons so drawn or chosea were called valentines, So late as the early part of last century it was customary for an equal number of bachelora and maias to get together, and, each one having written a real or feigned name on a piece of paper, rolled it up and placed it ina box, whence it was drawn by lot. The girls drew men’s billets and the men the girls’, so that each one had two valentines, The bachelors were supposed to pay many more attentions to the ladies who fell to them by lot than to those who had drawn them, Fortune thus divided the compapy into couples. The valentines were ex- pected to give balls and treats to their mistreases, whose billets they were accustomed to wear for several days on their bosom or sleeve. This was, however, the lightest part of the duty of the val- entine, for, by custom, the bachelor remained bound fora whole year in the service of his vaien- tine, somewhat after the fashion of a medimval Knight. It, of course, often happened that these | imaginary engagements became real. Sometimes it occurred that tl@ couples were not se- lected by fortune just as they could have wished, but this circumstance ratuer increased than diminished the amusement, About the fifteenth century the celebration of Valentine's Day was very general among the upper classes and in the royal courts in Great Britain and in many parts of the European Continent, especially tn Lorraine and Main in France. During the reign of Uharles II. of England more importance ‘was attached to the celebration of Valentine's Day than at any other period in England. The festival suited the manners of the merry monarch, and under the auspices of his courtiers took unlooked forexpansion. Married people became liable to be chosen as valentines, and the habit of giving costly presents as a release or ransom was also introduced. Pepys, in hia chatty diary, tells us that the Duke of York on one occasion, being valentine to Miss Stewart, afterwards the Duchess of Richmond, gave her a jewel worth $4,000 to obtain release from the obligation of being her valentine. Lord Mandeville presented the same fortunate young isdy with a ring worth $1,500, under similar circumstances. The custom of making valuable presents seems to have died out with the Merrie Monarch. Notwithstanding the custom of releasing jt was believed that those whe fell to each other in St. Valentine’s lottery were likely to become associated in wedlock. Valentine's Day in Great Britain 1s no longer cele- brated with the old ¢clat, and has almost ceased to possess the symbolic meaning which in past times gave the day its greatest charm, It is now almost wholly abandoned to practical joxes and low buffoonery. Its approach is her- alded, as among Ourselves, by the appearance ip shop windows of numberless missives, mostly vul- gar caricatures, which are sent through the post by people of bad taste under the impression that they are playing off delicate jokes. In the not dis tant past letter writing on Valentine’s Day was al- most unknown, or confined to the exchange of courteous notes, breathing affection and devotion, The caricature valentine is wholly an outgrowth of low modern ideas of burlesque. The more re fined manners of the older generations did not permit indulgence in the coarse buffoonery o stupid caricature. Their fault was an exaggera- tion of sentiment bordering on the ridiculous, It is among the people that the poetry of the day’s observance has been best preserved. While the book worms have hunted in vain among dusty and moth eaten archives for the origin of Love's Day the people, with truer instinct, have interro- gated nature with better success. As the nations of antiquity lived more in communion with nature than we do many of their social and religious customs are directly trace- able to the influence of some natural law, or some supposed law, which they evolved from thelr rich poetic imaginations, February sees the winter depart, and the dawn of spring brings joy to all animated creatures. The little birds once more make vocal the trees about the peasant’s hut, and the simple dweller in the flelds attributes the bird song to awakening love. Hence the belief that on St. Valentine’s Day the birds choose their mates by an unwritten law. Man follows the example of the feathered songsters, and to tnis superstition we Prob- ably owe St. Valentine's Day and al its attendant ceremonies. This explanation goes back to the world’s dawn, to that golden age when man lived in converse with creation and knew and obeyed the law of life. The idea that there is an influence inherent in the day which binds together in some sort the destinies of those ‘who, by lot or chance, are led to Ox their atten- tion on a person of the opposite sex on St. Valen- tine’s Day 1s still popularly entertained among the peasantry of many countries, and there is an almost religious belief that the first unmarried person encountered of either sex on the morning of that day is a destined bride or husband, THE VIRGINIA DEFAULTER, OOLEMAN. RICHMOND, Feb, 12, 1874 ‘The case of W. D. Coleman, defaulting clerk im the Board of Public Works and of the Commisston- ers of the Sinking Fund, was called in the Police Court this morning; but, his physician reporting him unfit to appear, @ further postponement was ordered. A joint committee of the Legislature ‘was appointed to investigate the efalcation in the office of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund and all matters connected therewith. The committee have been given power to send for pety Sons and papers,