The New York Herald Newspaper, June 15, 1874, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day tn the vear. Four cents per copy. Annual subscription Price $12. 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, Volume XXXIX.. AMUSEMENTS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING | WooD's MU Broadway, corner of Thirtieth street. JACK HARKAWAY AMONG THE BR M.; closes at 4:30 P. M ; PM. Hernandez Foste NIBL( E Broadwa between Prince and Ho CRYPTOX at load P M; OR, LOST AND W |. Mr. Joseph Wheelock and Miss Tone Burkes THEATRE COMIQUE, No. 514 Broadway, —NECK AND NECK, at 8 P. M.; closes at 10:30 P. E. T. stetson and Mario sommers. BOOTH'S THEATRE, aren third street and Sixth avenue.—LA MORTE CIVILE, at 8 P.M; closes at li P. M. Signor Salvin. e WALLACK’S T ATRE, Broadway and Thirteenth street—FrATE, at 8 P. M.; closes at 11 P.M. Miss Carlotta Le Clercq. Broadway Twenty-thir! street, n STRELSY, ke. at CENT) Fifty. ninth street al h CERT, at 8 ¥. M.; closes at 10 ROBINSON FE Fixteenth street, rionettes, at § F Broadw) NIGH? Ls E vy of Thirty-fith ‘street.-LONDON BY closes at 19 P : M.; closes at 5 P.M. Same at7 P. M.; ROMAN HIPPODROME, Madison avenue and Twenty-sixth street. GRAND PAGEA ANT—CONGRESS OF IONS, at 1:3) P, M. and TRIPLE ‘SHEET. monde ane 15, New York, 1874. From our reports fis a morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be clear and Slightly warmer, Hicn Pressure Loyaury.—History has pretty thoroughly settled the character of George IIl.—that he was a stubborn, bigoted, narrow-minded man, without capacity or in- tellect, dritting all of his life into insanity and | doing infinite harm to England by his course on the American and French revolutions and in dealing with Catholicism, East India, Ireland | and slavery. We sbould think that he is especially a king whose name would be forgot- ten asan unfortunate blemish on the royal system. But it seems he isa monarch whose birthday is worthy of remembrance, and we find that it was celebrated with unusual fes- tivity, and that among those present were men like Mr. Disraeli and Mr. Gladstone. Tar Scunpay Preascne Grovunps or Our Crry Porvunation.—We publish in another part of the papera description of the out- pouring of our city population yesterday—and, in fact, as on Sundays generally during the summer season—to the parks, green fields and seaside in and near the metropolis. Central Park, of course, is the favorite place of resort because of the convenience and beauty of that locality. Many thousands find pleasure, rec- reation and health there. Then Prospect Park is not less attractive to the crowds of | Brooklyn people. Coney Island, Staten Island and the splendid Bay of New York are sought by numbers who delight to inhale the air off the salt water. All round New York indeed are numerous charming and health-giving places to which our citizens go, and there is no city in the world more happily situated in this respect. Pourtican Fenmentation 1s France.—The desire for battle 1s general among the cham- pions of the rival parties in France. Clemen- ceau, the radical Deputy, wants to fight Cas- | sagnac; but that great Quixote of the Bona- partists remembers that Clemenceau affects pistols and has an awkward habit of hitting his opponent; he therefore refuses to fight. He has, however, declared himself ready to do battle with Gambetta, which is much the same as if Jem Mace offered to pummel a schoolboy. Clemenceau offers on the part of ten republi- cans a clalienge to ten Bonapartist Deputies, probably thinking it the easiest way of get- ting rid of that troublesome faction. The Bonapartists will not accept this polite offer nor is Gambetta likely to place his life at the disposal of the fenc- ing master of the Empire. If the habit of challenging the chiefs of parties were to come into fashion it might soon prove fatal to both the royalists and imperialists, as some | republicans might challenge the Prince Impe- rial and Count Chambord io mortal combat, and they would have no better pretence for refusing to accept the cartel than has Gam- betta. Ovn Lrrerany CorresponpENce.—The sea- son of rest and entertainment that may be said to come with summer makes us look with unusual interest to the bookmakers and the booksellers to see what new works are in store Yor us. For there comes a time, even in midsummer days, when the rod lose their interest, when it is pleasant to steal under the shady trees and commune with | some of those noble souls who speak to us from the printed page. ship more lasting than these wise and hushed friends, who never intrade upon us, who come when wanted and go when bidden, who can be dismissed when tiresome without of- feuce, who never presume on a cheerful wel- come, who never exact or reproach, and who generally bring comfort and peace. Our dili- gent correspondents tell us what the masters | rifle and the | There is no friend- | NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JUNE 15, 1874.-TRIPLE SHEET. The Finale of Currency Legislation for This Session. The prompt and easy defeat of the latest inflation bill in the House is a final demon- stration that all the attention given to this great subject during the present session has been a sheer waste of time. We shall stand on the day of adjournment precisely where we stood at the opening of the seasion, unless, perchance, a bill should be passed for a more equal distribution of the bank note circula- tion. The prospect for the future is indeed somewhat better than if no action had been attempted, since it has developed the fixed resolve of the President to negative schemes of inflation and so removed an element of un- certainty in commercial calculations. The community has complete assurance that the currency will not be materially expanded be- yond its present limits in the ensuing three years. Such business engagements as reach final settlement within that period will be exempt from any fear of payment in a cur- rency still further depreciated. This will operate as some relief to the prevailing stagnation. Capital will now be more will- ing to accommodate enterprise with loans when it is sure that the money parted with will be paid back in a medium not less valuable than that which was lent. During the winter and spring, business has subsisted by hand-to-mouth feeding, waiting for the action of Congress and not daring to plan for anything very far ahead. Most new enterprises require an investment of fixed cap- ital, from which returns are not expected until after the lapse of considerable time. Both borrowers and lenders have been repelled | from long engagements by the uncertainty and suspense which have attended the action of Congress—lenders because they fear rob- bery by further inflation, and borrowers for an opposite reason. We may now count upon a tolerably active revival of business as soon as the always dull summer months are over. Those republican members of the House who voted against this last inflation bill be- cause they dreaded the political effect of an- other veto have evinced more party sagacity than those who voted for it. The party can- not be so badly injured by the failure to do anything as it would have been by a new veto, resulting in an open breach with the Pres- ident. The opponents of the administration overrate the political effect of this wasted ses- | sion. In the first place it is rather a sectional | than a party difference which has brought | legislation on the currency to a deadlock. So far as it is a national and not a sectional ques- tion the elected national representation of the republican party occupies ground of which the democrats can take no advantage. If they have anything to gain in this juncture it must be either as an inflation party or as an anti- inflation party. If, like the republicans, they show a divided front on this question they can make nothing of it for party effect. They | must, as a united body, exhibit aggressive | vigor on one side of it or the other to secure even the attention, not to say the respect, of the country. Now, supposing the difficulties of perfect union to be surmounted atter the division of the democratic votes in Congress, on which side can the tardily united party | make any headway? An accord delayed till | the eve of the elections could gain little credit for sincerity. But, supposing it accomplished or simulated, it could not sit upon the fence. To make itself felt it would have to be very positive and strenuous on one side or the other. To consolidate as a fighting inflation phalanx would be too absurd. Thurman and Bayard, the two ablest and most respected | democrats in public life, are men of too much strength of character, depth of con- viction and devotion to principle to permit a union of the party ona policy they detest. The “solidarity’’ of the democratic party on the currency question is possible, if possible at all, only on a hard-money basis. Even sup- posing their internal dissensions got over by an eleventh hour arrangement, what can the democrats expect to accomplish by means of this issue? Nothing, surely, against General Grant. All their invectives against paper money would be so many eulogies of the re- publican President. The drift and effect of their campaign would be to strengthen public confidence in the official head of the govern- ment. In the East, where all the republicans support the President and are as stanch | hard-money men as the Eastern democrats, no republican votes will be thrown off in this | issue. In those parts of the West where in- | flation is popular the democratic party would | lose the little strength it has by adopting hard ; money as the test of political orthodoxy. | Western opinion may change; we believe it will; but the credit is more likely to be ascribed to President Grant, who has proved his sincerity by differing from a majority of his own party in Congress, than to a simulated electioneering truce on this subject by the differing democracy. It may be said, moreover, and said with great truth, that the postponement of cur- rency legislation till the next session is the best thing for the country in the present divided state of public opinion. The worst of all evils in legislation affecting the measure of value is instability. It is not safe to make changes unless they are supported by sucha strong preponderance of public sentiment as affords a reasonable guarantee of perma- nence. The advocates of a sound currency have more to gain by adjourning the question than their opponents. The West itself will yet come round to correct views. It has al- | ready made progress in this direction since the beginning of the session. When it finds, as it will next fall, that there is abundant money for moving the crops, the clamor for more currency will die into silenee. They | measure their wants by what they suffered in the panic, making no allowance for the fact that it requires double the amount of money to transact the same business on the same scale of prices in periods when confidence is prostrated. As soon as the panic set in every- body who had or could get money hoarded it, fearing he would be overtaken by wants for which he could not provide. The banks lost so large om part of \ deposits that they resorted to the make- shift of Clearing House certificates to meet | | | | | | | | | of literature are doing in France, England | their mutual daily settlements, The savings and Germany, and in a certain) gense indicate | banks would have becn drained had they what will be done in America. ‘In no depart- | ment of art are we more dependent upon other lands than in literature, for the books published in France, Germany and England in the summer are apt to greet us from our own presses in the autumn and winter. not taken advantage of a clause in their charters and refused to pay without sixty days’ notice. The community, by withdraw- ing confidence and withholding deposits from the banks, deprived them of their chief means of lending. and curtailed the use of checks. their | the great substitute for money. All this hap- pened in the very height of the season for moving the craps. It is not surprising that the vivid impression outlasted the calamity, and that the West, whose business suffered most, looks forward with anxiety to the com- ing antumn. When the Western people find they get throngh it safely and easily, there will be an ebb of the inflation tide favorable to revised legislation next winter. Had West- ern opinion been different, there would have been great advantages in a revision of the currency laws at this session. But Westcrn opinion being what it is, the country will gain much by the postponement, for which it is wholly indebted to the combined firmness and wisdom of General Grant. We believe the President has served his party instead ot injuring it by forcing a post- ponement of legislation on this subject till the next session. The party in its: collective capacity is, no doubt, responsible; but re- sponsibility for doing nothing is not so heavy a load as responsibility for bad laws, Con- gress did act ; it did pass a bill through both houses in the customary form. It cannot, therefore, be held responsible for the fact that nothing has been done. Whether for praise or for blame, the tact that we do not get @ new currency law this session is due to President Grant. Congress cannot be cen- sured for non-action, but only for wrong action. If the republican party is held up to reprobation because nothing bas been done, it must be the republican party as represented by the vetoing President; but he cannot be blamed for. the deadlock without indorsing in- flation and supporting Congress. The demo- crats are under a moral and political compul- sion to support the policy of the President if they present the currency issue at all, and it is not easy to see how they can do much harm to the republican party by extolling the views and vindicating the course of its elected offi- cial head. They are also under a peculiar disability, of which their opponents will be likely to make a handle, by their formal sepa- ration of fiscal questions from the domain of party responsibility in the last Presidential election. We refer to their curious declaration on the tariff in their national platform of 1872, wherein they acknowledged irreconcilable dif- ferences among themselves upon this ques- tion and remitted it to the separate Congres- sional districts for settlement. Such trimming subterfuges are pretty certain to bring their own punishment, sooner or later. The democratic that party responsibility does not extend to questions on which the party differs, and dis- missing such questions to the Congressional districts, bound itself to regard the President and not Congress as the exponent of party policy, and drew a line of discrimination which it cannot now attempt to obliterate without exposing itself to ridicule. If the doctrine of the democratic platform that the President alone represents the policy of a political party, and that it is not compromised by irreconcila- ble differences on great questions among its Congressmen, be sound political ethics, then the republican party deserves all the praise which attends the action of the President and none of the blame which belongs to Congress. We dare say the democracy will not again dig such a pit for themselves to fall into. The aperes of the Week. All who are fond of sports, whether horse racing, trotting, yachting or boating, will find an interesting programme for the present week. The spring races of the American Jockey Club will be continued at Jerome Park on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The fine racing and the crowds that gathered to witness it last week show that the public interest grows from day to day in the sport at that place. Should the weather and tempera- ture be favorable, the number of visitors, no doubt, will increase at each meeting till the season closes. The local racing season may be said to culminate at Jerome Park and to be the preliminary trial of the racing stock which is to compete at the summer races at Saratoga and other places. Then there will be trotting races at the West Side Park, Jersey, to-day, Wednesday and Friday. To-morrow the Brook- lyn Yacht Club will continue the yachting season by having its seventeenth annual regatta. There is to be a free entry of all yachts belonging to any duly organized yacht club in the United States, and there have been entered ten schooners, three first class sloops, twelve second class sloops and four third class sloops. The course is to be from the Southwest Spit, out- side of Fort Lafayette, eastward of West Bank buoys Nos. 11, 13 and 15, and to return west- ward of Dumb Beacon. Should the weather prove favorable a fine regatta is anticipated. The seventh annual regatta of the Columbia Yacht Club will be sailed to-day, and there will be, it is expected, some fifteen or sixteen yachts engaged in the contest. On Wednes- day the Williamsburg Yacht Club will ‘have its fourth annual regatta, and on Thursday the annual regatta of the Long Island Yacht Club will be held. The boating clubs and crews are not less active. The Columbia College crew have taken up their quarters at Ingram’s, Saratoga Lake, preparatory to the interesting contest to come off in that locality. The Schuylkill Navy regatta will be held on the 17th and 18th, when some of our New York boatmen will be present. The Lafayette Boat Club, of Boston, will, on the 17th, have its fifth annual regatta on Charles River. The Washington Heights Resolute Boat Club and Carman Boat Club will pull a six-oar race on Saturday, and on the same day there will be a scull race also on that part of the Hudson River. Base ball will rage throughout the land. Altogether, these sports, of various kinds, furnish an interesting programme for the present week, and are sufiicient to suit the tastes of all classes. AvsurN Pxtson. —We publish in an- other column @ gtaphic account of convict life in Auburn Prison, which cannot fail to be interesting to the public. Year by year the importance of this institution increases, for, unfortunately, crime seems to keep pace with our national prosperity. Our story gives a glimpse of the now sad life of those men who for a moment ecenpied a place in the public mind because of their misdeeds Notorious murderers and thieves are held securely within the prison walls, and it is certainly a matter for con- gratulation that so many of this class have been removed out of the way of inflicting damage on the industrious part of the com- munity. | tions of British subjects or others.” | land has demanded not only all that America President Defended Our 3 National Honor? The case of the Virginius, which made such a commotion in its time, bringing the country to the verge of war with Spain, has died away. The settlement has been made and forgotten. There werd some ardent rhetorical Has the congratulations in the administratioh hews- | papers as to the promptitude with which the President had vindicated our national honor. Our American Minister was recalled, virtually in disgrace, because he had in some way im- peded a settlement, and a new minister was sent in the person of one of the foremost men of the Republic, who would place the relations of the two countries upon a firm foundation. If we remember the actual terms of the Spanish concessions, they included a sur- render of the Virginius, which now lies in de- caying, corroding peace off the stormy reaches of Hatteras; the return of all the American citizens that had not been shot—all having been shot whose death was in any way desired by Spain—and a salute to the American flag. We should add also, that to attain these re- sults we spent several millions on our navy,’ which in itself was a God-send to a Secretary hungry for appropriations. We are enabled to compare the results of this diplomacy with that of Lord Granville or the English government, a summary of which will be found in an article elsewhere printed from the London Times. This article is written in the kindliest spirit toward Spain, and it shows that the English government was actuated bya similar spirit. We learn that as soon as the English government heard that seventeen British subjects had been executed at Santiago Lord Granville at once telegraphed to M. Castelar ‘thatthe Spanish government and all the persons concerned would be held responsible for any further executions of British subjects.’ ‘‘At this notice,’’ says the Times, “M. Castelar immediately sent off a message to the Captain General of Cuba directing the suspension of all further execu- If this statement is accurate, and it seems to be based upon official information, then it seems that we owe the safety of the American citizens who were not executed to the energy of the British Minister and the firm promptitude shown by Sir Lambton Lorraine. Having secured the release of its subjects the British government proceeded still further. She took the ground | been captured on the high seas in the commission of no actual wrong; that | there was no positive proof that she was assisting the insurgents; that to put the | prisoners to death was “an act of mere re- venge, and that of o kind unworthy of any | nation claiming to be civilized ;’’ that this “unjustifiable execution was simply a judicial marder.”” In the words of Lord Granville, ‘there was no charge either known to the law of nations or to any municipal law under which persons in the situation of the British crew of the Virginius could have been justifiably con- demned to death. They were persons not owing allegiance to Spain; the acte done by them were done out of the jurisdiction of | Spain; they were essentially non-combatants in their employment, and they could by no possible construction be liable to the penalty of death.” As a consequence, therefore, Eng- did, but more. She insists that Spain shall make a national recognition of the wrong done | to her flag and compensate the relatives of the victyns. The question at once arises, What actually has the President done? We know that the Virginius has been restored, that the prisoners have been released, and that Spain promised to salute our flag, but was released from the promise ; and we know the millions given to the Navy Department in those days of hurly- burly and threats of war. The wrong done to the American flag was infinitely greater than that done to the flag of England, for ours was directly insulted. Has any one heard that Spain has made any ‘‘national recognition” of that wrong? Have we ever said to Spain that “compensation must be made to the relatives of the victims?” Is Spain to understand that she can take American citizens on the high seas and shoot them, without hindrance, and yet if she happens to shoot Englishmen, under less aggravating circumstances, she must make a | national reparation, and compensate the rela- tives of the victims? As the Virginius case | now stands this is precisely what has been done. Our government made a tremendous noise, spent millions in repairing the navy, and really received no substantial redress from Spain. England did not spend a dollar, ex- cept perhaps for cable despatches to Havana, and: yet by her diplomacy she compelled M. Castelar to put an end to executions; by her navy she practically saved American lives, and she now is about to receive farther and just compensation. This is not a pleasant contrast, and we wish the facts did not justify it. The country certainly does not understand the matter or we should have a proper demonstration of angry public opinion. As a characteristic addendum to the state of the case our citizens will read the list of promotions of the officers of the Tornado recently made by the Spanish government. The Attempt to Cover Up Official Mis- conduct. The Board of Aldermen having rejected the resolution of the Assistant Aldermen for a joint investigation of the Department of Charities and Correction, the only examina- tion into the alleged corruptions of the depart- ment is that now being made by the Commis- sioners of Accounts. These Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor, are removable at his pleasure, and by their falsification of the December debt statement at his demand have already shown that they are wholly under his control. Moreover, one of the Commissioners be hed by | that the American register of the Virginius | Laie Sea tity noes (hvu (aa Gennes | made her an American ship; that she had | belief. of Accounts was appointed mainly at the in- stance of # “‘reform’’ Commissioner of Chari- ties and Correction, who is implicated in the charges against the latter department. For these reasons we have no expectation of any- | thing but a whitewashing report from the Commissioners of Accounts and a repetition ‘of the disgraceful farce enacted by the Mayor in his pretended ‘‘investigation,” Now the evidences of malfeasance against the OharBies and Correcfion Commissioners are too plain to be ignored by the District Attorney, and should he neglect to bring the matter before a erand iury his omission of duty will be attributed to the fact that one of | Another Great Problem the officials implicated in the charges is an influential Custom House republican. It will then remain for the people, through some public spirited citizen, to lay the necessary information before a grand jury or to sum- mon the suspected Commissioners before @ Bourt, in poo _With the proyisions of the charter. it event the charges of malfeasance may cover other officials besides Mr. Stern and his associates. The Sermons Yesterday. The various churches of the cify were thronged with worshippers yesterday, and the preachers feeling no doubt the influence of the season pronounced fresh and vigorous addresses, urging their flocks to continue in the path that leads to salvation. The spirit of the teachings left nothing to be de- sired. It was broad and truly Chris- tian. Dr. Bellows in a brilliant ad- dress grappled with many points of vital interest to the well being of religion. According to his view creeds, dogmas and ceremonies are of but little account, and it is to a closer communion between God and man that we must look for carrying out the good work of the Master. ‘The Love of Christ’’ was the text selected by J. Edgar Johnson, and this preacher aimed at showing ‘‘that life, in all its varied conditions, was full of hope that was born of love of the living God.” Mr. Beecher dealt with the important subject of uncharitable criticism with his usual eloquence. No one in the pulpit is perhaps better qualified from varied experience to grapple with this question and it is well that the spiritual head of Plymouth church has the courage to reprove the uncharitable conduct of many Christians who recklessly indulge in criticisms of their neighbors. Mr. Frothing- ham selected ‘‘Human Nature” as the subject to discourse upon. He pointed out the ne- cessity of thoroughly acquainting ourselves with the real nature of men and women, as upon that nature all religious and political doctrine must rest. He quoted Chinese and Indian philosophers who hid lived before Christ to prove the intimate rela- tions which exist between all men and the tendency of the human mind towards virtue and morality independent of the teachings of Christianity. It is well that these views, far removed from Church dogmatism, should learned and elo- quent man. Such ideas, strongly and clearly expressed, do much to advance that universal faith in humanity on which the political and religious doctrines, faith and practice of the future will have to be based. The age of mystery has passed, and men will | only receive as true what they can clearly un- derstand, especially in matters of religious The other churches were equally active in their labors, and quite a large number of persons were baptized in the va- rious places of worship. The Leader of the Tammany Democracy and the Mayoralty Nomination. As the head of the Tammany Society Mr. John Kelly is the recognized leader of the Tammany democracy of the city of New York. The construction of the organization places autocratic power in the hands of the Grand Sachem. The nominations for public offices are made inside Tammany Hall. The Gene- ral Committee controls the nominations and the Grand Sachem controls the General Com- mittee. There is a division in Tammany, it is true, and those opposed to the present rule are barely ina minority. But the majority against them, small as it is, is sufficient to deprive them of real power, and to place them, bound hand and foot, at the mercy of the | rulers. The consequence is that the Tam- many nominations for the next charter elec- tion will be made by Mr. John Kelly. Whom will he give the democrats at the head of their ticket as their candidate for Mayor of New York ? Mr. Kelly has filled several offices of public trust, among them those of Aldermah, Con- gressman and Sheriff, and he has filled them creditably to himself and acceptably to the people. But his ambition has always been to | lead the party as the head of the Tammany or- ganization. He has been defeated by rivals more fortunate, perhaps less scrupulous than himself, and the magnates so recently over- thrown did not entertain the most friendly feelings towards him. He advanced to tho head on their downfall, and it now remains to be seen what use he will make of his power. His friends have claimed that he desires to rebuild and restore to its former proud posi- tion the New York democracy. His enemies charge that he has only seized the leadership in Tammany to force his own nomination for the office of Mayor. Mr. Kelly is on ex- perienced politician, and he will see at once that his safety lies in justifying the good opinion | of his friends and falsifying the damaging in- sinuations of his enemies. He can place at the head of the Tammany ticket a candidate for Mayor whose name will be a guarantee that while democratic principles are respected the interests of the city are studied; and with such a nominee he can unite the democracy, restore the prestige of Tammany and roll up an old-fashioned democratic majority. Or he can nominate himself, divide the party yet more hopelessly than it has hitherto been divided and risk the loss of the position he has so recently attained. No sane man ought to hesitate in making his choice. Mr. Kelly has the opportunity before him to establish his power as a leader and to rebuild the demo- | cratic party by firmly resisting the tempta- | tions of office and nominating some such can- didate as William Butler Duncan or John K. Hackett for Mayor. and insure the defeat of Tammany if he should blindly insist on nominating himself. Ir seems that Prince Bismarck has had another defeat in his plan for consolidating Germany. He recently proposed to create a responsible ‘Ministry of the realm,” 9 min- istry that would deal with German affairs di- rectly from Berlin without the interposition of the minor powers, and be responsible to the German Parliament. Having now a Congress like the United States he would like a Cabinet like our own or, perhaps, like that in England. But the minor Powers do not fancy this new step towards submerging their rights in the new nationality, and, owing to the objections of Bavaria, Wirtemburg, Saxony and Meck- lenburg, the plan was withdrawn. This, how- ever, will only be a temporary check, for united Germany means a united government, sooner or later, He would lose all this | of Antarctic Geography Solved by the Chale lenger. From the latest notes of the Challenger ex- pedition, now in the Southern hemisphere, it appears that the thermal observations have settled another great problem of Antarctic 3 . The outflow of a great ocean current from the South Indian Ocean has long been asserted and even recently as stoutly denied, by the physical geographers: of Europe. The most recent data forwarded by the Challenger put this matter at rest ag definitely as the much-talked-of Wilkes Ant- arctio Continent, discussed in Lieutenant Hyne’s letter published in the ‘Hunaw. The Challenger explorers state in their latest reports published in the London Times, that, after leaving the Cape of Good Hope they entered the Agulhas current, and add:—‘‘The breadth of this stream was about two hundred and fifty miles, and it was found to affect the temperature of the sea to the depth of four hundred fathoms.’”’ We have here the dis- covered dimensions of s mighty ‘‘river in the ocean,” compared with which the Gulf Stream of the Atlantic is but a rill. The sectional measurements of the Gulf Stream at the Florida Pass do not exceed thirty miles im breadth and three hundred fathoms in depth, so that the Agulhas current, as now gauged by the Challenger, is nearly ten times as large. The temperature of the two oceanic streams is about the same; and the velocity of the Agulhas current is not less than that of the mighty outflowfrom the Mexican Gulf. As the former passes the port of Natal, it tears violently at the shore—as the Mississippi when in flood—cutting through headlands, carrying away small islands and creating others with the mud it deposits. This broad and sweeping band of super- heated water represents the collective force of the southeast trade winds and northeast monsoons, which blow the steaming water of the tropical Indian Ocean upon the East Afri- can coast, whence its only outlet is southward, along the Mozambique channel. In bringing to light the thermometric agency of this powerful and immense current which projects itself into the icy basin of tho Antarctic, the Challenger has unmasked the main secrets of Antarctic meteorology and of the future penetrative exploration in the South Polar seas. Released from the pressure of the easterly winds after passing Cape Agulhas, the great equatorial flow soon enters the realm of west- erly and northwesterly winds. The power and regularity with which these latter winds blow, especially in the middle 1atitudes, or “roaring forties,’ of the Southern hemisphere, are familiar to every Australian sea-goer. They drive the hot streaks of Indian water before them towards the southeast, and neces- sarily give it an enormous thermal energy, on a course extending far into the South Polar Basin. The track of the Challenger, from the Cape of Good Hope to its highest southern latitude, near sixty-seven degrees south and eighty degrees east, took her outside of the warm water. Doubtless, too, the surface of the sea within the Antarctic circle, especially during the summer, when the ice is rapidly melting, is coated with a thin stratum of glacier water, serving to disguise the equatorial stream. But the potential presence of the latter, in the high Austral latitudes, remains a physical necessity. The Challenger observa- tions, though partial, have, it would seem, settled the question of the thermal phenomena of the southern hemisphere. Whatever may be said (and, no doubt, much may be said) of the advantage of land exploration in the far | South, the pathway of the Agulhas current when fully traced by the deep sea thermome- ter, will, as Sir James Ross found, be the best path for the nautical survey of the South Pole. Tue Porz anp THE Austrian Emrznor.— The foreign newspaper files speak of the Aus- trian Emperor visiting the King of Italy. The difficulty in the way is the reception he | would receive from the Pope. For an Aus- | trian emperor to visit Rome and not see the Holy Father would be a scandal to Austria. At the same time how can the Pope be gra- cious to a guest of the enemy of all religion, the King Victor Emmanuel? The Holy Father himself seems disposed to welcome the Austrian Emperor, but his advisers protest against his doing so. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Captain Greenfleid, of the British Army, is in Clover at the Hoffman House. President M. B. Anderson, of Rochester Univer- Sity, is Installed at the St. Denis Hotel. The Marquis de Chambran, of Washington, is resting his “French arms” at the St. Dents Hotel General George A. Sheridan, of New Orleans, is among the recent arrivals at the Fifth Avenue Hotel Captain Hamilton Perry, of the steamship Adriatic, has dropped anchor at the St. Nicholas | Hotel. Captain Kennedy, of the steamshtp City of Chester, is once more in port at the New York Hotel, G, A. Thomson, although United States Consul at Stettin, Germany, ts sojourning at the Sturtevant | House. Congressman Horace Maynard, of Tennessee, arrived from Washington yesterday at the Grand central Hovel en route to Narragansett, the home of his Indian ancestors. Senator Reuben E. Fenton and family yesterday arrived at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. The Senator will remain in the city until Wednesday next, when his family will sail for Europe in the steam. | ship Cuba, Then for the New York Senatorship | and peace witn Csesar! Mr. Jeiferson Davis, who has been sojourning in Europe for a long time past, was among the pase | sengers by the steamship Adriatic, which arrived at this port yesterday. On reaching tnis city he proceeded to the New York Hotel, where he re- mained until evening, and then left for Memphis, Tenn., where his family are residing. Only fancy, “All quiet along the Potomac to-night 1” NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. The Frigate Constellation at Fortress Monroe, FORTRESS MONROE, Va., Jane 14, 1874, The frigate Constellation, Commander K. R Breese, having on board the midshipmen from the Naval Academy, arrived here this morning. She will cruise along the North Atlantic coast during the ‘summer, making her neaaquarters at New London, Conn. DEDICATION IN BALTIMORE, Barrimops, June 14, 1876. St, Alphonsus Hall, on Saratoga street, which was destroyed by the great fire of last July, having been rebuilt, was dedicated to-day with appropri- ate ceremonies. Bishop Gross, of Savannah, officiated A large number of Catholic clergymen, and an immense congregation were present. The hall ts attached to St, Alphgnsua cburak, t