The New York Herald Newspaper, November 1, 1874, Page 12

12. ——__—_---— ‘PRIAM’S TROY. ee stroyed by the Hefenes at the end of one of those | Scamander,” ana were especially noteworthy be- great ethnical struggles which history constantly | cause one was always smoking like hot water and brings about, and round thia struggie so honora- one was very cold. There are at Boonarbashi two ble to the Hellenes clustered all their proudest fountains, says NicolaYdes, which have the pecu- | @nd@ most herotc associations and traditions, which | Marity of smoking in ~ cold ; Saongead - fee { ti i i | crystallize: resaited in the | very cold in the hot. Homer says that the: , ‘Dr. s lim an Discredits the | wiled, ne Lakendapanpe arene tries yoate: | employed by the Trojan women for washtag, | German “Find.” rior to the actual events. Itts admisstble that the | They are still #0 used by the women of Bonar y | @uthor of this poem on visiting the reputed battle- | bashi. - — | Meld of a ten years’ war found the ruins of an an It 1s evident that Schietmann finds “what he | cient city, perhaps known to ail lis contempora- | wants to find and bends his reasons, topography | ries as Troy, and he made the plan of the “Iliad” ac | and all to suit bis Mndings, If he had iound any- | | cord with the locality, This is not only admissible | thing by lis digging on Boonarbashi he would have | for the sake of discussion and investigation, but recognized Troy there, but the site, being the every way probable as historical fact. | true Domerte Troy, had probably been excavated Then, having admitted so much, we may further and re-excavated thousands of years ago, be found | aduuit that the “Iliad” is a guide to the locality of nothing, while at Hissarlik,-bemg a comparatively Homer's Troy. But the site which Schleimann has new site, never having been suspected of being excavated on is irreconcilable with the “Iliad.” | that of the old Troy, he found a ruin and treasures | There is no possible dispute on this question, The | (which have really great value arcnwologically, onty site which agrees with the indications of the | though not the vaine he finds in them) and there- Homeric poems is that identified by Hahn, Man- fore he adapts all the other facts to make this GOMER AND THE HOM ~ ®Wayard Taylor and Dr. mann’s Evidences. ERIO PERIOD. | Schiei- | | | DIGGING AT RANDOM IN THE TAOAD, —_-.-——___ | duit, Chotsenl-GouMer and Nicolafdes, among re- | seem to be the Homeric city. cent investigators, and Alexandre de Skepsir, | Now, premising that we are talking of the lo- | The Land of Ajax and | gyoog older writers, and which is that known ag | cality whicn Homer (whoever he was, and with- Hector. | Bounerbashi. The evidence of this, of course, will | out prejudicing the question of the personal be found in the poem itself, source, Whether individual or accumulative, of the The city was situated near the junction of the | “Tad”) recognized a Troy, and which agreed with ' Hellespont with the #gean Sea, the southern | the traditions current in his day, the arguments against Hissarlik are these—first, it does not 'o0 THE EpITOR OF THE HERALD:— | ‘The scientific world has been waiting fora Jong point of which is Cape Sigetum, just inside which | ‘time with more curiosity than expectation for Dr. | cape the Scamander—the river which has formed | agree with the military movements of the ‘Iliad’; Pebleimann’s evidences that he has found “Troy,” | the plain of Troy—empties into the Heliespont. | second, tt necessitates the placing of the Greek fend if the résumé which Bayard Taylor sent to The Greek camp, according to Homer, was pitched | flect on the store at Sigecum, which is 1mpossi- jthe Tribune contains the substance of his book, a% | and the ships drawn up between Cape Sigetum and | bie, as it 1s unprotected, and nota flat,jcarriageable io can be no doubt it does, it does not require | @ peint of land higher up the Hellespout, called | country, as Homer describes it, by which a chariot igreat archwological knowledge te perceive that Rhoctelum, and occupying the whole width of the | could reaatly pass from the camp to the city; ‘the Doctor is in the extreme of error in his con- delta, which was narrow, as we are told, so that | third, it has no Pergamus, or nill on the hill of elusions. He bas found an ancient city, 16 ts tree; | the ships had to be placed in several parailel lives. | the general city, a8 Troy had and as Boonarbashi Ment there is, mm the remains recovered by him, not | Schletmann, in placing the camp at Sigwum, out has; tourth, it was known even among the ‘@ single article wnich goes im the least to prove | on the Afgean shore, defies Homer and the | ancients as the New Troy, a term which would Dis assumption that it was Troy or even that his | weather, for no Meet could be beached there im | not have been applied to a reconstruction of the | ornins have an earlier date than the Median Em- | stormy weather. There is mo port uor any | old city, but which by the ancient usage distinctly pire. They way de older than any existing Greek | kind of protection; and, moreover, Homer recognizesa@ change of site, and, fifth, It we can ‘or Phoenician remains, bat they may be again ig explicit on the question, Schletmann | attacn any archwotogical value to Dr. Scbiei- merely the work of one of the waves of barbarism gatisiled himself tuat tbe Mendini was | mann’s report, the fact that below what he con- ‘Which from time to time burted temporarily all | the Scamander and not the Sinois, but | siders Priam’s Troy he found ruins showing an he work of Hellenic ¢ivilization, My own impres- | Nicolaides proved that years ago, and the Doctor wion is that tne lat is the truth, although | must have Leen very ignorant of Homeric litera- ‘@ certain resemblance is found between some | ture not to have been quite assured on tis point of the articles exhumed and the early work found | without tem days’ investigation, He was, how- | tona of quoting Homer for the details of his find, @t Cypras and other places in the Levant; but, 48 | ever, right, so far as the river was concerned, but | He ought not to object to counter arguments of ‘the whole collection (I speak from the examina- | then, to reconctie all bis hypotheses with the the same kind, and when he assures us that he ‘ion of the photographs which Schieimann nas pud- | proven position of the Scamander, he puts the | found no objects of Hellenic provenance in the shied) is of sorade and barbaric 4 type and so much | camp on the wrong side to account for having the | Priamic deposit | am impelled to reply that this is Tesembliag styles of work found even now among river between the city andthe camp. Homer 1s an argument against tim, for Homer always earlier and higher civilization, which 1s opposed to | ali the analogies derived trom other excavations and discoveries all the East over. Schieimann is the native workmen of Asia Minor, it may be tnat | clear on two points—that the camp wasonthe describes his Trojan ornaments, &c, in Hii thar is there shonid be the work only of @ Na ghore of the Hellespont and between the two pro- | Hellenic terms, and tells us specifically that Mion in which some tradition—and, may be, somé@ montories, and that the Greeks, to reach Troy, Priam brought out of his treasure, as gifts dmpiemenis—o! an early art epoch has survived | nad to cross the river. These two incontroverti- | for Achilles, among other things, tripods, which ‘with ruder ways and arta. con | Ibis very difficult to | pie indications are in themseives were brought by htm from Thrace, and were ob- @isuingnish in art work the Darbaristn of decay | ejusive against the identity of Schicimann’s jects in universal religious use all over the part of trom that of beginning, and, without some indica- site, But Homer goes turtner, He teils us the world known to the Greeks, and nothing of this tion of language or recognized standards of style, | ghat in Hector’s attack on the Greek fleet, | kind nas been found by hix. Moreover, from the H is almost impossible to Jndge with certainty or | whye the Trojan army was beaten on the right, | very cause of the Trojan war, we learn that the even with conddence. But in all the articles | «Hector knew nothing of these disasters, because | Trojans bad been tn relation with the Greeks, and Fecovered there is Dot an ancient inscription (thé | ye maintained the combat on the extreme left of if Troy was what Homer describes it, it was im- ingle disk in Which Max Muller has said 2 werd the army, on the banks of the Scamander.” Under | possible that Greek arts should not have been in Might possibly be made out beimg a solitary coinci- | genieimann’s hypothesis the Trojan army marching use there. @ence among thousands of a similarity of certain | on the feet lying at Sigwum Woald have the Sca- | But, unfortunately, Dr. Schletmann has so slight anguiar and rade marks and symbols, most of | mander behind it, but at the right rather than the | archwologigal knowledge that we cannot attach which unmistakably are figures of animals and | je, Homer also makes the Trojan hero say, in any value to his characterization, and we cannot Men, with a word of five 1etters; but even this, if @ | reply tog remark of Polydamas, that he saw an | even be assured of what he describes as the fact, ‘Word at all, written in a way utterly unprece- eagie fying to the left, an omen of evil. “1 give and which, if so, would be the most significant | ented and only by a very liberal conjecture to be myself no anxiety if the birds fy to my right, to- adduced by bim, that the ruins he considers @ccepied as one), nor is there any article of astyle wards dawn and the sun, or to my left, towards | Homeric have been built over a city mach more i work so far advanced in art as to be allied to the vast shadows,” showing that he was marching advanced im civilization. One must go to the @vy Known art epoch even by accident. And to | north, witn the river stillon his leit hand. 1t is, | spot and examine the stones and the character of make the evidence offered by tne Doctor still more then, clear that the campand fleet were to the east | the structure belore one can accept his assertions Nsatislactory, the photographs he sends out were of the Scamander, while Schieimann puts them at , as to tue work which he has found; but if this Made from drawings, in which, asall the scientific the west. | were true it would point to what I conjecture to ‘world knows, the slightest alteration of a line may We see further on that, when Hector is finally be the facts of the case, that his town was the sehange the whole character of a symbol. | & wounded by the stone thrown by Ajax, | construction of a barbaric Median invasion of the | The examination of what Schletmann has done he ig carried to his chariot and driven ; Troad, subsequent to the earliest Hellenic influ- Shows that he possesses not asingle qualification pack to Troy. “When they arrive at ence and that this was succeeded by a late Hellenic | for scientific research, and that his only claim to Consideration is in his havil with a blind enthn- e an f mhis quest, worked away until he found @ treasure which is certainly extraordi- when Achilles, having put the Trojans to flight, Dary and interesting, bat no more entitled to be pursues them toward the city, he falig on them at ¢alied the treasure of Priam thanof Xerxes, He the ford of the Scamauder, and in the river kilis ‘Went to the Troad believing he should find Troy. many, among whom Asteropaios; alter which he He found tn ns Of BM ancient city, and he cries, pursues them on the other side, dividing them into “Troy town.’ itis pity thatin his photographs two parties, one of which goes to the city, and credulous, enthusiastic, inscientific in his way of he had not given sometning which would show the | another is driven back toward the river, And looking at things, sees what he wants to see and character of the archiecture Rheovered; bat they finally, when Priam comes to tue tent or Acuilles | proves what he wants to prove—his personal are all of the worst conceivable grade of to peg tor the body of his son Hector, he stops his jadgments are not worth the weighing, and it is ai photography ana most of them from wretched peasts to allow them to drink in the river, and, only by examination of the remains dug up that | drawings ta ad Botone gives any kiuc of again returning, “they arrive at the ford of the | one can say if they have archeological position or Bovion of a fragment even of a stoue He has peautiful eddymg river,” where Mercury leaves | not, forthe photographs are mostly quite worth- dade a great point of nis owl-beaued Minerva, but them. | less, and none have the value a photograph ought | the eMgies he so characterizes are no more owl- Taking Homer as witness, then, Troy was at the to have. the clear margin of the winding Scamander the friends of the hero take him down trom the chariot and bathe him with fresh water.” Again, Teconquest, which butit oa the ruins of the bar- baric city, that known as Ilium Novum. The character of the earthenware objects found, the degree of art shown in the gold work accord | entuely with such & supposition, which would | also account for the absence of ail He!lenic infu- | ence im the articles found, Schleimann hes not | even the elements of a scientific education; hes | | | headed and no more acon than they are man- site now known as Boonarbashi, where the | Mr. Newton, of tne British Museum, who is, I Deaced and pumpkin-bodied. They are simply Pelasgic walls excavated by Hahn demonstrate believe, the highest living authority with reference ‘very rude vases, with a very rude resemblance to the existence of a very ancient city. Against this | to such things, is quite at loss wiether to re/er tae ‘he human face on the apper part, in the form in ‘Which it is very commonly represented by barbar- ous people. It ls a pure exercise of fancy to find @n owl's head in 1t, and any connection with Athma is equal, forced, while the golden ornaments are absolutely unlike any atural object whatever, and the dry description of them aseMgies of Minerva destroys ali con- Bdence in his characterization of any object he hag found. One can only say that bets mad. His in- terpretation of glauk-opis, or owl-taced, again Suggests grave doubts of his knowledge of the Greek lenguage, which his collation of the topo- graphical indications in the Homeric text confrms fury. His classical and scientific education have evidently been toorudimentary to permit him to put & proper interpretation on facts or text, and his evidence Dr, Schletmann advances the following | erticies dng up by Schleimann to aa incipient or reasons for believing that Hissarlik is the ancient | | decaying civilization. They have no analogy to any- or Homeric Troy :— | thing known except to certain barbaric forms First—He found no rains on the heights of | which recur more or less approximately in Bocnarbashi, Yet there are the Cyelopean wails, | many forms of ancient art. They may Oldest of all structares in the old Greek | ye pre-Hellente or they may be the corre. World, indisputable evidences of the existence | sponding stage of some temporarily intro- | of an important and very ancient city. 1n- give civittzation long posterior chronologically but deed, the very fact of finding any remains on a | gnterior in a technical point of view—a Probability hill site ike this, Known and resorted to for thou- | wnich 1s immensely increased by the presence of sands of years, should make one very doubtfu! 1° | tne aint implements which in many parts of the it could be Troy. Place of pilgrimages, from | ancient world survived the stone age and which, Homer's day at least until the time Of giong other places, are found on the surface of the extension of all classic assoviations, what the mound raised to the Athenian dead at Mara- mound woald have existed ansearched, and what thon. It must have constantly recurred during Telic that was movable remain? Mycaenes, the | tye confiict of races, of which the history of the capital of Agamemnon, is traditionally contem- | past is made, that barbarous nations, or civilized credulous acceptaace of the historical character of poraueous with Troy, and there is on the wuoie ones with barbarous aliles, accustomed only to ” led him atonce into diMficuities which hill top scarcely soll enough to cover the bed rock, | their primitive weapons and implements should of comvarigon and valuation of archwo- | aud so of many cities which are cotraditional | obtrude themselves into the growth of a ctiviliza- Jegical data gave him no power of extricating him- | with Troy—Argos, Gnossus, Polyrrhenia (said to | tion and leave signs of their presence which no self irom. In fact, the story of the rape of Helen, | have veen founded by Agamemnon)—there is ab- historical record we now possess can explain, Which is the base of Homer's version of the | solutely nothing leit that 1s not critically recog- | peaving out any hypothesis of the identity of | siege of ‘Troy, is well Known to myth-students as | nizable as of @ later period which could have the ruins of Hissarlik with any given place, the gn old Aryan myth, and has been differently | been carried away. order of its history from the remains found would @iythologized by the Greeks themselves, Theseus Second—The tumuli there, called after Pector geem to be something like ths:—Subsequent to being, in one story, the ravisher. This alone is | and Priam, have been opened and no remains | the Hellenic immigration after that event or series enough to prove that the story is older than the found. But these tamuli are hasty cairns of ; of avents typified by the siege of Troy—possibly, formation of the olces: pureiy Greek myths, so | Stone, under which not even bones could have also, accurately accounted for by this story in gen- that there can be no other authority than poetic | resisted the elements so long a3 we must suppose eral terms, but of this no one can ever speak defi- icense for bringing the siege of Troy down Into the | them to bave endured if Homer fs any anthority- | nitely—there must have been a Hellenic coloniza- period of what may be called mythological history, Besides this, it is almost certain that no mound tion, whose indications are in that stratum of ruin @ud whether we understand ‘Homer’ to be an in- | cound have escaped searching, even in the times | which lies undermost. If Schleimann had not thought he had found all that was worth finding Gividual or @ school of bards, there can be no | ot Alexander or Xerxes. Count that the “Iiad,” ike the “Niebelungen- | Schieimann finds the site insuMictentiy large; | he might have found there what 1s of much greater hed,” or te story of arthur and the | but he mast have visited few ancient tortifed | archeological value than his gold and silver ves. Found table was the work 0: poeiic development | towns if he supposes that the walls of de- | seg That epoch was followed by an Asiatic con- @ia myth localized and possibly even connected | fence mclosed the whole population, and musc By @ certain similarity of events with the locality | have more definite ideas of che posuiation of Troy | uc." Dee enaenivent ae ae vic where it is embodied anew. More than this, the | than other people if he can say whether it bad | 414 arts together. ‘The use of unburned Sonaideration of the poem as & whole shows that | 10,000 or 100,000 people. He says, indeed, that his | peck in these buildings pointe very strongly to Pimccnpe picid e prin iat ieee by one | approved site would only have contained about | aconnection with Assyria and confirms the idea [ i s accord wiva the | 5,000 people. | have expressed, while the door silis of hewn stone Gemands of tie poetic writers, with reyara to | Third—The citadel 1s too steep for the race be- shows considerable advance in bulldt This Which Greek taste was so exacting. in the pursu- | tween Hector and Achilles and the character o! ace Was conquered in turn bya tarbevble race, ance of this work the editor or composer, whom | the buildings too dimtnative for the great impor- | whose relics ate the stone weapons found among ‘we nave a right to call “Homer,” evidently con- | tance and population of Troy. This is frivotous, those of copper and otter metal of the conquered sulted the iocality where Troy was said to have The plateau of Boonarbashi is about 5,600 yards in Re ie, and who appear, from Dr. sahietiinn! a existed (and where, according to gevgraphical and | circult, It is perfectly easy to walk or runailround | ProPie. Bk Ne Maturl, Nein ik oti tile apet to: Political a priort indications, a great strug. | it, and the triple course round it which Homer | Cover the ruins of the Piaf ci too oe, of gle betwen the Hellenic and Asiatic races | describes would take, according to Nicolaides, who ten feet with the evide of ' declinin, aaile might pave taken place) and studied the ground | walked over it, avoutan hour and @ halt, The | posseasing a few implements of coppee pice strategically. This has been so conclusively | route accords in every respecs with the descrip- other people, but incapable of sail them shown by Nicolaides in hia work on the vopogra- | tion wnich Homer gives of the chase, and the 4 s of See Ee when lost. and slowly Japsing into the use of stone ny of the ‘ | ave st ae y poyo e Troad in relation to the strategy of the | availavle site for building is much larger than that | Implements alone, building more and tmore in | | | “Ihad,’ that I cannot imagine any scholar | waich Dr. Schleimann has excavated on. z wood, living on fish to 4 great extent, and, om the fisputing that the “Iliad” took its pres. Fourth—The distance from Sigaum is too great | whole, a wretched race fr the pr fh asshary ent shape in conformity with careful | for the marches described in the “Iliad.” But the | joint, Siudy of the plain in which the events | Greek camp, asI have shown, was not at Sigeum. When the great period of Hellenic tmmtgration Bre supposed to have takea pli How much of this narrative is due to real events we have no ™ecans whatever of judging, and according to all Internal evidence and poetic analogy it is not likely to be more historical than the story of King Arthur, as told by Tennyson in the “Idyis of the Whiie the distance from Boonarbashi to the sho of the Hellespont is about seven or eight miles, Strabo said that up to hts time the allnvium of the | | Scamander had buiit out into the Hellespont six stadil since the Trojan War—i.e., since the time at which tradition fixed the fall of Troy—and, cal- began snd ali the coast of Asia Minor became a Greek colony, Hissarlik, rather than Boonarbasal, same the chosen site, as nearer the sea, an: therefore, offering superior commercial advan- tages, and here there grew up an important city, of which all except the merest historical mention | | King.” culating @ very probable rate of the lormativn of | is lost. And here the history ends until Schlet- Dr. Schteimana’s attempt to prove from Homer | the land, we may suppose that in the time of | mann’s spades and picks oroke she stience of ‘the historical identity 6{ the antiquities he has ex- | Homer the shore was irom two to three miles | centuries. eavated is, therefore, @ simply ludicrous em- | nearer the City than now—that is about five | {tis probable that without completer excava deavor to demonstrate 4 pure assumpuion by @ work of pure imagination. There is n in his Gnd that suggests Troy ra other ancient city with name miles. Schietmann is excessively eccentric in his | tion, particniarly of the lowest stratam of vein, ‘an article | argaments. He assures us that the supposed site | we shall never know all that we might know of tuan any | @t Boumarbasni is not large enough ‘or Troy, wiule | this strangely buried and many times renewed known, and | that at Hissariik (though it would hold only 5,000 ; but If there 1s one ining certain about It, it 18 that itis not the Troy of the “Tiiad” Besides the evidence of this already adduced there 18 another item which ts not unimportans. The oldest tradi- tions aiirm that the walis of Troy were built by the Pelasgi. Now who or what the Pelasal were itis impossible to say—we know nothing of them as & people If they were such; but everywhere through the ancient Greek world, and in Italy bes yond it, We Bad what are kuown as Pelasgic | there is not the silghtest reason for yiving the | people) ts large enough; and then he tells us that | siaremenis of “liad”? as to detaiisin proofot any > the distance which Hector and Achilles would have hypothesis whatever. Sctieimann wanted to dnd | to run going around Boonarvashi is doubdie that Troy, he found a remarkable and ancient ruin and | round Hissatlix. he calls tt Troy, and he distorts every fact con- | #i/th,—That instead of the two fountains which nected with bis find to show that it is Homer's | Homer mentions (vefore the Seacan gates) there | fire oo leas than thirty-four. t Noy. Now, it is historically probable that there » Gi kyows 1m Helene Wage os diyis goo He does not tel! us | it (here are any at Hisaarlik, but Homer only | (Lal (heme Jorded “Zwa of Me sources of the a 2@ oer, | form no exception to the ola rule. walls—Ir gmense stroctures of polygonal masses of Tock, ef which the technical peculiarity is that theY,are faced carefully and precisely, but without aly use of edged tools, evidently and unmistakably Stoneworkers’ art. It 1s possible that they were 8 distinct race, widely spread and greatly skilied in architecture when the Greeks knew nothing of it, for there is @ clear account of their having built the walls of Athens and having @ separate quarter assigned them in the city called the Pelasgicon, and from which they were afterwards driven, being compelled to go into the unprotected part ol the plain beyond the Mysus, Numerous traditions of this king mention them, but of their ethnical character, aMliation, &c., we have no indications whatever. The term has only @ value to us now, like Gothic in later times, to m- dicate a technical distinction in architectural re- mains, These remains are the oldest in the basin of the Mediterranean if we except those of Egypt, with which they have no relation whatever, and antedate Hellenic civilisation certainly, but by bow much we cannot even guess. Homer makes Pelasgi fight on both sides at Troy, which looks as if they were not a nation, but rather fragments of one or a craft, like the paripatetic Freemason of the Middle Ages, working where they were wanted. But this thing is noteworthy, that wherever the Greek traditions mention the Pelasgi as naving butlt we have this peculiar structure of city walls. And these walls we find at Boonarbashi, and not, according to Schielmann’s account, at the locality he excavated. This, as comfirmatory testimony, is not without value; for, so iar as we know, nothing Pelasgic exists at Hissarlik, and, on the other hand, we have no hint of any city on the Troad antedating Homer's Troy. Boonarbashi being thus the older city and an important one, | there was not likely to arise another at Hissariik without & tradition of wars, &c., to the conquest of the Jews. ‘This, it will be said, is arguing by tradition and even mythology; but it must be remembered that the whole story rests on this foundation, and is of the most positive mythological character, The whole basis of Schieimann’s expectations. and realizations, so faras the Priamic character of his treasure is concerned, rests on the ‘‘Iliad.”’ If there Were no “Iliad” we should know nothing about ‘Troy, and it is certainly sufficiently exact to meet him on his own ground, and show that what he considers tne peculiar value of his find has no existence whatever by the conditions of his own | choosing. As to the evidence from the character of the objects found, every archmologist of any authority im the province in which they fell is opposea to the view which Dr. Schieimann takes. History, Mythology, archeology and even Homer himself are all against bim. W. J. STILLMAN. OUR ROTTEN DOCKS. ‘Wretched Condition of Oar Wharves— Worm-Eaten Piles, Mouldy Planks and General Dilapidution—Rose-Col- ored Piers as Seen by the Dock Com- missioners. It is a generally admitted fact that the docks— or, a8 they ought more properly be called, the ‘wharves—of New York, are in anything but a good condition. Merchants and sbippers who have been abroad and seen the magnificent stone wharves of Liverpool, London, Uberbourg and the other leading cities of the Old World, have indeed reason for being disgusted with the ram-shackle, barn-like appearance of our ducks. It has been stated that there has been a marked improvement in the condition of the piers since the present De- partment of Docks was created, bat It is none the less true that much remains to be done to make them in anv sense worthy of the great and proud metropolis of America, Officials, of course, are always wont to look at such matters in a rose-col- ored light, and the Dock Commissioners seem to A reporter of tne HBRALD who called upon those gentlemen at their magnificent office at the corner of Broadway | and Leonard street, in order to ascertain their | opinion of the present state of the wharves, was assured by them THAT EVERYTHING WAS LOVELY and that the goose hung nigh. Not that those dig- nified oMclals used these colloquial terms; but they seriously declared that there was'not a pier in New York which was not ina good, serviceable condition. Some of them, President Westervelt said, might be “unsightly,” but they were all sound | and safe, The reporter asked about rotten piles. “Oh, none of the wharves were rotten,” was the reply of all the three Commissioners, and thoy added that never in the history of New York had the docks becn in such good order as they were now. Mr. Budd, on being closely questioned, ad- mitted that some of the docks should be rebuilt, but he declined emphatically to state ; which ones he referred to, The reporter thereupon expressed nis profound thanks for tho information and sub- sequently conversed with various shippers, who secmed to entertain a very different opinion of the wharves. “There is no doubt that the Dock Commissioners have done a good deal to mend and patch some of them; bat, upon the whole, the docks are ina disgraceful condition. Some of them are rotten to the core and ought to be entirely rebuilt,” This was the view expressed by one who had a deep perzonal interest in the soundness of the wharves, and others concurred tn this censure, SCENES OF DELAY AND NEGLECT. A walk along the two river fronts is fraught witn some disappointment to the good New Yorker who would like to see bis native city equal to the proudest capital of Europe. Notonly are South | and West streets dirty, crowded, obstrucied by all sorts of encumbrances which should be removed by @ good city government, but the wharves— which are always objects of great interest in a commercial metropolis—are totally inadequate for the requirements of this great city. They are, quite apart from their “unsightly” appearance, as one of the Commissioners calls it, altogether too smal, too narrow, and hence productive of great inconvenience to shippers. What even wooden wharves can be is demonstrated by the two new magnificent piers 4and 5, belonging to the Penn- sylvania Railroad Company, which form a striking contrast to the old, dirty and miserable piers be- longing to the city. It would be mere waste of space to go through the entire list of our wharves, public ana private,in order to snow that the ma- jority of them have bé@en so neglected or built badly from the start, that they are nothing better than public eyesores, A few of them, which were visited yesterday by a representative of the HERALD, may serve a8 specimens—and they are by no means the worst—of the rest. PIRR NO. 20 EAST RIVER, Pier No. 20 Hast River is one 0: tne old piers of the city. Its appearance, like that of most of the wharves, is anything but prepossessing, although it has recently had the beneiit of a very elaborate, if not very thorough, overnauling. The piles and cross beams uave rotted, more especially the lat- ter, which are periectly worm eaten at the water Mue, The worms completely honeycomb the piles in the water. ‘he occnpants say that during tae twelve or jourteen years that the dock has been occupied nothing has really been done to put the structure into @ perfectly sound couaition or even to sian strengthen the piles. The dock may not now be in an lately dangerous state, but if ali the piles are suffered to decay completely some accident is cr hae dst Nad aga will be a sen- Pier 25 belongs to the same category. The only cause for allowing it to remain in its present dis- Paige condition is most probably that it is not likely to fallinto pieces this or next week. “It will for some time,’’ sald the occupants, ‘but it wil) ultimately crumble down.” It is one of the mumerous piera which ought to be completely re- plied and thoroughly overhauled, regardiess of cost. The piles are so rotten that they have set- tled to a considerable extent, and when @ heavily Joaded cart passes along them the entire struc- ture shakes perceptibly, and a nervous person—- luckily, teamsters generally not aflicited with Sensitive nerves—mignt in tremole lest the whole concern should come rattling down. The Planks, which were evidently badly laid and not suMiciently stout jor the extremely heavy cargoes which they must constantly sustain, have given Way in some places; in others they are worn into deep ruta. Altogether the dock ts nut 4 gladden- ing sight, and shonid be completely renovated, PIER 35 BAST RIVER. This picr is private property, and, as piers in this city yo, might be considered in-falr order, It ia by no mesns periect, however, alvhough its ties and planks are not 80 rotten as those o1 pier Bs. It ia an oid pier, which was rebuilt eight or ives yet evidence of good ten years ago, and Yommsennettys vate and pu Ne, it sadly requires sheathing, and When this ia done, and dune ia a thorough oud Like many Other piers, both pri- | NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER %{ 1974,—QUINTUPLE SHEKT. | substantial manner, the wharf will be serviceable jor some time. ‘The structure 1s solid, and will un- doubtedly outlast many piers built by the city. PIBR 3634 BAST RIVER. ‘This pier, which ts used by the Long Island Rail- road Company, is not only inan unsightly bus - tively dangerous condition of decay and heg- lect. The piles have completely rotted so thas | the lower end has sunk two or three feet, That rtion of the di 18, In Consequence, 80 slantin hat teams and trucks frequently tip over, an | the loads are sometmes injured, The hen is really only haly a one, being about hilt the ordinary length, and 1/ it should cave tn totally soine fine morning the damage is not apt to be 80 {| gpeat as thongh the same accident were to happen xo larger pier, Tui81s probably the only excuse | for keeping tt 10 this condition and impertiling the lives of the numerous persons doing business on the wharl A gentarmas in® the vicinity stated yesterday that he himself lad seen no less than | three teams tip over at the iower end of the dock, | and thatone Of these mishaps came very hear having a dangerong resuit. As 16 was the horses and the driver were thoroughly [rightened, and a | part of the load was considerably tnjored. And yet nothing 13 being done to strengthen the struc- | | tare. which, however, wili_ probably require to ve | entirely reconstructed, Whether anything will be done until occuston has arisen for bolding a | | Coroner's inquest is, to judge trom past experi- | ence, rather doubtful, PIER 37 EAST RIVER, This i# one of the piers leased from the Dock Commissioners, The planking is in bad condition, and was evidently not properly laid. The cart loads passing over this wharf are, to be sure, very heavy, and it is no @onder that the planks are worn mto holes and ruts in many places, Care should be taken in replanéing the Wharf to use the stoutest timber. PIERS 38 AND 39 BAST RIVER, The next pier shows @ perceptible depression in its centre, having caved in trom the heavy weight of the loads, The superstructure is not strong enough lor the business done on this wharf, At the lower end some oj the iblley are decayed and others were cut away by drifts of ice. The pier should be strengthened, in order to do away with the depression in its middle. Pier 39 might be said w bein fair order. It is said to be oue of the best in the city, and yet there are even here evidences o1 gross neglect. The old sheathing is worn out, many of the planks being quite decayed, and st ought to give way tu a new one. PIER 1 NORTH RIVER. This pier, which was rebuilt alter the fire of 1864, 18 also, like the State of Denmark in ‘Hamlet,’ somewhat rotten, although the business which is done upon 1% is something immense, Many of the piles are worm-eaten and have settied so that the | superstructure has sunk, The cccupants claim nevertheless that the “dock is sound as a roach,’? and if by sounaness {gs meant that it will not crumble into the river to-day or to-morrow they are undoubtediy right. PIER 2 NORTH RIVER. Pier 2 North Kiver, in the opinion of one doing business upon it, ougit to be torn down aud replaced by an entirely new structure. The lower end of the pier, superstructure as well as foundatio: is ihoroughiy rotven, whue the upper end has b patched up in @ poor manner, ‘The timber und neath the outer sheathing 18 worm-eaten and so, in fact, 1s most everything on this pier. PIER 3 NORTH RIVER. Pier 3 has also given rise to a great many aint: of parties doing t gentleman stated yesterday Jorbidden sending a heavy igo over certain por- | tons of the dock, “as they were rotten.” This was particularly the case in the middie of the | wharl. The planking on the ‘walk’? is so wretched | thatfor the last two days trucks have actually | béen sunk @ foot or two by the mouldy timber giv- | ung way. The repairs are connned to planking the | | decayed superstructure, wiich is about as good as | driving @ nail into a rotton pox to keep it to- | gether, t he was frequently PIER 10 NORTH RIVER. ; Pier 10 requires to be replanked for about 100 feet, and the occupants are about to effect this most necessary improvement in tne appearance of | this wharf, Some of tie piles are rotten, as they | are on the best of our docks, but the stracture is | Dot as yet necessarily dangerous, Witn proper at- | tention to the repairs becOming necessary from time to time it may yet remaia serviceable ior | some time, at all events. PIER 37 NORTH RIVER. Pier 871s in the most wovul, battered, broken | down condition. It is like an old woman who has | Jost her teetu, her hair and become generaity in- Vertebrate. It was seriously damaged by Wilham H. Webb’s adjacent property, wnich caved in and fell against the pier. The city has sued Mr. Webb, and meanwhile the wharf remains an eyesore of the worst deacnptton. CHARGED WiTH 8WINDLING, | H. M. Lake, a young lawyer residing in one cf the beautiiul mansions of tbis city, No, 9 East | Filty-seventh street, was arrested yesterday by Detective Mooney, of a New York detective agency, ona charge of obtatoing $300 from Francis Hen- Tiques (superintendent of the lace department | ol H. B. Claflin & Co.), under false pretences, In | the latter part of September Mr. Lake called on | Mr. Henriques, at his place of business, and asked bin to loan him $200 on his note until he got | time to go up to his private house, where | he comld get the amount of money and return it. | Mr, Heuriques knowing Mr. Lake as @ neighbor | Who seemed to live in luxury had no hesitation about advancing him the desired amount. About | three o’clock of the same day Mr. Lake came back and informed Mr. Henrignes that he bad just got # check irom 4 gentleman named Dodge tor the sum Of $345, and if he would be kind enough to give | | him $100 more in cash, ax he needed it | just then, when he got 3 to his house he | Would take up the check, Mr. Henriques advanced him the money and took the check, asking Mr. Lake to sign it, 80 that ne could get it casned, the check being made payable at the Butchers and Drovers’ Bank. Mr. Lake did not make his ap- pearance as he promised, and Mr. Heuriqnes, be- coming suspicious, sent the check to the vank to be cashed. The cusnier of the institution iniormed bi that no such account was kept there. Luke was arrested, and held by Judge Morgan at the Tombs yesterday in $1,000 bail for examination. THE YACHT MARIA Stolen Again From Marseilles Harbor. The HERALD a few weeks ago published an ac- count of the finding of the celebrated yacht Maria Which, after a search of several years’ duration, ‘was captured in the harvor of Marseilles, France. At that time the proprietors of the vessel in Ho- boken solicited Captuin Barkelew, who was once im command of her, to proceed to France j and arrange aoont bringing her back to | the United States. The captain leit here | on the 6th of October, and a letter has now ; been received from him stating that when he a@irived at Marseilles he found that the yacnt had been laden with grain, and jeit port, but for what Place no one could iniorm Lim. Several telegrams | bad peen sent by the French Consul to tne @uthorities at Marseilles, giving them ampie | notice of the character of the crew of the vessel, and the fact that the French oficials were aware of this creates much surprise at their remissness in guarding her, The proprietors of the yacht in- tend to prosecute the affair to the eud wuatever | the expense may be. WONDERFUL QURIOSITY—PART ANIMAL AND PART HUMAN. The British sbip Scindia, Captain George Harri- son, arrived here a few days since from Calcutta, having on board one of the most remarkable natural curiosities the world has probably ever seen. It consists of a short torned, sacred Brah- min bul, born tn Nepaul, northern India, in 1871, and imported here by Captain William Deni- son Folger, iormerly of this city, but latterly a resident of Caicutta,, The vuil itself is a remaurk- ‘able curiosity, and is one of tout description of | animals held in great reverence by the natives of india on account of ite traditional sacred character. But in this case @ novel lusus nature renders it & most singu- lar creature. The brute poryon is symmetricaily formed with @ glossy coat ‘o1 fawn colored it and weil shaped body and jimbs. But protrading, as tt were, [rom the ieit side of the hump on the back of the neck of the animal is a wonderful and Tegularly shaped in nearly all respects, human arm, The deitoid and triceps aud biceps muscies are well developed, Sects, the latter; the Joint at the elbow is flexible, the jorearm rather attenuated, the wrist as fully flexible as in the human arm proper, while tue naod 1s composed of four distinctly marked tingers, two of them con- ected together, Tnis extraordinary appendage to an otherwise well tormed body does not appear to give the creature any inconvenience or pain, generally hanging listiessly by its side, except when it is angered or annoyed, when the arm rises aa if ite possessor felt inclined to ‘strike from the shoulder.” The animai is quite healthy, enjoys & ravenous appetite, tue nice grass of its native clime being 118 favorite food, and does not seem to have suffered any boully infury by its long Sea Voyage. If not disposed of in this country, we Jearn that itis the intention of the importer to take the creature to England, and secure it a place in the London Zoviogical Gardens, where such novelties are highly prized. It would prove Unique attraction to the natural curiosities in our Central Park. It has already been visited on the Sciudia by several scientific gentiemen of this city saa Brookiyn, Were the ship lies, near the Fulton Ty. PALL OF A GREAT MAN. The President of the Fat Men’s Associa- tion Seriously Injured. Warerpury, Oonn., Oct. 31, 1874. Last evening Mr. Willard Perkins (36!), Prest- dent of the Pat Men’s Association, while driving & light buggy on & street leading to the city, was thrown irom bis seat to the ground, He sus- tained a disiocation of the leit shoulder and right elpow, and @ double iracture of the right arm. The public, insympuatnizing with Mr. Perkins in his affiiction, venture to say that had he had the “great cane” with him be might have been able to maintain bis ewuiibriuM, ; Cooper Union, | evening’s exercises will include readin; | aud Trustees of the ward. Wood made a suitable address, in which he com- A | Plimented highly the children of the school and | their accomplished principal, Miss Susan Wright. | them, NEW YORE CITY. Th Pouce ot Spe cits, during the past week, ‘There were in this city 519 deaths, 461 births, 154 Marriages and 43 stillbirths during the week, For the week ending yesterday at noon Marshal ConKite grantoa 2,007 licenses, and received there- Jor $2,267 25, At a meeting of the New York Historical Soctety on Tuesday next, at etght P. M., ‘Willtam J. Hop. in will read @ paper upon ‘Certain Historical Portraits Lately ‘Exnioited in Paris.” Comptroller Green will pay on Monday, Novem.. ber 2, the interest on the city debt due November 1, amounting to $3,350,960, City bonds will on the same date amounting to $8,931,272. baie: The Rev. Jonn J, Duffy, D. D., lectures this evens ing in St, Joseph’s church, West Washington place: and Sixth avenue, the subject being “The Cathotte devoved to the Church.” The procseds are to pe relie! of the poor of the parish, ‘The free class in composition snd elooution wilt be formed in the Geographical Lecture Room on Friday evening, November 6 Professor J. Zachos, the curator, will instruct the eli sa, Tek ets can be obtained by applying ut the ofice of the A reunion of the Alumni of the Cliomon Society of the College of the City of New York will be held on Friday evening next, The programme for the gs, CBBAYE, and @ debate on the relative meri ee te ivs of iree trade Independent Royal Arch Lodge, No, 7, F. and Ay M., heft this city yesterday afternoon for Coopers. town, N. Y., to attend the fanerat ceremonies o' the Femutns of the late Jonn Hous ‘Anton, Past rand Mas lasons of the Sti which takes place to-day, re. of New Tork In consequence of the amendments ¢o the cor- Poration ordinance relating to public carts, lately passed by the Common Council, increasing the license rates, Marshal Conklin hag extended the time for renewing public cart licenses to Noveni- ber 10, aiter which date no license will be re- newed, Yesterday morning @ colony of thirty colored families, principally trom North and, South Care olina, sailed from pier 21, East River, for Liberia, Africa. The company consisted of farmers, me chanics and house carpenters. The expedition js under the auspices of the American Colonization Society, which transports enjzrants to Airica free of charge and provides for faeir sustenance for Six months after their arrival, On Friday evening last interesting exercises took place at, Ward School No, 50, in the Eighteenth ward, The hall was handsomely deco- rated for the occasion. A number of prominent citizens were present, including some mem- bers of the Board of Education aud the Inspectors Ex-Commissioner A Committee irom the American Society of Otvil Engineers yesterday morning wal'ed upon several | Members of the Produce Exchange, amd an ine formal conterence was held tor the purpose of dis- cussing the best and cheapest means o/ delivering, storing and distributing ireigat at this point. ‘The principal question agitated was aa to the beat mode of delivering grain at this city. Some of | those present advocated the use of the stationary | elevator, and others the floating elevator now tn use. Nothing definite was accomplished at the meeting. BROOKLYN, There were 431 persons arrested by the Brook+ lyn police last week, The receipts for taxes during the week amounted to $42,549 82. The receipts for the month of Oc- tober were $115,462 68. A package of $400 in greenbacks was stolen from the broker’s office of E, J. Snow, No. 70 Court street, on Friday afternoon. LONG ISLAND. The Suffolk County Temperance Socicty will ‘hold its twenty-ninth annivers Meeting at Riverhead on the 17tn and 16th of November. The last of the water pipes have been laid in the streets of Flushing; the engine and ma | chinery have been put in position, and the prob- ability is that before the ist of December the vil- lage Will have a full supply of wholesome water. During the past week the Hempstead Branch Railroad, from Valley Stream to Hempstead, was not in operation, the rolling stovk having been | seized by order of the receiver, bat the matter has now been arranged and the trains Ding a8 usual. “ ‘The schooner Mary Miller, Captain Ovin Dayton, - of Port Jefferson, bound from Providence to are run- | Philadelphia, in ballast, went ashore off South- ampton on Thursday night, at full tide, and on Friday morning lay bigh and dry. Captain H. E. Huntling, of Bridgenampton, Superintendent of the Life Saving Station, with a@ force of twenty men, succeeded 1h haultng her into deep water at high tide on Friday evoning, when it was found that she had sustained no injury, The prompti- tnde with which relief was affurded in this stance is an evidence of the vwaiue of the Life Saving Service. During last winter fifteen lives ‘were Baved by it on the Long lsiand shore. ee ‘The fishermen on the south side of the isjan® are having remarkably good luck this fall, Large shoals of biuefish have recently passed along the shores and great numbers have been taken off Freeport, Islip, Babsion and Southampton. Sev- eral tons were caught at the latter place during the past week and shipped to New York, At West- hampton a fishing company ight Mate 4,000, and another company took about 2,000, e fish average avout five pounds apiece and are very fat.. The oyster season, too, is now fat Baa ears trae ol Tag loyment to a large en at wi Fucy a ready sale at from 60 cents to $1 2 @ ushel A petition is in circniation tn Sayville in the im terest of the oyster planters of the neignbornood, asking the Legislature to amend the laws, or, rather, toenforce the provisions of such as art now in force regulating the taking of oysters tn some sort of the Great South Bay. They consider | Police protection necessary. They say:—‘‘After ¢ day of toil the fishermen are compelled to watct at night the products of their labor to prevens their being taken from them. Even this they can- not do without danger to life, while the rol armed with firearms, not only threaten the fisher- men who guard their property, but actually fire a: them, A few days ago men were wounded by If there cannot be any law and a means by which to enfurce it, whereby these degenerate souls can be brought to account and feel the strong arm of the law, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of property will be destroyed, lives lost, and soon the bay will be barren, and one the most important branches of industry mm thw State destroyed.” STATEN ISLAND, More property has changed hands during the past year about Clifton than in any preceding year in the last decade, and, a8 a rule, fair prices have been reali Apumber of capitalists, at the head of whom is understood to be Mr. William Batler Duncan, fe 1n negotiation for the purchase of the extensve water front between the Stapleton flats and ‘he American Docks. It is their perpose, to level Pavilion Hill, the material thus obtained to be wed og in and extending the shore line sme Ronson feet farsher out, when a bulkhead smd substantéal plers will be constructed: NEW JERSEY. ————— The total registration of voters in the ciy of ton is @larger number than bas ever teen Sesieeared before in that city. The Stevens Battery, Which cost Over $1,00,000 nd was willed to the State, will be sold at auc- tion to-morrow at the State House in Trenton A trotting matinée will be given at the Faston Stud Farm, on the outskirts of Trenton, to-aor- row. The programme will embrace a contes be- the stallion Jay Gould and the geldit n- seen, for @ purse of $1,000, mile neath best hree in five; and also an eflort by Goldsmith Mal to beat her record of 2:14, Frederick Schiebe, who is now In prison in & charge of having murdered Mr, Jacob Schuls, of Hoboken, resided prior to the affray in the hter- * son Plank Road House and not in “Everyhdy’s Hoase,”’ as has been stated in relation tohim. “Everybody’s House” is on the Paterson Jank Road andis kept py L. Guilloua, A fight occurred in Chambersburg, & subw? of Trenton, on Friday last, between two men med Budd Shamelee and Joseph 8, Wickward, dring which the latter was stapbed in the should by ‘an oyster knife in the hands of the former, jilict- ing @ serious wound, The would-be assass: Was arrested and committed to the County Jal. Two men, named Charles Smith andAllen Myers, have just been arrested in Oamdi for having in their possession sixteen ace tee , it {a alleged, they had killed contrary t law. ‘Alter a hearing before & magistrate the proners | were fined $5 and ts for each bird,vbich - amountetl to $82 80, and in default of pment | Shey were locked on