The New York Herald Newspaper, February 16, 1875, Page 5

THE GLACIAL PERIOD. Increasing Difficulty with Water Pipes and Hydrants. KITCHEN RANGES EXPLODING Necessity for a Uniform Law on the Subject. INTERRUPTED NAVIGATION. The Ice in the Rivers and on the Sound. , Tne troubles arising from frozen water pipes fluring the past seven days have beco sufficiently numerous and annoying to try the patience and temper of the most evenly balanced minds to ve found among average householders and tenants. The evils of the existing system, however, have not yet culminated to their fullest extent, for from the predictions coming to hand from ‘Old Proba- bilities” toere is more than @ possible chance that the present Arctio weather will for some time longer continue to enfuld us within its icy grasp. fn tact, from all the conclusions that can pow be drawn, there is every reason to believe that-the cold wave will remain at tbe flood for weeks to come. Those, therefore, who are at all solicitous for their health, well being and personal cumfort will exercise every possible caution to prevent a visi- tation to the interior of their households of the nudertow caused by the returning wave—in other words, to guard against the destruction to their property, which must necessarily ensue when a thaw sets in and relieves the water in the pipes from its present icy solidity aud allows it in its hquifaction to find its way through the open fissures which have hitherto been undiscovered. * Although the number of the dwellers in the midst of this busy city who have been made actual Bufferers from @ scarcity of the limpid stream, farnishea by God’s providence and the /ostering care of the Croton Board, has been few up to within the last two days compared with the im- mense demand and supply, yet the roll is every day, nay, every hour, being added to. Sunday, which isin @ great measure @ day of rest to man and beast, is alsoonein no small degree to tne water pipes. This opportunity has not been neg- lected by our domestic foe, JACK FROST. He has improved the occasion with a vim, and althongh silently, yet none the less surely, as many @ family and family laundress can tell to their indi- vidual cost. Monday is, with but few exceptions, set apart 18 the day of the week on whicn shall be performed those mysterious operations known as ‘“wash- ing.” ‘Into the inner secrets of this rite no man bas ever yet been allowed to penetrate, ex- cepting, perhaps, John Chinaman. The most he knows of the subject ts that his rest 18 disturbed in the early morning, his breakfast made uncém- fortable and his house or apartments made unten- able to such a degree that he is glad to rush away from the demon that has, for the time, invaded his home, and endeavor to seek con- solation in either bis business avoca- Hons or in outdoor amusements, He knows itis useless to call on a friend, for wher- ever he goes the same vapory immateriality meets him face to face. The presence of this weekly apparition is bad enough to be compelled to endure at the best of times, but what must have been the feelings of hundreds of husbands yesterday morning when they were awakened out of a delicious morning sleep by their wives to have the information im- parted to them in despairing tones that no water was to be had; tnat the pipes were frozen, and that they (the hus»ands) must get up and try to remedy the diMculty. Then they remembered the cautions given by the HEeRaLp, in full force, and anathemized themselves for not heeding the seasonable advice therein given, It was too late, however, to indulge tn VAIN REGRETS, but rather was it incumbent on them to get up and try to remedy the evil, Alas! too late. On visiting the-floors below, or the kitchen, the case might be, the same state of affairs was found toexist. ASalast hope a descent was made into the cellar and an inspection made ef the pipe connecting with the main in the street, still with no better success. Patls and palis tull of hot water (borrowed from neighbors who had paid timely heed to the HERALD’s warnings) were poured over the pipe, resulting in obtaining a few drops—coming irom the top—but that was all. No flow of water such as was needed could be made to come. In many instances, however, which were brought to the writer’s notice yesterday the reverse of the above was the case, for the water had only frozen just sufficiently, ina bend or elbow of the pipe, to cause a crack woich, when Nquified by the heat, poured forth in torrents, wetting the feet ana garments of the operators, and flooding tne floor inashort space of time This, of course, made it imperative to seek the immediate services of one of those PLAGUES OF CIVILIZATION yelept “plumbers,” ior, notwithstanding that ef- forts were made to stop the leak by binding around the pipe rags, &2., the flow of water stil continued. Tne plumber remedies the local diMcultyy, and so far takes advantage of the urgency with which his services nave been songnt as to charge an exorbitant Jee for his work. This, of course, has to be paid, and in the momentary anger of the sufferer he allows the professor of blowpipes and solder to depart, forgetting that he still isas far of from obtaining the water he so much req ulres as ever, for the upstairs pipes are yet frozen stiff. In the cases where no /racture occurs in the Bupply pipe in the basement irom the efforts to thaw it ont, and after it is found useless to con- tinue to operate upon it, the question then arises, “What is to be done?’’ No satisfactory answer can be given by any of the bystanders, and the annoy- Bnce bas to be borne. However, in hundreds of Instances yesterday this tamely giving up to the force of circumstances was not submitted to until the most extraordinary means had failed. For ex- ampie, in many of the uptown cross streets, espe- Cialiy on the east side, the people, finding tne con- necting pipes between the mains and their houses frozen, dug holes in the street until these pipes were uncovered. They then LIGHTED HUGE FIRES in the bope of effecting their purpose. In some cases this method was successful fora time, but no permanent good was effected; for as soon as the fires were allowed to go out the pipes became frozen up again harder than ever, for they were, by the very means taken to secure relief, more exposed to the action of the weather than they were betore, lt was | ho unusual thing to see waole blocks of houses with these holes in front of them. This mieihod is, to say tue least, clumsy aud in- efec.ual so far as any permanent benefit is con- Cerned, besides beiug dangerous to pedestrians aod horses. This is particularly the oase where a leak bas occurred, for the holes soon fill up with the water, whic in turn overflows the sireet, to be converted into solid and slippery ice. Lt this kind of proceeding is allowed to be continued the number vi accidents reported during the coming week In the shape of broken arms and legs may be expected to doudie and treole the usual list. A FIRE CAUSED THROUGH A FROZEN PIPE. ‘The necessity tor some simple iustructions being disseminated among the peopie as to the vest Manner ol proceaure to be adopted in thawing but frozen pipes Wherevy great damage aud loss iay be prevented, was also singularly Miustrated yesterday. In this mstance the metnod employed proved 98 effectual as it was dangerous, Wuile it | might have resulted in consequences of the most, serious nature, It appears the occupants of a house at the corner of 113th street and Lexington avenue Were desirous of obtaining water lor ao- mesite Uses, but on trying the tap it was found that Hove woud flow, ‘Various means were tried toremedy the aiMcaulty bat without succes, Finally, however, a shovel tuli of hot and glowing coals were brought and held to the place where tt was thought the ice bad jormed, Fresh fire was add- | | INCKEASES TH | | that this is the ed from time to time until the woodwork at the back of the. pipe became ao thoroughly heated that ‘1t caugnt fire and suddenly burst forth in a blaze. Of course all thoughts of the frozen pipes gave Way under the imminence of the fire danger. Efforts were made to extinguisn the flames, and, jortunately, with succ or $20 worth of damage tad peen done. Had the fire occurred tn a piace not readily accessible the reault can bé easily imagined, , KITCHEN BOILER EXPLOSIONS, The probavie consequences likely to result from tev ost in so far as the bursting of tue water boxes attacned to Kitchen ranges owing to the stoppage of the supply oi water, to wolcn atten: tion was called in yesterday’s HERALD, Was prac- tically illustrated during yesterday, altnough, by alm ist @ miracie, without causing avy fatal it- jury. A boiler in the Kitchen of the house No. 62 vington street burst through the water having | been drained off und no tres supply being able to be ied in eroenn the supply pipe, which had be- come trozen, The first intimation the iamily ceived that there was any trouble was tiear- ing @ loud report, the breaking of turniture | and che crashing of crockery ware, No person, ‘appily, was p:esent when the accident happened, The damage to furniture and building is reported to be trom $75 'o $100. In addition to this actual loss of money the disturbance of the domestic ar- Yangements must be taken into consideration, which, in a family of three or four persons, 18 an item of no snail consequence either. How easily might it have bappened that some little chud, perhaps the only one, or some other member of the home circle, should have been struck by one of the fying fragments of the broken !ron. “What regrete and sell-criminanons theie would have | been at the recollections that by the negect of a simple and easily periormed duty of making a datly eXamination of tnis dangerous part of the | househuld ecouomy, a liie dear to all the jamily had been rificed, These retrospective regrets, however, are of no use when the evil bas been accomplished. What ts needed ts to TAKE TIME BY THE FORELOCK and see to it that all the precautions that pra- dence and forethought can Suggest are put into practical operation beforehand, Business men and others lock up tieir money and other valu. | ables in order to protect them irom the grasp of robbers. They do not leave them openly exposed to be depredated upon by every pusser by. Yet | where it is simply a matter of human life, a possi- ble loss oi a lew dollars in broken furniture and Walls and a ‘isarrangement of the whole of wher domestic comfort, as it is in the matter o1 an ex- plosion oi the range or boiler, they criminally | neglect to give the lew moments of time and sail | amount of personal trouble that would not only prevent the possibility of FATAL ACCIDENTS, such as are here foreshadowed and exemplified, but would entirely do away with the feeling of in- security that must naturally prevail in the mind of every mother when shc is away from home. that from the cause relerred to above sie may, on be return to her home, find ons or more ol her dar- | lings a disfigured and mangled specimen of humanity, or, peruaps, a corpse, Many cases were discovered yesterday where | great interruption waa caused to business in tne cases Of manufacturers and Others who use boilers jor the purpose ol securing steam power to move the digerent engines they employ in the prosecn- tion of theirtrade. The day of rest, Sunday, nad ullowed the water in the conducting pipes leading Irom the mains in tne street to become frozen, and it was only alter hours of persistent and uure- muttiug work that sufficient water could be ob- tained to fill tbe. boilers sufficiently .o allow the fires to be hghted. in other instances the pipes nearer the boiler were iound irvzen, and sudse- quently, When thawed out, vurst, so that the Moors became delaged. In still other cases tne stop cocks were found coated with ice, owing to escapee of water, considered small vader ordinary circumstances, woich bad now enveloped them in an fron-iike grasp. To make them serviceable and of use @ Vast amount of time had to be expenaed. ‘This in business means also money, A GRAVE QUESTION. In view of all these tacts the question naturally presents itself as tu whether the whole principle (if principle toere be) on which tue plumhing work in vur liouses and places of business is done is not conducted and carried out on a basis wrong in theory aud in jact. That it has undoubtedly proved so during the last few days has been un- mistakabiy demonstrated, and that it will be still further exemplified in the days to come while the existing severe cold weather prevails no reason- ing peopie can doubt. How the difficultues of the present system of plumbing, or, rather, 1b ougot to be said, want of system, can be remedied, is a probiem not easily answered, According to the present laws and regulations under which houses are constructed it 13 leit to the owners, buliders and plumbers to exercise their own individual caprices as to the manner 1u which the water pipes and crains shall be carried up and down through tne house, without any're- srriction Whatever irom a supervising autoority. ‘The owner gives one order to the plumber, which, not being approved vy the butider, 18 suppie- mented or altered by him. The piun.ber, in turn, bas ideas of his own, and not liking the plans pro- posed by the others, proceeds to carry out is own theories. ‘The consequence of all this is that im the wipter time trouole invariably arises, Another point is that houses, being built in the warmer months, but iltrie thought ts given by either architecte, piumbers or owners to the possibility of there ever occurring a season when PIPES MAY BECOME FROZEN and an interruption of the water supply must as a consequence occur, and nntold misery arise to the uulortunate occupiers of tne house. It 1s, per- haps, somewhat astretch of the imagination to in- sinuate even that tenants have uoy rights or privileges that landlords are bound or even ex- pected to respect, but would it not be better tor | ull parties thut some well considered and strictiy defined pian snould be decided on and carried out under the supervision of the Department ot Build: ings, in regurd to the manner of layiag and fixing t water pipes, whereby the possibility of | their ireezing might” be reduced to a| mimimum. iniact a law reguiating the matter | mixht be drawn up and passed aiter due consulta-" 0D and Geliberation with mea of science, who could determine the vest method to be adopted in | order to secure the desired resuits, imposing | penaity for each and every violation, ana provide ; Ing that, m vase of the refusal or neglect of the owuers of property to comply with ics provisions, | | that tne department relerred to should torthwito, alter the lapse of a specified time, accomplish the Work ald compel payment of the custs. Some such Inw as this would be a great boon to every one concerned. It would ndt only save the land- lord a vast amount ol expense, but the tenant a great deal of vexation and annoyance, ALMOST ANOTHER OA8E. The readers of the MeraLh will remember the case Of the little babe frozen to death ® lew days ago In one of the Sixto aveuue cars. it is reason- aole to suppose that euch a warning might induce people to keep their infants 1udoors such weather as we haa yesterday, butit seems that there are, some paredts who thiak that children can staud 48 much as grown people. Yesterday a man aod his wife, haviag with them a@ little girl, entered a Fourth aveuue car at Twenty-third street. The child was crying bitterly at tue time, and soon aiter entering the car ceased. It finally came 80 still that a iady spoke o! it, and upon examina- tion the little thing Was found to be almost dead. It was at once taken imtoa drug store, where proper remedies were used to restore it. CLEARING THE SIDEWALKS. All properiy owners should give practical beed fo the recent action of the municipal authorities relative to clearing ice and snow irom the side- Walks, By so duiug they wili eacape the imposi- tion of floes and penalties prescrioed by the city Ordtoance, aud Wuici it 1s the lotention to rigidly enlorce, Uo the 1itd inst. Mayor Wickham ap- proved anda signed ‘he following resolution, which thereoy vecomes a city ordinauc Resolved, That the Commissioners of Police be and are hereby directed to cause the provisions of sections 1 and 16 of article 2 of chapter 23 oi the Kevised Ordi- nances of 1566 to be rigidly enforced. ihe said sections | are as follows Suctiox 15.—The owner or occupant or person having | charge of each house or other buiiding or lot of lots of fround im she city of New York snail, within the first jour hours alter every fall of snow, or hail, or riin, which shail treeze on the sidewalxs and in the gutters, | cause the saine to be removed entirely from off the side: Walks opposite, such house, building, lot or land, nnuer the penalty of $3 tor every such neglect, to be paid by the said owner, occupant of person having charge, sev- erally and respectively. se. un case the ice or snow shall be so congealed that it cannot be removed without injury to the pave- ment the owner, occupant of person naving charge of y buudiog, lobor lund as aioresaid shall, within the nrst tour hours atter every tall thereof, cause the side Walks opposite his, er of their premises to be strewed with ashes or sanu under the penalty o: $1, to be paid by the owner or occupant or person having charge thereol, severally and respec.ively. THY FIRE HYDRANTS, The necessity of some icasible plan being adopted Without delay ior the protection of tne | bydranss in the streets, 80 tuat in case of fire a supply «1 water can be immeutately obtained, is dally becoming more avd more apparent. ‘Ihe re- poris jor the past seven Weeks o! the difficulties experienced by the Fire Department in getting their Cogines to Work at fires to wnich they were called were Jessous (hat should have been takeu | advantage of by the Department o1 Pubic Works. So jar, however, bO proper precantions appear to wave been taken, noiwithstanding — the fact that the intense coid has coutinued and even imcreased the ditficuities to which attention has been called by the Chiel Bugineer or the Fire Department, The engineer of the Pubic Works vureau evidently beveves in old prece- | dents aud precepts, tor beyond continuing the an+ tiqudied metaod of filing im the barrels ot the hydraots with salt, ou which he relies as a golden remeouy, nothing — to have heen done, Ixtvaordinary diseases equire extraordinary | remedies, and old fogy DOtious in this advanced age of scientific inquiry and research are out of Place, 1nis 18 mere especially the case at the present time, when prompt and vigorous action 1s needed to insure tais great city of New York, with its mulitfarious interests, from , utver and complete auniaiiauon irom jhe ravag: of a confiagration which would inevitably resuit | in case of a large fire breaking out in a populous neighbdorhoud, Every day taat the trost conunues for the hydrauts are daily ouung more and more unfit for the service lor Witten they were de- Signed. ‘Tis docs Dos arise irom any special laut In their aebun, construction, the mauner in waica they are distribured or the material of which they are jormed, but sunply from tie moue im which trey are laid and in_ the unscientific Way in Walch ellorts are made to keep the valves from sreezing, Lt appears to be the Opiniou of the chiel engineers of both the Fire Department and the Department of Public Works Vulnerable part; yet neither of these gentiemen, WHo are Supposed to be skilled in their preiession, can even suggest a pian to | Prevent these vaives trom ireezing, let alone & | more improved method of construcuon, They | barrel ana | himself in New York vay, and | necessary assistance. | cod. | #avautage of the unprecedented ‘briage.” both seem torely on the fact that these sorts of valves and hydrants have been in use for years, | and, beyond temporary inconvenience and delay, Da weys MD found serviceable. In orditiary weather or even during a slight | spell of extreme cold THE SALTING PROCESS may be effective, but during a long continued frost thle ola-fasbioned plan of trying to keep the valves open cannot but result in @ iailure, The theory on which this application is applied is that the salt, Woich has @ Datural aMnity jor water, ab- sorbs the moisture witch percolates threuzh the valve nd in ordinary cold weather does not freeze, The reason for the use of salt is dvuntiess its cheapness, but where millions oi dollars and thousanas o1 lives are at stake the quesiion of actual cost should be comparatively of secondary consideration, Ithas been shown that by the injection of a smail amount of alcohol or sulphuric acid water that become irozen in pipes may be brought back to tte normal condition. Woy cannot come Of the teachings of science be applied witn equ: effect to the fire hy ari when upon these veing 8, | Constantly in an efficient condition so mucn de- pends? NO WATER AT 4 FIRE, A Gre occurred zeeraraag morning in South street, to wnico Engine Company No, 29 was sum. | moned. The machine could not ve put to work, however, jor the reason that no water couia be | obtained, although turee hydrants were tried. At the corner uf Spr:ng and Marion streets an engine Was summoned on what is known a8 A STILL ALARM, and on trying the hydrant it was found to be frozen, Another alarin was sounded at the corner of Cornelia and Bleecker streeis, and on trying to obtain water the same result was shown, Here the firemen, instead of trying to thaw out the bydrant with the apparatus with which thetr engtue fitted, simply cuz a hole around the batit a wood fire. In iront of the engine house of Company 24, in Barrow street, the hyaragt there was also frozen up, as also thatin front of the old No. 38 hose house in | Sullivan street, Tne same state o! things wus | found to exist more or iess all over the city, The firemen, when asked why they do not ex- | amiue the hydrants, say, Our instructions are not to meddle witn them except in case of tre, | but to let the Department of Puolic Works see to them.” Now, will tuls department do something toward guaranteeing the salety of the citizens? Ine firemen are weil equipped, weil driled and per- fectly able to compat any fire, but if uo water is a@ttaioabie they ave powerless, and the flames will have undivided and uncontested authority, THE ICY BARRIERS, Since the great giaciai era, when the whole world was eocased iu ub armior o! ice, the vicinity of New York ay seldom present d any sucn won- @eriui scenes as during the past week. Ages ago the sagacions walrus disporied the heights of Neversink were favorite resor(s of the Arctic seal. The white bear, also, king O1 the icy regionx, at one time reigned supreme within tne iimits of Mandattan Isiand. such formerly the state Ol affairs, according to our learned philosophers, and to such acoudition it Is prophesicd we will eveotually return, ‘Ihe ice during yesterday con- tinged in ali its stubborn majesty. 1CE IN THE UPPER HUDSON. At_ Dobbs’ Ferry, six miles north Of Yonkers, on the Hudson, @ natural bridge was tormed oo Fri day bigot, and has remained intact ever since. Thousands Ol people nave availed themsclves of the opportunity ol crossing to and fro, and the scene a8 presented yesterday was extremely animating. All above that point the river pres sented one clear, unbroken fleld of ice. Skaters, closely mufmied up tu protec: their ears irom : eing Irostbitten, glided rapidiy along; tceboats, under 4 lull sail, went +cuddiug by the merry | sleighing parties like phantoms of the irost, and together it was a picture | calculated to. uelight the heart of tne Czar o! all tne Russias. At eleven o'clock yester- day people were crossing in rowbuvats from Closter Lanaing to Yonkers, and the river to two miles below the latier point was perfectly iree 1rom large ice, except some few cakes which bad pot been carried down by the tide. During the winter of 1846, which was an unusually severe one, a | natural blockade occurred about the same potnt, and in order to jaciittate travel the Erie Railway cut a canal through the ice and ran their firry- boats from Fort Wasning'on Point to Piermont, on the opposite side of the river. Krom that point upward the river remaiped trozen for over 4 month aod a haif, and when in the spring it ly broke up, just such difticulty as has occurred recently was experienced. The East and Norto rivers for days, ut each cuange oi the tide, were completely choked up, and the | same scenes which have during tne past few days been so graphically described were tuen, nearly | thirty yea: zo, enacted, Up to the last 1ew daya | the river been open and navigaiton possible as far as Haverstraw; but the present ice bridge has effectually closed it, and the prooabilities are that it will remain impassable to saiiing crait for | some tine to come. On the fats in Tappan ana Haverstraw bays the ice 1s from six to eiglit inches in thickness, and the tact remains undisputed that all cf the thick ice which has caused so much dam- axe to property in the harvor and ‘Kast River was Noated down trom the Tand-iocked bays o! the upper Hudson. Ss = NEAR THE CITY. Ferry tratfic was greatly impeded on the North River yesterday. The Hoboken ferryboats ceased | sunning at one o’clock 10 the morning and did not recommence ontii hall-past five A.M, Duriog the | course of the day the north wind brought aown large floes of ice, which made navigation again very dificult. So great was tie ice embargo that the river appeared almost deserted, Tne various jerryhoats are all more or less crippled, aud a lurge jorce of men sre kept constantly employed in putting in new buckets In the paddle wheels, which | are ofieu broken into mere splinters aiter battitug upon the ice, Which 18 very oiten two or three leet thick. The piles of broken ice were in many instances seven to ,Dine teet thick. For- tanately much of the ice is of a very brittle na- ture, and tne pilots hope rhat if the temperature moderates trafic cau still be carried on. ‘Tne pas- sengers in the ferryboats are made to feel the effect of the great cold by the littie steam that tne engineers allow for the warming o! tne cabins, every available pound of steam pressure being required for the propeliing o/ tne boats. i IN THE EAST RIVER. A large auantity o: ice {rom the North Biver, the bay. the Shrewsbury River, the Jersey tats and andy Hook found its way on the top of the flood tide into the Kast River and gave the pilots great trouble in fighting tneir way across, and pro- tracted trips were the order of the day, At the Falton terry boats ran on no regular time during @-great portion of the latter part of the day, aod to quote the language of one of the bridgemen, “They started just when they felt good and ready.’ Later ou the ice became mucn broken, owing to the churning it received trom the pass- ing boats, Gzeat delays were experienced by truckmen in getting transport for tueir venicies. ANOTHER STRANDED PILOTBOAT. The piloiboat Crow. No. 12, owing to a mistake in the Squash light, while trying to evade the ice, went ashore on the Clifton Rock, near the Quaran- tine Ground, Staten Island. Measures have been taken by the Pilot Commissioners to afford the She is considered to be, however, in @ 8 .mewhat critical position. lt is only about ten days since the ptlotooat G. W. Biunt was wrecked near Fire Island and became @ total loss. A MAN OUT OF HIS LATITUDE, In these {rigid times it is a pleasure to meet a man who despises chilblains, influenza, hacking coughs, frozen ears, roseate-hue nose, ialling | tears, and, In a word, laug) Such a man lives in our midst, and is miserable when the weather is warm, god looks as out of place as @ Polar bear in a sentry box. ‘Tis individual is known by the name o1 “Esquimaux Joe,’ al- though he is reported to be a sort oi a prince in | his native land. Joe was met yesterday in the neighborhood of Fulton Market, bound jor the “whalemen’s headquarters,” ‘in the Immediate neighborhood. Aituough tne icy wind Was travelling at a thirty mile gait around the corners Jue looked warin and comiortable, and Was apparently periectly apatnetic as to the vlasts of Boreas, His Read was erect, and between his lips be balanced a cigar with tne nonchalance 01 a dandy 00 a fine sunny day. Joe was asked by the reporter if he dtd Dot thiuk the weather jeuriully “Noa! Noa!’ answered the descendant of the Polar kings, snaking bis head, “me not care lorty | degrees below zero; iu ine 195 days on ice Ine not vahappy for cold.” ‘The reporter leit Joe, with a shudder at the thought of tue thickness of King Joseph’s epidermis, and thougut that the best place jor him was # Nortn Pole expedition. Joe's brother, some time back, lived with his sister-in- | jaw, Hanna, at Groton, but lound our winters tuo warm and oppressive, and accordingly sped bim homeward to the land of everiasting snow and ice, where be couid live happy tu eating walruses, Seals and otber Arctic delicacies. ON THE SOUND havigation was entirely suspended, and at no time during the season has the blockuge been more complete, At New Rochelle the ice was from eiguteen inches to two feet in thickness, and dure lug the day mavy persous walked out as lar as Execution Lighthouse, a@ distauce of at least Jour miles, ‘he transit to Huckeiberry isiand and City island was readily made, and many skaters were seen jar out on the Sound saking Pie jee, tuough thick, Was apparently spongy. Several adventurers broke in, wituout, however, any serivus injury, Wagons were driven upon the ice to the oyster beds, holes were cut aud tie bivalves were put directly upon the carts without the in- tervention v1 boats, FROM CITY ISLAND | the Sound presented a picturesque appearance, To the Long Isiand shore @ clear sheet uf solid ice | extended, broken oniy by the steamer passage, and across the crystai bridge numbers of persous passed with safety. lce boats Were skimming the suriace of tne Sound and skaters fitted here and there in ail directions. sound trafic was entirely stopped. The 's City of Hartford and Bridgeport, bound York, were firmly wedged in early y morning, and, aiter several futile at- to eXtricate themselves, tiey quietly J Ther imprisonment wiil continue until a change in the weather cccurs. The City of Hartiord sustained some damage while endeavoring to oreak through the ice feild, The captains of both steamers Went ashore ou the ice and took tne train to New York. ‘They report the ice throughout the Sound as baving accumulated in almost incrediole quantities, ana state taat it would be highiy tm- prudent for any vessel to attempt the passage. At City Isiand many vessels have been ice-bound jor weeks, Captain Leviness, an old navigator and Sound ptivt, states that such anicy era has | hever occurred within his recollection, ‘The Sound steamers are now going by way of | | connection with this roman | bounties of Mr. Ashhurst; but the trunks w Sandy Hook. The New Haven boats have entirely discontinued running, and the latest advices In- dicate @ thorough biockade as far as the Counec- ticut capital. A juneral procession crossed the foe about five o’ciock yesterday afternoon from Hart to City Isiand. ‘The HERALD reporter left New Rochelle at four o'clock and walked sately to City Isiend, visitin en nt the oyster beds, Tie ice Was solid ani several double teams were waiting upon it to re- ceive their freight. ‘Ibere are no indications of break up in the Sound. The ice as atiained such thickness that the tides do uot affect it. eral thaw 18 the only remeay, and from resent appearances that is not likely to occur, jany years have passed since Long Island Sound was 80 completely barricaded. In the hard winter Of 1857 there was an approximation '0 the block- ade of the present year, but the ice was not nearly 80 thick or so hard to dislo’ ge. ‘Tne pliots all shi the world must be turced upside down. No seri- ous casualties bave been reported during the last Jew days. A Jew overdaring individuals from the vicinity | of Westchester have haa invoiuntary duckings, | two or three iceboats having been broken, result- but there nas been no Joss ing in various bruises, of life or limo, Late last evening from Tproga’s Neck to Riker’s Isla: there extended a solid sheet of unbroken ice, 80 thick that even steam navigation was im- possible. THE STEAMER CONTINENTAL, which left New York Sunday, at noon, reached her dock in New Haven yesterday morning, having been twenty-one hours on the passage, twelve A gen- | ; CROWDING NECESSITATES CRIME. NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, rEBRUARY. 16, 1875,—-TRIPLE SHEET. RAPID TRANSIT. The Improvement a Necessity for the Moral and Physical Health of the City. __ | Suburban Homes the Cure for City Squalor e their neads solemnly when the subject of | | the weatuer is broached, and seem to think that | and Tenement House Vice. During all the aiscussion that has been going on for many months upon the sudject of rapid transit | tne debaters have passed carelessiy by the act that if the people of New York are enabied to go | Tapidly and at small cost irom localities in the lower to others in the upper section of the city and to places in the Westchester suburbs there willbe @great change wrought in the aspect of hours o! which were occnpied in tureing ner way | from the lighthouse in the harbor k distance 0! only three miles. The steamer New Haven, of the same line, which left New York three hours previous to the Confinental, occupied twenty-iour hours in ler journey. Yesterday morning tne jeople of Muford de- clared that the sound was skimmed over with ice at sunrise, and that so iar as the eve could reach nothing but ice could be sees. Iceiu stratiord harbor 1s fiteen inches thick, and a first Cciass gunvoat could not peuctrate tue barrier NOT A VESSEL has enterea the huroor since the cold term set in. At Bridgeport the aaroor, open coustanuy curing ordinary winfers, is now very ught, and the pe ple are Walking and ariving over its jrozen sur- face whenever they please. steame’s fave ceased runbing and the white wings of a sailing vessel have scarcely been seen lor a monin. THE HARBOR AT BI.ACK ROCK, one Of the ireest varoors on the Sound, 18 closed aud may bot be expected to open till March, The sea prospect there iy Irosty enough, Southport has given up all hope of a change 1n temperatuce. Asnort supply of coat stares ler veople in tieir es. While her market boats and Ireizhte: belpless ac the wharves. WESTPORT IS SEALED till tbe great day of breaking up arrives, which Will be somewhere in the dim ana distant jut The sail O1 a vessel has not been seen there since the 1st o' Januars. Norwalk, too, suffers wita ner sisters, A3 Monstrons plies of Ireignt awatung transportation tesiifics, NOTHING BUT ICE confronts the view among her isiands, and her fishermen can go and come at plensure without following channels and currents. Five Mile River barbor has ice threa feet in thickness, and off the buoy on Smith Island reet the ice is piled up in wiorows twenty feet high. Mianus River, at Coscob, presenis & scene seidom before observable in Ice formation; no vessels in signt and no prospect of them at present. Further dowo the shore, at Rye,-the Sound was yesterday frozen over, anu people crossed tu ani from Long Island, ‘Tne passage 1a to Belle dock, & | | Board of Health cannot at ‘will revolutionize the condition of the poor here, nor that it will be an agent transierring New York into Utopia, it will, however, do part of that work which the sapilary regulations do effectaally now, opportuuity for agencies among such and it will give increased the introduction of m»ral flith-oppressed and sodden-miuded people as can- | It wili elabo- | not at present be affected by them. Tate the city of New York into the suape of an im- mense fen, tbe ringing cf which may be repve- sented by the respectable dwellings of mod people of small meaus, artisans who now Inhabit the wretched tenements wherein dirt ts constantly | gathering, and disease, moral and physical, is in- the ice made by tue New Haven steamors quickly | closed again. THE CONNECTICUT RIVER at Lyme closed on Tuesday last, and to-day the ice | 00 its surfuce and iar out into the Soaad is thick and impenetrable. Few, if any, vessels have se? througn the rauroad draw since February as: peeFor the Arse time. sce 1867. tie ‘Thames | River at New London 18 wghtly closed. Many gail vessels and several steamers, inciuding the Galatea, or the Neptuue line between Providence and New York, are icevound. ‘the only visible | Within the foul precincts of a back alley, navigation is among the Shore Line Ratiway lerry- | boats, which, by making irequent trips, have been able to keep a passage iree. Sleighing everywhere in the State ts good. IN THE CITY OF NBW HAVEN the coid has one a vast amount o1 damage to the water pipes, which in most of the streets have burst. Je process of thawing them out by Kind- ling fires and by the use of steam fire engiues hus not veen an “uncommon sight to-day. Many houses are wholly deprived of water for the first time since water Was introducea, twenty years ago. Un ‘his account there vas been & vist amount of Inconventence, there veing few Weils, but no actual suffering, As the aay closes wito the thermometer at zero, the outlook lor a change for the betrer is dark, Indeed. THE BLOCKADE ON TIE RAILROADS. Advices irom the western part o! the Siate show that the storm of the middle aud latter pertion of last week was the severest that bas been known in the locality tor years, and that rauroad travel was agg cine seriously interiered with thereoy. Oa Frid@ and Saturday heavy urilts on the New York Central between Kowe and Utica caused cousiderabie detention of the trains. Acattle train was Irozenin near the former place, and quite @ uumber of the live stock perished trom ex;.0- sure. Tne treight tracks between Littie Falls and St. Johnsville were completely blockaded. and the snow, which dritted in the cuts, was packsd as solid a8 sandbanks. One engine was said io have been nineteem hours in the biockade, the engineer and fireman veing obiiged to rematn by it to keep it from ireezing up. Gangs of men were Kept to work shovelling out the track. ‘ne Rome and Watertown read was bicckuded from Wednesday ontii Sururday, and was nov then clear. Ou the Black River roid great eforts were made to keep the line open, but without success, and at last accounts efforts were being made with Uhe snowp!ough and gangs of men to clear away tue snow, but with iauiferent success. The prin- cipal trouble is in the form of continuous drifts in the cats between Utica and Lowvilie. Block- ades are Jound there where they never were known _ befor In Oswego county th: recent snow storm was of unusual Severity, and ail the railroads ruuning to Oswego were temporarily abandoned, ‘lrains upon tne main line Of the Delaware, Lackawanua and West- ern road were seriously impeded vy the snow, and gangs of men were kept busily at work, without making much impression on the drilts. Owing to the blockade a large amount of mail matter had accumulated in the Cities along the Ceutral road, and it {8 probdabie several days will have inter: veneil beopre the mails are running reguiany again. THE CUSTOM HOUSE. THE BLACK LIST—THE ROMANCE OF SMUGGLING. T stood in Venice on the Bridze of Sighs, A palace anda prison on each hand. Byron's beautiful lines would have aptly applied to the groups in the sombre corridors of the Cus- tom House yesterday. In ail the alsles of that building there were little knots of men, who con- versed in whispers, and the Collector, instead of the Doge, made the sole distinction between the date of yesterday and one of the last century. Toe “black list”? was to be puolished to the world, and only the mercy of the chief oficial of the customs stood in the way between the disvharged employés and public discomfiture. Collector Arthur, taking: the side of charity, deemed it best tor the public interests that no names of those dismissed irom the service should be made public, and, thereiore, to al) the ingutries of newspaper agents he refused to deliver the list, In this view the IERALD heartily concurred, for inasmuch as the President is only required tocom- municate injormation to Congress “when not in- compatible with the public interests,” it seemed but proper that the Coliector of the Port should exercise hts discretion in regard to the publicity of changes in nis department which might work harm to the unlortunate g:ntlemen wio were to lose their situations ior no fault of their own, but only on acfount of the exigencies of the pubitc service. Wie, therelore, the Lames of some of those dismissed 18 il the possession of this journai, it 1g deemed best to witoliold them jor the reasons already stated, But other and equally exciting matters were on the tapis. It appears that HE KOMANCE OF SMUGGLING | 1g not vet exnausied. Colone: George O. Williams, of the Surveyor’s stat, on Saturday aiternoon seilzeu, Ob the dock ot the French steamer Pereire, # tronk belonging to Mr. Jules Saiomon, of Sau Francisco, containing the joliowing article: which, considering they were entered as tne p: vate Wardrobe in use Of @ private gentieman, we rawer remarkabie:— Three gold watches, siX dozen of gioves, diamond studs, vracelets and eure rings, invumeravie seats and scars pins, pair frop tree vead-lace jackeis, a superd India shawi, thirteen gentiemen’s coats, uidreu's cloaks and diesses, &c, Aiter the seizure Mr. Salomon contessed thac the gouds were intends for ceriain Weaituy residents o1 San Francisco. and the black \runk, With the imitiais ‘J. ‘now lies Ln the se'zure room of the Custom douse. In of Z FASHIONABLE SMUGGLING it may uot be improper to recail the case of Mr, Heory Ashnurst, of Philadeipiia, who broagnt over sixteen packages last Novem the steamship Java, tweive of waich w trunks, Various Jashionables were included among t seized in this city and Philadeipmia by special ‘Treasury agents, ana Mr. Ashiurst had actually agreed Py , FOUR THOUSAND TW TWENTY-BIGHT DOLLARS AND THIR tobe let off; but, strange and mysierious as tt may seem, through some intiuen in Wasting. ton or elsewhere, tie ric Mr, Ashhurst’s pro- perty—or that of bis Murray iti or Princeton Clicnhis—was released receuiiy, aud the United States District Atturney of rtiladeiphta MeMichaei—recommenied the reiease in Wa ington. In vieW oO; Uh+ punishment of Mile. L ont Jouvin—the confiscation of hey property ana the % Severe vindication Of the Law in regard to bor—io seems to be a proper suojecs of mquiry Whethe there ts not Wasitugton Castom rouse “¢ and Whether to “plave sia Witt gold, and the strong lance of Justic apply Lo these cases, evitaoiy bred, Perbaps this Sketch ts lauity with too many pen strokes; still, it conveys at least a half tratn. J« is needless to picture the condition or the people who are jorced to dwell in the squalid tenements that disfigare parts of this city, They are surrounded and oppressed with dirt; they in- bale it; 1t au!ls their minds and keeps trom them | the enjoyment of perfect health, Dr, Arnott, tre great English physician, 18 reportea to have said thas *in London nobody enjoys periect health ex- cept the butchers’ boys.” lt may truly be said that no residentina New York tenement house has that degree of health of which that person ts capable under better conditions of air, &c. It would be a very interesting experiment to make im order to discover just how long the period | elapses before a person who has been used to cleanly Ways—perhaps u person coming irom tae countrybecomes bavituuted to living amid the Gili of a tenement house, Sir Arthur Helps, tn his new book 01 essays on “Social Pressure,” just pubiisaed, tells a story whicn illustrates how Gespondency and a sense of carelessness Oo! sur- roundings settles upon the mind of such a person, It is of @ young country woman, who, coming to London, had to live for geveral weeks alter her arrival iu the uucieanly neighborhood she was noticed in tie mornings | sweeping and washing ber doorway and the | New York. 2 hurtiess tals, does not | pavemeut of the alley. But gratually her eforts ceased, Sne found that they were some- thing like those of old Dame Partington. Sne could not overcome the tide of nastiness that was continually rushing into tue alley, aud flually sne became reconciled to the neiguvornvod of dift, Jost her animation and lived in the same dull condition as her peighoors. Like them, sue lost all desire Jor pure air, sof the effort to procure it would be too great. The principal or Sir Arthur Helps’ essays on “Social Pressure’ is entitved owas May Be too Large.” ‘Tne meaning of this 1s that tie popu’ tions of large cities become condensed withia c tain Limits, bouses are crowded wita occupants, so that ch anliness is impossioie, and immorality aud disease are generated in irigutial aegrees. Sir Artuur, speaking through on2 0. the members of the ittie company among whom ne divides jis essays, says:—"Of ali matrers important to bumen civilization, after tie production of sufficient Joou, comes the dwelling place. What is the good ol insisting Upon Cleanlivess and sooriety aud all the otier viriues to peopie who live with two other tamilies ja the same room? Iam taking an extreme case; but, going upward irom that, tho same law holds good. Citme tings great aificulty in getting a habitat for itself in decent homes; and in aii nations the test to be given tor real civilization 18 Ja the faye sabe goodness or bad vess of the dwellings 01 the Jowest class,’ Our populat:oa ts nut condensed or massed to- gether, as are the pupulations of Loudon and of the jour great cities of Continental Europe—Paris, Berio, St. Petersourg und Vienna. Is 1s aso a Jact, consequent upon the lormer, that the pro- Portions ol deaths and illegitunate birtnsin tls city are smaller taan im the cites mentioned. But how long will tt be before an immense popula- tion musc he jammed within the precinc's oi that part ot New York below Tairty-iourth street, tor Instance, If nothing 1s dons to prevent such an aggregauion? ihe rauroads are continually ouag- ing people to this city ior employment who must Necessarily live below the boundary mentioned tor tue reason winch bas been so oiten urged against horse cars aurng the rapid transit discussion, that the time occupied by those veuicles In going further uptown 13 too great tur laboring people to expend. It might be answered to this that there 18 no evidence given by our recent ceosus that people are flockiug to How can there be sucn evidence given by it?) Everybody kuows, vr ougnt to know, That w.ll-to-do peuple aod arcisaus wao are un- willing Lo live 1 downtown teuements are goin: Jrom this city to New Jersey and Brookiyn in al- most the same proportion as that of tne immi- grants who arrive here, Rapid railroads are tne causes of aggrezation of people in cities; con- verseiy. taey muat be made here the mezns of the segregation of that part of our population whica Otherwise will become the source of gieat crim nality and tue subject of fearful misery. A rapid transit railway will enable “those Trespectabie Workingmed, Who are now forced to dwell in tenement Gouses, where they are thrown into contact with vicious and degraaéd boman va. ture, to make Speedy trips, at smull cost, between their business places tn tae lower part o: tue city and their bomesin Hariem or Westeiester. It will thus prove au efficient aid to the Healim Depari- | ment and tue Police, and, indeed, wu i will uot avord the opportunity for the 1econstruction of this city, “wita the ee beauly, comiort and grandeur,’ o: whieu sir Ariiur Helps talks, it will at least he.p co dis- prove the statement thatin New York ‘disease any squalid misery of all kinds are us ubundant, and, t were or’ are in any ot tae OUid World.” = A rapid travsit rauway ought to be built, then, not alone because tt wil increase the population o1 New York by drawing back nither people wno are now residing in New Jersey and on Long isiand, but also vecause 1t Wiillesseu the number of people who have to yeside in foul tenements on dircy streets and dark alley Ways; not because by its means the waste places On the island will be bot't upoo and inhab- ited, but because the suburbs of tne ciry wul be streicued oat in every direction aud dweit m_ by tue working peo; not sule@ly On Account ol own. ers of property up town Who are Lurdened by the taxes upon land lor which no occupants can oe iound, out as well because it will afford men ot Sivall means the Chuuce Ol becomMiUg OWUCrs oF small pieces ol ground fur their homes. Thus, wuile (he gross amount of taxation may be We creased, the numoer 01 peopie wuo pay taxes will aiso be multiplied, ‘Tiere cau be no greater certaint rapid transit will work veneficen cry. munity. in the “Transactions of tue Science Assvciation for 1872” there are several very impurtant papers on the subject of over- crowaing cities ana dwelings, which testity, from the experieuce 0: many physicians, that it is te IrwWit Cause Of epidemic disease And physical aud moral degradation. Other scienuitic auihori- pot hesitate fo say that it “tends to the tetertoration of tae Auman race.’ overcrowding of cities tends..to im- morahity—i among te poor, thor the huddling togevner of (ne sexes in coniinew apart. nents; and, NeXt, among well-to-do, oy making rent so jormidav.e an item in family living tuat maoy seek un easy subdsutuce for marriage, Jacili- ties ior whieh are also created by the hotel and t$ in tots jodging system, Wiican overcrowding favors and | necessitates. A rapid transit railway in New York wili do away With & great part of the hadaing of tne sexes In confued apartments. By moving the better classes ol their present vecupants away Jrom the frenemeut houses it Will Make room m those Gwellings ‘or all tae people Who must re- Tain m them, it will bring huwan Seimgs out oF fithy cellars in Which beasts could Not tive long, and 16 Wil give hy tunities to eje beings who from such places the degraded would wish to rematn in them, Hitherto there las been such a mixture of the une lorrunate poor with tie aeg Hwoients or vile places us ery were « vied by the police. Wiiness tne € meuc of the resideuts of the horrivie pis Donovan's inuc These eifects, which a reptd transit railway must produce, nave been spokea Of In the present article becatse they nave not been alluced to elsewiere, Orators’ beiore the Aidermanic aud Assembiy Committees and at pub bave spoken of everyiniag ese and passed ever these arguments, Many ol them have argued that’ tie | ctty should build w railway aud control It, because Net aoog the I. eet. 1 the city and in the general character of the nab- | | ttations wherein the poorest people dwell. not to be expected that @ rapid transit railway | of tae | imary requisites tor health, | t the Most part, as unchecked, as they ever | the great towns of | than that | It will be @ sort of Saiety vaive lor Une com. | British Social | in | ith and police @ficiais eppor- {as dweilinys im tuts the former were injured when ihe later | 1 woold be profitable enough to help toward the hiquidation of the municipal aeor, Their argu. meuts are undoubtedly true; yet there is a greater Jac proven by the above statements. 1t1s taat | tne city o. New York, in order to procure ail the benefits of a rapid tri it railway, could aford ve pay private parties to construct one, THE LEGISLATIVE ODSTACLES, ‘It seems now to be the belie! of many geatiemer | who have interested themseives to procure rapid | transit that their eforts will be defeated in the Legisiature. Although they do not lessen crew Work they seem to be resigned to tue velief that | the money of the ratiroad companies of this city will procure the defeat of every Measure by Wiich rapid traasit migit ve The members of tie Logisiature from the Western section of the State are those | who, it is feared, will prove treacberous io the in. teresis of this city, Speaktug to tue writer yes terday, a well known business man said:—"The Western men are thos» who will vote agains) rapid transit measures in the Legislature. They dou’t know whatan immense number of neces | sitfes will be sapolied to New York by rapi¢ transit; and when their votes are solicited by the workers for the raliroad compauies they won't trouble themselves to inquire. The ratl- road corporations of this city have @ large pool of money now raised and being distributed im the Legislature. Every year the same pian has been | realize’. | | pursued by these corporations. Only the otner day [ was told by a iriend, to whom Mr, R. S&S. Squ@res, late President of the Third Avenue Railroau Company, bad condded the jact, that last year the Legislature Would have passed a bill which would have made rapid transit a certatoty iu New York if it had now been ior the efforts of the Third avenue com- pavy. There ts eXtant now a report made secretly to stockholders in that company in waich is stated | the amouat of money speat in the Legislature to | prevent the passage ofa rapra transit bill, This | kind of periormapce—the buying and seiling of | rapid transit bille—wili go on in the Legisiaiure | until there is a mighty organization of the | people of New York city to Ggemand that ; they shall be cheated no longer. There | ougat to be rapid transit clubs in every | ward of the city, and the ieaders in the agitation | for the opportunity to travel with speed through New York sail in their duty in not organizing such clubs. e unprincipled, the igaoraut and venul | Jegis-ators must be irightened, else they. wil | never permit us to have our great need over- | come so long as they are tempted with the money of our city railroaa corporations. We can- | not afford to walt much Jonger. Our needs are | too great to permit more juggling to be dove in Alvany. | Tne’ avove written vehement remarks were | indorsed in spirit by numerous other gen- | tlemen, “ana it 13 likely that very soon the | organization of ward “rapid transit clups" will | be Tne gentiemen who originated the itizens’ movement” have had this purpose, bus have ae:erred its execution until toey could iorm | @ centrai organization o1 the subseribers of gocdly | amoun's of mouoy to the “deierred stock’ fund, Jn ove instance their intention has ben aniict- pated, as will be gatnered iron the appended letter:— Fesavary 13, 1875. Messrs. Drake Brotugss:— | GENTLE ta meeting of citizens and property Owneis of the Nineteenth ward, held last evening at Brovoort Hail, Pitey-tourth street. near Third avenue, | the simeteenth Ward Kapld Jransit Association was organize! tor the purpose of aiding the movement by obtaining subscriptions to the capital stock of a Citl- zens’ Rapid iransit Company, an‘ to actin concurrence | with the views expressed by yourseives, und at the meeting heid at the rooms of the Chamber of Commerce on Febr Hob. shomus Pearson Was elected Presi dent. &. Jones, Vice President, aaa Jerome J. Collins, Secret itis the intention of tie association to co- | operate with vou in your eftorts tagive the movement in | tavor of rapid transit a practical shape, and it has becn sugzested as advisable to form organizations similar to ours io every ward in the city of New York, wh ch would be under the control of a reewar central organ’ zauion. This would give the iriends of the movemen who Woula no: wish to suoscribe at the general hpac quarters an opportunity of doing 49 at the room: of theie jocat organizations, and afford residents of the different sections of the city a chance to discuss the merits of rapid tr sit with their immediate friends and neighbors, so that expressions of approval would come trom strong organizacous tastead of ividuals, it would certuinly imerease public coutidence in the movemen: and indi- cate the popular determination to jelt is our desire to avoid all the | invariavly arise out of the discussion Ye recogniza uly one reliable | procuring rapid transit’ in sew thar is to get the necessary capital toxeher as speedily | axpossbie. If thiyean be done then success is certam. | Plans, lines of route. &., are all dependent on capital. | Without the latter rapid transit is but an idle dream. | It | capitalists either tear or object to urnish the means tor procuring rapid transit, because of a Wait of confidence in the ivesiment or thit other interests might suffer, | it only remains tor the peonie to grapple with the dim: culty as on y the people can, and by a united effort dem- onstrate tha: what pudiie iuterests demana private in+ terests cannot withho Our sabscription list will show the progress we make, and Lam instructed to assure you taat our efforts in the cause of rapid transit will not Cease until success crowns: them, We nave already jken stens to | nent headquarters, where subscriptions and intormacion furnished on tne subject of rapid tran- sit. remain, gentlemen, very respectiu’ S. # e veFEHUE J. COL: ‘ecr-tary Nineteenth Ward Rapid iransit Assoc Ivis understood that Mr. Charies H. Roo Secretary of the “Citizeus’ Movement,” paring @ ciause ameudatory to the General tle Toad act of 1860, with the purpose to throw into the bands of the city the power to buila aud ope- rate a rapid transit railway, COLUMBIA COLLEGE. The various classes of Columbia College hela their semi-annual at the Academy of Music last | Might. The house was crowded, as it always is ou | such occasions, and the students themselves ap- peared tn full fore, there being several hundreds of them about, mostly dressed in their queer fonr- | corverea hats an@ black gowns. President Bar- nard was on the stage. The proceedings began with some music by Gratuila’s Band, alter whion the President of the Sentor Class, Mr. George Sner_ min, delivered the opening address, He made a short congratulatory speech, speaking of the triumphant resuits of the boating race of last season, and hoping toat the college would develop the same proficiency next summer, He spoke in general terms or the history Of the college during the year, and said it had cove bothing but woat deserved praise. Suc- | ceeding this speaker came @ number of others, | with music in the entr’acts. ‘tne Senior Ciass | irnisned four representatives, the Juniors two, the Sophomores two, the Freshmen two, the | Poiloiexian one and the Alumui une. The speakers | and subjects were as follows:—“Tue Development | of Science Noes Not lucrease Infidelity,” Harry 1. | Bodiey ; *Wvat’s in a Name ?”’? Henry UC. de Milley “Love Of the Supernatural,” Thomas 8, Orm ston: “Philolexian Oration,” 7. M. Cheeseman ; “alumni | Graton.” Caarles short; “Development vi Man,” Cornelius W. Morrow; “fashion,” Louis | G. Kaegener; ompulsory Educauon,’’ Charies W. Francis; “Perit of the mour,’? Frederick D. Weeks 5 ‘The Centennial,” ©. be Hart | Brower Oratory,” Caries F, Hurlburt, The | speeches, as a general thing, were creditavle, and | In some cases arcee to the height of eloquence, | The studenrs were, of course, immeusely pieased, and the audience did not appear to be too muca bored. Lhe semi-annual was, wken aitogether very success) ul. NORMAL COLLEGE ANNIVERSARY. Quite a novel event occurred yesterday morning at the Normal College. 1t was the sixth anniver- | Sary of tue institution, and the members of the | Philomatnean Society ana of the two highest | grades thought they would celebrate the occasion. Accordingly they presented the College witha | statuette group, representing a motuer giving her | chila to the cave of a schooimaster, and two large and handsome baskets 0. flowers. A programme | | oO itacions, &C., Was aiso prepared. Among other things they Dickens’ bur lesqus ‘“Bardeil” Vs. Pickw a case of breach of promise ot marriage, which descrives the charge Ol the judge vo tue jury, and Miss Nellie H. Cone read an original poem on *Birthdays.” President Hanter thanked the young ladies and complimented them on their success in the getting up of programmes, COMPULSORY EDUCATION. | | The clerks of the Board of Education haye com. | Plcted the census of the children now attending the puolic schools, Tne lists have been alphabets cally arranged and the names of the boys appor- tioned to the districts im which they reside, The complete consis Will be piaced in the hands of the | Poitce Commissioners to-morrow, and then will | begin examination by tue police oficers as to the | names and the number of boys Who at the preseat time are not attenuing any school, The duues oi the police Wil ve made comparatively easy by reierence to tue record of the Board o1 Eaacanon, for they can at once find out the names of the boys iu each district Who are attending school, | ano Wil therefore ve enabled, with little troudle, ty account ivr taose wilose names are not included | in the census. FIRES IN BROOKLYN. At haif-past nine o'clock yesterday morning a fire was discovered in the ouilding No, 144 Kent avenue, Lastera Diseri occupied by Visor Fredeie¢k Scholes a8 & sulpaur factory, Bee fore the fames could be subdued $1,00) damage was caused, There is no lusurance ou the prop: erty. Lhe gre Was Of acetdentai origin, “Lae brick etructure No, yt sne place, 0G eupled as a carpenter snop by Jon Norton, wae damaged by fire yesterday torenoon to tue eX« | tent of $100.