The New York Herald Newspaper, March 10, 1875, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.—On and after January 1, 1875, the ‘daily and weekly editions of the New York Heraup will be sent tree of postage. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Four cents per copy. nual subscription price $12. « All business or news letters and telegraphic An- despatches must be addressed New York Henarv. Rejected communications will not be re- tumed. Letters and packages shonld be properly sealed. LONDON OFFICE OF HERALD—NO. 46 FLE Subscriptions and adverti be received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. AMUSEMENTS = ‘TO-NIGHT. WALDACK'S TITEATRE Rroadway.—THE SHAUGURAUS, at oP. M.: closes at Joan, M. Mr, Boucicauit MRS, CO Y'S BROOKLYN THEAT?F Hrooktyi.— acoP, M.; close Ws P.M. Mr. Jou McCullouga. WOOD's MUSEUM way, corner of Thirtie h street.~IRF McPAD- ACS P.M; closes at 10: Matinee atl, M. OLYMPIC THEATRE, No. #4 Broadway.-VaRL asi’. ML; closes at 1045 ROBINS and \t xteenth street LORGIA MINSTRE THE No. Sid Broadway.—V. PM BTY, at8 P. M.; closes a STADT THF flowery. —DAS STIFTUNGFEs Le t6 PM TONY PASTOR'S O No. M1 Bowery.—VARIEIY, a ae METROPOLITAN 3 ‘Wost Fourteenth street —Up ROMAN HIPPODROM Fonrth avenne and Twenty-seventh 1 RIANISM AND MENAGER at tand 8 BROOKLYN PARK THFATRE, EUM OF ART. from 10 A. M. tv 5 P. aiternuon and Polton avenue,—VASIETY, at 3 ¥.M.; closes at 1045 "| RA HOUSE. ‘West Twenty third street, near Sixth avenne.—NEGRO MIN-TRELSY, &e., at oP. closes at WPM Dan Bryant GERMANIA THEATRE, | treet. —GiROFLE at 8 P. M.; M. Miss Lina PAR | Proadway.—Frenen ( PLA, aS P.M.) closes at 1 y NBL Broadway.—CORD AND CREESE, Wao PM at3 iP, M.; closes at E. Eddy. | FIFTH AVENUE THEAT Twenty-ciehth street and Broadway. NANZA, ais P.M: closes at 10:3) Wr, Lewis, Miss Davenp 1E BIG RO. | NM. Mr, Fisher, Mrs, Gilbert. LYCE fonrteenth street, near sixth BORGIA, acS P.M’; closes atl GRAND CENTRAL THEATRE, So 86 Broadway.—VAKIETY, at 3. M; closes at 10:45 BOOTH’S THEATRE, corner of 7 rd sire HENRY V., at ‘0 MINSTRELS, enty ninth street. — oses at 10 P.M. MINSTRELSY, at 8 P.M TIVOLI THEAT Fighth street, between second E, ud Third avenues — VAKLETY, at 8 P.M. ; closes at 12 P.M, TRIPLE SHEET. NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 1 From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be warmer and Warx, Srreet.—Stock speculation active. Gold was firm at money on call 3 and 4 per cent. Foreign | exchange was dull. | were Tae Sore Survivor of the wreck of the | bark Giovanni reached Boston yesterday, and his sad story of the terrible disaster is re- counted in our correspondence. Mz. Secretary Fisu is again reported to be discontented. This is another rumor which we are inclined to doubt; for after the ‘all of us’’ letter it is plain that Mr. Fish is one ot the most good-natnred men in the Union. | Tar Restoxarioy of Mr. Jewell is ramored | in Washington and the appointment of Gen- eral Zach Chandler in his place. Nothing would induce us to credit this report except- ing the knowledge that Mr. Chandler must be taken care of by the President and is as likely to go into the Cabinet as anywhere else. France.—The fact that M. Buffet, the Presi- dent of the Assembly, declines to form a Cabi- net under the new Republic, shows that the monarchists are striving to make a republic | impossible. When a party deliberately an- nounces that it will have monarchy or war and chaos—in other words that government shall not go on except as pleases its leaders— are we to wonder that some!imes there should be a revolutio | ‘Tae Prompt Surnexper and return by the English government of Myers, one of the mutineers on the American ship John Sher- | wood, for trial here for the alleged murder of | the steward of the vessel, will recall to the public the fact that a convicted murderer, Sharkey, is known to be in Havana, and that no efforts have been made to arrest him. But | if the return of Sharkey is not requested of the Spanish authorities it is not to be expected that they will voluntarily offer their services. Is Our Warten Pure?—The purity of the water of a great city is as indispensable to its healthfulness as the purity of its air, and there is nothing that New Vork needs to guard more jealously than ber supply of Croton. The report elsewhere made of the present condition of the water we drink and use for culinary and all household purposes will be read with interest, for the subject is one in which every man, wofhan snd child bas a personal concern. The opinions of Professor Heury Draper, the dis- tinguished chemist, and of Mr. Campbell, should have weight with thoughtful persons who would decrease the causes of disease which this hard winter has produced. With | tus evil, at least, we are able to deal by the | gold which he proposes to pay ou gaethods which ordinary science reveala ; law of 1862 is regarded by the Treasury as a | | plus of $2 ; than three millions of the thirty millions which | within | the country ; bonds are in two forms—registered bonds, | in the country, reduee the premium and sup- | ply to our importing merchants increased | hand, | gold paid out for them would be exported. | resulting from the lossof interest on a great NEW YORK HEKALD, WEDNESDAY, MARU! 10, 18/o.—TKLPLE SHEET. | Secretary Bristow’s | Sinking Fund, Finance | mess. The announcement by the Secretary of the Treasury that be will stop the interest on $30,000,000 of five-twenty bonds at the end ot tbree months and pay off the bonds in goid either thea or at any intermediate period | when they are presented, is the most impor- | tant event which has taken place under Mr. | Rristow’s administration of the department. We will first offer such explanatory observa- | tions as will make it intelligible from his own point of view, and then attempt to inter- pret its bearing on the business of the country. The act of February, 1862, which is the basis of the financial policy since pursued by the government, excepts duties on imports | from the operation of the Legal Tender act, re- | quiring them to be paid in gold and setting apart the proceeds—first, to payment of the | interest on the United States bonds; second, to the annual purchase or payment of one | per cent of the entire public debt; and | New Move—Tne | millions of bonds he intends to redeem would | will be relieved of their suspense and enabled | | to calculate the future, subject only to the | | ordinary vicissitudes of business, go on. This step is, therefore, an annual | saving to the Treasury of one million eight hundred thousand dollars in gold, or thirty- six times the salary of tne President. It Secretary Bristow does not make the | mistake of calling in,coupon bonds instead of registered bonds this measure will give an im- pulse to the revival of business which we have | reason to expect from other causes, The | thirty millions paid out by the Treasury will immediately seek investment and increase the abundance of money. Whether it goes into railroad stocks, or is employed in setting on foot and strengthening new private enter- | prises, it will, in either case, or both cases, diffuse a more hopeful and buoyant feeling and hasten the recuperation which cannot be much longer delayed. There is no longer | any uncertainty as to the fiscal policy of the | government, and those who have been so long | waiting to see what the government would do With this disturbing element eliminated, there is a fair prospect of an early revival of | third, requiring the surplus to be paid into the ‘Treasury for its ordinary uses. For a long period, beginning in the | last years of President Johnson's administre- n, the excess of revenue over expenditure | was so great that little attention was paid to | the specific provisions of law relating to the | sinking fund. During the four years of Presi- | dent Grant's first term the national debt was | reduced at the rate of nearly a hundred miil- | lions a year, which more than complied with the spirit, if not with the strict letter, of the law. But since the great panic of September, 1873, the revenues have so fallen off that the redue- tions of the public debt have been very slight, and the requirements of the sinking fund have not been @et either in letter or in spirit. The | | pledge of the public faith, whose fulfilment is | an important element of the national credit. | ‘The pledge could not be kept without ad- | ditional reyenne, and it was chiefly on this | ground that Me. Bristow was so urgent to have Congress pass the new Tariff and Tax | bill, which was forced through near | the close of the session. The thirty millions of additional revenue expected from this bill are applied at once by the Secretary to the object for which he | asked it. Relying upon the tuture proceeds | of the enhanced tariff to meet the future wants of the Treasury, he makes a bold stroke and surprises business circles by deciding to | pay out his whole surplus of goldin the im- mediate purchase of bonds for the siuking fund. Doubts have been raised as to his ability to | redeem so large an amount as thirty millions of bonds within the eusuing three months; but such doubts are not well founded. By the debt statement of March 1 it appears that the coin in the Treasury was $75,626,083. Of this amount $22,269,400 belonged to the holders of coin certificates, and $26,080,710 was held for accrued interest, leaving a sur- 5,973 against which there was no demand—a sum which falls short by less the Secretary offers to pay for the redemption of bonds. This will doubtless be made up the ensuing three months by the increased rates of duties. More- | over, the deposits of gold in the | Treasury against which coin certificates are held by private owners is a resource for immediate uses, for there is no likelihood that this sum will be all withdrawn or even seri- ously diminished. It is therefore beyond rea- sonable question that the Secretary will be able to redeem in gold the thirty millions | of bonds upon which the interest is to be | stopped. The next question is, how this great step will affect the gold market and the business of ‘The answer to this question de- pends upon the classes of bonds which the Secretary decides to cali in. The government which are ent y held in this country, and coupon bonds, of which the greater part is held abroad. If the thirty millions called in by Mr. Bristow should consist of registered | bonds, the gold paid for them would remain taciliiies for paying the higher rates of duties under the increased tariff. If, on the other tue thirty millions of bonds to be redeemed should be coupon bonds, the greater portion of them would be sent hither from abroad and the We presume the Secretary will call in some bonds of both forms; but it is to be hoped, in the interest of American business, that there will be a great preponderance of regis- tered bonds. If we are ever to reach specie payments it is necessary to have a stock of gold in the country, and the Treasury opera- tions should be conducted with a view to Cyt necessity. The policy now adopted by the Treasury of | puuctual compliance with the law relating to | the sinking tund will be attended with one important advantage. It will accomplish a divorce between the Treasury and Wall street. It is a renunciation of the policy so long pur- sued by Secretary Boutwell and his immedi- ate successor of attempting to control the | gold market through the fiscal action of the government. Boutwell’s pet idea was to maintain a heavy surplus of gold in the Treasury, where it earned no interest, to be | held in terrorem over the Wall street specn- | laters, with an implied menace that a portion of it would be suddenly poured upon | the market to break down the pre- mium if it should run too high. Such a policy was in contravention of every sound principle. To say nothing of the waste | hoard of gold kept idle in the Treasury, the | policy was self-defeating a8 means of abat- ing the premium. The price of gold, like | that of other commodities, is governed by the | law of supply and demand, and the general | effect of a great government hoard is to main- | tain the price at a high level by scarcity. Mr. | Bristow proposes to empty out the hoard into the market, and, by @ strict compliance with the sinking fuud law, to prevent future ac- | cumulations of gold in the Treasury. This, as | That of bis wife and other witnesses contra- | we have said, will accomplish a divorce | between the Treasury and the street, and is, so far, a movement in the direction, | community when a panic strikes inevitably | steres of grain in the West wili come forward, | the tracks of all the minor railroads, which | tear which have steadily gone on during the | that, j and gives America, iu Catholic eyes, the rank | at one and a half million collars, asum utterly | insignificant when the advantages to be se- | asserts that just before his arrest he entered a right | streetcar in a state of sickness. ‘The police- It is also a measure of economy. | man who arrested him, and the sergeant at If Mr. Bristow kept the thirty millions of | the police station, on the contrary, testified t, is would that Stockvis appeared to be drunk. It is a earn nothing. while the interest on the thirty | singular fact that although notice was given business. The enforced economy which follows 4 great panic curtails markets and arrests | production; but it can never last more than a year or two. The reason is, that the supply of manufactured goods in the possession of the wears out and has to be replaced. Not only | clothing, furniture, farming utensils and ma- chinery obey this law, but also railroads, whose tracks and rolling stock cannot continue long in use without renewal. When hard times begin people make the old things do and abstain from new purchases. But the | tendency of everything to wear out must, at last, reopen the market and set tho wheels of | industry again in motion, There has been a sufficient lapse of time since the panic to bring this principle into operation, and we expect the coming season to be marked with a verv considerabie revival of business. As the winier softens the great tempted by the advance tn foreign prices, and the proceeds will go back to the Weat in the form ot goods. The necessity for repairing have been so long neglected under the stress of the panic, will bring the flagging iron in- dustries into new activity. The wear and long period of stagnation, have reached a stage which must compel repairs and pur- | chases, and a hundred forms of industry | must be set in motion to supply the reviving market. We confidently expect to witness a steady improvement of .business, beginning with the sending forward of the Western grain reserves (his spring, and continuing through the season. An American Cardinal. According to advices from Rome the Pope has at last resolved to confer the dignity of cardinal upon an American prelate. Tnere will be a consistory at Easter, and among the new cardinals will be Dr. Manning, Arch- bishop of Westminster, and the head of the Catholic Church in England, and Dr. McCloskey, Archbishop of New York, who, if this news proves true, will become the head | of the Church in America. Although the appointment of Dr. McUloskey to this high place has not been officially announced, the intelligence comes to us with so many assnur- ances of truth and with so many confirmatory circumstances that we are disposed to accept it, to congratulate the Catholic Church upon this mark of Pontifical confidence and the venerable prelate who has so long presided over the Church in New York upon being the first prelate in the American Church who has ever received the highest office in the gift of the Pope. The act of His Holiness in making this ap- pointment will be received with universal sat- isfaction by the American people, without re- gard to their faith, The fact that in the award of episcopal dignities to the American clergy the office of cardinal has never been bestowed, is because the Roman See has al- ways regarded the Cnurch in the United States as a missionary enterprise, like the Church in New Zealand and Australia, This has been true for the larger part of our national existence. Nothing could be more unwise or unnecessary than to nom- inate o cardinal to a rude, wild, fresh country, without means to support its dignity. As titles go in foreign lands the office of car- dinal is as high as that of a duke or a prince. But this objection died away as the country grew in prosperity and wealth. New York is more of a Catholic city tian London, and quite as able to sustain a cardinal. The Church in this country is rich, powerful and loyal to the Pope. Americans felt that it was rather a reproach to America that cardinals should be given to Ireland and England, while here, where the Church is stronger and as faithful in allegiance, the office should not be permitted. This fecling grew when it was seen that His Holiness could make a cardinal out of a young and rather in- different priest because he was the cousin of the Emperor Napoleon. The criticism was made that Vatican influences surrounded the Pope and led him to select his cardinals from Italian priests; that Italian families ruled the Holy See; tbat what we, in our political dialect, calla “ring,” had been formed, and perhaps, our republican form of government ruled us out of the good graces of a Pope who had been an actual monarch most of his life, and who claimed to be a | monarch now. Consequently the nomination of an American cardinal removes these fears, | accorded to the greatest nations of the earth. With this view of the case the nomination of an American cardinal will be welcomed by men of every creed. Catholics will be giad to feel that the honor has fallen upon Dr. McCloskey. He will administer the duties of | his illustrious station with honor and high re- | pute, with the best regard for the interests of | the Cuurch and for the fame of his native land. i | Tae Inquzer in the Stockvis case began yes- terday, and we present the testimony in full. | dicts the story that he was intoxicated and | to the police to look out for a deranged man | recommended by the ex-Commiasioner as soon named Stockvis, whose general description they had, they failed to recognize him in their untortunate prisoner. The New Hampshire Election, The defeat of the democracy in New Hamp- shire comes with more startling effect because of its contrast with the tremendous victories achieved by that party: last fall. These triumphs were toreshadowed a year ago by the election of a democratic Legislature and Governor in the Granite State, and the result of yesterday's election will be a bitter disap- poiutment to those who supposed the demo- cratic party had mado permanent conquests of the Northern States. It is a poor rule that will not work both ways, and if the vote in 1874 indicated a change of political opinion then we may fairly assume that the vote of 1875 has quite as much significance. One reason for the large republican gains which are reported in our despatches is evi- dent. The temperance party last year polled 2,097 votes for its candidate for Governor, nearly all of which were taken from the repub- lican ranks. This year the temperance vote has fallen off immensely, and it is fairly to be inferred that the majority of the prohibition- | ists resolved to restore republican rule, even at the sacrifice of their own impossible re- form. The canvass was intensely earnest and turned principally upon national issues. Republican spirit was aroused by the defeats last year, and an immense effort was made to redeem the party in New Hampshire. The democraq may learn a valuable lesson from this unexpected reverse. If the prohi- bition voters of New Hampshire, who cherish their party organization so dearly, chose to abandon it rather than to see democratic rule perpetuated, may not similar action be ex- | pected from thousands of republicans in New York, Ohio and other States, who last fall refused to go to the polls? Few of these re- publicans expected the defeat of their party to be so overwhelming. Many of them were well pleased to see the administration chas- tised, but did not desire that the party should be destroyed. The reaction from the apathy or the dissatisfaction of the late elec- tions is likely to be seen at the polls in a few months, but how far it will go will depend to a great extent upon what the democracy do with the power they possess. Thus far they have not used it with the highest wisdom. They have not conciliated their adversaries nor shown that Bourbonism is wholly forgotten, The defeat of Carl Schurz had its effect in New Hampshire, just as the failare of the democratic State and city governments in New York to carry out municipal reforms is disappointing our citizens. Tho shrewd democratic leader will not calculate upon republican indifference for the same results in 1875 that were seen in 1874, and it is to be sincerely hoped, for the general good, that this sweeping republican victory in New Hampshire will teach the democratic party that it is still on trial, that the republican party is not hopelessly gone, and that the Presidential campaign is not likely to result in a walk-over for either. The Water Supply of the City. The communication of ex-Commissioner Van Nort to the Mayor, and the accompany- ing statement of the Chief Engineer of the Department of Public Works, published in yesterday's Heap, will direct public atten- tion to the insufficiency of our present water supply and to the necessity of adopting some measures for its improvement. In the past New York has been justly proud of its Croton water, and has enjoyed water privileges such as few other cities in the world possess. The Croton Department has been generally in honest hands, or has at least escaped the cor- ruptions tbat have marred so many other de- partments of the city government. This may, in some measure, be due to an instinctive knowledge that the people would not permit any trifling with so important aon interest. However this may be, it is certain that our water rates have always been moderate, and that our present troubles are only the natural result of the fact that the city has outgrown the capacity of the works. If we pursue a sound and sensible policy we shall continue to have a sufficient supply of excellent water without materially or even noticeably increas- ing the cost. Within the last three years the supply and distribution have been greatly improved, es- pecially in the central and lower portions of the city. Before the large mains were laid from the reservoirs south, greatly relieving the district below Canal street, there was im- minent danger of a destructive conflagration at almost any moment through the lack of a sufficiency of water. The relief below Canal street increased the supply above and gave much increased accommodation to house- keepers. It is now found necessary to under- take additional work in order to insure the safety of the city and to promote the health and comfort of the citizens. The Chief Engi- neer recommends the immediate commence- ment of the following improvements: —The continuation of the new westerly main down town with a thirty-six inch main, to con- nect with the existing large mains on Canal and Church streets; the continuation of the easterly forty-eight inch main from Eightieth street and Fourth avenue through Eighteenth street to First avenue, and through First avenue to the vicinity of For- tieth street, connecting with the lower reser- voir and all the existing mains running south; and the laying of a new twenty-inch main in Fifth avenue, which is now insufficiently sup- plied, from Fitty-ninth street to Washington | square. The cost of these works is estimated cured are tafen into consideration. The es- timate includes also the extension of the dis- tributing mains in the upper partof the island where the new streets and avenues have been graded, and in the two newly annexed wards. Public sentiment will demand the prosecu- |} tion of this work. The Comptroller has | | thrown every possible obstruction in the way of the Croton Bureau since the Public Works Department passed under the control of Com- missioner Van Nort. Personal malice has heretofore been suffered to interfere with the | public interests in this important matter, and it is possible that in his new fight with tho Mayor, Mr, Green may endeavor to continue his obstructive policy. Bu , nately, he has not now the power that under the late administration, and we may look for the commoencement of tha work possessed | as the spring opens. We should have in New York a sufficient supply of water to render an extensive conflagration impossible, and to aid us materially in the business of street cleaning. Give us enough mains, of a proper capacity, and woe shall be able to open tho culverts and let a flow of water do what our Street Clean- ing Bureau spends one million dollars a year in not doing at all. Cleanliness, comfort, health and safety all prompt a liberal policy in the extension of the Croton mains and a wise forethought in the increase and improvement of the original supply. We ought now to make preparations for the water supply of a city of two millions of inhabitants, for in this respect there is no danger of going ahead too rapidly. General Porter cannot turn his attention to a more important branch of the department now under his control. The St. Andrew's Church Calamity— The Close of the Inquest and the Duty of the Mayor. Now that the Coroner's jury have closed their inquiry into the St. Andrew's church calamity, it is to be presumed that Mayor Wickham will no longer postpone the removal of the Superintendent of the Building Depart- ment, Although the verdict was not ren- dered yesterday the facts are before the pub- lic, and the admirable charge of the Coroner will, we trust, have an appropriate answer. The person who at present fills the Super- intendency is not only responsible for this particular accident, but is, by his own showing, so ignorant of his duty under the law regulating his department as to make his retention in office a single day a public out- rage. We have only to refer toa portion of his remarkable testimony at the inquest to prove this fact. ‘I have no more right to enter a man's building and to throw down its walls or a chimney than I have to take his pocketbook from him,” said this model Super- intendent to the jury, and he further testi- fied that he did not see the particular re- port of the inspector of the Duane street district, in which the dangerous condition of the Shaw building was officially brought to the notice of his department. Now, the law under which the Superintendent acts is very explicit in its provisions in regard to the se- curing or removing of unsafe buildings or parts of buildings, and under it the Superin- tendent has ample power to do the very act which he claims would put him on a par with a pickpocket or a highway robber. Sec- tion 36 of the Laws of 1871, chapter 625, re- quires the department, on a building being docketed as unsafe, to serve a notice on the parties in interest ‘requiring the same to be made safe and secure, or removed, as the same may be deemed necessary by the said depart- ment.’’ This renders it incumbent on the Superintendent to satisfy himself, in the first place, as to the actual condition of the building, so as to know whether it is necessary to notify the owners to “remove” it, or only to make it “safe and secure.’’ In this case the notice to the owner was to make ‘‘safe and secure,’’ and not to “remove.” This, we insist, was the first gross neglect of duty on the part of the Superintendent. The report of the inspector, Fitzpatrick, on which the notice was based, stated that the wall on the west side of the burned Shaw building was ‘unsafe and dangerous,’’ inasmuch as it was ‘badly sprung and bulged.” This wall was one hun- dred feet long and ninety-six feet high, with large beam holes in it, the beams having burned out, and “‘badly sprung and bulged.” The Superintendent admits that he never ex- amined it himself; that he went to the ruins, but only looked at them from the top of the adjoining hotel, and did not notice the west wall at all; yet he thought it sufficient to notify the owners to ‘make it safe and secure,"’ without requiring them to ‘remove” it. The manner in which the safety and se- curity were insured is shown in the death of five persons and the maiming of several others, Section 37 of the same law limits the per- sons receiving the notice to twelve o'clock noon of the following day to signify their readiness to comply with its requirements. If they fail to do so, that and the following section specify how the work is to be done by the Building Department and how the ex- pense is to be met. The preliminary pro- ceedings, made necessary by the law, limit the loss of time, at the outside, to four days, after which the Superintendent can proceed legally with the work, without fear of being held liable for an offence of the grade of pocket picking. But if the owners signify their readiness to comply with the notice the duty and responsibility of the Building De- partment do not end. It is the duty of the Superintendent, still, to see that the work is forthwith and effectively done. The accident itself is proof that either in the original notice, which failed to require the ‘‘removal”’ of the unsafe and dangerous wall, or in sub- sequent vigilance in seeing that the work of making safe and secure was properly done, the head of the Building Department has criminally violated his official duty. The act that the present Superintendent considers equal to the robbery of a pocket- book has been frequently pertormed by his predecessors, who were without any such legal powers as he possesses. In 1863 Wilson's cracker bakery on Fulton street was burned. The walls and chimneys, left standing, were pulled down by the Superintendent of Build- ings, Chief Decker of the Fire Department furnishing ropes, hooks and ladders. The | insurance companies protested and attempted | to stop the men engaged in the work, but tho demolition was made complete. Two years afterward the walls of a five story tenement house on the corner of South and Oliver streets, were unceremoniously served in a like | | manner after a fire. large _— building on Broadway and Fittieth street and the front wall of the Appleton building suffered similar summary treatment at the hands of the Building Department, despite protests from the insurance companies, and in all in- stances the courts sustained the action of the department, There is, therefore, no excuse, either in law or in precedent, for the neglect of the Superintendent, and the people will expect prompt action in the matter on the part of the Mayor. It is a suspicious fact that Inspectors Fitzpatrick and Maloy, who knew more about the condition of the wall in the Shaw building than any other parties, were not called as witnesses before the Coroner's jury, and it will be advisable for Mayor Wick- ham to secure their testimony. Tho walls of Serrell's | The King of the Lobby. Uncle Sam Ward, tha King of the Lobby, graciously permits one of our correspondents to mterview him this morning. The difficulty with royal pronunciamentos is that they have an oracular quality and are more remarkable for their concealmentsthan their statements, A speech from the throne is generally little more than a lesson in grammar, and the Queen’s English is only another phrase for mysterious phrases and doubtful rhetoric. Uncle Sam has royal qualities. He isas witty as Frederick the Great and as fond of writing verses. Uulike Frederick he completes hia own rhymes and does not turn them over to any scoffing Voltaire for revision. Like the King of Bavaria, he has a subtle ap- preciation of music, although he does not es- teem the music of the future. The King of the Lobby does not have confidence in the fu- tare. His kingdom is in the present. Like King Cole, whose history we are free to ad- mit is too romantic for serious illustration, Uncle Sam is a jolly old soul, and could teach a Louis XVIII a lesson in sauces and salads, Whether His Highness can dance on a tight rope, like Charles X., or make locks like Louis XVI., wedo not know. We ara certain he could if he tried. Unlike this biacksmith kg, however, our Uncle Sam will never lose his head. We must confess in reading these brilliant sentences of the King of the Lobby that we cannot resist the impression that there is much more to be said on the subject. Uncle Sam is nct a monarch who squanders his con- fidences. The people, he feels, are to be amused and not informed, and we presume we must await the publication of his memoirs, which will not appear until fifty years after his death, for the true story of his times This diary will, wo are assured, equal Walpole in brilliancy and Greville in frankness, Having obtained this valuable contribution to the history of tha past Congress from Uncle Sam, we now pro- pose to interview Uncle Dick. This-is a work that will require time, tact and preparation. Unele Dick is not as fine a poet as Uncle Sam, but his strong point is enthusiasm. Tue Port Jervis Ice Gorcr.—The danger with which the ice gorge in the upper Del- aware threatens Port Jervis and all the towns along the valley and on the river banks for miles remains, in its essential features, undi- minished. It hangs above them like a gigan- tie sword of Damocles, and excites aa much terror as did that famous and terrible weapon. No comparison is likely to be too extravagant for an ice gorge such as that we illustrate and describe to-day. It is a menace of nature, the united threat of both winter and spring. Mun cannot avert nor evade it, human ingenuity is wasted in the attempt to lessen its dangers, and nothing can be done but to await the result in patience. A sudden thaw would result in vast loss of prop- erty and probably of life. The situation as it was yesterday above and below Port Jervis is fally and picturesquely described in our cor- respondence, and the large and complete map appended will repay the study of the reader, Rarm Trayxsit.—From our reports else. where printed it seems as if we are to have rapid transit. We are in favor of any and all the schemes, for we waut rapid transit, no matter upon what plan it is based. But why not begin by continuing the Elevated Railway to the Harlem depot, there to connect with Vanderbilt’s lines? That could be done in sixty days. It simply involves a short line, either elevated or through @ tunnel, from Ninth to Fourth ave- nue. If necessary, a tunnel could be made along Forty-second street, like what we have now on Park avenue, aud thus we could have steam from the Battery. This would ba a beginning, and we could keep on increasing and improving our facilities, The common sense fact stands out above all this discussion, that if we want rapid transit we can have it by the 1st of May. We hope the new move is not simply a change of tactics by the enemy. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Mr. J. S. Clarke, the comedian, is residing at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. mr. and Mrs. Scott Siddons arrived last evening at the Clarendon Hotei, Ex-Congressman J. Ambler Smith, of Virginia, 1s staying at the Metropolitan Hotel, Ex-Senator Alexander G, Cutceil, of New Jersey, is registered at the St. Nicholas Hotel. Judge Hugh W. Sheffey, of Virginia, is among the late arrivals at the New York Hotel. Professor Henry 1. Holton, of the University ot Vermont, 1s stopping at the Fifth Avenue Hutel, Ex-Congressman Lyman Tremain and General S. E. Marvin, of Albany, are at the Giisey House. Mr. Edward McPherson, Clerk of the House of Representatives, 1s aojouruing at cue Filth Avenue Hotel. Congressman Thomas U, Platt, of Owego, N. Y., has taken up his residence at the St. Nichoias Hotel. Don Enrique Pineiro, Minister of the Cuban Re- public to Peru, arrived at Valparaiso ou tue Lat of February. Chancellor Jonn V. L. Prayn and Judge Amasa J. Parker, of Albuny, have apariments at the Bre- voort House, Vice President Henry Wiison arrived tn this city yesterday from Washington aud 13 at the Grand Central Hotel. Seiior Ursigli, Consal General of Italy, in Cnilt, has leit for Europe to the great regret of bis nu. merous friends, Lieutenant George M. Wheeler, of the Engineer corps, United States Army, is quartered at the Filth Avenue Hotel. It appears on the authority of the Statisticians that one of woman’s rights is to live longer than man. Or iS it an aggravation of her wrougs thas he thus escapes her. Lucy Hooper says we doa’s know much about butter in this country, and then she mentions the French article, Of course she’s been eating the new kind they have over there—WRich, it appears, 1s made out of suet, Taine 18 reported by Edmund About to have said that he will offer himself for a seat in the Academy when he can be received by Renan; and Renan, already rejected, bas sworn that be will never again become a candidate. Mr. F. Thomas, the Plenipotentiary of the United States to Peru, proposes to leave for nome ia March next. Mr. St. Jono, Her Britannic Majesty's Minister to Peru, arrived On tue 7tn inst., and hag taken charge of the Legation, Evidently the word clew, as used by the police, must be added to Dr. French's tist of Eoglism words that have acquired new meanings, Nowa. days, when the police say they “have aciew” to a certain crime, this means that they are in Egyps tian darkness with regard to it, Hw Excellency, the President, gave audience to the following promineut geuriemen yesterday ;— Senators McDonald, McMillan, Boutwell and Dawes, ex-Senator Sprague, Bishop ames, Gou« ingails and Alvord, Governor Brooks of Ar- envatives Gurfleld, Waitely, Parker, Niblack, Morey, MgNulta, aud CX Kepree aepasive Poland ee en eT ee ee en ee ee