The New York Herald Newspaper, August 21, 1875, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD ei ca BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. + JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR, —-—— NOTICE TO SUB ‘RIBERS.—On and after January 1, 1875, the daily and weekly editioys of the New York Heap will be | sent free of postage. THE DAILY HERALD, published every | day in the year. Four cents per copy: | Twelve dollars per year, or one dollar per month, free of postage, to subscribers. All business or news letters and telegraphic | despatches must be addressed New Yonr | Hera. Letters and packages should be properly sealed, Rejected communications will not be re- | turned. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. PARIS OFFICE~RUE SCRIBE. Subscriptions and advertisements will be | received and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. VOLUME AMUSEMENTS TUS APTERNOON AND EVENING, THIRD AVENUE THEATRE, e, between Thirtieth and Thirty-Srst streets.— aiS P.M. Mutinee at2 P.M. Third avenn VARIETY, ROBINSON HALL, Wost Sixteenth street.—! on Opera—LITSCHEN AND ca and CHILP! C, a8 P.M. Matinee at 2 WOOD'S MUSEUM, Broadway, corner of Thirtieth street.—: P.M; closes at 10:45 P.M. Matinee at SLOCUM, at 8 PM. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, Fighth avenue, corner Twenty-third street.—AROUND THE WORLD IN EIGHTY DAYS, at 8 P. M.; closes at 11 P.M. at 1:30 P.M. METROPOLITAN THEATRE, a oe 587 Broadway.=VARIETY, aS P.M. Mat- Noa. inee GILMORE’S SUMMER GARD: Jate Barnum’s Hippodrome. —GRAND P R CON- CERT, a: 5 P. M.; closes ab 11 P.M. Matinee at 2 P. M. TIVOLI THEATRE, Eighth street, near Third avenue.—VARIETY, at 8 P. M. FIFTH AVENUE THEATRE, Eig ete street, near Broadway.—THE WRONG MAN IN (EB RIGHT PLACE and NAN, THE GOOD-FOR- NOTHING, at 8 P.M. Vokes Family. Matinee at 1:30 P. M. CENTRAL PARK GARDEN. ‘THEODORE THOMAS’ CONCERT, at 8 P.M. ng ALLACK'S THEATRE, | and Thirteenth street,—English Comie Opera— Bou , at 8 PM. Miss Julia Matthews, Mr. G. 1, ‘Macdermots. WITH SUPPLEMENT. NEW YORK, SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 1875, THE HERALD FOR THE SUMMER RESORTS. To Newspratens axp THE Pusric:— The New York Henaxp runs a special train every Sunday during the season between New York, Niagara Falls, Saratoga, Lake George, Sharon and Richfield Springs, leav- | ing New York at half-past two o'clock A, M., arriving at Saratoga at nine o'clock A. M., and Niagara Falls at a quarter to two P. M., for the purpose of supplying the Scnpay Henaxp along the line of the Hudson River, New York Central and Lake Shore and Michigan Southern roads. Newsdealers and others are notified to send in their orders to the Hznatp office as early as possible. For farther particulars see time table. From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be warm and clear. Persons going out of town for the summer can have the daily and Sunday Henatp mailed to them, free of postage, for $1 per month. Wart Srreer Yesternpay.—Stocks were somewhat stronger on a brokers’ market. Gold opened and closed at 113 1-2, selling meanwhile at 113 3-4. Money easy on call at two per cent. Ovz Buors.—The condition of the buoys | in the harbor of New York is a disgrace toa | civilized community. It is alleged by skilled pilots that many of the buoys in Gedney’s | Channel and the Swash are out of position, | NEW YORK HEKALD, SATURDAY, AUGUST: The Charges Against the Police Com- missioners. Tho formal charges presented to Mayor | Wickham yesterday afternoon against three of the four members of the Board of Police Commissioners do not derive their im- portance from the accuser who prefers them, but from the évidence of their truth which has been recently gathered by the Legisla- tive Committee and spread before the public in the reports of their proceedings from day to day. Even if an accuser had not appeared Mayor Wickham would have been bound to act. As the supervising guardian of the city | government he could not have ignored the sworn testimony taken by the direction of the Legislature, proving that the Police De- partment is a huge sink of moral rottenness and official corruption, The zeal of Mr. Townsend has simply relieved Mayor Wick- ham of the task of framing charges, and whether they are as skilfully drawn as they would have been by himself and his assist- ants is a trivial question. It suffices that they comprise the main heads of accusation and leave the Mayor no choice but to call upon the ineulpated Commissioners to make answer to the charges. That part of the | community which has read the reports of the testimony taken by the Legislative Commit- tee will not believe that the accused Police Commissioners can make a valid defence, and the moral sense of the public will be affronted and outraged if Mayor Wickham hesitates to do his duty by the prompt re- moval of Messrs. Matsell, Disbecker and Voorhis. Some of the topics and specifications pre- sented by Mr. Townsend are no adequate ground of removal, although calculated to make a deep impression of unfitness. That Mr. Matsell has been for many years the editor of a vile newspaper which pandered to the depraved tastes of the criminal classes, and by which he drew an infamous liveli- hood from the scum and dregs of society, is a sufficient reason why he should never have been appointed; but it would not, of itself, be a legal justification of his removal. The removing power cannot look beyond his con- duct in office, and had that been correct the present Mayor could not officially go behind it to inquire into his antecedents. But those scandalous antecedents give an air of probability to charges founded on evidence and deprive the culprit of any de- fence founded on previous good character. A similar remark will, perhaps, apply to the charge against Mr. Disbecker of an ont- rageous assault at the Metropolitan Hotel upon a porter who came to deliver a package of goods from Lord & Taylor. That brutal and indecent assault had no immediate con- | nection with Mr. Disbecker’s official duties, and, although it demonstrates his utter un- fitness for the place he holds, it is hardly cognizable by the removing power except in connection with other charges relating to his conduct as an officer. But it was a revolting and brutal exhibition to be made by any- body, especially by an appointed guardian of public order. The innocent porter, acting under instructions from his employers, re- fused to leave the goods he had brought unless they were paid for, whereupon this model Police Commissioner assaulted him with blows and poured out upon him a volley of the coarsest and vilest language used by the ruffians and harlots of the street. This disgraceful scene is not a ground of re- moval, but it was such a display of character as renders credible all the direct testimony to Mr. Disbecker's official malversation. It is by the sworn testimony to their cor- rupt and revolting conduct in office that the arraigned Commissioners must be judged, and this is too specific and damaging to need much confirmation from their bad antece- dents or extra-official infamies. They and | the force under them appear to have been in venal collusion with the most debauched vio- lators of the law and sharers in their illicit gains. The love of money, which we are told on high authority is the root of all evil, would seem to have been their besetting sin. The chief sources of their dishonest gains have been the gambling houses and the panel | houses, especially the latter. This is a | tempting ficld, because, in nineteen cases | out of twenty, shame shuts the mouths of | the victims. They cannot make complaints to the authorities without disgracing them- | and are, therefore, more dangerous than use- | fal to navigators. If this were to happen in j some small seaport of a semi-civilized State | it would be looked upon as a conclusive | proof of barbarism, and yet it is charged that | representations on the subject, made to the | United States authorities, are treated with | contemptuous indifference. The subject is | of sufficient importance to merit the atten- tion of the government, and we hope steps may be promptly taken to remedy so grievous an evil. ‘Toe Massacre Panic.—The negro scare in Georgia appears to have been gotten up for | Political effect. So far no conclusive proof of | an intention to massacre has been found, and | in all probability no such thing ever existed. | Even the most ignorant of the blacks must | feel that to bring on a war of races would be to insure their own destruction. If a few of the scoundrelly white men of both the politi- cal factions who are engaged in fanning ill- will between the races were hanged to the trees and left os a warning to their fellows it would be a great advantage to the South and to the nation. Let the law inquire into the facts of the reported conspiracy to massacre, and ifany be found guilty let them be punished severely, especially the fellows at the bottom of the trouble; but let ns have no panic and no ontery for vengeance based on an imaginary wrong, Rarm Transit seoms again in danger of eluding the anxious citizens of New York. | The time is rapidly approaching when the | Commission, called into existence by an act | of the Legislature, must terminate its labors, end yet nothing definite has been ac- complished. There are tho usnal rivalries | force in the face of clear evidence of their an- of interests and opinions dividing the coun- cils of the Commissioners, and charges of pelf-seeking already begin to be whispered pbout. ‘Wo hope the gentlemen of the Com- mission will not allow the splendid opportu- nity that has been placed in their hands of advancing the interests of the city to be Jost, but that they will prove their fitness for the trust reposed in them by giving to New | veries committed in those vile dens of shame | thorities in these unclean transactions is the selves, and no other species of plunder can j be enjoyed with such safety and repose or so much security against exposure. The rob- are seldom known except by the perpetrators | and victims, and in a general way to the po- lice, who easily detect the character of the places, although they may have little knowl- edge of the specific robberies. But they know enough to keep the people who run them in subjection and terror, and they levy constant blackmail on them as a consideration for not breaking up their business. The policemen cannot long earn these wages of iniquity without the knowledge of their superiors, and when the latter are vulgar, avaricious men, they enter into a sly confederacy with the officers and covertly pocket a share of the infamous gains. The occasional ferocious | raids on dens of infamy and shame are not undertaken with any real purpose of sup- pression, but only to inspire the terror which facilitates extortion. Every sharp policeman knows all the panel houses in his beat, and they could not exist a week without his con- nivance. But having an interest in their profits, which is shared by those appointed to watch him, they are never closed so long as they consent to pay, and the occasional vic- tims who complain never get any redress, The pecuniary interest of the poli natural explanation of the scandalous facts elicited by the recent investiga- tion of the Legislative Committee and repeated in substance in the charges brought against the Police Commis- sioners yesterday. It accounts for the fact that members are continued on the fitness or corruption. The Commissioners could not punish their subordinate accom- Plices without danger of exposing themselves if the corrupt subordinates should turn upon them and tell all they know. Many police- men who have not participated in these transactions know of their existence, and the fact that they have the reputation of the Commissioners in their power utterly demor- York a cheap and effaative system of rapid transik alizes the force. So long as they keep up the merest show af attending to their duties they feel safe from removal if they happen to be in possession of facts ineulpating their superiors. Their position is like that of slovenly private servants who know scandal- ous family secrets which they would be likely to divulge if dismissed. There is no possible remedy for the inefficiency and de- moralization of our city police but in remoy- ing these infamous Commissioners ang put- ting honest, reputable men in their place. We trust Mayor Wickham will not shri from the discharge of this imperative duty: And as the Mayor's removals cannot take effect until approved by the Governor let us hope that he will do nothing to affront the pride or offend the official sensitiveness of Governor Tilden and create another long de- lay like that which followed his charges against the late Corporation Counsel. All the evidence should be immediately for- warded to the Governor without even waiting for him to demand it, and as this is a period of comparative leisure there is no reason why His Ex- cellency should not give it his prompt attention. In so flagrant a case he cannot decline to act. We trust, therefore, that be- fore the end of another week the accused Commissioners will be decapitated and their places filled by citizens of standing and re- | pute who possess and deserve public confi- dence, The Return of the Team. There will be tendered to our returning riflemen a warm and fitting reception. We hope, however, that the people of America will mark their appreciation of the pluck, self-denial and skill displayed by the mem- bers of the American team in the interna- tional rifle contest at Dollymount. That victory reflected credit on the American people. It was not a victory for any city or section, but for the whole nation, and it is only just that all should join in mark- ing their appreciation of the splendid conduct of our champions. So far the work of procuring a suitable testi- monial for the members of the team has keen confined almost wholly to New York and the few with whom the com- mittee have come personally in contact. It is evident that unless a wider interest is taken in the collection of funds the testimo- nial to the team will not be worthy of the event. This would reflect discredit on the American people and would be an exhibition of ingratitude very foreign to their habits. For the honor of America the gentlemen composing the team made great personal sacrifices in abandoning their avocations for so long a period with no prospect of reward. Under these circumstances the nation will fail in its duty if some substantial testimo- nial worthy of the occasion be not tendered to them, and it cannot be done without money. Every man who takes pride in the victory won at Dollymount should send in his subscription to the committee. Governor Allen. The rumor that Governor Allen is to | retire from the Ohio canvass is a stupid invention. The correspondent of the Heratp, who interviewed Mr. Allen at his farm a few days since, found him in ex- cellent health, full of talk and vivacity, and buoyant with sanguine hopes, He is not the kind of man to back out after accepting a nomination. However deluded he may be on the currency question, he is under no de- lusion as to the popularity of inflation with a majority of the Ohio democrats, and he knows that they could substitute for him no candidate who would receive as many votes. Even Mr. Pendleton would not run as well, because the hard money minority of the party would then have to support inflation, pure and simple, or desert the ticket. So fatal would it be to change the ticket in the midst of the canvass that the party could not even afford to put a man of sense and discretion in the place of the voluble General Carey, who is spout- ing floods of nonsense over the State. It is to be hoped that the democratic party of Ohio may be laid out as a very cold corpse in October, since no calamity short of a third term could be worse than the success of the inflationists. But only the improbable event of his death can take Governor Allen out of the field. His party will succeed with him if it sueceeds at all, and we should rejoice to see the inflationists beaten when led by their most popular man. Tue Trovetes iN Eastern Evropz.— Our despatches from Europe that touch this topic appear to have a more hopeful tone than the facts they present justify. Russia, Austria and Germany are reported to have proposed a truce and an examination of grievances, which Turkey had refused, put- ting herself, with regard to her provinces, in the position taken by Spain with regard to Cuba, that disarmament must go before redress. Turkey, if she has done this, has rejected the only possible pacification, and has made certain such an extension of the trouble as will put the revolt beyond her resources, and will ultimately insure the loss to her of all the country she now holds between the Danube and the crest of the Balkan. Turkey bas no means to carry on a conflict with a warlike people of six or seven millions, and her borrowing capacity is poor. None of thé Powers whose proposition she has rejected, as reported, will, or can, sustain her on any other basis than the basis of that proposition, and what is the value of the guarantees of the Treaty of Paris the Porte must have seen when Russia put that famous document in her pocket in 1870, and Eng- land mildly whined abont it. Aw Azrec Crry.—In our Colorado letter is an interesting account of the ruins of an ane cient city seen by our correspondent in the southwestern portion of that Territory on a tributary of the San Juan River. As these ruins are the remnants of extensive struc- tures of masonry they have, of course, no re« lation with the story of the red man known to us as the ocenpant of the country, who has no masonry in his history. But upon a cursory examination no more than this can positively be said of them. It is, however, probably most rational to call them, as our correspondent has done, Aztec ruins, and thus to associate them with the history of the older race known in the story of Mexican civilization ; for it can scarcely be possible that time should have left nus such relics as these of any prehistoric inhabitants of the Continent The Centennial in the South, bama, member of the Board of Finance of the Centennial Exhibition, and Mr. Robert ‘Tyler have issued an address to the people of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee, urging them to take an active part in the Centennial Exhjpitiop next year, and to help the project by State and individual subscriptions. Messrs. Patton and Tyler | say, very justly, that the success of the Exhi- | bition is no longer a question, and represent to their constituents the great importance to the South of being adequately represented by a fine show of its peculiar products. No such opportunity to make known the great natural wealth, the remarkable, but for the most part undeveloped, resources of that | part of our country, will offer again for years. It is the opinion of all careful observers who have lately visited the Southern States that their‘ future is uncommonly promising. With free labor their natural resources will within the next fifteen or twenty years expe- rience a very remarkable development. Hitherto the South has been almost entirely an agricultural region; but even its agricul- ture has been but very imperfectly devel- oped. The Southwestera States, in- cluding Mississippi, parts of Alabama and Georgia and Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, contain at this time the greatest body of unopened fertile soil on this conti- nent—millions of acres which, when they are brought into subjection, will produce sugar, cotton and tobacco enough to make the South the wealthiest region in the world. But, besides this, the Southern States have | very great deposits of the best iron ore in the world, {immense undeveloped coal fields and much other mineral wealth. Moreover, a fair exhibition of the results of the cotton manu- facture alone in Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi at the Centennial could not fail to surprise capitalists in the North and Europe and draw their attention to the re- markably steady success of this branch of manufacturing. But while the material advantages to the South of the Centennial will be great, Gov- ernor Patton is quite right in considering the political advantages as still more important. It is quite evident that the Centennial is to be the occasion for a general hand-shaking between the sections. At Philadelphia next year the North and South will meet face to face, and nothing should be omitted which can help to bring the greatest possible number of Northern and Southern men together there. It is the interest of the whole country that the Centennial shall be in this respect a very great success. Its chief importance is, as a truly national assemblage, a gathering of the people from all the States, a grand con} vention of all the sections—not only to sce what each produces and makes, but to look in each other's faces, to talk over the future, to discuss and compare notes, to put aside old and useless grievances, just as the children of a family meet at Christmas, at Thanksgiv- ing, around one board, and there compare re- | sults of past efforts and revive old affections and old recollections. That is the true use of the Centennial, and we are glad to hear that in this view it excites more and more general interest all over the South, as it cer- | tainly does in the North and West. Foreclosure of Mortgages. | It is saidthat a good deal of real estate is being sold under foreclosure of mortgage, at this time, particularly by insurance compa- nies. Wherever this happens it may be taken for granted that it is speculation on unproductive real estate which is thus sacri- ficed; and this is a benefit to the real estate market. Itis simply such a clearing out of odd lots as is needed to put this kind of property on a sound basis. Trade is so dull just now, andso much capital is lying idle, that its owners are but too glad to be able to invest it in valuable mortgages; and no mortgagor who pays his interest regularly, and has really valuable property pledged, is likely, for the present, to be called on for the principal. But there is a large quantity still of unproductive real estate in this city and Brooklyn the owners of which find it difficult to pay their interest, taxes and as- sessments, and where they default the prop- erty is foreclosed, of course. When we hear of the great fall in the value of real estate it is mostly such property as this which is spoken of. It has fallen, and it may fall lower yet; but productive real estate, well placed, is not falling, and the owners of such property are not inclined to sell it at any price. They hold on, because it is the best investment they can have, and every move- ment for ‘more greenbacks” really increases the value of such property; for if the infla- tionists should carry the day there would be only two kinds of property for prudent men to put their means into—namely, gold and real estate. Mn. Gnrorspeck Deciives.--The Hon. William S. Groesbeck, who is one of the most prominent democrats, not only of Ohio, put of the United States, being requested to speak in the Ohio canvass ‘refuses. He is not that kind of democrat. He is ‘not in harmony” with the democratic platform. “It has some good things init.” he says, “but Iam a hard money man. I believe in asound currency. I want a paper dollar to be worth a dollar. Gold is the only legiti- mate standard of value. I am a democrat and always have been ; but I don’t subscribe to the financial plank in the democratic platform. It is against all precedent in his- tory, and is contrary to the teachings of the party in the past.” Judge Ranney, too, another eminent Ohio democrat, takes no part in the canvass. They can afford to wait. When Allen and Carey and Pendleton get done then will come the turn of such men as Groesbeck and Ranney. They will not have to wait long either. Sreampoat Punts.—Very properly the Coroner’s jury in the case of Krumrey, the man lost overboard from the steamer William Cook, censured the steamboat company for their reckless disregard for human life in permitting the overcrowding of their steamers and making no adequate prepar- ations in case of accident. We wonder why the authorities -do not interfere to secure the safety of passengers. Under the law this overcrowding can be punished by a heavy fine. Why are no steps taken to enforce the law? > 21, 1875——WITH SUPPLEMENT. Candidates for the State Offices. Ex-Goyernor Robert M. Patton, of Ala-| There is not as yet any definite concentra tion of sentiment in either party as to candi- dates for State offices to be nominated next month, with the single exception that the republicans are pretty certain to put Mr. Frederick, W. Seward at the head of their ticket and attempt to elect him as Secretary of State. This will be an excellent nomina- tion, both on grounds of personal fitness and as tending to party harmony. It will recall the days when Mr. Seward’s illustrious father was the most conspicuous man in the republican organization and revive the spirit which prevailed when the party in this State wasaunit; when no feud had arisen be- tween Mr. Weed and Mr. Greeley, and the distinction between Conkling men and Fen- ton men had not been dreamed of. Asa symbol of union and reconciliation there could be no more appropriate candidate on the republican side than the son of the deceased statesman who contributed more than any other individual to the early suc- cess and great career of the party which created the most important portion of our history since the adoption of the federal con- stitution, On the démocratic side there is also an at- tempt to bring hereditary influence into the canyass. Mr. Horatio Seymour, Jr., ‘the nephew of his uncle,” is talked of in demo- cratic circles as ‘the favorite candidate of Governor Tilden for the office of State Engi- neer. Unlike Mr. Seward, he is a young man of little public experience, but he is a civil engineer by profession and has been brought into notice by his exposure of a re- | markable instance of canal frauds. Thero could not be a more conspicuous triumph of Governor Tilden or a more emphatic indorse- ment of his policy than the nomination and election of this young engineer, whose only claim to so high a promotion lies in the ex- posure just alluded to and his relationship to.an honored ex-Governor, who has been for twenty years the most influential adviser of the New York democracy. Governor Til- den’s power over the Convention wills be measured by his success in procuring the nomination of this young favorite. Another gentleman much talked of fora place on the democratic ticket is ex-Lieute- nant Governor Allen C. Beach, the chairman of the Democratic State Committee. Mr. Beach is not a representative of Governor Tilden’s ideas, and yet the Governor would willingly consent to his nomination for the Comptrollership. It would tend to cement the party and reconcile the mutinous ele- ment to the nomination of young Seymour. Mr. Beach can go upon the ticket if he chooses; but he has higher aspirations. He expected to be Governor Hoffman's successar, and owes no good will to Mr. Tilden for sup- planting him by procuring the nomination of Mr. Kernan, who was defeated in the elec- tion by General Dix. So indignant was Mr. Beach on that occasion that he gave way to a sudden fit of petulance and deserted the con- vention as soon as he found how effectively Mr. Tilden had been working against him. accepts the nomination for the Comptroller- ship this year it will be a virtual surrender of his claims to the gubernatorial nomination next year, which he will be reluctant to do. But, on the other hand, he has a strong mo- tive for desiring the success of Governor Til- den’s Presidential aspirations, for if Mr. Tilden is not nominated for the Presidency next year he will be again a candidate for his present office, which would further postpone the expectations of Mr. Beach. The Crops North and South, In spite of rains and floods, army worms and grasshoppers, the crops promise to turn out satisfactorily. The wheat crop will not be so large’ as was hoped and believed six weeks ago, but it will be an average crop. Corn promises very well, which means a large meat crop for shipment, and from the South we hear no bad news about cotton. The floods have destroyed a good deal on the Lower Mississippi, but much less than was feared. Elsewhere the cotton reports are favorable. The European demand for both grain and cotton will give us good prices for everything we shall have to sell, and proba- bly a brisk demand for our products. Farm- ers and planters will make money, the rail- road people are hopeful and expect to have a busy and profitable season, and in the West local manufactories of different kinds are already fully employed. This condition of things would bring about a general revival of industry if only we had a sound and | stable currency. Butso long as we havea currency of variable value ; so long as party leaders on both sides urge still further in- flation and consequent depreciation of the currency ; so long as no man can tell for six months, or even six weeks, ahead what will be the real value, the buying power, of a paper dollar—just so long prudent men will lock up their means and decline to engage in new enterprises, no matter of what kind. With abundant crops and a promise of good prices all the country needs is a dollar of fixed value to start it at once on a new career of prosperity. This, unfortunately, our statesmen refuse to give us. The best of them are on the fence, the worst of them cry out for ‘more greenbacks.” While this lasts the best thing a farmer can do with his sur- plus cash is to turn it into gold and keep it there, or to buy land. Then, at least, he will know what he has got. Japanese LEGISLATION AND STATESMANSHIP form the theme of a very interesting letter from Tokio which we print this morning. The organization and work of the Genro In are detailed, and hereafter we shall probably have as full details of the doings of this | legislative body as of the Prussian Reichsrath or the British Parliament. Tun Estoration Commission seems likely to terminate ina row. Among the investi- gators yesterday something like the ‘lio direct” passed between two of the ‘‘gentle- men” composing the committee, and one member announced his intention of retiring. It is difficult to see what the aim of the Com- mission is, So long as Mr. Nolan was in view there was a very evident desire on the part of the members to find out how that simple young man pocketed his ‘big fee” and how it was distributed. Failing in this theinquiry has becomea little wild, and every- body seems inclined to tread on every other body’s favorite corn, but the public service does not seem to be much the gainer, If he j The Harlem Flats, Early in the season we called the attention of the Board of Health and the Board of Po- lice to the terrible condition of the lowlands known as the Harlem flats. The necessity of immediate action was admitted on all hands, and for a time we hoped that some- thing would be done to abate the nuisance, It has been found, however, that the red tape and the working at cross purposes of the differ- ent departments of the city government pre- vent anything from being done, and now we are alfhost without hope. Everything is tied up but the smells, and these are fouler than ever. ‘The frequent rains of the last few weeks, followed as they have been by hot- suns, are making the whole district unen- durable. It was bad enough before, and during the whole summer an epidemio seemed impending ; but from the causes wa have mentioned the condition of the flats ia so much worse now that we do not see how a plague is to be averted much longer. If an epidemic begins in the upper part of tha island its ravages will be fearful, and some- thing must be done to avert the danger. In their present condition the Harlem flats are a constant menace, and it is due to the long suffering people of the metropolis that it should be removed. Will the Board of Health make another effort to abate tha nuisance? There is some way to disinfect these pest beds, and we depend upon the health officers to discover it. Up to the pres~ ent time no earnest effort has been made either to obtain the money or to do the work, and such an effort is imperatively demanded. Should an epidemic sweep over the city from this cause the responsibility incurred by the members of the Board of Health will be more than they can bear, especially after so many appeals have been disregarded. They must do the work or show the public that the ob- stacles in their way were insurmountable. The Canal Frauds, Mr. Richmond, the State Engineer, who has come prominently into public notice in connection with the investigation of the canal frauds, passed ‘yesterday what our lively Frenth friends would call an exceedingly unpleasant quarter of an hour before the investigating Commissioners. They waated to know a great many things Mr. Richmond did not feel disposed to tell them, and they found Richmond as difficult a customer to dispose of as was his famous progenitor who slew the hunchback Richard. But there were too many Commissioners in the field for the American Richmond, and they harassed the poor man dreadfully about plans, sur- veys, &e. It must be confessed, to his “credit,” that he dodged about the questions proposed to him with exceeding great skill, and in a way,to set the most inveterate cross- examiner at his wit’s end. But his enemies were persistent, and the poor man left worried and sorely distressed. From the evidence already adduced it is patent that no defence can be offered for the enormous frauds perpetrated in connection with the canals. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE. Rev. Dr. Wilson, of Wilmington, N. C., is stopping at the Clarendon Hotel. * Senator Oliver P, Morton, of Indiana, is sojourning at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Mr. Hepworth Dixon’s new book is entitled “White Conquest; America in 1875.”” General William F. Barry, United States Army, is quartered at the Gilsey House. ‘ Mayor E. C. Anderson, of Savannah, arrived last evening at the New York Hotel. ‘The Marquis de Chambrun arrived at the Union Square Hotel yesterday from Washington. Mr. Frank Thomson, General Manager of the Penns sylvania Railroad, is registered at the Brevoort House. ‘They have got some private information at Springtield, Mass., that Tilden was not the man who discovered rer form. Mr. John H. Ketcham, Commissioner of the District ofColumbia, is residing temporarily at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Chief Engineer Charles H. Baker, of the United States Naval Academy, is stopping at the Union Square Hotel. Professor George W. Rains, of the University of Georgia, is among the late arrivals at the Everett House, Ex-Governor H. ©. Warmoth and ex-Congressmam Effingham Lawrence, of Louisiana, are at the Vifth Ave- nuc Hotel, Baron Schlozer, the German Minister, who has been absent in Europe for several months, has returned to Washington, Associate Justice Samuel, F. Miller, of the United States Supreme Court, yesterday arrived at the Metro- politan Hotel, A boy, ina wild state, about twelve years old and un. able to talk, has been captured by some hunters in Northera Texas. The city of Jeddo, in Japan, has established a public library, under the same general regulations as prevail in European countries, Awfully bloody-minded man that Tilden, to want to shoot everybody who plunders the people, Where does he keep his mitrailleuses ? Mr. Washington Booth, Collector of the Port of Balti- more, and ex-Governor Oden Bowie, of Maryland, have apartments at the New York Hotel, Rear Admiral John Rodgers and Surgeon General Joseph Beale, Cnited States Navy, have taken up their quarters at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. A new book on Atlantic telegraphy, by Mr. F. W. Chesson, will contain the history and the law of tele- graphic cables, including the most recent legislation im Canada, Secretary Bristow, accompanied by United States District Attorney G. C. Wharton, of Kentucky, arrived in this city yesterday morning and took up his resi- dence at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, A Chicago Times special from Galesburgy IIL, says that Jofferson Davis has accepted an invitation from the Knox County Agricultural Society to deliver the address at the Knoxville Fair next September. The reason Sambo doesn’t “insurrect” better in Georgia ia that probably the bloody shirt has not been well sent round, and the whites have not been so cruel as a well conducted population should be. A little volume on “The Wines of the World,” by Henry Vizetelly, one of the experts and jurors at the Vienna Exhibition of 1874, embodies much informa. tion about wines, natural and artificial, in a clear and intelligible manner, ‘The following officials from Cincinnati yesterday arrived at Washington, D. C.:—G. W. ©. Johnston, Mayor; Messrs. John Schiff and William storn Commissioners; Mr A. Stranch, Superinte Parks, The party intend to visit the great Eastern cities. The recently developea interest in the science of ceramics finds expression in Mr. J. B. Waring’s “Ceramic Artin Remote Ages,”” The book is amply illustrated in chromo-lithography, and the vases of Assyria, Greece, Rome, Germany, &¢,, receive thorough analysis, ‘This is the way they read the Governor's speeches in the irreverent town of Bufalo:—“In such a gravo crisis a8 this now impending in the State of New York,” says Governor Tilden, with beautiful self-abnegation, “mere party considerations disappear, Let us rise above parties, my friends, and especially let me rise above parties, Let me rise, I say, and in the name of canal reform (and gammon) don’t stop me until 1 give the word. For lam the people's only friend and my name ig ‘Sham Tilden.’!’ (Movement.)