The New York Herald Newspaper, August 28, 1875, Page 4

4 SPOTTED TAIL AND HIS PEOPLE. Visit of the Indian Commis- sioners to the Agency. Condition of the Brule Sioux---Charac- | teristics of Their Chief. STORY OF AN INDIAN’ PRINCESS. 4n Indian Powwow—Complaints and Charges— * Sentiments of Swift Bear and Spotted Tuil. Sroreap Tait Ixpsan Aarycr, Neb., August 18, 1875. ‘The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the management of aifairs ut Red Cloud Indian Agency paid H ‘4n incidental visit to this place this week, arriving on the forenoon of Sunday and leaving in the afternoon of Monday, The agent, Major E. A. Howard, received them very cordially, and afforded them every facility to Pursue their ‘aquiries, Professor Marsh's specific charges referred exclusively to the other agency, but, fs both Red Cloud and Spotted Tail are located on the Breet Sioax reservation, aud i some cases receive sup- | Plies from the same contractors, it was deemed aesirable | to bring the general condition of affairs at Spotted Tail as well under investigation, For example, the same contractor furnishes the beef cattle for the use of the Indians at both agencies, and the kind of cattle which has been furnished and the mode of weighing and issu- Ing them are points included in the work marked out for the commission. The original contract for furnish- | ing beef cattie was made with James K. Foreman, of | Omaha; he assigned it to W. A. Paxton, of the same | city, but the cattle are furnished by Jumes W. Bosler, of Carlisic, Pa., who is an extensive cattle dealer, and was one of the unsuccessful bidders for the contract, Mr. Bosler has two brothers who remain in this section ofthe country and give their personal attention to the details of carrying out the contract, the one (J. H.) having general supervision, and the other (G. M.) remaining with the large herds from which cattle are taken from time to time and driven to the agencies for issue, GREAT HERDS OF CATTLE. After having witnessed an issue of nearly 400 head ™m one of the delivery days at Red Cloud Agency— | een them received and weighed and passed out to the | Indians, who killed most of them immediately on the prairie and carried off such portions as they wanted— _ the Commissioners, in compliance with the wishes of | the Indians and of Mr. Bosler, as well as to satisfy | themselves of the general appearance and condition of | the main herd from which that day’s issue haa been | taken, made a detour ot forty miles to inspect the herd | on the banksof the Niobrara. Before that last issue there were 6,000 in the herd, and on the occasion of the visit of the Commissioners on Saturday over 5,500. ‘The three brothers Bosler were present on the field and answered such questions as were put to them. The cattle were close herded, and even then they covered a large extent of land; but when they moved off to graze atdaylight in the morning, covering the undulating surface of the country as faras the eye could reach, the sight was really remarkable. Of course the scene Suggested the idea of ‘cattle on a thousand hills,” which, in this connection, is not an inapt allusion. The herd was an excellent average herd of Texas cattle, and Mr. Bosler said they were similar to the cattle which have been furnished to the agencies all along. ‘The estimated number of cattle grazing in this section of the country within an area of seventy-five miles ‘Square is over 500,000. THE NEW AGENCY. Spotted Tail Indian Agency is now located on Beaver Creek, a tributary of White River, about forty-fiv miles northeast of Red Cloud Agency. It has a beauti- ful location in a lovely little valley that affurds oppor- tunities for farming which are rare im this section of the | country. The Indian villages scattered along the line of the stream for nearly twenty miles add variety and life to the picturesque appearance of the valley. This | agency was formerly kuown as Whetstone, and three Years ago was located on the Missouri River, twenty miles above Fort Randall. The name was changed to Spotted Tail ou the Ist of January. The buildings now in use are only temporary. Workmen are engaged in putting up permanent wooden buildings, including a sidence for the agent, a place of worship and a school- house. Several lady teachers, who have volunteered their services under the auspices of a missionary society of the Episcopal Church, ure already ou the ground, and, indeed, have commenced their preliminary labors. ‘They expect to open schovl with a regular attendance of fifty scholars, The military post near the agency is ow known as Camp Sheridan. ‘THE BRULE Sioux. * The Indians belonging to this agency are what are known us the Brulé branch of Sioux. They number now, it is claimed, about 8,000; but it is believed that | these figures arc too high. They are divided into two principal bands, Spotted Tail, who is chief of all, having his immediate followers, who number more than half the whole; while next to him is Swift Bear, who has ‘ander his control a combination including the Corn Band, the Loafers and the half-breeds, more or less of | whom are associated with every Indian agency. The Corn Band never have been hostile. Formerly they re- sided on the River Platte, in the vicinity of Fort Lara- mie, and on the White River, near the present site of Red Cloud Agency, where they commenced raising corn, from which circumstance they derived their name. ‘They are giving sume attention to agricultural pursuits | &t their new location, and are anxious for better facili- ties in the way of farming implements. The principal foldiers in Spotted Tail’s band are Two Strike, Black Drow, Big Star, Looking Horse, Crow Dog, He Dog ‘sod Kill on Horseback; and among those immediately | under Swift Bear are White Thander, White Wash, Red Weazle aud Good Voice, Some of the Northern or Wild Indians occasionally come from the more distant *arts of the reservation to live for atime upon their | ‘ends iu this vicinity, but the Brulés are peaceably disposed and seldom go further than a day’s journey from the agency. There is more our less disposition among them to live in houses instead of tepees, and to assume other habits of the whites, such as those of dress and industry. Each of the two principal bands has over a hundred cows, which they have saved out of their regular beef rations, and which they use for dairy purposes. Must of the horses und wagons stipulated to be furnished in payment for relinquishing their hunting grounds in Nebraska have been received, and the In- diaas to whom they are assigned are delighted with | them. The mixed bloods at this agency are rather , humerous. They number in all between five and si hundred. There are heye about fifty white men mar- | ried to Indian women, and this class is known at Indian agencies as “squaw men.’ They are entitied to draw | Fations from the goverument the same as full-blooded Indians, und they generally locate as near the agency ®S possible, Some are employed about the agency, | some work for contractors, while others seem to have | little elae to do than to demoralize the Indians of to get | into trouble with the agent, Ts may be that im some | | | | } | | | cases they have cause for complaint, and that the charges of irregularitics and frauds made by some of (wom are well founded; but, as a class, they are very | Inferior and not to be trusted. | BUNPAY BERVICE—CUARACTER OF SPOTTED TAILS The Commissioners arrived hora on Sunday morning and took up their quarters within the agency enclosure, where they pitched their tents and rested until even- ing. The Kev. Mr. Cleaveland, the Episcopal clergyman | who has lately come here to take charge of the mission, | | held service in his house, at which the Commissioners and the employés at the agency attended. Spotted Tail was presevt also, and likewise two well-known friendly and favorite Indians—Sitting Bull and Fuce— whom the Commissioners had taken with them from ‘Red Cloud Ageacy in jieu of a military escort, But Spotted Tail was the most conspicuous of the three. He bas great versatility of character, good common sense, ability to govern both by power and policy, and a fine face, indicating in feature and expression both force and genticuess, It is only « few years since Spotted Tail, as well as Red Cloud, was on the war path, | Was recited, he understood that it was the worship of | religious service two young Indian maidens, who have | | sang some hymns which have been translated into the | of marked attention from many officers of | Tuling chief, and on that account alone entitled to some | cherished an affection for an army officer, and that as an NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, AUGUST 28, 1875.—TRIPLE SHEET. tncied once he could exterminate. The noted chief was dressed in his peculiar costume, the clergyman in his sarplice, and although Spotted Tail could not anderstaud the language in which the service Him who is no respecter of persons and whose love embraces every tribe and nation, Atthe close of the been for a few weeks ymider the tuition of the teachers, Yankton dialect of the Dakota or Indian language. What a change from less than ten years ago! Those once sanguinary enemies of the whites were now sitt under the same roof with them, the best of friends, all uniting inthe worship of the Prince of Peace. How was it that this great change was brought about? How was it that Spotted Tail’s hostility was turned to friend- ship? Providence etaployed a beautiful and gentle instrument to incline the naturally tender heart of this great Brulé chief to everlasting friendship with the whites, WHY SPOTTED TAIL MADE PXACK WITH THE WHITES— STORY OF AN INDIAN PINCHES. Before the Treaty of 1868 nearly ali tho Sioux were hostile, The march of immigratiomhad driven them over the Missduri River, and the settlement of the country further westward, incident to the building of the railroad across the Continent, showed them that, year after year, their hunting grounds were becoming | more and more contracted. In times of peace the Brulés had often pitched their tents, or tepees, on tho North Platte, and Spotted Tail and his family had fre- quent opportunities of visiting the garrison at Fort Laramie. The inteliigence and demeanor, as well as the perzonai beauty of his eldest daughter, Peheziwi, had made her a favorite at the fort, She was not slow | to see the great advantages in superiority of numbers, in intellectual acquirements and in all the comforts and graces of civilized life which the white race had over her own, and it was only natural, with her fine menial and physical organization, that she should have be- come very friendly to the whites. As a child she at- tracted the notice of every one ut the fort, and when she was blooming into womanhood she was the recipient the volunteer troops which at that time (soon after the close of the rebellion) chicfly composed the garrison. Besides being beautiful, intelligent and graceful, she was a pure Indiar princess, the eldest daughter of the consideration. Her figure was rather below the medium | height, her face a well rounded oval, her eyes black | and piercing, her nose small and straight, ber lips full and finely formed and her teeth remarkably white and perfect. Indian nantes very often are misnomers, as is the case in the present instance. Peheziwi means yel- low hair; but her hair was raven—not coarse as you often see it on the Indian, but fine and soft and silken, and quite in keeping with her exquisite organization To these physical features she added a native modesty and a grace of movement which lent their poetic influence to increase the sum of her attractions, When she used to be at Fort Laramie in the winter, wearing her blue cloth dress, beaded leg- gings and elaborately ornamented mocassins, with strings of Iroquois shells for earrings and necklace, | her hands and arms adorned in Indian style with rings | and bracelets, and a handsome buffalo robe thrown around her, she was always, as the phrase is, “the ob- served of all observers.” Peheziwi used all her influ- ence with her fgther aud her people to dissuade them from further resistance to the whites, She well knew that war against the white race was ouly suicidal, and she was as a sweet messenger of peace wherever she moved among her people. But Indian outrages upon settlers on the frontier pro- yoked retaliation by the troops stationed in the West for their protection, and these growing troubles led at length to a state of general warfare between our soldiers and the hostile Indians. It was with a heavy heart that Peheziwi saw her people drawn again into a contest | which she was well aware must necessarily be hopeless. ‘After the red men found on the warpath had been pun- | ished, and the council was called to assemble at Fort Laramie to discuss new stipulations, Spotted Tail moved with his band to within a reasonable distance of the fort in order to keep posted, but not, as is alleged, disposed to enter into peaceable relations with the gov- ernment, It was at this period that his favorite daughter was attacked with what, within a week, proved to be a fatal illness, The fever took fast hold upon her, and though the medicine men of her tribe for days and nights went through their superstitious in- cantations, he could see the life of his first born pass- ing away to the hereafter. Knowing that her days were numbered and the hour of her departure near, she made a last pathetic and affectionate appeal to her father in favor of peace with the pale faces, An In- | dian’s eldest child is always regarded with special favor. As his eldest daughter and his pride, and by the love he | bore her, she insisted that after her death, which was | now so near, he should go straight to Fort Laramie and Meet the white chiefs and make a treaty of peace with them which should endure forever. This I have from Spotted Tail himself through an interpreter. “Remem- ber the dying words of Peheziwi,” she said; “go to the pale faces, shake hands with them strong,” which in Indian parlance means true and lasting friendship. “Promise me this; and promise me also, that as a pledge of that peace, you will bury me in the cemetery among the pale faces at Fort Laramie.” What was this but the echo of the Divine Voice speaking to the | heart of the savage chief in the fading accents of his dying daughter? He could not resist such an appeal; | his heart was melted, for he was devoted to her; his judgment was convinced, as he recalled her arguments; | ‘and, taking her hand in his, he pledged his affection as @ father, and his honor as achief, that he would carry out her wishes to the letter. Her mission was accom- plished, the hour of ber death saw the triumph of her life, and her soul ascended to the Spirit Land to share the reward of those who, like her, had labored for “Peace on earth.” Spotted Tail was equal 6. his word; he went to Fort Laramie and made the treaty; he is now among the most intelligent and friendly of all the Indian chiefs; and an Indian grave within the limits of the fort, towering high above the graves of the white people buried there, stands as the pledge of peace secured by the Princess Peheziwi It bas been said that she had alliance was impossible her premature death, at the early age of eighteen years, was owing to the influence of her unrequited passion; bat this is questioned, and isdoubtful. When Spotted Tail passed through Fort Laramie, a few months ago, on his way to Washington, he pointed to the grave, his eycs filled with tears, and he said every time he saw that grave | his heart was big with sorrow at the loss of Peheziwi, | and then it was big with gladness as he remembered her sweet words, He was riding with the interpreter, | iny injormant, 10 whom he also added, “Had it nut been for her appeal and for my promise 1 would not now be at peace with the pale faces.” When 1 passed | through Fort Laramie the other day I took occasion to | examine the grave of this Indian princess, The Indians bury their dead, not in the earth, but on platforms, | resting on four posts, some distance above the ground. | ‘The remains are wrapped in blanketg, and the imple- | ments ornaments of the deceased are buried with | | | | them, The post chaplain, Rev. Alpha Wright, bad offi- ciated at Peheziwi's funeral, The beads and tails of her two favorite white ponies, which were killed on the | occasion, were nailed to the jour posts which support the box wherein ber remains laa been deposited. Tho , rude Structure is Leginning to decay, and it would | seem that some measures should be taken to preserve it. A more substantial one of some durable material might be erected, but in Indian form and fashion, and the remains transferred from the broken wooden box to a receptacle which would serve as a worthy monu- meut to the memory of this good Indian princess. Per- haps the officers at Fort Laramie might have or obtain authority to put this suggestion into practice, APPAIRS AT TI AGENCY, Only a superficial examination of the affairs at this agency was made vy the Commissioners, or more prop- erly | should say only a comparatively short time (one day) was devoted to it, but the time was used to tho best advantage, On Monday morning the supplies on hand in the warchouse were examined carefully and | found to be good in quality, with the exception, per- | haps, of the tobacco, which is bad and not the kind suit | able for the Indians, It was ascertained that perfect | harmony existed between the army officers and the | agent--a condition which was found to be otherwise | with reference to the military post and the agency at | Red Cloud. The agent testified that he had no tnterost, | direct or indirect, in any of the contracts for supplies, Ror in the business of the traders, Inquiry was made | into the kind of cattle received, and the system of | But last Sunday he was one of those who silently parti- | weighing and issuing them to the Indians. It would | cipated in the worship of the Great Spirit, accord. ing © the cusiom of the Whites whom he seem that this is a matter with reference to which there | is toom for much improvement, Some of the “squaw | | sat on the ground in the form of a semieirclo, Spotted | to the Indians, Ed men” called attention to certain charges against the agent, which they had sent to Wash- ington, and tlie Commissioners made a note of it, and requested Major Howard to forward | was | his answers to them, So far as the examinatl pursued the affairs at Spotted Tail Agency appeared to | be honestly administered. I do not know what the Commissioners may think about it, but they appeared, at least, to be pleased with their visit, AN INDIAN Powwow, In the afternoon a kind of. council was held in the Open space in front of the agent's office, The Indians ‘Tail and Swift Bear, the two principal chiefs, occupying seats of honor nearest the Commissioners. Among the other red men present were Looking Horse, He Dog, Tall Bull, Two Str Kill, on Horseback, White | Wash, Baptiste Good and Good Mawk. There is some question about the high standing of some of these, however, as Spotted Tail and Swift Bear explained to the Commissioners afterward, Spotted Tail was dressed in a white shirt, blue pantaloons, fancy beaded mocassins, with a blue blanket wrapped around him and a fan of eagle feathers in his hand. At the outset some question arose among the discontented head men as to interpreters. ‘They ob- jected to Louis Bordeaux, an intelhgent half-breed, on the ground that hoe was kindly disposed toward Spotted Tail and might not do them justice. ‘The agent asked them who they wanted, and they said Geru, who is a “squaw man.” That individual was sent for, but he | refused tocome, Then the agent told them that here wero the Rey, Mr. Cleaveland and Mr, Alston, both of | whom understood their language, and they could cor- rect apy mistake that might be made, The disatfected faction finally agreed to this arrangement, and the pow- | wow then commenced, Mr. Quigley, another ‘squaw | man,” subsequently taking the place of Mr. Alston, COMPLAINTS OP GOOD HAWK. When Governor Fletcher had stated the object for | which the Great Father had sent this Commission out— namely, to see if the Indians were well treated, one | Indian immediately advanced and sat down to recite his grievances. When asked his name he said ho had none, but it was subsequently said to be Good Hawk. He said that at the old agency they had been treated |, but that since then their provisions had been constantly de- creasing, both in quality and quantity. The sugar, he said, was yellow as the sunflower, and so bad that it killed some of his people. ‘Yonder on the hills,” he | said, “you can sec the graves of those who have died from cating the sugar.” And then he complained about the beef, that the cattle were very small, or if any were big they were so old that they had no teeth; | and about the bacon or pork, that it was ‘soaked in water’? and they could not eat it, or, if they did, it killed their children. Some had starved to death for want og meat, The blankets were too small. They were bad where they were branded and were not received in time—not until the middle of the winter. The agent had refused to issue rations to their friends when they came in from hunting; “and this,” he said, “does not please us.” Then he wanted to be paid for the timber on the creeks, which was so abundant, he said, that it could never be exhausted; and in closing his general complaint he added ‘Lhave been without food fora month—a thing that has used up and done for many of my children, ”? BAPTISTE GOOD’S INDICTMENT, Baptiste Good, after some usual introductory re- marks, complained that the wagons which had been sent them were broken when received and the oxen choked before they got here, and he wanted new ones for them. At this point he pulled out his spectacles and a pile of papers, and, selecting one document which was covered on both sides with memoranda, frequently referred to it in the course of his subsequent observa- tions. He said a soldier had recently killed one of his fine young men and stolen his: horses, and the agent had not replaced the horses. The whites had tried to take away the game which the Great Spirit had given Baptiste Good went over the points alluded to by Good Hawk, and added others, principally about the quality and quantity of the rations. If the Great Father wanted to make the Indian like the white man, he said, he should hurry up the farm- ing implements. He also wanted pay for the timber, even that with which the white work- men were now erecting the schoolhouse, chapel and other buildings. He wanted a new agent—one that would pity him; and at the same time wished it to be distinctly understood that he did not want a military man as agent. “The white men,” he said, “are in the Black Hills, just like maggots, and I want you to get them out just as quick as you can. Tho chief of all thieves (General Custer) made a road into the Black Hills last summer, and I want the Great Father to pay damages for what Custer done.” He wanted money fer the hay Which was cut from off the prairie; wanted more money for the hides he sold the traders, and, with these and other things he mentioned, wanted the coun- try he was now living 1m secured to him forever, TWO STRIKE SUSPICIOUS. Two Strike said he was glad to see the Commissioners, but he evidently distrusted their authority or intentions, for he asked them at the outset, if they had really been sent by the Great Father to counsel with the Indians, to | say so honestly and straightforwardly; because other Commissioners had been sent out before, and while he thought the Great Father had told them to do right, it seemed to him that when they came out here they did some meanness, He said be was born and raised in this section of the country; he was now fifty-four years of age, and he wished to live and die here, He wanted better grub than he bad been getting, and more of it. His complaints were similar in substance to those of the previous speakers. REPLY OF YELLOW BREAST. After a “squaw man’ had added something to the same effect Yellow Breast came forward and told them they had been telling lies, “You people here,” he said, “have talked like fools; you have been abusing your agent, and your talk has been like that of chil- dren.” Yellow Breast defended the agent, and told them they would never geta better ono than Major Howard, ‘TESTIMONY OF SPOTTED TAIL. 2 THE CITY OF THE DOGES. Secasiinteetpart octane Amusement and Art Indus- . try in Venice. THE REDENTORE FETE. aecmteteanioe Oldest and Most Delightful of Ve- netian Festivals, -——_-- ITS ORIGIN AND PRESENT OBSERVANCE. A Visit to the New Salviati Studio-- Enamel Mosaics. Vexice, August 9, 1875, Of all tho festivals in the Venetian calendar the festi- val of the Redentore is the one most delighted in by the Venetians themselves; and, weather permitting, it certainly is one of the most enebanting spectacles imaginable, There is also a certain time-honored flavor in the remembrance that for the last three hundred ars this game feast of thanksgiving has heen | celebrated by succeeding generations, alveit with | fur greater pomp and splendor in olden days than now. Toward the middle of the sixteenth century | Venice was atthe height of hor commercial aud in- | dustrial prosperity; and her rulers, protectionists vo the | backbone, by wise laws, prizes and encouragement to | her citizens, did their uimost to inerease and maintain that prosperity. In 1574 Henry IIL, summoned from Poland to take possession of tho throne of France, and not caring to pass through Central Germany, where he was detested for his persecution of the Huguenots, accepted the invitation of the serenissima and | arriving at Malghora was met by sixty Senators, in gon- | dolas covered with brocaded damasks and cloths of gold, conducted to Murano, then full of sumptuous pal- | aces, delicious gardens, and peopled with rich and gay | inhabitants, and, after hearing mass, conveyed to Venice in a galley rowed by 400 schiavoné. The corporations of arts and trades floated 170 ten-oared galleys, tapes- tried with silk and satin, brocaded velvet and cloths of gold. The glass-blowers of Murano sent two galleys linked together, On one they erected a furnace, and in the presence of the King “evolved exquisite vases of every form and hue.”? As 8. Niccolo di Lido, the famous Palladio, erectea a triumphal arch, Tin- toretto and Veronese decorated it with ten pictures, A description of the decorations of the palaces Ginsti- nion and Foscaro, papered with gilded leather, hung with tapestry and furnished with ebony, the banquets served on gold and silver, the ball given in THE GREAT COUNCIL, CHAMBER, where 200 gentiidonne Veneziane displayed their gems and fascinations to the susceptible youth, would occupy pages, and serve to give a faint idea of the wealth, munificence and luxury of the Venice of those days, | anxiousto secure the alliance of France to counter- balance the power of Spain. But the year had scarcely closed when one of the brilliantly féted guests, returning to the scene of revelry, would have failed to recognize it for the same, The water streets deserted, the mar- kets closed, the palaces on the Grand Canal abandoned, the workshops silent, only the good old Doge Luigi Mocenigo and the Senate at their posts, doing duty for all the other magistrates, though after a Senator who had given judgment in the morning was A CORPSE BY EVENING, For the pestilence which for many months had been threatening, whose presence the Sanitary Council had denounced, but which, for fear of frightening foreign merchants and emboldening foreign foes, the bulk of the | citizens chose to ignore, now made itself recognized with exterminating vengeance, Venice was abandoned; the | Senate caused temporary houses to be constructed on the lido, on old galleys and barges; 3,000 barks were: | pressed into the service, At Santa Maria, in Nazarct, a pest house, capable of holding 10,000 persons, was con- | structed, whence the name of Lazzaretto, Vessels | brought janiper branches from Dalmatia and these were | burned to purify the air, Visitors were appointed to see that the water supplied was fresh from the Sile; that | the vegetables were fresh; that the meat and fish ‘were cooked and abundant, and still the pestilence raged, Twenty thousand persons were swept away, vnty noble families were totally extinguished, Then the old Doge sent for the — Patriarch, Giovanni Trevisau and took him into his counsels; and the Patriarch ordered the clergy to be doubly strict in the performance of their pastoral duties, and to see | that the bodily as well as the spiritual interests of the | poor were carefully attended to, and advised the Senate | to vow achurch to the Redeemer should He vouchsafo | the cessation of the pestilence, And the Senate the vow, and on the third Sunday in July it was publicly announced that the plaguebad ceased, and then the Capu- cin friars, who possessed a little church in the Giudecea Palladio, were sumtoned and ordered to build the votive church, which still bears the name of the Redentore But the Senate and population would not wait till it was | completed to record their gratitude, and a day was fixed for a procession to the site of the future Cathedral; and go numerous were the pilgrims who came from fur and near that there were not suflicient boats or gondolas, barks or galleys to convey them. And the Senate ordered A BRIDGE OF noATs to be constructed from the Pinzzella to the Giudecea, | and it took four days in building; and then the Patrr | arch and the Doge—no longer good old Mocenigo, for he | had died in the preceding May, but his successor, Ver- ner—and all the clergy und ‘the people from Venice | proper and her islands, and the populations of terra | Jorma, starting from the’ Church of St. Mark's, under ‘triumphal arches and festoous of flowers, over rich car- pets and tapestries, chanting the “Te Deum” to the sacred music of Guiseppe Zarlino, went and rendered thanks for the great delivery. | RBVELRY AND PEASTING, And from that day tothis, on the third Sunday in July, a bridge of oats is thrown over from the Grand Canal to the Giudecca, only the previous night, which Spotted Tail sat in silence while all these remarks | were being made; he was evidently -disappointed and | displeased at the position which some of his people had assumed, and he,refused say a word. ‘This closed the council; but he told Sitting Bull to tell the Commis- | sioners that those Indians wero fools, and that the men | of braing among his people were well énough satisfed with the Great Father und his agent, Iimmediately afterward Spotted Tail and Swift Bear were in- vited to’ hold a private interview with the Commission- | ers, at which the great chief said he regretted what had taken place. “The only complaint I have to make,” | said Spotted Tail, “is that Congress has appropriated too small an amount of money for vs, and, conse- quently, the amount of supplies we get is very limited.” | He said he knew the Great Father was feeding them gratuitously, He went on to give a clear account ol the way the appropriations were made and placed at the | disposal of the Indian Bureau, and how the goods were purchased and forwarded to the agent, and then he added, to show that he perfectly understood it, “the next is the Great Father has selected you, my friends, to come out here to look into the management of the agency.” He did not know of any steal- ing, but if there were any it was his opinion that it was done in the States before the goods arrived here, be- cause. they had to pass through so many hands. Hesaid it was true that the blankets were very bad and that holes came in them where they were branded, and that the quality of the bacon, the coffee and the sugar which they had had was very inferior; bat he knew that that was the fault of | the contractors and not of the agent. “I want gress to increase my rations from this time forward, and if you do that I will be very thankful for it.” ed Tail repeuted that he understood the situation, said the saffering which was caused jast winter was on account of the exireme severity of the weather, when it was utterly impossi far in proper season. One of the Commissioners, refer- ring to the inquired, “When state openly proclaimed be not your duty to have them ents, or lies of that kind, aro e the whole body of chiefs, Is it orrected befowe the sume persons to whom they were addressed?” Spotted Tail laughed and answered, ‘The Indians won't allow me to — spe nd if you were in my place you would not speak when they did not want you to.” He explained that those a had been chiefs, but were chicis uo longer; and Swift Bear added that they were jealous, and, like other per- sons, son es had given utterance to jealous talk. “f thought,” he said, “the white men always had good sense and were shrewd to understand, and you ought to judge yourselves from those speeches to-day what those men were trying to yet at’ “When the Brulés get in big tronble then who do they want to speak for ¥ inquired the Chairman, Spotted Tail’s modesty sealed his lips, and he simply smiled; bat Swift Bear came to his relief and answered for him, saying, “It is not Baptiste Good nor Good Hawk.” After conversing further with the agent an iployés about the mode of doing business at the agency and making extracts from the records the Commissioners bade adieu to all started homeward, via Red Cloud and Vort Laramie you,”’ he said, “to tell my Great Father and to tell Con- | to haut the supplies #0 | marks of Good Hawk and Baptiste Good, | once was occupied in devotion and prayer, is now given up to feasting and revelry, toevery amusement and imun- | dane pleasure that the etians, the most mundane of | | modern people, can devise. The Grand Canal illum- | inated, every gondola, bark, boat, dingy afloat, cach with fantastic lanterns at the prow} the bridge of boats | iMuminated, the Giudecea Quay a ‘blaze of tire. Then when the bridge has been passed the steam- ers, barges, boats, piatas and gondolas bear their freight to the Lido, where the exquisite illumination sugyests the idéa of a floating island on the sea, and here concerts, balls, sup games and jollity of every description wile out the fes- live night. At dawn you gather on the Lido shore to watch the sun rise the ; Mien the worldly- | minded return to Veni to bed, und the pious to | listen to Ube grand mass in the Church of the Redeemer, This year the torrents of rain that fell from noon tll | night spoiled the mundane festival, but on the morrow | the sun rose in triumphant splendor, and the Patriarch | and all the upper and lower clergy trom every | in Venice, with their standards and their can | marebed from St, Mark’s, crossed the bridge of bouts | and entered the church’ in procession. ‘The church, | which has a noble front, was spoiled, as usual, with the | tawdry tapestry, but the interior, from apse to base- | | ment, was exquisitely decorated with natural flowers aud the gran altar as beautifully lighted, H THE GRAND MASS. | was sung by the choir of St. Mark’, and the “Kyrie” | was truly solemn, The church was crowded, but en- | tirely by the poorer classes, the gondohers and’ boatmen | predominating, aud by foreigners, Of the noble or | bourgeois Vencti but one rep | wide along the quay vendors able found w | brandy ¢ struck om bunches of pinocchin, w' | were also very popular, traordinary shows, Betw« had upset a ship, and a railway accid where the animals of a menagerie emplos occupied in failing from the bridge into thi river in devouriig their ki sentation of “Garibaldi takin | Montecitorie on January 25, 1875," and custom se pretty equally divided between the three, made aa attempt to breaktast at one of the numerous little inns; but, though aceppung the maxim that one must cat one's’ peck of diré beture one dies, could not | reconcile ourseives to absorb such a preposterous quan- | tily at once, so resorted to Baur’s, whose landlord, | well trained by the Austrians in the art of supplying substantial, wholesome and cleanly cooked food at a fair price, still plies a thriving trade, mass was the priests, with their banner reed to their respective parishes without any sort of hostile demon- stration on the purt of the population, There is the “live and jet live spirit’' in Venice which I observed in Rome, Tho municipal body, trom the departure of the Austrians up to the late elections, has been decidedly anti-clerical, ‘Two years since the time set aside for centuries for the festival of the Redentore was struck out of the communal budget. But the procession was not prohibited, #0 the Church, instead of the city, pays for the building of the bridge, and the spectacle remains unchanged—the ‘thanksgiving’ is rendered still. KNAMKL MOSAICS. When I posted my letter anont the progress made in “the art of glass” and enamel mosaics I had not visit- ed the new studio in the Salviati establishment, which is entirely devoted at the present moraeut to the trans. lation into mosaic of Werner's grand picture of " Vie. | | tory,’ destined for tho commemorative monument in | hour of Plates of mu Away 8 nds Just ripe, the most ex- peter, Whose tail h California, ul the time underlying There was a repre- the solemn oath in | gluss is made, with mineral substances fused together, | at Venice the mosaics which now cover the grained ceil- | attained to perfection. | it to immaculate his ‘ | General Hi du Berlin. The surface to be covered py tne enamels is 100 metres, the picture being four metres in height, twenty-four in length, Some ten thousand gradations of color are employed in the reproduction. ‘THE KARLIEST MOSAICS on record are those mentioned in the first chapter of the book of Esther, forming the magnificent pavement of the polace of King Ahasuerus, of ‘red, blue and white and black marble.” In those times, probably, ouly marble and precious stones were used, and the work was styled iithostratum or tesselatum, The temple of Olympia also had a mosuc pave- ment, and that was®executed two centuries before the mosaic, by Sasus, of Pergamus, now in the Vatican Museum, But the ancients, with their fondness for color in architectural decoration, soon became dissatis- fied with the limited tints of marble, and by a judicious mixture of the silicious materials of which common they succeeded in imparting to the vitreous paste the density, hardness and color of marble itself, adding a softness, gradation and variety of color to be found only in precious stones, Pliny speaks of this as a new in- vention of his time—e vitro movitum et hoc inventum, Jn the Kast the use of mosaics was general, The Church of St. Sophia, that chef @euvre of Byzantine architec- ture, is filled with splendid specimens. IN THE PIPTH CENTURY the mosaics of St. Maria Maggiore were executed, and there are some very remarkable ones in the Mausoleum of Constance, of Galla Placida, and in the Baptistry of Ravenna. From the fifth to the tenth century the art declined, to revive again in the eleventh. Fine spect- mens are extant in the cathedral of Monreale, near Pa- lermo, and in the cathedral of Torcello, the “mother church” of Venice, Here the basilica of St, Mark’s offers, as it were, the history of mosaic art written in the undu- lating waves of ils marble pavement, in the enamelied surface of its vaults and cupolis, architraves and walls, In the early times the Venetians sought the aid of GREEK MASTRRS. Theophane, of Constantinople, opened a mosaic schoolin Venice, and in later times Titian and Trutorit designed the cartoons for the mosaic artists of their day—Zuceati, Bozza and Beanchim—to copy in enamel THE DECLINE OF LIBERTY THE DECLINE OF ART. With the decline of liberty and commercial prosperity this art also declined. The old mosaics were allowed to fall to pieces, for the cement used at different epochs was not always perfect, and even the ancient method of of making enamels and the peculiar art of imitating the chalcedony agate was forgotten, But the Redi of Murano retraced the mislaid methods, and Salviati set up a school for mosaic, choosing the best artists from the Venetian Academy, and opened a school for work- mon, where they were taught drawing and geometry. A HAPPY INVENTION of Salviati’s own enabled him to undertake mosaic commissions for foreign countries, and thus furnish the sinews of war for his Venetian enamel mosaic works on the grand canal, All the old mosaics were worked on the spot that they were to decorate; the surface of the wall prepared and covered with cement. The subject was produced by putting in the enamels piece by piece. Salviati on the contrary had his cartoons prepared and reversed, and has taught his scholars to work as it were up side down—i. ¢., they have the design before them and place the side of the enamels destined to view on the paper; these, separate fragments, carefully packed to go to the ends of the earth, are reversed, a special cement is prepared on the walls, the rough side js fixed into this, and you have the exact effect of the old method. In this way he wrought in his studio ing of the Wolsey chapel at Windsor Castle, which ineasures 2,100 superticial fect. The design, comprehend- ing ninety-two figured inscriptions, coats of arms, crests, mottoes, heraldic and sacred’ emblems, foliage, &c., Was exceuted in ten months, including the time of transit from Venice, preparations of cement and scaf- folding, for £4,724, And in the same way he is gradually RESTORING ALL THE OLD MOSAICS in St. Mark's, the pavement in marble as in the orig- inal, the “Apocalypse,” which was almost ruined, aud the ‘other grand pictures in enamel mosaic, THE ENAMELS themselves are now all manufactured in the establish- ment, In the gold and silver enamels he certainly has And the difficulty of this opera- tion is extreme. A ground of thick enamel is used, opaque or transparent according to the quality required ; then a gold or silver leaf is attached by the action of fire, and over that is again spread a film of purest glass. ‘The three layers must be perfectly faced, no ruifle or bubble, or the surface is spoiled, and the eye is vexed by a glitter on the surface and by a dull strata between the upper and lower layers, By the use of different. enam- els for the basis all variations of gold are obtained, from the brightest burnish to the pale, dull Californian, Once the operation successfully performed and the metal is protected from all possible injury from the atmos- phere, dirt, smoke or flies, and will retain for cen- turies its pristine splendor. HIS MEANS OF WORK. The numberless instruments that Salviate has in- vented for cutting the smath into all known geometrical Jorms and into the minutest fragments have materially contributed to the rapidity and precision of the works, and also to the success of the portrait department. Some of the portraits, as that of the late, much esteemed director of the works, Montecchi, and of Sulviate him- self, are lifelike, and you must go quite close to realize that the face .is wrought in a hard, opaque sub-tance, rather than painted in oils, HIS FIRST GREAT COMMISSION, I have spoken of the decorations of Wolsey chapel be- cause it was the first great commission that Salviate res ed, but during the last ten years every country in | Europe has sought his skill to perpetuate some epi- sode in its history, and we suppose that the Emperor of Germany is of Old Glurlondajos’ opinion, that “mosaic | is the only painting for eternity,” and henge has chosen | WER} in itself has obtained of praise, even from Ttalian connoisseurs. ill “come well’? in mo- saics we are sure from the few heads already wrought, but ig it is in itself a work of high art we are not con- vine ed HOW IT 18 COMPOSED—THE GRovPS. The composition, as the artist himself tells us, is di- vided into four groups. The first group represents the provocation of France to Germany, and the surprise of a people intent only on peaceful occupations. The peasant’s mother and chi dren are in the fertile flelds ; the fisherman and his son | ure casting their nets into the Rhine, and turn in terror, heralds of war which approach from the the river, Emilio Girardin, with the Na- | features, is chosen as that herald, Behind him is France, with the tricolor, wrapped in the imperial | mantel, covered with bees, with the red Phrygian cap, crowned with a laurel garland, and followed by the de- mons of wa Tantic for the fight. And nstantly, Germany herself, tic female, armed as a war: | rior, springs to the rescue, brandishing sword and | shield for the defence of her people and to repel the | violent aggression, In the second group we see the Germans, old and young, preparing not only to repulse the adversary, but to carry the war into his territory, Here Prince Frederick Charles occupies the chief place, and you see | him rushing on the e1 tthe head of his brave men, followed py w ‘The German popu- | lations have heard the war ery; the peaceful workingmen | Urge on their sons to the figlit} the landwebr arms, and at the first tussle the foe is worsted, ‘The principal subject of the third group is the rapid alliance concluded between the German races and the league between North and South, sealed with blood shed upon the battle field, The son of the King of the North, the Crown Prince ; of Kussia, hails the commander of the Bavarian army, y jartinan, on the cnemy’s soil. The warriors, surround their chiefs, waving in the air ronquered from the foe, A Prussian ut this spectacle to a Bavarian com- wounded, aud passing onward are ‘ecklonburg and General Vou Tann poleon | THE ENTURONRMENT OF GERMANY. | In the last group the new German Empire is en- | throned. The scene of the 18th of January, 1871, the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, is syn . A herald, wearmg the Bavarian — colors, olfers the Imperial crown to young Prussia, On the left of the throne we see the Crown Prince of the new empire, the Prince of Saxony and Princa Frederick Charles, With them stands Bismarck, who holds in his hand the deed of proclamation, uut Moltke and the War Minister Von Koon, To the right is the Grand Duke of Baden, who intones the first erviva to the new empire, The flags and standards ef Prussia are bent before the new Imperial German Power. Bavaria, Wurtemburg and Baden join with the Germanic Confederation of the North to prese ymage, The original sketch, cad of the xymbolical figure which received t W portrait of the present Emperor William, Issuing from the background, brandishing his sword, now that the fulness of the time approaches, is the legendary figure of old Barbarossa, The war cry has awakened him, and with him come the allegorical figures of Baden, Bavaria and Wurtemburg. Three per- sons bearing sword and shield pass out, as it were, from the fourth and last group, and thus conjoin st with the rah KAISKK WILHELM’S IDEAS, ‘This description of his own picture given by the author explains the political conception agreed upon with the Emperor, who himself insisted upon the substitution of the young German maiden for his own portrait, AN ARTISTIC VIEW OF THR WORK. Some of the figures are charming, and the attitudes natural and graceful, as those of the fishermen up to their waists in the river, the peasants and their children in the the old man with uplifted band curs pel them to exchange the e rod for the sword, But all belize France are gr exaggerated, — utte in bad — taste | cagle is "a spitting, spiteful, — seratch- ing fowl; tho German eagle majestic disdainful, the picture been painted at the out- break of the war we could have understood the senti- ment that dictated it, but now it sits not well on the conquerors to set in'stone that momentary phase and mood of her bereaved and hearth-desolated foe, THE LEADING IDKA of the picture is the triumph of the German over the Latin race; triumph secured by unity, by concord, by scientitic powers, THE CRNTRAL GROUP Tound the throne gives the exact portraite of the indi. viduals represented and 1s stiff and formal. Where Sulviati’s artists delight is in the vast field offered for the display of their rainbow tinted gems, which come into play in the — banners and standards, the different uniforms of cavalry and infantry, chasseurs, ganners, staff’ officers and royal robes; while the portrait painters revel in the contrasts of the fair haired maidens, and the brot warriors the Fy 4 bright Germany and grizzled ol¢ Barbarossa, The face of the wounded Bavarian, shout ing “Evoca,” is even more expressive in mosaic than in the picture, Commenced last May, it is to be com- ple in September, and whatever posterity may think of the artist it is sure to stand a triumphant record of monumental mosaic. NO SPECIMENS FOR THR AMERICAN CENTENNIAL. To my utter astonishment I was told that no specimen letters of the glass or enamel mosaic art are to be sent to the Philadelphia Exposition, This is no fault of Sal- viati himself or of intelligent and enterprising di- rectors of the establishment, Castellani and Piastra, to whose wise supervision, taste and prudence the success works is in great part dug. ‘The capital belongs 0 English shareholders, and the decision comes from them, From the point of view of Italian indus trial art we are really mortified, and from a business point of view itis great mistuke. Nowhere in the Old World 1s money lavished on modern edifices as now in America, and no decoration is so fitted for them as enamel mosaic, WAGNER’S DREAM, NEAR REALIZATION OF A LONG CHERISHED AM- BITION--THE OPERA OF THE FUTURE, [From the London Timos, August 14, 1875.) The long dream of Richard Wagner's life seems now on the point of being realized. When, some thirty years ago, he produced ‘Rienzi’? at Dresden, where, through the influence, it is said, chiefly of Meyerbeer, he bad been appointed kapelimeister, he simply gave birth to a showy and pompous reflection of the style of that early friend and model, This was before the “Communication to His Friends,” which forms an in- troduction to the published poems of “Der Fliegende Hollinder,” “Tannhiuser” and “Lohengrin;” before, according to his own confession, Wagner became “a poet; before he had laid down the theory which attributed the want of emotional impulse ip “the present”? to @ prevalent zeal for the “monumental;” and im his famous treatise, “Das Kunsiwerk der Zukunft,” explained te his friends that the true artist could only unfold him. self in a purely dramatic sense in conformity to the possible life of the “future.”? He, thereupon, had re- course to the mythos as his medium of expression; and the result appeared successively in the three above named works. Not absolutely satisfied, however, witb these, at least in regard to their alliance with music, Wagner strove more fully to exemplify his doctrine by the aid of still remoter myths, and the outline of this new endeavor appeared in “Tristan und Isolde” (or ‘“Tseult,” the ‘belle Isonde” of our own ‘Mort d’Arthur”’), “Rheingold,” and the trilogy of the “Nibelungen.”” These, the last offspring of Wagner’s genius, were imagined and developed in so unaccus tomed and colossal a form that the difficulty of getting them represented in agcordance with his preconceived notions seemed at first in- surmountable, Wagner was well aware of the facts, though not by any means dismayed, How incessantly, and with what astonishing energy, he has written and labored for the accomplishment of an object upon the attainment of which he believed and be lieves, conscientiously no doubt, depends the resuscita tion of German art in the shape through which alone, he protests, it ought to be exhibited, we need hardly say. His own literary works, backed up by those of his many enthusiastic disciples. have for a long period absorbed the attention of the reading musical public, Not to pay heed to them was barely possible, their vigorous elo- quence and acuteness of investigation being in a great measure irresistible, A more uncompromising or self> satisfied preacher than Wagner could scarcely be cited from the records of - art controversy, or a stancher or more resolute set of followers than those who advocate his cause. Whatever arguments may be brought forward in antagonisin to hg one fixed idea, it. cannot be denied that he has sue ceeded in fascinating and winning over to his cause 4 large number of earnest thinkers who preach Wagner- ist as an art-religion, and stand by him resolutely for weal or for woe. ‘These proselytes, it should be under- stood, thoroughly acquainted with his revolutionary. projects and his habitually emphatic manner of sup- porting them, insist upon Wagner, the whole Wagner and nothing but Waguer, ‘As has ulrealy been suggested, the realization of Wagner’s poetic and artistic dream seems near at haud—that is, in so far as a series of model performance by advan tages not very likely to be of frequet ogcurrence, may help towards it, *T'ristau und Isolde,” which, by the way, was composed between the second and third parts of the “Nibelungen”— an episode as it were—bad already beon tried and found practicable; and this notwithstanding the formidable difficulties which, except under unusu- ally favorable circumstances, ‘must always militate against a perfect representation of the drama and @ per- fect execution of the music. But now comes thes Iing of the Nibelungen,” *a dramatic festival play’? (Buh- nen festspiel) “tor three days and a preliminary even- ing.’ This extraordinary production, as the same Hanlick, with a slight Louch of exaggeration, says, “holds the same position relatively to ‘Lobengrin’ aa the Falls of Niagara to a glass of water,’’ A perform- ance of the “Ring des Nibelungen” on the grandest scale is to come off in the summer of 1876 at the new theatre, Which the composer, with assiduous persever- ance, has ‘contrived to’ get erected at Bey- reuth, where, with a view, it may be surmised, to the eventful occasion, he has for some time taken up his abode and built himself a house, The preparatory rehcarsals—preparatory because it is under- stood that,the months of June and July next year will beexclusively devoted to rehearsals of the work in ite inteyrity—have been going on at Baireuth, under Wag- ner’s immediate supervision, since the middle of lat month. The “Ring des Nibelungen” consists of a so- called “trilogy,” ushered in (descending from great things to small) by a “prologue,” like Donizetti’s *Lu- crezia Borgia.” Unlike ‘Lucrezia Borgia,” howev the “Ring” exacts four days in pertormance, being divided into four plays, or dramas, the one growing sequently out of the other, The ancient Germanic legend, derived from the Icelandic “Sagas” and known to those versed in literary lore as the ‘Nibelungenleid,” was a theme only possible to a bold and original thinker, to @ man of inventive genius and to # true born poet. Even the tlercest opponents of his musical theories, who stand up for music 43 an dependent act, and protest aguinst the dogmatic asser- ton in “Oper und Dram” that “music 1s a woman’? (*Die Musik ist ein Weib') and, therefore, dependent upon man (“the poet”), will hardly question the fact tat Richard Wagner {s all these, Many of bis sin- cerest admirers declare that his poetical dramas want n¢ music to complete them—that, in fact, they are com | plete in themselves; and for this dictum, if not ample Justitication, at least a fair show of reason may be ad duced. It might also be suggested that the Weib,” when by espousing the poet, she tultils the object of her existence, becomes somewhat garrulous, often noisy, occasionally a veritable Xantippe—if the ‘quantity an quality of the music with which Wagner illustrates his dramas be taken into consideration, ‘Thus much admitted, however, the “Nibelungenring,” after the manner in which he has handled the subject, is a cre- ation standing apart from ordinary art work. jere the | rules laid down by Wagner as those by which the future destinies of the operatic drama should and must be guided are adhered to with uncompromising severity, ‘To select excerpts, with the object of making stock ip trade of this or that exspeCial passage, is out of the power of the most experienced manulacturer of ‘*varia- tions,” &c., for the pianoforte or any other instrument. We must take the whole or leave it untouched. The four parts of which the drama is composed are alike safe trom depredations of the kind, heingold (the pre- | amble), the Watkare, Siegfried und @olterddmerung are one and all of a piece, Of this any amateur or musician may convince himself by a perusal of the vocal ores with pianoforte accompaniment, which aré and accessible, True, Wagner carries « end’ Lis avowed disdain for the tra- ditional laws of “tone famulies.”? which govern the rela tious of keys to each other; and this, which to many would appear equivaleat to doing away with the rela tions of culors to each other in a sister art, alone suf- tices to arouse the jealousy of a large majority, whe have been used to look at art from quite another point of v It also encourages a wide spreading he is afar greater dramatic poet than he is m! On the other hand, the nature of bis themes und his peculiar way of developing them, are such that Wagner may put jorward a more or less reasonable plea on his own behalf. rding to # zealous dis- ciple, he has selected tor his modern work, these legends, wrapped in clouds of darkness, inasmuch as whey represent “the pure symbol primeval forees, While we wre the compounds of suc- cessive generations,” This, nevertheless, in one who avowedly aims at portraying, through dramatic agency, the probable lite of the “future,”’ appe what inexpiicable. Admitting that ‘the apart from the “monumental,” is chiefly “fasuiou,’? shai and barrenness; that everything achieved up ty this time is more or less faulty, the greater portiva worse than faulty; how can Wagner, who holds that with the advance of time and change of epochs we have become worse and worse, reckon upon hb cherished ‘future’ for better things—and these materially through the scenic apparition, accompanied | by unearthly music, of the gods, demigeds, goddesses ghomes and heroes of a mystic past? 1s he a prophet! ‘Une would be inclined to think so, THE WEEHAWKEN “MODOCS.” Notwithstanding three constables of Union Hill. namely, Riesenberg, Brown and Donahoe—aided by a so-called Vigilance Committee, have for several days been seeking Moore, the notorious member of the in- famous gang of Weehawken known as the Modocs, their | efforts have, nevertheless, proved fruitiess, Several other rutians belonging to the same band are also at large and perpetrate numerous robberies and outrages ip the northern region of Hudson county. It is now thought that the endeavors to catch the Modoes have not been serious. The last resource would seem \ .¢ the offering of a reward for their capture, Indictmenta for various crimes are pending against nearly all the mcm: bers of the gang, and it is probuble that the sagacity and ‘Vigor of the pursuers, in ret cain to bring the crim is to justice, might receive nore hg ig! ® pal, impetus if a re ;