The New York Herald Newspaper, December 14, 1875, Page 4

4 ~ STANLEY'S DSOOVERIES The Herald Explorer Lulogized by Chief Jus- tiee Daly, Bayard Taylor and Paul B. Du Chailu. MODERN SCIENCE INDORSING PTOLEMY | Brilliant Meeting of the American Geo- graphical Society Last Evening. Seldom indeed in the history of New York bas there been drawn together an audience representing so much of refinement and culture as that which crowded Chickering Hall last night on the occasion of the meeting of the American Geographical Society to di the explorations of Mr. Stanley in Equatorial Africa Among those present were:— \Mr. Cyrus W. Fieid, Rev. Dr, Adams, Peter Cooper, }Hoa, John Jay, late Minister to Vienna; Simon Bern- \beimer, Rev. Dr. R. D. Hitchcock, Colonel Thomas C. Acton, James W. Beekman, Francis A. Stout, Genera! George W. Cullum, Robert L. Stuart, 8. B. Ruggles, Colonel T, Bailey Myers, William Remsen, Walton W, Evans.and W. H. H. Moore, The meeting was called to order by Chief Justice Daly, and, on motion, the reading of the minutes and ther routine business was dispensed with, Mr, Samuel 8B. Ruggles offered a resolution to ap- point a special committee of five members to examine ‘and report at a future meeting of the Society apon the | would seem to Indicate th: known in that writer's Lin century of our era. The passage is this:—'*Many of the Greeks or Egyptians who have pentrated into Ethiopia and to Meroe of the Ethiopians declare that the Nile flows Into @ lake and passes on through and out of this, as fitcame from the dry land (or river banks), and thence running through lower Ethiopia ana tuto Egypt empties into the sea at Pharos.” A phenomeuon men- tioned by Mr. New found that the river Tana, which has its outlet in the Indian Ocean, about 2 deg. 8 min, south latitude, and is the principal stream of that por- tion of the East African coast, overflows its banks in the summer season, deluging the whole country around its mouth, while the other rivers ou the same part of the coast, such as the Ozét and Sabakei, retain for a hundred days overy and overflowed part of the Valley of Beypt, when it B. linued low throughout the ‘winter. m whe cae wit ae ee apinporee. magnificent eetabliahed, one of [ame ioe cause of this inundation. TI fore the period mentioned, declared that yan winds were the causo of (he mundation of the Nile. Anaxagoras and Democrates declared that morth- ern, or rather northeastern, winds which blow daring winter over the Valley of Egypt without depositing upon the land of Egypt or upon the desert beyond it any part of the moisture with which they are freighted in” the? porth, Those early geographers also in some way got the information that there was @ region of snow in Ethiopia. Their theory was that these etesian or cold northern winds, which blow over Egypt in winter apd spring are condensed when they come ip contact with the lofty mountain ranges of Ethiopia, aod descend from the western siopes of those mountains in great torrents, which fill great reser- voirs of the Nile, andas th: ows melt under the strong equatorial heat of summer the waters of Ethi- opt were by these means greatly augmented in that season a the year, (Moss this caused the annual swelling ‘of the Nile, Herodot was well informed ot this theory, but he would not believe that snow-covered mountains could exist in the hot region of the torrid zone, and he there- fore rejected it, like the emment English geographer, Mr. Cooley, who would not believe that the mission aries, Kraff and Rebmann, had seen the peaks of Kenia and Kelmangaro covered ‘with snow until Baron Von Decken afterward mot only saw the suowy peak of Kelmangaro, but algo three avalanches descending its snowy sides. Since our last’ meeting one of our associates, Mr. Merriam, has gent me a passage from Pausanius, which | the Albert Niyanza was which was in the second Deading features of the Mississippi, the Amazon, the ‘Ganges and other great rivers tn their relation to the commerce of the globe. General George W. Cullum offered the following ro- | (pork:— | AMERICAN GRoGRAPHICAL Socrsry,} | New York, Dec. 13, 1875. ‘The Committee of the Council of the American Geo- graphical Society, Chief Justice Daly, President; Colonel Conklin and General Cullum, Vico Presidents to whom was referred the communication of Mr. James Orton on the exploration of the River Beni, in South America, have the honor to report the accompanying |preamble and resolution for the approval of the ‘society :— Whereas the opinion of the society has been asked jres) the utility of an expedition to the River Bent, in South America, and the same having been referred to a committee for investigation, and the com- /mittee having reported, be it therefore Resolved, That in the opinion of this society an ex- ploration of the Beni, the greater part of the course of whieh is unknown, the lower and principal portion jnever having been’ explored, is desirable, both in a \geographical and commercial point of view; thas as it is an important — tributary of the great water system of South America its ex- {ploration would be a valuable contribution to geograph- ‘teal knowledge, and as it flows through a yery rich and: productive country and would, should it prove to ‘be navigable, open up that region to the commerce | of the world and be of especial advantage {to the commerce of the United States; that its ex- ‘ploration, in the opinion of the society, would entirely justify the very moderate expenditure requisite for the fnuing out of such an expedition. On motion, the resolutions were adopted. JUDGE DALY’S) ADDRESS. + Chief Justice Daly gave a description of the various exploring expeditions which, during the last quarter of a century, have imparted so much information respect- ing the great water system of Central Africa, the re- gious through which it flows, and the people that in- habit them, concluding with an account of Mr. Stanley's explorations and discoveries, which were explained upon @ map constructed for the society. He then described the part ot Africa between the Victoria | ‘Niyamga and the eastern coast, extending from about | the fifth dogree of south latitude to the soutbern limits ot Abyssinia, It is estimated to contain about eight ‘millions of people, composed of many tribes, the northern ones being known by the general name of Gallas—a fine physical race, who have always main- tained their independence and are spread over a large extent of country, but a small part of which bad been explored, He said that to the missionaries Krapf, | Rebmana, Wakefleld and New we owe whatever knowl: cdgé we at present possess of the interior of this part of Afriea, It had been ascertained through their ex- plorations that a great mountain range extends from the Equator, and probably much further north, to about the fitth degree of south latitude, and that it is the most elevated mountain region, 80 far as koown, in Africa, This range, he said, lay about midway between the Victoria Niyanza ‘and the eastern coast, the bignest points of it being the two lofty sno crowned peaks of Kenia and Kuimandjaro, which were over 18,000 feet in height, He described this whole gion as remarkable for the sublimity of its scenery, the picturesquencss of its valleys und plains, tts many rivers, its great fertility, and for its salubrity, being one of the healthiest parts of Africa. The portion lying between the westeru siove of this nrountain range and the Vic- toria Niyanza has never been explored by civilized men, although constantly traversed by Arab traders, | there being several caravan routes to the Victoria Niyanza to the north of it, ‘Phe information collected by the missionaries Wake- field and New corresponds with that obtained by Mr. Stanley in bis exploration of the eastern coast of the Victoria Niyanza. The country along the shores of the Victoria Niyanza, and far east of it toward the moun- tains, was reported to them to consist chiefly of fine, open, level tracts of meadow land ba with forests, and aa beiog well watered by numerous streams and abounding in wild animals of every description, Mr. New in his ascent of Kilimandjaro, in 1863, ascertained that several streams run from the south of that mountain ito a jake called Jipe that ran into the River Pangani, which empties upon the eastern coast about 6 deg. 20 min, south jatitude; that a river also flows trom the western slope of Kilimandjaro in @ westerty direction, about a degree south of the position of the Victoria Niyanza, which is called the Ngara-da- Erobei, or the Cold Water. Mr. New | ‘also ascertained that a v large river, called | the Ngarada-Vash, or Broud Water, flows from about the parallel of the latitude of Kenia and a little west of the thirty-sixth degree of longitude, and thence southwesterly, entering the Vic- | toria Niyanza at its southern extremity, in about the | locality where Stanley found the mouth of the Shimevyu. Judge Daly pointed out this river as laid down ou Mr. New’s map, which was exhibited, and suggested (uat this might be the same river as the Duma, which is shown ou Mr, Stanley’s map, flowing | from the west, uniting to form the Shimeeyu, the Duma on Staniey’s map appearing to be a wide river. ‘Tue country between this great inountain range and waterslied and the Victoria Niyauza is peopled by two great (ribes, the Masai and the Wakawari, who are gener- ally at war with each other. The Musai dwell nearest the lake; they area nomadic people, with great herds of cate, having aropublican form of government, and noted for their ine physica! forms, their energy, intre- pidity, daring and remorseless cruelty. In the lan- | guage of dir. New, they are “the admiration and terror | Of the surrounding tribes.” The missionaries beard trom the nati Lake Baringo, which Speke puts down in his map as connected with and closely adjo\uing the northeast por- tion of the Victoria Niyauza. "Mr. Stanley, as he found no such lake nor anything indicating it, but merely thi '&@ portion of the country adjoining the Victoria Niyanza was called Baringo, concluded that no such lake was connected with thé Victoria Niyanza Major Burton, in w recent letter to the Geographical Magazine, dis- putes this conclusion, and insists that Mr. Stanley baa, “pot been succession! im establishing the theory | that Captain Speke’s Victoria Niyanza is a@ jake, and oot region; that the Lake Baringo of the missionaries Krapf, Wakefield and New “is mot to be disposed of by the chance words of a few blacks."’ Now, these miss/onariés never claimed that the Lake Baringo of which they bad beard bad any connection with the Victoria Niyanza. On the com ‘trary, it is laid down in New’s map of 1873 as an indepen. | dent lake, with an outlet running sorthwest in the di- | rection of the Nile, and exactly jn the same way Upon | D. Krapf’s map thirteen years previously, with its posi- tion more than a degree io the east of the Victoria Ni- ym It was Speke's iden and, as it seems, Major arton’s, that it flowed into and formed part of the Victoria, and is 80 represented upon Speke’s map. So | far from Major Burton's authorities, the missionaries, therefore sustaining bim, there {s nothing ip Gheir accounts to call in quostion the cor- rectuess of Mr. Stanley's conclusion, It was, mor over, uitous and tngenerous in this eminent | traveller and geographer to suggest that Mr. Stanley uow nothing evidently of Lake Baringo except what be found in Speke’s map, The last time that Mr. | Stanloy was at my house he spent the whole evening | io reading all that could be found about this region of Eastern Africa, even in go old an author as Purchas, Aud aa Mr, New's book, the most important one, was ubliabed only three Years ago, he in all probubilicy It was adopted. i culties of travel should become too great. But though the difliculties of travel in- creased we ascended the Bahr-el-Shazal and | reached the town of Khartoum, at tho | looked upon there as something exceedingly rash and tholr natural beds, experiencing no ci ‘This phenomenon and the direction from whence the river | ran led him to conclude that this river had its source in the snowy region of Mount Kenio, and that it was the melting of the snows there under the great equa- torial heat of summer which produced this phenome- non. If this occurs on the eastern slopes why may it not occur on the western slopes of the mountain chain lying between the Victoria Niyanza and the Indian Ocean, and be, as those ancient geographers asserted, one of the causes of the great annual outilow of water at the fountain head of the Nile and the cause of the henomena of itsinundation in summer along the whole egyptian Valley, Mr. Stanley bas found the remote southern source of the Victoria Niyanza to be the River Luamberri, which rises im an elevated table land about 86 deg. longitude, 6 deg. south latitude, about the point where Ptolemy’ places the ending of the Moun. tains of the Moon. This river, much of which, in its crooked course, was seen by Mr, Stanley, he estimated to be about 870’ miles in length. Uniting with another stream as itapproaches the Victoria Niyanaait torms the Sbimceyu, which latver river is afterward augmented by the Duma, and becomes the largest affluent of the Victoria Niyanza, If, as apprehend and as most geographers believe, the ‘Albert Niyanza shall prove to be au independent lake, then Mr. Stanley will, in ail probability, be the final discoverer of the ultimate source of the Nile, and have his name forever ussociated with the settlement of aquestion that has agitated the world for more than 2,000 years. Chiel Justice Daly concluded as follows:—I cannot close Without acomment on the remarkable achieve- ment of Mr. Stanley in marching through an unknown country over 100 miles in 100 days, which would bave ‘occupied the ordinary Arab — traders about nine months, and according to the usual experience of African explorers it might lave taken two years, That he accomplished this feat under the severe trial of the loss of half his command by disease and the attacks of hostile savages is an achievement that will compare with anything in the history of exploration; and it is also specially worthy of potice that the expedition he so successfully car- ried through was pot undertaken by a government or by a society, but was conceived and the heavy expense of it borne by the proprietors of the New York HeRatp and the London Telegraph. It is not ouly an even but an era in journalism; for by the results obtaine it has placed the whole world under obligation to the proprietors of these two great newspapers, BAYARD TAYLOR’S SPRECH. Mr, Bayard Taylor being called for, epoke as fol- lows :— Mr. Paesipeyr or Te Gxcoaarmican Soorrty, Lapies axp GeTLeMeN—It gives me very great pleasiire to be present on this occasion and to take a brief part in the proceedings I have never been an explorer in any smportant sense of the word, and I have long since ceased to be even’ what 4s called a traveller; but i have never lost the keenest possible inicrest in geographical research, especially now, when every year brings as such rich returns, | think it most fitting that Mr. Stanley's recent achievements should be especially considered by the American Geographical Society. Our recognition and encouragement are none the Jess due since, in all prub- avility, the report of them will not reach him belore bis heroic labors are i in regard to the main geograpbical problem as | affected by bis latest discoveries, it seems to me | that there is no ueed of any further discussion. For my own part I have never held any other view than that the sources of the Nile would v8 ultimately found among the high mountains in Eastern Africa, south of the Equator. | must confess the grounds of my belief were not at all scientific, and I am quite ready to accept whatever ridicule may follow the sup- pression of them. In the first piace, I have always had the greatest faith im the correctuess of ancient records. I believed in tbe trustworthiness of Herodotus, Strabo and Prolemy and place the most implicit faith in all their statemente, and when in the year 1849 or 1850, Krapp and Rebmann’s discovery on the great snow mountains of Kilimandjaro was made known to the world, | had connected it in my imagination ih the course of the White Nile as givea in Werue’s works, which had been published by the great German some years before, The lakes of Ptolemy were still an unknown region, covering eight degrees of latitude, intervening between the snows of Kilimandjaro and the furthest point which had then been reached on the White Nile. This con- nection was an illogical one, if you please, but I Mave | never been able since to separate them. Early in 1851 Dr. Knoblecher, Catholic Bishop Apostolic for Central Africa, published in Germany his account of the ascent | of the White Nile in Jatitude 8 deg. north. His descrip- tions were so careful and evidently 80 correct, and they revealed such an unexpected and wide feld of | African travel, that when 1 found myself in Egypt before the close of the same year I deier- mined to devote the whole winter to reaching | as fara point on the White Nile as was possible with my limited means, I had made no preparation in any sense for an actual journey of exploration. Indeed, | was ready to turn back at any point whenever the diifi- junction of the Biue and the White Nile, where I met | and made the acquaintance ot Dr. Knoblecher himself, | two ycara betore he died. 1 finally found myself tloat- ing along the White Nile, carried along by a strong. wind, southward, at the rate of one hundred miles a@ day. At thas time this whole region was un- } known. Burton, Grant, Speke and Baker were then | unknown to the world, and there was so little knowl. | edge of the region of Egypt that my own attempt was dangerous, One day while | was drifting along the current of that magnificent flood, with a curious baby hippopotamus following the boat, as if trying to | find out who and what we were, I reflected as i looked | down upon the water, ‘these waves were, go, snows upon the peak of Kiligaro,” more doubt in it than if | had seen with my own eyes the little rilis trickling through tne cold ravines and gathering into the river below, Then and there [ Wrote a poetical address to that grand mysterious mountain, and | will take the liberty of reading to you | the opening lines ;— Hail, thou monarch of African mountains Remote ; inaccessible, silent and alone, Who from the beart of the tropical fervor | Littest to heaven thine alien i Feeding forever the make thee | Fasber of Nile and Creator of Egypt. —(Applause.) Of course there was not the slightest particle of scientific deduction in all | probably no common sense ‘It was simply that imagination which kes the form of faith and which firmiy believes what i+ cannot prova Hay ing thus committed myself, of course I have never allowed any later deduction to shake my position =-(jaughter)—and I am rather afraid that now at this time | rejoice more heartily over the final confirmation tor the sake of poetry than I do for the sake of geogra- phy. Between four and five years after that Speke and Baker rediscovered the lost lukes of Ptolemy, and I am now entirely satisfied that Stanley has at last discovered the final concluding lin and bas connected the waters of Victoria Niyanza wit the snow on the Mountains of the Moom I think the Stream which Stanley has discovered flows into the Victoria nza, and may possibly be the feeder of the lake, Butl think we shall discover that the greater portion of the water is derived from those marshy lowlands on the east which must feceive almost the entire | drainage of the western slopes of the mountains, | Two years ago | had the good fortune to make the | jas read it, Lake Baringo may possibly b« connected with the large body of water which Colon, Long found fo descending ‘the Nile, although the gen- | eral impression among geographers is that what ue mw nob @ permanent lake, bat simply « tempo overflow of the river in that | focality. As stated ay our last meeting, my impression | ia, im the present ssate of my knowledge, that the great | mountain jaod | have referred to and 'ts western aud southwestern slopes is the remote and chief source of | the Walers which create those great reservoirs of the Nile, Ge Victoria and the Albert Niyanza This was | the belief of ancient geographers, and it is my convic- | tion that they knew much more about this region than vas commonly been supposed. Allowing for the gen eral mistake which Ptolemy is known to have made in Gis southern latitudes, which were about eight degrees too far south, and taking. his jongitude as it ix given in Agatuodamon’s'map, Ptolemy's Mountains of, the Moon, a8 he indicated hem, lay east of the Victoria Niyatza, and south of it, exacily in the same position where the great mountain range extents and term! batesto whieh [have referred. That these lotty aud | guow-cOvered mountains supplied the fountains which were the altimate source of the Nile, aug are also the se OF the phenomena of the jal inundation of {he river im bbe BuMMer throughout surang’ Mayy bh Wee par co 0 fae fidth ry Chirk | ek dion sik a nela, ak aa | | acquaintance of Knoblecher himself, who (old me thas he had been 1,800 feet above the sea, where they had been almost frozen to death under the Equator. From his description, as well as from other sources, ! feel Jed that this great mountain range contins $ above the snow, irom 18,000 te 22,000 | dista of 150 to “200 | les from Niyanza Further ex- plorations are esary to Make this a] geographical ainty. 1 really need oo further proof, Stanley’s account of the eastern shore in bis | letters is quite sufficient for my imagina- | tion. 1 am entirely atisfied that he has scovered the true source of the Nila The speaker | d that when Staniey’s first lovers wore published and there was fo much scepticism in regard to them, | Le was convinced of their truth from the fact that | he Spelled so many of his Arabic words | | improperiy Ho had evidently = spelt’ them ording to thi und, proving conclusively to the epeaker that had caught them from the lips of the natives, and not always correctly, would never make such a mistake as that. A letter from Pau! da Chaillu was read in which he An impostor NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1875.—TRIPLK SHEET. and also a glowing tribute to the genius and in- | revolves round her in twenty-eight days, that is the domitable enterprise and persoverence of Stanley, A series of maps, from tho time of Ptolemy down to the present day, were then exhibited, and Dr, Wallis made a few romarks, when the meeting adjourned. PROFESSOR PROCTOR'S LECTURE, THE BIRTH AND GROWTH OF WORLDS—NO NE- CESSARY DISCORD BETWEEN SCIENCE AND RELIGION—THE WONDERS OF THER STAR DEPTHS. Steinway Hall was crowded last might by « fashionable audience to hear the celebrated Kng- lish astronomer, Richard A. Proctor, on “The Birth and Growth of Worlds” The great scientist threw an immense quantity of hgbht upon his subject, the light being enhanced in brilliancy from the fact that it shone in darkness, As soon as the learned lecturer bad finished his introduction be sug- gested the advisability of having the gas turned down, in order that the pumerous views which were to be shown by the stereopticon might be prop- erly geen by the audience. The represent atives of the press present were by no means in ecstasies at this proposal, inasmuch as they were thrown back upon the tablets of the mind in order to make their notes, and there was a certain amount of wailing and lamentation in consequence, Said tablets having possibly been for some time in* disuse, Professor Proctor prefaced his lecture by the remark that from the time when men began to think they had examined the origin of the world as they knew it, or as it appeared to them, The processes of the human mind are much the same as those by which water finds its own level, the pressure ts perpetually present, and it only requires the removal of obstacles for the human mind to act upon speculative and sctentific subjects just in the same dynamic way asall the forces of nature act. It thus came to pass, that, in process of time, not content with confiming their inquiries to this little world of ours, men began to ask them- selves the question how all things were formed, or what was the origin of the universe. Of the answers given to this tremendous question some were pathetically sim- ple. One of them, and here it was evident that the ro- marks of the lecturer pointed to the Book of Genesis, said that the earth was flat and circular, over which the heavens rested like a tent; that darkness was over the face of the waters; that God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light; that the heavens were then sepa- rated from the earth, and the waters above were sepa- rated from those beneath the earth, and many other simple things of the same sort, It was clear from this ‘account that at the time it was written people nad no notion of the way in which rain was produced. Then came the creation of the sun and moon. Those who received such stories as these believed them in their innocence, but were by no means conversant with sctentifle facta. It took some thousands of years for it to be forced upon the scientific mind that, just in the same way as the plant is developed from the sced and the tree from the plant, so was the whole uni- verse developed. Science saw that, although it was through infinitier of time and epace, still in the whole universe there was an orderly sequence of development and evolution. The ground here trodden upon, said the learned lecturer, was a delicate | one, because science seemed to infringe directly upon the domain of religion, He would say distinctly that science had nothing to do with the discussion of the existence of a supreme controlling will, but, at the samo time, science 18 no more justified in rejecting the notion of that all-controiling will than she is in re- jecting the infinities of time and space, It is true the infinity of that will presents greater difficulties, be- cause more impalpable, but the difference was simply one of degree and not of kind, The lecturer asked his audience to pass to the study of the stupendous phe- nomena of the universe, with full faith in the exact sense in which that word is used vy religious men, for the simple reason that the study of science cannot mislead, inasmuch as God, who is the author of all these phenomena, has not set them up as a stumbling block, but being Himself incomprehensible, it is but natural that a certain amount of mystery should surround His creation, which has taken cycles | upon cycles of ages to reach its present form. It seems from all the analogies of the star depths that tn the beginning the earth and all the other members of the solar system and the other stars were iniinities of nebulous matter, floating with faint light through space, and that it was by the gradual cohesion of this nebulous matter, consequent upon a concentrating force imparted to it, that the planets as we have them to- day were formed. For this, of course, myriads of ears were required.and be would impress upon his hearers the fact that in the universe there was un- doubtedly as much variety in the matter of the compo- sition of stars and systems as there is a difference in our solar system between Mars, Uranus and Neptune Indeed, in the examination of the nebulwe by the spec- | preceding nine years, reason why we never see but one side of the moon ;— . The lecturer concluded by an eloquent appeal to the audience not to allow science and roligion to interfere wish one another, to hold fast to that which they bad, irr rt be sure that time and science would justily their ja THE NEW YORK ACADEMY SCIENCES. About thirty members of the New York Academy of Sciences assembled at their rooms, No. 64 Madison avenue, last evening, the occasion being the regular monthly meeting. Mr. J. 8, Newberry presided, and after a fow appropriate remarks the following papers were read:—'‘A New Phosphide of Silver and 4 Method of Estimating Silver by Phosphorus,”’ by Professor William Palke; and ‘Direct Process in the Manufac- ture of Iron in Japan,” by Mr. Henry Newton. ART IN WORSHIP, OF LECTURE BY REY. MR. WASHBURN. A large and fashionable audience assembled last evening in Dr. Rogers’ church, at the corner of Fifth avenue and Twenty-first street, to hear the Rev. K. A. Washburn lecture upon “Artin Its Relations to Wor, ship.’? the idea which the lecturer strove to convey was that artand religion from the earliest stages of civili- zation had always been companions; that as religion became more general and as Christianity spread farther and farther art drew to itself more admirers and gath- ered around it more disciples. The lecturer seemed to be anxious of developing the Ruskin theory that art, the companion of religion, should be shown not only in the pictures which grace the parlors of the rich, but in the bridges which span our rivers and all public works, He said that Michael Angelo, for his superb work in foreign cathedrals, for those frescoes which have made his namo famous al! over the world, did not receive one-fiteenth part of the money paid to the contractors of our pub- lic improvements. When the lecturer had concluded the Hon. David Dudley Fied expressed his thanks for the remarks which the lecturer had made. THE NEW ENGLAND SOCIETY. SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING—-THE RETIRING PRESIDENT'S REPORT—THE NEW OFFICERS. The seventeenth annual election and meeting of the New England Soctety was held at Delmonico’s Hotel, corner of Fourteenth street and Fifth avenue, last evening. A letter was read from the retiring Presi- dent, explaining his reasons for resigning. He then made the following report:— PRESIDENT’S REPORT. The number of members who joined the society during the year has been 117, the number who have died 20, thé number withdrawn 20; net increase, 77. ‘The present membership amounts to 1,162, of whom 912 are life members and 250 annual members. ‘The additions are greater than during any one of the ‘The Treasurer's report shows an increase of $6,338. NECROLOGICAL RECORD. Since our last annual meeting death has been busy in our ranks, The names that have been inscribed upon the rolls of immortality wit! be ie, gj immediately as those of men eminent for personal worth and most of them for lives of conspicuous honor and usefulness, Mr, Thomas P. Eldridge, senior of the well known dry goods housé of Eldridge, Danham & Co., died on the 18th of December, 1874, afew days after our final business meeting of that year, Mr, Joseph B. Varnuin, a lawyer, legislator and patriotic citizen, died on the last day of the last year, During 1875 the following were inscribed upon our mortuary record :— Died, Aged. B. L, Harden... Jan, 2 87 | ‘Thomas 8. Berry. Jan, 30 \ | George C. Collins, Feb, 10 William H. Brown... Feb. 14 stepherd Knapp.. Feb, 22 Nathaniel! Hayden. Feb, 23 ‘Thomas Crane. . April 1 | Richard Warren (in Boston) April 12 | James H, Knapp. ‘April 29 | ‘Albert Clark. . June 13 | Charles A. Macy. July 21 | William 8, Blackington Sept 4 | Lewis B. Woodrut.. Sept. 10 | Benjamin F, Wheelwright. Oct. 7 | William W. ‘Clay. Oct 21 | William Tilden Blodgett ov. 4 j Alfred P. Arnold Dec. 7 | Nathaniel D. Car! Dec. 9 72 troscope it was very remarkable that the solar spectrum | showed in the nebula lines which belonged to both | hydrogen and nitrogen, but were not complete, showing the presence of gases ‘of a kind of which we have no idea in this world, and proving clearly that what wo consider elements are really compounds, The lecturer next proceeded te show the symmetry observable in the distances at which the planets are from each other, proving that our little solar system is Dut @ dot in the tniverse, when compared with the im- mense orbit of Neptune. It was clear that 1n these propo tions there was. definite design and a purpose was clear in this as,in anything we do of our own free will He next passed to the discussion of the theory af | Laphi which he combatted, maintaining that the process 'In the universe is one of growth and not of con- traction. Thia position he illustrated by the following diagram, showing that the planets most remote from the sun are by far the largest, and have become go in millions of years by the accumulation of immense quantities of matter which they bave gathered to them- selves in space:— . O eee : os Af This was further illustrated by the meteoric showers shown in the following diagram :— of which the Professor said that at least 400,000,000 | the Commonwealth Hotel, Boston, on the morning of | the anniversary, and proceeded under the escort of the | and in my judgment a most excelient nomination. | spectfully, Obituary sketche deceased inembers, THE BUNKER HILL CENTRNNIAL, The society commemorated the august event of American history by participating in the grand pageant in the city of Boston on the 17th of June, The delega- tion, numbering seventy members, rendezvoused at ¢ more prominent Mayor's aids, in'carriages furnished by the municipal authorities, to Charles street, from which point they entered the line of procession on the left of the second division, The greetings received on the route were continuous and hearty. This report was recelyed and adopted, and the fok lowing ticket was unanimously elected :—President, William Borden; First Vice ‘President, Daniel F. Appleton; Second Vico Prosideht, James C. Carter; Directors’ for four years—Benjamin K. Phelps, Fred- erick F. Thompson, Edward F, Brown and Francis C. Barlow; Treasurer, Josiah M. Fiske; Secretary, Luther, P. Hubbard. The ieoting then adjourned, WHO RICHARD GIBBS IS. | —_—— | To rue Eptror ov tux Henan In your columns of yesterday appeat/the followin; ‘The President has nominated Richard Gibbs, of } York, to be Minister Pleaipotenuapy to Peru.’ Wno Richard Gibbs ? In reply thereto I have to say that Mr. Richard Gibbs | is the brother-in-law of the Hon. Tom Murphy. Le | sage entend a demi mot, Naw Yous, Deo, 18, 1875, ow A To tHe Evrron ov ti Wendt In your Sunday issue you ask the question, Who is Richard Gibbs, whom the President has nominated to be Minister to Peru? [answer Richard Gibbs is the gen- tleman who held the position of Superintendent of the | Bureau of Street Improvements under the Hon. Geor; M. Van Nort, Commissioner of Public Works, and a gentleman of education and of great executive ability, | BR. D. KEMPT, Non, | THE LIQUOR DEALERS. | The meeting of the New York Liquor Dealers’ Pro- tective Union, held at Masonfe Hall on the 6th inst, has caused much dissatisfaction among the trade, there being only eighteen members present, and thirty being required to constitute a quorum, Another meeting will Sunpay, Dec, 12, 1875, Re- | # FOSTER’S BUGABOO. How Much He Knows About the Great Anti- Catholie League. U. O. A. M. NOT THE BODY. The Real Organization Not Defi- nitely Pointed Out. A roprerontative of the Human called yesterday af- ternoon apon Mr. Foster, the editor of the Newark Evening Courier, and now well known in connoction with the reported Anti-Catholio Grant Republican League, whose existence was first announced by a let- ter published over his signatare. In reference to that letter Mr. Foster said:—The letter as published ts, with the exception of a few unimportant errors and omia- sions, the one which I sent to Mr. Blaine It is a fact, well known here in Newark, that the non-sectarian organization known by the name of the United Order of American Mechanics does exist, {tia hardly fair to call the Society anti-Catholic any more than anti- Methodist; the truth being that the association claims to be thoronghly unsectarian, It is true perhaps that the Roman Catholics, more than any other deuomina- tion, would be opposed to the United Order of American Mechanics, on account of the Romanists being more tnclined than any other church to set up pretensions for a separate appropriation from the school fund, to be used to advance their own plans of denominational education, Two years ago a bill was introduced into the New Jersey Legislature for the par- pose of authorizing @ Catholic protectorate over the persons of Catholic vagrant children, This intended enactment, as laid before the House, presented the undoubted aspect of a sectarian measure, and ‘t was therofore defeated in the Assembly. ‘The matter came up again last year for discussion and it finally passed the House, after occasioning a good deal of comment, as well as some excitement, in poli- tical circles; but it was defeated in the Senate and failed to become a law, It ts proper to state hero that, after the projected law had missed firo the first year in tho House, Mr. John McHenry, of Jersey City, who is President of the Young Men’s Catholic Union there, issued a circular on behalf of the organization over which he presided—which he had a perfect right to do—asking his co-religionists to vote for and support only such candidates for public office as might show themselyes favorably inclined toward TH CATHOLIC BILL, Not only the bill itself, butalso Mr. McHenry’s circular, attracted so much attention that the Methodist Con- ference some time ago passed a resolution calling upon the State Legislature to reject the projected law, As may readily be conceived the matter caused A GREAT DEAL OF RXCITEMENT both in and out of the Legislature, The leader of the opposition to the Catholic Protectorate bill in the Sen- ate was Mr, William H. Kirk, of Newark, and his decided attitude elicited so much approval that he was enthusiastically serenated by the secret society (U. 0. A. M.) That society is an old association, whose ex- istence dates back some thirty or thirty-five years. Here Mr. Foster said that he remembered having seen a copy of the society’s constitution and bylaws, He could not remember the separate articles, but would say that all religious discussion is ex- cluded from the councils of the U 0. A M. ‘When occasion requires the members in their individual capacities are at liberty to express their personal views and to act up to their own con- victions in religious matters. The constitution of the order is charitable and benevolent. The society assists poor and destitute members, buries the dead, aids indigent widows and orphans, and the brothers are bound to help one another in business, The entire body is divided into councils, which may be likened to clubs or lodges, ach of these sections sends a representative to THB STATE COUNCIL. “am nota member,” said Mr, Foster, “and only speak froin hearsay, but upom what may we considered very good authority—that 1s, the word of @ man whose name I am not at liberty to stale; one who is known to be well up in the order.” In a letter published last night in the Newark Even- ing Courier, over his own signature, Mr. Foster says:— I have been told and believe that this order, stimu- lated by the insolent atvempts of the Romanists in New Jersey, Ohio and elsewhere to converts our ublic reformatories, established and maintained y the public funds, into sectariam insti- tutions, with altars, conlessionals and masses, has within a year or two past grown rapidly ‘member: ehip and is still growing in numbers and ‘influence, Why should the statement of these facts provoke such tremendous outburst of horror from the democratic newspapers? Have they not persisted for months in saying that there was some organization of { this sort? Did they not believe their own | declarations when they made them? But my letter did not state, and it is not true, that this order ‘‘ex- jsts within the republican party,” or is in any way or in any degree covtrolied by ‘‘republican politicians.” It is composed, as I understand it, of both republicans and democrats and men of all religious beliefs, whose common bond of union is the determination to pre- serve our institutions from sectarian domination, and especially to repel lecere ions upon the educational system, which is the ouly sure source of pure and en- | lightened government | ‘Aftor having shown this letter to the writer, Mr. | Foster was understood to say thatit is the common | belief in New Jersey that the U, 0, A. M. hada good | deal to do with bringing about such anlooked for re- | sults as were seen in the September elections in New Jersey, Any part which the society may have played | In the elections cannot be proved home. “By putting your hand on THE LITTLE JOKER; still, he isaround.” There appears to be no connection atall between the order and the extinct Know Nothing | which latter organization was put together for | the purpose of catching the rabbia When the Catholics began to agitate their protective | measure and to talk about @ separate school | party, appropriation the New Jersey Legisiature was cormpoped (in 1874) of forty-one democrats fnd“nineteen republicans, and the great revulsion in publie feeling which was brought out last fall com- pletely turned the tables on the democratio supporters ‘of Catholic pretensions by returning thirty-one re- publicans and twenty-oné democrats. And this, too, at a time when there was no national issue before the people beyond what was involved in the auestios denominationalism, The pan f, rder of American Mechanics is ng}! ai , but it is ‘knowledged on all hands that of late the counctis | have greatly increased in many places, Not being a member Mr. Foster could not positively assert that tho | society is a secret, oath-bound association; but he | thinks that 1t may be. There seem to be no national affinities or antipathies entertained by the association. | 2 organization in New York is largely made up of | mei <rom both political parties who are opposed to the introdue jon of religious questions into political discus- sions, ee The publicateg of the letter which lg Rpoxen of | above greatly anndveg its author, but he accep be held at Masonic Hall on Wednesday, 16th inst., to take measures to organize and unite the trade, WAR ON BROOKLYN GIN SHOPS. | Tho retired liquor dealer, Captain Oliver Cotter, | yesterday reported eighteen dealers im ‘the ardent” for violation of the Excise law before the Board of Police and Excise Commissioners, with the request that the Jjeetvee of the offending parties be cancelled. He states that during bis raid through Fulton, Henry, Atlantic, Grand, Pacific and other streets on Sunday last be was panied by a squad of men in the employ of the | lly interfered by notifying | A special po- | ace whiskey dealers, who mater the storekeepers that “Cotter was out’? lice officer, ex-Patrolman Terwillinger, liquor people's crowd, and the fact being reported to the Hoard of Commissioners, that body deprived him of his shield, SMALLPOX IN BROOKLYN, ‘The smallpox is on the increase in Brooklyn, though the health authorities do not wish the tact to be made public. The malady is no longer confined to the Six- intity of meteoric matter which is stili tragel- | teenth ward, but prevails to an alarming extent in | Greenpoint, as well ax tn gome sections of South Brook: fell on the earth,evory year; aud if we consider that we are at the end and not at the beginning of process we may imagino the mighty accumulations which millions of years ago took piace | an the earth. The concentric tendency of all nebula {# shown by the following {lustration, as well as the im. | mense 4 ling through space, ay June 28 \ \ ay Y sun 30 The last iingtration shows the respective paths of | the earth anu moon, and the theory of Professor Proc. lyn, Tne disease is of & virulent type, aud deaths arg | said to be more frequent than in the earlier stages of its appearance in the Sastern District. The work of | inspecting and vaccinating the pupils in the public schools 18 progressing slowly, Arrangements which were in progress between one of the Charity Com- | missioners and the Health Board, for the burial of smallpox dead in the county burial ground, have been abandoned, owing to the digcharse of the grave digi by whe former Board on the j economy. SMALLPOX IN JERSEY CITY. dreaded malady is on the Increase im Jersey | Two new cases were reported yesterday to the | y Board of Health, One was a married woman pp avenue, the other achild, eight years old, on One death oceurred tn the smallpox This pity. Coun on Railroad avenue, Serene las SOREN ai MOK DeiuK able ly Ue eR | FOF Ud Uh ak fe moon WA Omak lh Krome tug garth aod | Wosoival wt Smake Hi}| ducing paenasl (ow dake | greatly damaged his chanc responsibility of havin’ pepned it, Ho considers that | Mr. Blaine ts not a member 0? ghe U. 0, A. M. or any | other secret oath-bound soctety of this kind, The en- Speaker was not aware of the existence of such a fra- ternity until the letter reached lm. Mr. Foster was told by @ representative man, who ¥8 said tobe well up | in the National Council of U. 0. A. Mi, that GENERAL GRANT 18 AN ACTIVE NEMBER in the order, Foster could not say how ha. | the Presi. dent has been a working member. Grant tgsided all Jast summer in New Jersey, and may there have foined the society, Mr. Foster could not say that the bulk | of the members of the U. O. A. M. belong to any par. | ticular denomination, A Catholic can join she organi- zation if he pleases, but he does not know of one who 18a member of it He does not know if adopted citizens are cligible to membership, bat does know thas & person of any religious belief can join Upon the whole, be thinks thata man must be “native and to the manner” or “brought into this breathing world” under the folds of the American fag before he can be admitted into the councils of tne, U,0. A.M. This at once, any sensible man would | say, Classes the association among the native American | fraternities which went to make up the Know Nothing party. But it is now claimed—so says Mr, Foster— | that the order {g not compromised to act with any party; ho also believes that there is not the remotest | gleain of a war speck in it, | As far as New Jersey is concerned that State will Temain quiescent, unless the question of a constitu. tional amendment on the subject of public education should be broached; in this case the U, 0. A. M. would become @ powerful lever to operate against any atvompt | to create @ sectarian movement, HOW IT CONCERNS THM THIRD TRRM SCHEME, Mr. Foster said that by Sundas night's Washington despatches to the Herato, it appeared very plainly that Grant's participation in a sectarian movement bad jor a third term of office. That the President bad identiied himeeif | with the question of religion because he | thought there might ve something im the wind | to biow him some good thore can be no doubt, He bad “blurted out’ bis religious speech to the reunion of the Army of the Tennessee, In Des Moines, after r ing for a considerable while among leaders ot the United rof American Mechaniés, and again he returned to ubject on no less an Occasion Lhan that of present: ing bis annual Message wo Congress, Die eon mw dewerk ay uo Lh pce paRinst | ponpls | off all my'earthly cares, as 1 am about to do. Bishop Haven, because of his third term letter ; they are 40 muck incensed against this PERVERSION O¥ PASTORAL INPLUBNOR that their chief men threatened to get up @ demon- ‘stration for the ef denouncing en's pro tensions. Grant's prospects have been vastly damaged by this ill-advised al force the question, The Wok. M. also this view of the ‘matter, and the majority of them are opposed to the third term bubble under any aspect. GRANT MHANS IT, Mr. Foster thought that at Qrst the Heap was “running the thing” in sounding the note of alarm about the third term, but events have proved that th HekaLp was right in its predictions as to Grant’ aspirations Mr, Foster had hi men who were near the President that “he had got third term on the brain.” No pames could bo ven but one, of the gentleman who ied @ foreign appointment which ex; by limitation, on bis return home about eight months ago, had had an interview with Grant, who was strongly desirous of receiving & nomination for a third terni of the Presidency, There can be no doubt of the truth of this statement, Many people about Newark believe that Grant will receive the next republican noinination, while at the same time they express their conviction that the citizens of this coautry have not yet so far departed from the wholesome traditions of heir forefathers as to r ct Grant, or, indeed, any other man for a third term. SALE OF PAINTINGS AND STUDIO EFFECTS OF THE LATE W. J. HAYS, ‘There are now on exhibition at Kurtz's gallory, Na 6 East Twenty-third streot, a large number of paintings, the work of one of New York’s eminent patnters,, William J. Hays, whose death last winter caused so much regret in all circles, These will be sold on Fri~ day, December 17, together with a numbor of works: contributed by members of the Artists’ Mutual Ald: Society. Many of Mv. Hays’ paintings have alroad: been exhibited. 1! Wounded Buftalo” 18. welt! known to visitors at the Tenth Street Studio Building. Here are the “City of Prairie ” A Prairie Fire,'? with buffalo and other animals flying from the flames, and 4 group of terriers trying to take possession of a steak which is broiling on the fire before them; ‘The! Seventh Regiment Drilling tn Hamilton Square,” and’ sketches of tigers, dogs, horses, cats, fish, deer, do, Among the contributed pictures are two by Guy,, one a portrait of Caleb Lyon, Governor of Idaho, im an Elizabethan costume, and “Red Riding Hood's Story;" “Arch of Nero, near Rome’ by McKntee; “Girl's Hoad,” by Hicks; ‘‘Old Bachelor,” by T. W. wi “Mending Nota. by Darley; ‘tavern ana’ “Vase of Rose: ‘ods. Figure,” by Blauvelt; 8," by Lambdti Cardinal eading,” by Irving; iis Tt a Bear 1 by H . Beard, ani by Hart, Cropsey, Weir, iteaeaona ee Oey x BOAT RACE ON THE HUDSON. A three-mile boat race for a stake of $300 took place off the Elysian Fields, Hoboken, yesterday afternoon, between Thomas ©. Donaldson, of this city, and James Curtis, of Weehawken, both the contestants being amateura Quite a large crowd assembled to witness the sport, The betting at the start was about even, the avorage being $50 to $45 on the New York representative, so: confident were his friends of victory. Tho friends of Curtis, however, accepted these odds as fast as they were offered. Both men were in magnificent condition. ‘The course was from a stakeboat located near the coal’ dock to another boat anchored three miles up the river, ‘When the word was given to start Donaldson was th first to catch the water, and dashed off with a lead of half a length, pulling thirty-seven strokes to the min- ute, Curtis pulled @ thirty-nine stroke, T ace Was about even for a quarter of a mile, when Donaldson be- en to forge abead and increased the distance between imself and his rival toa length, At the end of the second mile Donaldson increased his stroke to forty and Curtis to fore Out, and the distance between Donaldson, who maintained the load, and Curtis was three’ lengths The excitement now was intense among the passengers of the tug following the con- testants, Curtis made vigorous spurts withoat avail. The stakeboat was reached by Donaldson in twenty-five minutes and thirty seconds. Curtis was about oi Jength behind. ” DR. DUNHAM’S DEATH. THE MYSTERY OF THE MURDER OF THE NEW BRUNSWICK DOCTOR UNFOLDING ITSELF—A SUGGESTION OF SUICIDE. Nuw Broxswiox, N. J., Deo. 13, 1875. The impression is gaining ground here that the unfortunate Dr. Danbam came to his death by his own volition, in throwing himself into tho canal while laboring under a fit of temporary insanity, The de- ceased was known to have been in a wandering and uncertain state of mind for many days before the sad occurrence, and this, coupled with tho fact that there were no marks of violence on body whea taken out of the canal, goes bs yg 4 to sup- port the theory of suicide. In the Doctors office were found scraps and small fragments of letters, which, when adjusted so as to be made readable, indi- cate plainly that he purposed going in the direction of the canal on the night preceding that on which he dis- appeared. These letters were written and then torn up on Wednesday night However, nothing definite can be given as to the cause of his doath, as opinions are very conflicting. The Coroner’s jury and the po- lice having the matter in charge no farther surmises will have any weight until their investigations are con- cluded, Suicide in the Doctor's family is said to bo hereditary, as two or three members of it have already died through that cause. A MORBID MAN. Frederick Voight, the young Prussian who shot him+ self at No. 63 Bayard street, on Saturday night, and who died at the New York Hospital the following morning, left a letter addressed to his mother in Pras- sia, a copy of which will be found below. Clerk of the Coroners’ Office Toal will mail it to its destination after the inquest :-— My Dear Parents, Broraers avn SistRRS— L beg vo apologize for the bad news which I am about to convey to you, and I beseech you to pray for me to the God in which you trust. By tho time you receive this letter I will Daye relieved mysolf of the burden which I have to bear, as so many others have been compelied to do. For the past ten years 1 have been so misused by the creatares who uro called human that it is impossible for me to bear my” troubles any longer. If the Almighty and gracious spirit doth exist, he will not judge me harshly for throwing The hu- | as serpents, monkey: ordaiued my end before my birth, I now plunge my- self back {nto that nothingness from which I came. ‘The motive which impeis we to this act of self-destruc- tion 1 refuse to explain even to you, for fear of its be- ing misconstrued, Even you would consider me absent minded or insane. The hand of fate rests heavily upon me and] have become exhausted. I pray you to not bell that I am branded with any crime, My hears is pierced by the poisonous arrows of envy and slander of others. Once more I crave pardon of you, firmly belleving that you will remember me in friendship and love. Farewell for ever, We will meet again in what ig called the hereafter, Your unhappy son =~ wee. Ms ANOTRE, CAME EDIOAL, CASE, The case of Louts Lesser, the dry goods merchant, who shot himself at Jersey City on Saturday, is as puz- ling to the physicians as was that of Carruth, who was shot by Landis, at Vineland, Lesser was not oxpected to survive many hours, yet his condition was so im. Proved yesterday that his physicians could ardiy restrain him from envering into con- versation, An order was given probibiting the admission of any visitors He fred four bullets at bis left side, each of which passed off without inflicting « dangerous wound, He tired another into hie moush, and the ball is lodged somewhere in the back of rile symptoms, the steady ig ol Pulse, and the regular action of the heart, the physicians conclude that the ball did not penetrate the brain, but lodged in the neck. They have thos far been unabie to trace its course. If inflamma- tion does not supervene in the region of the wound, the bullet will become encysted and the man will recover. TO BE OR NOT TO BER Mrs, Mary A, Baherns, residing in Hoboken, has beew: livitg on bad tering with her husband for some time past, which ended in ber going to the banks of the Hud- son with suicidal intent While behaving like am Ophelia—maddened with grief, tearing her hair--she was about jumping into the cold water of the great river, when a police officer saw her and conducted her away trom the dock where she then stood. She again returned, however, to make @ hole in the water and tho police officer arrested her, charging her with disorderly conduct. Yesterday morning Revorder Bohnateds dis charged her and her husband took her bowe, JUVENILE DEPRAVITY. A singular case of juvenile depravity was brought to the notice of Justice Davis, in the Second District Police Court, Jersey City, yesterday. A boy named Carberry, the son of respectable ‘parents, procured a new pair of skates and was skating on the meadows | whon he was attacked by two boys, named Lundy and Robinson, who threw him down and while one held him the other stripped him not only of his skates but of his shoes and stockings and oofwith them, The police are now in search of the young thieves. ‘Another case came before Justice Keose in the First District Court. Two young girls, named Mary Cook and Eliza Deaning, have homes but refuse to remain in them. Both have served torms in the Penitentiary. ‘They sleep in hallways and steal when they bave an op- portunity, They wore found on Saturday night in the coal collar of a tous on Grand street, where they had built a fire ‘The smoke Issuing from the grating was fireman, The Justice «ont ,ygmsor shrew b V0 Whe Popiyehjiagy.