The New York Herald Newspaper, February 3, 1876, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD |*""" BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. + JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. | Slidiaedings | THE DAILY HERALD, podlished every lay ,in the year. Four cents per copy. Twelve dollars per year, or one dollar per month, free of postage. 3 All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches must be addressed New Yor« RALD. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. PHILADELPHL IFFICE—NO. 114SO0UTH SIXTH STREET. * LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK LET STREET. HERALD—NO. PARIS OFFICE—AVENUE DE L’OPERA. Subscriptions and advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms | as in New York. VOLUME XLI.- NO. 34 m | AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. | BOOTR'S THRATRE. JULIUS CASAR, at 8 P.M. Mr. Lawrence Barrett. THEATRE COMIQUE. VARIETY, at 8 P. M. GERMANIA THEATRE. DIE KOHLENSCHULZN, at 8PM. THIRD AV VARIETY, ats P. M. WALLAC THEATRE MARRIED IN HASTE, at SI’. M. Mr. Lester Wallack, STADT THEATRE PAPENUEIM GERMAN OPERA, at 8 TIVOLI TL VARIETY, at 8 P. M. PM. cout PANORAMA, 1 to 4 P. M. and EAGLE Ti VARIETY, at 8 P.M BROC FALSE SHAME, at 5?’ TONY PASTO! VARIETY, at 8 P.M. ‘ARE THEATRE, FIFT PIQUE, at 8 P.M. enport. THIRTY-FOURTH STREET OPERA HOUSE, VARIETY, at 8 P.M. EATRE. Mrs. G. C. Howard. VARIETIES. eo at 2 P.M ROW UNCLE TOM’S CABIN PARIS VARIETY, at 8 P.M. SAN FRANCISCO MINS’ 8PM WOOD'S MUSEUM. REN McCULLOUGH, at 8 P.M. Oliver Doad Byron. Matinee at 2 P.M. i GLOBE THEATRE, | VARIETY, at 8 P. M. i WITH [ SUPPLEMENT. FEBRUARY 3, 1876 | are thatthe weather to-day will be cloudy, with, possibly, snow. | Tae Henarp ny Fast Maw Trarns.— Nevws- dealers and the public will be supplied with the | Damy, Werxry and Sunpay Henraxp, free of | postage, by sending their orders direct to this office. ; Grant that he would not willingly be a can- ———= | forbidden the use of his name in such a con- | ing in steadiness and sincerity Mr.’ Bristow | love of gain. NEW YORK H#KALD, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY ¥%, 1876—WITH SUPPLEMENT. Conkling as a Presidential Candidate. | While our sprightly contemporary, the | Sun, gravely recognizes the eminent fitness | of Mr. Conkling to lead the republican party | in the Presidential canvass, our solemn con- temporary, the Tribune, attempts to turn his | pretensions into ridicule. The distinguished New York Senator is too considerable aman to be much damaged by ridicule, even if it were pointed with wit and wielded by hands skilled in the use of that light weapon. Mr. Conkling’s friends in various parts of the State are actively organizing to present his name at Cincinnati, although, so far as yet appears, without his sanction or consent. He is currently re- ported to be on such terms with President didate against him if the latter desires the nomination. But Senator Conkling’s per- | sonal relations with the President do not | bind the republicans of New York, who, in | their last State Convention, passed a resolu- tion assuming that General Grant had publicly nection, and declaring an immovable hos- bility to the third election of a President. If, therefore, the New York republicans have a preference among candidates they are at full liberty to express it and to send to Cin- cinnati a delegation pledged to support their choice. And if they should send a delega- tion so pledged, as they are very likely to do, there can be no doubt that Mr. Conkling will be their candidate, unless he should | thwart their wishes by interdicting the use of his name. Mr. Morton is as yet certain only of the thirty delegates from Indiana ; Mr. Blaine is certain only of the fourteen from Maine ; Mr. Conkling, if he chooses to have them, can rely on the sixty-six delegates from New York, which would start him in |, the Convention with once and a half as many votes as both of his rivals together. We do not know from what source either of them can muster as many delegates as Mr. Conk- ling may have from his own State alone. On the score of ability and fitness Mr. Conkling is at least the peer of any republi-- can who has been mentioned in connection with the Presidency. In eloquence and the personal accomplishments which would grace and dignify the station he is superior to them all, In solid | judgment, public experience, extent of knowledge, steadiness of purpose, politi- cal consistency, depth of conviction and sin- cerity he will compare favorably either with Senator Morton or Mr. Blaine, and except- is every way his inferior. In the funda- mental quality of integrity he is quite in- vulnerable, and his very foibles are of a kind which are seldom associated with a sordid He inclines to be a little Watt. Srrexr Yesrerpay.—The market for | fancy stocks was lower, for investment se- eurities, government and railway bonds | steady. After opening at 1131-8 and ad- | vancing to 113 1-4 gold closed at 113. Money | on call loans ruled at 5 and 6 per cent. terday was exceedingly interesting, particu- larly the scientific statement of Professor Eaton relative to the traces of blood on the prisoner's clothing and boots. Tar Fanapay has cleared once more to re- pair the direct cable. Why can not she or some other vessel be kept on this side to look out for such emergencies? The breaks have nearly all been at the American end. Tue Atronsists are closing in on the Car- | nation. more pompous and grandiose than is quite consistent with good taste, but personal manners, which seem rather too assuming in a Senator debating questions with his equals, might not be un- becoming in the Chief Magistrate of a great Should he be elected he would be every inch a President, at least in deport- ment, and one likes to see a certain kind of propriety observed in the higher walks of public life, But, conceding that his grandi- ose loftiness is a foible, it may, nevertheless, be said that a man so long conspicuous in public life is fortunate when the worst and almost the only thing ever alleged against him is his somewhat too pompous manners. | His ability, integrity, knowledge of public affairs and acquaintance with men are equal to the requirements of the highest station, and superior in their combination and tout lists and doing their very best to extirpate their mountain-posted foes in the time they have promised. It is, however, decidedly up- hill work. Tray will send four hundred tons of goods to be exhibited at Philadelphia. As this will, doubtless, include many exquisite works of art, our lightning calculators had better not begin computing it at so much a ton, Tur Bovy or Coup Am which came across the continent from the northwest to the sea- coast did considerable damage, owing to its high velocity. Roofs were torn off and steeples toppled, but no loss of life has been reported. A Sratvz to Lorp Patmenston unveiled yesterday in London, and no ceremony! Is this a tory fear that something national might come of honoring the memory of the great whig in words as well as bronze? Was there got even a dinner among the members of Her Majesty's opposition? If not we shall begin to think that English character is sadly degenerating. We wonder has the statue a twig in its mouth, as Leech loved to picture jolly old ‘‘Pam.” Tae Sovra axp THE Preswwxncy.—How the Treasury and Post Office officials are working in harmony in the South to secure the nomination of a republican ticket having the respective heads of these departments in the first and second place ts shown in some extracts from a spicy private Iétter which we publish elsewhere. By letting in the light upon the obscure and insidious work- ings of such bold intrigues the people will be prepared to vote with their eyes open. We Caxnor Wet Uxvenstand why mem- bers of the Legislature consent to introduce bills to which they are careful to say they are not committed, It betokens laziness or want of backbone. Thur Mr. Fish yester- day introduced a bill autnorizing the Mayor of New York toappoint three Lodging House Commissioners, who are to entertain poor wanderers ip lodging houses constructed at the public expense. It 1s deseribed as a job, and Mr. Fish hastens to say he is not com- mitted to it. Why, then, did he in- troduce it, like «© natural son of which he was half ashamed? If it is | ® good bill he is right in giving the Legislature an opportunity to make it law ; bat if it is a job he gives every jobber on the floor @ chance to fasten it on the community. ‘The rule which forbids a member voting with the majority from fnoving to reconsider vontains moral applicable to those who troduce bills and reserve the right of them off. The practice arises either the want of industry enough to learn | eral Grant and squatted on the crup-| menced, Not satistied with having the Falk per of the school question; he thus | laws softened or mildly applied, one of the real character of the bill or firmness enough to refuse to introduce any bill whose honesty is not manifest, no matter by whom urged. ‘ | gogue—this lame giant of mischief,*with ensemble to those of any of his rivals. The Presidential election will, however, turn on questions of public policy as well as on the character and qualifications of candi- dates, Mr. Conkling’s course in public life has at least been steady and consistent, which is more than can be said of either of his prominent rivals. He has never been anything but a republican, and as a member of that party he has never cut any political antics, At the beginning of the war Mr. Morton was the demoératie Governor of In- diana and professed all the horror of the democratic Bourbons for the emancipation and equality of the negro race. When he changed his principles and mounted the re- publican horse he proved, as new converts are apt to be, a furious rider. In more re- | cent years he has been a leader in every fan- | gus growth that has shot up in the republi- can party. He was the Goliath of inflation in the heated currency debates in the spring of 1874—a Goliath with ‘six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty four in all, and his strength was as a weaver's beam,” and Jast fall he went to Ohio to make anti-inflation speeches, He has taken extreme ground in every fresh crusade against the South, and everybody believes that he would be as zealous an apostle of magnanimity as he is of malignant hate if he thought it would equally promote his sordid, ungovernable ambition. He is a man of reckless aspirations, unrestrained by prin- ciple, and citizens who yearn for peace, tranquillity and the resuscitation of business | on a sound, steady basis should not hesitate | a moment if the choice for President lay be- | tween this able and unconscionable dema- four-and-twenty Philistine fingers and toes— and a statesman so earnestly republican and | Yet so truly conservative as Senator Conkling. A comparison with Mr. Blaine would also show that Senator Conkling would make the safer President. Unlike Mr. Blaine, he is self- poised enough to restrain his ambition from sudden impulsive spurts and spas- modic efforts which betoken weak- | ness rather than strength. Mr. Blaine | been forcin, ted which lays its eggs in-the nests of other | birds, and drops them around so promisen- ously that when he attempts to sit on and hatch them some of the eggs will get cold while he is trying to warm the others into life. In the last Congress he assented to an amnesty bill, reported from his own com- mittee, which included Jefferson Davis in its scope. In this Congress, releasing himself from all ties of consistency, he set the House in a hubbub by declaiming against a bill of precisely the same character, and brandished the skeletons of the wretched victims of Andersonville to give emphasis to his shocking harangue. If Mr. Conkling had made such a theatrical and mock tragic ex- hibition in the Senate his friends would have hung their heads in silent grief and shame. The insincerity of Mr. Blaine in re- kindling the fire under that caldron of horrors is demonstrated, first, by his assent to a precisely similar bill in the last Con- gress, and, second, by his shameless avowal that he was willing the bill should | pass after he had annoyed the democrats by | putting them on the record in a vote for the amnesty of Jefferson Davis as a separ- ate question, And this small manwyvre, attempted at such cost of good feeling, is Mr. Blaine’s chief trophy as a statesman ! The contrast between such a demagogne and Senator Conkling is impressive. Caring nothing for the republican party, we are thankful on grounds of State pride that the leading republican of New York has not de- scended to the level of the Senator from In- diana and the Presidential candidate from Maine, ‘We should rejoice to sce the New York republicans pledge their votes to Mr. Conkling,, even as a mere rebuke to the demagogism and char- latanry which have been displayed by his Presidential rivals, The sober public senti- ment of New York does not approve of such disgusting antics, and we hope the republi- cans of the Empire State will wash their hands of it by some emphatic public act. And the country at large, if compelled to choose between Mr. Conkling and either of these rivalss the actual President of the United States, should have no hesitation in preferring the statesman of New York, who has never zigzagged since he has been in public life, who has been uniformly sound and zealous on the great question of the currency, who has steadily acted with his party without freaks or demagogical manauvres, who has had too much self-re- spect to flaunt his pretensions as a Presiden- tial candidate, and has sufficient continence of character to bide his time and submit himself to the judgment of the country, No Seat No Fare. ‘The sum total of all the arguments against compelling the horse car companies to fur- nish seating accommodation for the travelling public is that the public does not care to see it enforced. This is all the horse car com- panies have to say on behalf of the over- crowding, which benefits only themselves. The real point of the question they leave untouched—namely, that every passenger who pays for a ride has a right toa scat. Since the Henatp has taken up this | question we ‘have had letters in shoals. Not one of the writers—even those obviously in the interest of the companies—has dared to say ‘that people who pay fares should be compelled to stand or should submit to being crowded like hogs. They have dropped into such side issues as to what would happen if | the reform: was suddenly enforced with the present accommodation. The picture of the working man and the working girl who would be compelled to walk if they did not consent to stand in the cars will not deceive any- body. The reform must be carried out be- cause of these hard worked classes, as well as because of the richer. They have the best right to seats. To represent the poor as those who should be thankful to be let stand while paying as much as others is infamous. It all returns to the one point, that the com- panies will not respect the public's right in this matter unless they are compelled, and compelled they shall be. Ifthe reform en- tails extra expense to them they are able to stand it, or, if they cannot, their charters must pass into the hands of those who can. In the course of the Hxrann's inquires it has been discovered that many of the com- panies have not paid their license fees to the city. They are derelict to the extent of | half a million dollars, and while these companies are huddling the people together and squeezing the last cent for their disgrace- ful conveyances from the public they have been _; to pay this large deficiency em, abd diyiding the mone withheld and the product of their over- crowding in enormous dividends among themselves, It is the Corporation At- tornvy’s duty to press the suits for these derelictions, It is somewhat surprising that the members of the. Legislature from this city should acknowledge the | power of the companies to such an extent as to have failed to introduce a bill covering this reform. They have shown that they could hurry through a bill to let a few French and German pleasure seekers enjoy the privilege of dancing with masks on, but they have done nothing to let their constitu- ents enjoy a ride in a horse car without standing like hogs in a pen, breathing a stifling atmosphere, amid continual scenes of discourtesy, indecency and discomfort. We have had lots of indignation in letters from the people. Let us now see their indig- nation take a more positive shape. Let them organize and bring their pressure to bear upon the Legislature and upon the compa- nies. The former must be held to the letter of their duty to New York, and the latter to the letter of their charters and the taw. No abuse which has grown up like this can be de- | is like the swimming dog in the fable that dropped the leg of mutton in his mouth to snatch at its reflected image in the water, | Instead of building on his own foundation, | | like a man of principle and of self-contained | conscious strength, Mr. Blaine enviously | watches his rivals, or supposed rivals, and | the moment he sees one mounted on a prom. | ising hobby up he leaps behind him like an | agile monkey, sits on the crupper of the sad- | dle, and “shares the pleasure of the | ride.” He thus sprang behind Gen- | sprang behind Mr. Morton and made an ex- to the South, Ho ix a volitical cuckoo stroyed without a little trouble. Let the re- form be sweeping and the attack be from all sides. Let us have more and better cars, comfortably seated and with seats on top (double deckers), and a strict penal rule of no seat no fare. ‘Tae German Utrramontanes seem desit® ous of more martyrdom, but it is to be hoped the imperial government will wisely proceed with the tacit compromise they have com- ultramontane leaders now cries out for Dr. hibtion of himself on the crupper of hostility | Falk’s official bead. They would prefer Bismarck’s, but will not get either. An Important Bill. Senator Woodin’s bill relating to the local government of the city of New York, synopsis of which we publish to-day, is a well considered and important measure. It strikes at the root of many acknowledged evils, and applies sweeping remedies. There has hitherto been too much license in the increase of both the permanent and tem- porary debt of the city, and the present bill is designed to work a reform in this direc- tion. By its provisions all legislative pow- ers are vested solely in the Common Coun- cil, and no ordinance involving an expendi- ture of money is to be valid unless passed by four-fifths of the Aldermen, thus enabling the minority representation to hold a check on the majority. Limitations are placed on the increase of the debt, whether temporary or permanent, and the property owners are protected against unnecessary or excessive assessments by the provision which requires the assent of a certain proportion of their number on the front of a proposed improve- ment before the work can be undertaken by the city. The Comptroller is required to sift down the temporary or assessment debt; to separate therefrom the amount for which the city is liable, and to issue consolidated stock for the same, thus trans- ferring the city’s portion to the permanent debt, where it belongs. By this means we shal! know exactly how much of the tempo- rary debt is recoverable from the property assessed. The contract system is more carc- fully guarded than under the existing laws, and some very desirable provisions are con- tained in the bill to prevent any expenditure in excess of the original amount of a con- tract. One good feature is the requirement that the full amount certified as necessary to complete any public work shall be appro- priated by the Board of Estimate and Appor- tionment before the contract shall be en- tered into; that this amount shall be in- dorsed by the Comptroller on the certificate of the department under which the contract is made, and that the contractor shall have no claim against the city beyond the sum thus appropriated and certified. Other provisions of the bill are aimed at the prevention of frauds in contracts, by making the false certification of a contractor's work or the neglect of duty on the part of an inspector or superintendent a mis- demeanor. There are also well drawn clauses which aim at the better enforcement of assessments and at economy in street open- ings. The powers of the Board for Revision and Correction of Assessments are trans- ferred to the Commissioners of the Depart- ment of Taxes and Assessments, where they seem to belong, A provision which reopens the cases of old street opening commissions in which exorbitant expenses have been fastened on the city will create a panic among the parties in interest. It has been held that the taxation of costs in these com- missions is conclusive against the city and precludes any further defence on the part of the people. Mr. Woodin's law reopens these cases, declaring a taxation of costs by the courts to be no bar to a further defence, and allowing the city to contest all such bills on the merits. ~ The provisions in relation to the city debt and its extinction are of much interest, and will, no doubt, excite considerable dis- cussion. The present sinking fund is con- | tinued, and, after first providing forthe pay- ment of that portion of the debt for which it is specially pledged, is made to extend over, and is set apart for, the redemption of the entire vity debt. For this purpose the sur- .plus of the sinking fund for the payment of interest on the city debt, the whole income and revenues of the general fund and all excise license fees collected in the city, are to be transferred to and swallowed up by the redemption sinking fund. The excise money is thus diverted from the-charitable institutions, and the income of the general fund, now about four million dollars, is to be no longer a credit against the annual estimates in reduction of the year’s taxation. The advocates of the bill, however, contend that the taxpayers of to-day will not suffer, inasmuch as the amount they surrender to the redemption sinking fund will be more than compensated by the payment of the city stocks and bonds out of that fund as they fall due, instead of by taxation. All post- ponement of the payment of matured bonds is prohibited. The subject is an important one to our taxpayers, and will be more fully considered hereafter. A Converted Actress. A correspondent, ‘J. B. R.,” whose letter will be found elsewhere, sponaly objects to the phrage neetel actress,” generally applied to Mrs. Lowery, the female preacher, on the ground that it implies a reproach to the theatrical profession. This does not fol- low. Webster defines the primary meaning of “convert” thus—‘‘to cause to gurn; to turn,” and quotes from Ben Jonson the fol- lowing apt illustration:—‘‘O which way shall I convert myself?” It is correct to speak of Mrs. Lowery as ‘‘converted,” for she has turned from the stage to the lecture room. But sucha conversion is not neces- sarily from bad to good. Corn is often con- verted into whiskey, yet no one thinks the change implies any condemnation of the grain. The conversion of Mrs. Lowery from a bad actress to a good evangelist is, there- fore, no reproach to the theatre, while it may be a great compliment to the pulpit. Many such conversions have occurred lately. Mr. Oakey Hall was a converted lawyer, and now he is a reconverted actor; Dr. Hayes is a converted Arctic explorer and Mr. Morrissey a converted bruiser. The West is full of converted distillers, and Washington re- joices in lobbyists who are converted Con- gressmen. From such transformations no general censure of any profession can be | justly inferred. The error into which ‘J. B. R.,” in com- mon with many other people, has fallen, is to suppose that conversion always means a change from eyil to good. But it may be from good to evil, from one good to another, or from the better to the best. In the case of Mrs. Lowery we are inclined to think the change is a public benefit, and that if there were more converted actresses the theatres would gain by its loss. This lady is prob- ably doing the world more good by her en- ergy and devotion as an evangelist than she ever did on the stage. We do her the justice to presume that she at least intends no re- . proach to the stage in permitting herself to be called a converted actress without pro- testing. As an evangelist it is her duty to obtain large audiences, and this title is an attractive advertisement, for there are thou- sands of sinners who have never seen an ac- tress in a theatre and would eagerly rush to see one in a church, The St. Louis Whiskey Trials. The uniform success of the counsel for the prosecution in getting convictions in every trial they have undertaken has an ominous look for the accused parties who are yet awaiting their turn. This constant success, uninterrupted by a single failure or fiasco, demonstrates not only the earnestness and vigor of the prosecuting officers, but the care with which they select the culprits whom they arraign at the bar of justice. They bring nobody to trial on light and trivial grounds. It is their habit to make sure of the sufficiency of the evidence before they begin a prosecu- tion, and then press it to a crushing conclu- sion. Like the impressive statues of Justice which, with bandaged eyes, hold the scales even, they regard not special rank, nor wealth, nor high position, nor powerful con- nections, as was signally illustrated by the indictment of General Babcock and by the recent verdict against Mr. McKee. McKee is @ man of great wealth, an old citizen of St. Louis of the highest standing, the editor of the principal republican organ in the valley of the Mississippi; but his standing, connections and past social respectability were of no avail to save him. McGuire, who is now on trial, and the indicted army officer who is next in turn, can have no ground of hope except in their absolute innocence. The prosecuting officers and the courts are faithfully enforc- ing the injunction, “Let no guilty man es- cape,” and even a confidential inmate of the White House will not be spared if there is good evidence against him. Fiat justiia / Railway Companies and the Sale of Newspapers. There is a sort of traffic that becomes an intolerable nuisance in the railway cars, and which railway companies should not only not license and encourage, but which they should prohibit. To make a passenger's lap @ common receptacle for every species of villanous compound that can be put intoa ten cent package seems to be pushing to an undue degree that ownership of the public which some railway companies and their agents assert and practise. But we have not yet heard that any portion of the public ob- jects to the sale on the train of the morning papers; and we perceive a divided duty, therefore, in what we must say with regard to the action of the Troy and Boston Rail- way Company. For its noble suppression of itahorse and kindred abomirations we shall laud it to the skies; but for its suppression of all the daily papers we must believe that it has been badly advised. Any railway company whose rules are such that they fail to distinguish between the sale of papers which passengers are really eager to get and the sale of a cata- logue of quackeries that isa common nuis- ance must be managed by men who are either imbecile or supercilious—men who cannot comprehend what the public wants— or who are determined that the public shall not have what it wants because they them- selves have not the same taste. If the sale of papers and ‘prize packages” must go to- gether on the cars of that company; if the public is to be starved by the deprivation of newspapers into surrender on the packages, it would perhaps be well as a compromise to have the things on the train but not to carry them through. Keep a little shop in one corner of a baggage car stuffed with those dainties, forthe privilege to sell which on the train the company is paid. Ifa man-hankers for a prize package, if he cannot live without such an accommodation on a short journey, there let him find his honey of hoarhound and be happy; but let him, oh! let him find in a corner beside it that journal crammed with news for which his heart is hungry. It is to be regretted that the sale of journals is interfered with on some other lines, and we are sorry to find the Erie Railway in this category. There it appears the privilege to sell papers on the line is made a monopoly and sold, and to that there is no objection, for the company can give the news agents advantages for which it is worth their while to pay, and it has the right to sell these ad- vantages as it may choose; but when a monopoly will not do so much to accommo- date the public as was done by the small agents the public naturally complains. Mr. Jewett isa gentleman of recognized public spirit, intelligence and love of fair play, and is cert@inly not a party to any restric- tions on traffic of this sort; but his subor- dinates, before selling a monopoly of so much importance, should be sure that the monopolists will cover all the ground from which they displace others. The International Rifle Match, It is sincerely to be hoped that the English Rifle Association shall not stand severely upon its chosen ground of an imperial team or none, so far as they are concerned, coming to America. The Scotch riflemen have come out manfully, declaring they will send a team ; and thereupon we are informed the English threaten to withdraw. As every American rifleman would be glad to see the gallant Irish send out ateam and would welcome equally the teams from England and Scot- land we cannot well see how the riflemen of the three countries, with the excellent under- standing always existing between them, can make mutual objections to each other's presence here. We might take the English Association’s resolve in the light of a compliment to the skill of our riflemen, as Sir Henry Halford’s main objection to more teams than one ap- pears to be founded on the desire to send ont a single team of the very best shots in the three kingdoms, so as to go as near insuring the victory beforehand as possible. We would not like to appear to force in any way the de- cision of our transatlantt cousins, but we may be excused for pointing out the fact that if Scotland and Ireland should prefer to send out separate teams their action not only | makes the selection of an imperial team im- | possible, but it makes it all the more desira- ble for England not to leave herself unrepre- sented in America this year. The chances of Pend so exclusively upon the good shoote ing of individual members as Sir Henry Halford’s anxiety to get together the very best single shots would indicate, but upon the perfection of ensemble in the team. Our / riflemen who made such a brilliant record last year and the year before were drawn from a single club whose members did not live twenty miles apart. They were used to working together. Looking at this in the light we present it the English riflemen might take the hint that the chance of bring- ing back the victory to the British Isles would be increased in the proportion of the number of good teams they had entered, rather than by refining an imperial team down to the men from all the teams who had made the highest scores. Our desires lie en- tirely in the direction of giving the widest popularity to a manly sport, and our last hope is that, however it may be arranged, we shall have a representation from the three kingdoms in the Centennial rifle mateh, s to Row as Early as July. Oxford, as will be noted from our special despatch, has declined the challenge of the Rowing Association of American Colleges toa six-oared race on Saratoga Lake, to take plece about July 20. It will be remembered that the plan was to ask Cambridge, Oxford and Dublin to.meet our fastest student crews im a friendly contest following closely upon the University race. Her reason for declining, as was in part Dublin’s, and will probably be Cambridge's, is that coming here so early would prevent her attending the great annual amateur event at Henley on the 15th of June, a contest second only to the Putney to Mortlake one in British interest. Indeed, in one way it isa more important race them the latter, for it enables the University men to compete with the best amateur oarsmen of the country, an advantage which ous students have not yet secured to them- selves here, and which would unquestion- ably bring them valuable knowledge, as the English have already found. Here, then, thep rospect of a race, easily more important, and which would have awakened more in« tense and*universal interest than any other aquatic meeting of modern times, seems ta be rudely blasted, and for a reason which we will take the liberty of saying the associa- tion ought certainly to have known and pro- vided against. And the latter they did in part; for, though the challenge was as abova stated, they wisely empowered the Regatta Committee to take such further steps aa might prove necessary to insure a race, and it is but due to the gentle- men composing the committee to say that they are working with characteristia vigor and energy to just that end. And their way out happens to be really easy. Their guests could not comfortably reach here after Henley much before the Fourth of July. To ask them to row inside. of six weeks from their arrival would not be fair to them, nor a thing we would consent to do in England. Let an invitation go promptly forwerd to row at such time during the month following mid-August as will best suit the challenged parties’ convenience. Show them that the warm interest felt here in their coming, as expressed in Captain Rees’ letter of Decem- ber 3, has even now largely increased, and that every courtesy will be extended them, not by our university men only, but by our. best citizens generally. By this plan our rowers, instead of having to keep at the top of their condition for days and weeks to- gether, and so surely getting stale, could take a turn at the sea shore, get well rested, and yet have three or more weeks to get into shape again. But there is one other change which might as well be faced now as later, and without which they may almost forego their pains; make it, and with the new date all these crews can yet be prevailed on tocome. It is to make the race for fours. Sixes are as unknown there as eights here, Fours have for years been familiar, indeed the principal’ racing craft of the oarsmen in both coun- tries. Fewer men need thus come. Relays would be abundant, our crews each having two good ones at once ; fast time could be comparef ; the boats cost less and are handier and stronger; they could, if de- sired, as they often have, cross the ocean or be carried anywhere, and, almost above all,’ in the great open amateur race at Philadel- phia, our students could meet and probably beat the best amateurs of America, if not of the United Kingdom as well, which they simply cannot do in sixes. There is good reason to think that both’ the English and Irish really want to come, and it will be very dull of us to stand in their way. Napwes is getting ready for a grand week of carnival, and as it has not held one since young Bomba left, we hope the inhabitants shall enjoy the influx of strangers which the late ridiculous attempt at an eruption on the part of Vesuvius failed to bring. We ob- serve thatthe old volcano is again brought into requisition and great activity in the crater is announced. Oxford Decli Tue Question or German in the public schools was settled decisively yesterday at the meeting of the Board of Education, when the teaching of that language was Fmited to the higher schools as a special study. PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, ——+—_— Blaine’s photographs sell. Mrs. Chandler wears violet velvet. Mrs. Secretary Belknap wears a No. 134 sloe. Mrs. Senator Conkling is a guest at the White House. Mrs. Congressman Chittenden wears silk of twilight blue. It i claimed that gaucrkraut is really a toulc, it’s Teutonic, Joe Jefferson amuses himself in his leisure hours ty painting in oil. Senator Burnside is still detained at home, at Provle dence, R. L, by the continued illness of Mrs. Burnside, In Africa a breed of sober minded dogs without tails has been discovered, There isn’t a wag among them. Mr, Bonner’s new mare don’t break, so that Westerm papers need not waste wit by talking about Music “im the air.” At eleven o'clock yesterday the wind blew atthe Tate of one mile and one-tenth a minute, which is the worst wo have had since Blaine’s inst speech. By cable telegram from Rondon, under date of 24 inst., we are informpd that Mr. F. KR Plunkett, who is now Secretary of the British Logation at Yeddo, bas been appointed Secretary at Washington. A cable despatch from Dublin, under date of the 24 inst., reports that the health of Father Tom Burke, the well known pulpit orator, which has seriously, Yes, success with » team we now know do nat da-_\ iraired recgutly, is now much,