The New York Herald Newspaper, March 27, 1876, Page 6

OUR CORONERS. Officials Who Should Have Prevented the Young Outrage. WHAT THEIR SERVICE COSTS How a Coroner Earns $17,000 a Year. The recent outrage by which the body of Mrs, Rose Young was permitted to remain in the water at pier 15 East River, for twenty-four hours, while the husband nd merchants on South street, who were annoyed by the disgraceful spectacle, were scouring the city in vearch of aCorover, has drawn attention to a depart- ment of the city government in which gross abuses bave often been reported. This department is the Board obCoroners of the City and County of New York. Serious charges have time and again been made as to the unconcern displayed by these officials, but this last outrage is one of the most flagrant that has been ven- Ulated for years. While the pohee and Charity Com- missioners are culpable, the Coroners cannot, in tho face of the facts, throw all the responsibility trom their thoulders upon the other branches of tho city having ecguizance of the case, It 18 no excuse that CORONER CROKER WAS TOO HUST to attend to this particular case. There aro four Coro- ners, two always on duty, Each of these men has a deputy, who assumes, if the law docs not give him, all the powers of his chief, so far as permitting the re- moval of a body. There were, then, on duty, on Tues- day afternoon and Wednesday morning tour officers, pne of whom, certainly, should be always at the Coro- ners’ office to attend to cases of this kind. The office should, indeed, be opon all night, and one of these of- ficers should ve in attendance. Instead of this being the case, the office in Houston street ts opened at nine A. M. and closed at halt-past four, although the clerk, Mr. J. L. Toal, remains until five P. M. Persons who may want to recover the possession of dead friends, Moerefore, have but cight hours of the twenty-four in wh to do so at tbe office. If they seek a permit, for removal between four P, M. and nine A. M, of the next @ay they must run all over the city in search of a well paid official, whom it may be difculy to find, But the \ruth is, the Coroners are so intent upon MAKING A MIG BILL OF FERS, tbat they bold hundreds of inquests that are not re- quired, The law allows them the following fees-—For rowing each body and holding inquests, $10; for sum- honing and swearing a jury, $5; for making and fling tach inquest, $5; making a maximum of $20. These vre the fees fixed by cap. 665, Laws of 1868, which abolishes all previous statates on th chapter clearly defines when inquests shall be held:— “When any person shall dis from criminal violence, or by casualty, or suddenly when in apparent health, or where unattended by a physician, or in prison, or in any suspicious or unusual manner.’? The law pro- vides that a physician shall be called to view the body externally or make an autvpsy theron, as may bo re- quired, For each external examination he is to re- ceive $3 and for each autopsy $10. The testimony. ot such physician, tho law says, and thatot any other | Witnesses that the Coroner may find necessary shall constitute an inquest, Under this law the Coroners have each appointed a physician as a deput and the er will see’ that thera great incentive for these gentlemen, as their clicfs, to hold inquests. There 38 DO necessity for the summoning ol a jury in many cases; but the Coroners would lose $5 were they to dispense with the jury, and hence they ulways have tho deputy would not Le apt to stop at fxamination at , by a little cutting nown corpse, hi juld get $10 for half an Lour’s work. Hence it is safe io say that many BODIES ARE NEEDLESSLY DISFIGUIKD by the knite and saw to gratify the greed of some of the deputies Comptroller Green, in a letter addressed to the Coro- ners on May 20, 1875, declining to pay their bills as rendered, put the atter very strongly. He sbows tthe inquests held in the first quarter of 1875 were $20, and $21,401 was claimed for fees, examinations wnG autopsies. ‘It appears,” he, “that in every instance im the S20 cases teported by you yon have charged for a jury, making a total charge of $4,100, botwitnstanding the fact that a large number of the in- quests are upon bodies Of persons aying of smallpox, | pt stillborn children, &c., im whieh the cause of death Must have been evident, and the testimony of the | ptysician and witnesses mination thereo!.” HOW JURINS ARE MADE CP, The method of ebtaining juries is very singular, the Coroners havo attached to their office one or more political {riends, who are sent out to secure men to actas jurors, When the office was in tho basement of the City Hail, the juries were generally made up of the lotterers who hiled the City Hall Vark benenes, Coroners never took the trouble to find out whether they were residents of the city or even naturalized citizens, powwitbstanding that the law declares that they shall exercise the saine care in selecting coroners’ jurors as is exercised in the selection of juries in ervil or crim bal proceedings im courts of law, But the worst ts to rome, A large number of the cases that Coroners are talled upot » investigate arse from the killing of cars and other vebicles. The rail- nies Xbow the value of courteous coroners, lurnishing them with yearly free passes, ployes on the recommendation of these What return does the Coroner give? the When the inquest ts to be held it is copt any jarors offered, y into their characters, [is nily the agent of the railway in the death of a person bas hired tramps and loungers to collect about the door leading tv the Coroners’ office, and when the Corners’ officer - came — out quite suiticienttor the deter- pificials. reader will ask. ir the Coroner toa Ire too ch Faid that not unfreqe company implicated strange to say, be himost mvariably summoned thoso | Joaters as jurors. Such was acominon practice a year or two ago, avd no better class of jurors can be got about the neighborhood ot “Murderers Block," in which the office ts sow situated. Comptroller Green in the letter above quoted clearly shows the reckless ganner in which these jurors are chosen, He says:— “A careful examination of your inquisitions shows thot ina large number of cases the same individuals repeatedly form your juries, Thus the following may de quoted as tliastrative :—~ 20 jories F. J. Hawks appears as a juryman. 38 juries W. F. Snilfen appears as a juryman. Jo 40 jurie: weig appears as a juryman, In 42 juries John Healy appears as a juryman, In 65 juries R. Cook appears as a juryman, Jy 112 juries 0. T. Reilly appears as a juryman, In 114 juries H. Jenness appears us a juryman Ju 11S juries J. J. McDonuald appears as a juryman. In 174 juries Ed. Burke appears as a juryman. In 186 juries James Fe Appears as a juryman. In 208 es ALN. Why pears as a joryman, “Six ol persons,” continues the Comptroller, “under Corover Croker constituted 120 juries out of the 300 juries charged for by him for the three months This tetis itsown story. John Healy, mentioned as juror in forty-two cages, is one of the messengers who simmons jurors He is paid $1,500 per annom by the county, AN. White, the champion juror of the city, who in three months saton 208 juries, is the keeper of the Morgue. He-is paid $800 per annum by the county. Another juror who served very frequently was at attaché of the Dead Houve, who some wonths ago was guilty of a monstrous outrage at the Morgue, for which he was sentenced to the Isiand, No remun- e betrays great anxiety to get on all “railroad cases," and itis safe to say that an itebing paim is the incet Bve. mE it will (uterest # It coge thom ¥ OF THE COKONERS. to learn what coroners, their figures tor tour ember 30, 1875:— @r. End'g Total Sept. 30, 187 One Croker... $1,42 0 Woltman 2,140 7 149 Kessler . Grand total four cordhors, one year. Total for each coroner, one year... four deputy coruners, four quarters Salary of clerk.. Yees of coroners as above, ‘Total expense for ove year... ceeges ees $80,100 To show the cost of this bureau for tho past seven years reference was made to the Finance Department tnd the following figures were obtained. This ineludes 1, thessenger's salary, cleantng, aa well as chemical ysis tu 1868, 1870 and ISTL.— Coroners’ Fees, Total mg 9 2, 505 cling inquests, There is ove very important point in which some of the coroners are liabie to censure, The law ax to tho femoval of dead bodies never contemplated that it a wse like the one that occurred Inst Tucsday the police should got remove it until THA COKONRR GAVE FRRMISSION, the taw says that acorpse shail not be wilfally re. moved, Ac. Every intelligent person on the police force construcs (his to mean that a body shall pot be temoved with @ View of obliterating evidence. Old taptains of police in the past have olten removed sodies alter varelully preserving ail evidence necosen sod Saperintendeot Waliing agrees that it shot subject, This | tion is given the jurors; yet the professional juror | always be done except in supposed cases of homicide | veoienee, If the law was strictly carried out as tt rs mterpret it the police would pot nove 4 body from a street car tfack, aud all would have to stop until the coron itu body were found floating in the ob | be secured and tied to a tralkhead, as was done in Rose | Young's case, The very idea of preventing the re- | moval of a di body to the station honse is absurd, | and the coroners should be taught to understand their | duties and the law better, CORONERS’ INQUESTS. The following extracts from tho Revised Statutes, | part 4, title 7, chapter 2, article 1, show that other ficers than the Coroners can act in case of a Coroner's neglect :— Skotion 1.—Whene that any person hus be | Deen dangerously woun: such circumstanees as to be the daty yf such coroner to gc person shale and forthwith hor more than fifteen per &s jurors and ot exempt from fore such coroner forthwith, point, to make inquisition conee ing. r any coroner shall receive notice teuly died or has such place a 1 ap. ap- ing such death or wound- | i: | Ske, 2.—Whenever six or more of the Jurors shall ap- | pene they shail bo sworn by the coroner to inquire how, | and in what mai hh person came | to his death or be, and who ch death or true ingu' rding to the evidence offered to them, or arisin, the inspection of the body, | Axe, 5.—The jury, upon the inspection of the body of the | or wounded, and after herring the testimony, shall deliver to the cordher thels inquisition in writing, t0 | be signed by thom, in which they shall find and certify how and in what manner, and when and where, the person so dead ot wounded came to his death or was wounded, asthe ease may be, and who such person wax and all the mn stances attending sneb death or wounding, and who were guilty thereof, either as principal or accessory, and in what —If the jury find that any murde ws been conmmitted the coroner shall es to appear and testify at the next criminal court n indictment for such offence ean be found be heid in’ the county. And in meh caso ifthe | party charged with any such offence be not in custody the | coroner shall have power to isane process for his appreben- | t iderman or spe- | f 8 Bens the like authority and be supject to the like obligations. | and penalties as the said coroners. As much excitement is now justly existing as to such inquests it is well the public should undersiand the law applicable to them and what the powers and duties of coroners are. The foregoing is the law upon the sub- ject, and the Indiscriminate holding of inquests shows how very many of them, and much of the expense of coroners’ bills against the conoty, are unnecessary and | | unjust, tis not necessary that the dead should turn to dust before an inquest 18 held. If the Coroner can’t or won't attend another officer ay ack LYNCH LAW A GOOD THING, Arrigrons’, Broapway, Orrice Porv 2 ; To Tax Eprom or tax Heraup;— You aro arawing toward you by slow but sure de- grees the religious, the humane and the thoughtful of this and other cities of America, for apart from the fact that as a newspaper the Herat js foremost in the van, far ahead of any journal in the%and, it wages in- | cessant war against every species of iniquity. Were it | not for the way in which the Hxraup deals with the | horrible and sensational, which perforce must belong to some extent to modern journalism, vile as the con- | dition of society Is to-day, it would be ten times worse. | But even the Heratp’s vast power must have its limit, | and when it has laid naked undeniable facts before the people and allowed money to run Iike water in the | investigation of all that affects the public inter- | est and when. it has | and pointed out the right way, it has done all that can be expected of journalism. 1 should not have troubled | | you with this letter, sir, and probably might not have had the satisfaction of paying this awkward but sin- | cere tribute, had I not been filled with admiration at | | the noble and fearless manner in which you dealt with that filthy and obscene question, the Third Avenue Railroad }ine, and im which yon are treating the rize” outrage of the century. Your sympathy for Mr. Young, who has suflered tseatment at the bands of his fellows 30 outrageous and barbarous that had the same thing happened in any European city it would have created @ disturbance not easy to quoll, will, I trust, bring forth good fruit; but I have my doupts, | Where, in the name of the Most High, are the people of New York drifting? Society, sir, | has to answer for the brutal and insensato’ acts of paid officials, because it pats brutes in office. So- | ciety 18 to blame for the shameful condition of and conduct in the Third Avenue Railroad cars, and so- | ciety is to blame for thedemonlike treatment’ of poor Young, the watchman. 1am peaceable and order lov- ing, but had such a thing happened to me and I had been armed, persuasion and force failing, | would have treated those who kept me from my wile’s corpse like the wild beasts that they were and shot them down. | Lucky for them was %, so far as their m:serable lives s concerned, that they bad such a mild creature to with as Young. There are but few men with whor they would have been safe under such circumstances | Society is to blame for these things, because | the peopie of to-day arc apathetic, selilsh, soul- less. Gold and ~~ dress, gold’ and dress, are the shrines at which they worship. | Folks nowadays listen to the recital of horror without aqualm or «shiver; not only men folk, but women, | young women, tender (?) girls. A glimpse at bygone Gays 18 very refreshing just now; it is ilke a drink of pure spring water in the desert, I would gladly attend | the funeral of Judge Lynch; but he has some heart. His biood ts not like ours seems to be, stagnant, bat it seo’ hes and boils at the acts of evildoers. How ts it with the people of New York, its men and women? I say they have little heart—so little that your articles on this last great outrage are read calmiy. There is nothing #o very astonishing im it to the young people, whose minds are fed by the most depraved literature and donbttul plays, while their elders are thinking about thay last investment, eR it goes on, and the murmur of angry voices rises Hot to terruly the guilty. | Ovo feartul calamity follows ,another; crime suo ceeds crime and brutal ac# multiply. Bad we are now we shall Yet be worse. 1, instead of help- ing to All our tusane asylums by frightening the weak | minded out of their few remaining wits, Messrs. Moody and Sankey would turn to and lash our social sins before they talk to us about “coming to Jesus?” they would immortalize themselves. Woald that [| had their lungs and—brass! How few are there who | are moved py the atrocious horror just mentioned to say more than that itis “too bad!” With this passing remark they probably dismiss the subject from their minds. As for those imme ely connected with this devilish affair, since they were not torn limb from limb by Young tn regen Me) rescue his poor wife's | body, What isto be done with them? | consider that | a mah who cap be guilty of speaking of the dead ua- | der such terrible circumstances as those narrated by you should not be allowed fo remain at large. l deheve that a human being, whether he be coroner, deputy, poor law commissioner, or what not, who, in referring to the body of a poot drowned fellow crea- ture—and that fellow creature a woman—cries out, “Bring tn that stiff!" or, with an oath so terrible and | disgusting as to make tt a matter of marvel that the walls do not fallin and crush him, speaks of the dead | as a ‘floater,”’ would unhestiatingly commit any crime | known to man, tf he were to be benefited by so doing. | J should not like to trast my life in such & person's | hands. | did not intend to trespass so much npon your space, bat such subjects grow unconsciously | under the pen, and | trust you will pardon this some. | | what long letter. | | | condemned the wrong | PUNISH THE RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS, To the Epitow oF tur Menai :— 1 am sare a are carning the gratitude of the humane everywhere by your scorching strictures apon the ertminal acgicet (to pat it mildly) of the ‘circum. locution office” charged with the disposai of the dead. Common humanity would inspire the kindliest sym- * pathy and courtesy toward any inquiring friends of the | unfortunates whose bodies are every day redeemed from the waters around New York. This sentiment, | however, appears to be a stranger to our model police | and the assiduous coroners, Is there another city in the world where a husband is kept waiting twenty. our hours before be can reclaim of even touch the body of his deceased partner? The whole case is a culmination of horrors, and is enough to freeze the blood and palsy the heart of any person possessing ono particle of sensibility. Just think of it! Mr, Young recognizes the body swaying on the tide as that of bis wile and prevented from floating of by a mere cord hitched to a post, Hisentreaties to have it drawn within better protection are gruilly denied by the law's stern guardian. What ts to prevent its mutilation by sharks of other monsters of the sea’ Who can imagine or | portray the unarailing agony of Mr, Young, keeping | the feartal viciis of the night, until the helplessness of | | Vabes at home, bereft of their nearest protector, | j compels « oriel visit to themn, aller which ho | feturos to his agonizing watch? Op the advent of day he bosieges the Coroners’ Office for permis sion to Feciaim the body-or to secure its decent dis- posal. But no, it must remain nearly twenty-four ours tossed upon the river's surge, subject to vulgar & and inhuman gibes, and meanwhile the bereaved usband crazed, barrowed and indignant at the delay | of negligent absence of & man who was lotely ander echarge of murder. When at last he is ush- | 10 Whe stately presence of this dignitary who houers(!) our cry bis heart ws torn aftesh by being coerced to sit a8 4 juryman upon the maquest of a chiid without any opportunity to make bis own bereavement known, Can retinement of cruelt urther? Is the material for coroners so searce in New York that such men must be retained in office to preside in ghastly mockery over this most *xcred duty of in- quest? And ts the city so poor that the Coroners’ Oflice cannot be at ali times open and represented? What security has any one of us in New York, of what- ever respectability or wealth, agalust premature burial, | before recognition, in the Potter's Field or the sale of our discovered remains for dissection? It may be my | torn wext, it may be yours, Mr. Eduor, ot yours, fair reader. hope the Hexatn will persist ont! tbe re. spoasibility o NEW YORK HERALD, MON | that “thero is one Jaw for the rich aud another for the | course to those farces, “ti | murdered by a policeman, who woul | out of the water, | was next noticed, as being a torritory from which j on SBaypl, the Land of Antiquity.” this horrible case is clearly established | take aud the honor of our city is vindicated by iastening | of upon the guilty parties the infamy of such atrocity and the pun ent they deserve, REP. York, March 26, 1876, HOW TO PREVENT SUCH OUTRAGES. To rus Epiror or tux Herano:— Your article in to-day’s issue, entitled “Watching the Dead,” cannot fail to arouse the just indignation of | every honest American, This is but @ repetition of the many blunders aod brutalities that have disgraced our pational and municipal government for the past four | years, To the shame of our people be it spoken, Mr. Young does not exaggerate in the Jeast when he states poor man,” and he 1s ag in discountenancing re e courts.” Unfortunately, we are conironted every day with ignorance and co! ruption in official life to sucti an alarming extent tial individual crimes are sooner discovered and *In- | Vestigating committer appointed to consider them than public attention is distracted by higher misde- | meanors. We have but one hope—the ballot box im | November next. Then let every man without regard | to party onst the intriguing politicians d thieves | from pores if they hope for reform. Against this | most flagrant perversion of justice, appreeiating, as I do, the helplessness of the Victim, I can only inthe | name of God and: asa citizen of the United States of | America, offer my solemn protest, M.S, dr. New Youk, March 25, 1876 WHAT 18 CROWNER'S LAW? To Te Epiror ov tim Heranp:— Is there any law that compels people vo leave a dead | body in the water, after it is found, till the Coroner is notified ? If there is such alaw you should use the influence of your valuable paper to have it done away with. This is the second case within a short time—the Jast hong remember, was even worse than this case of Mrs. Young. TL refer to the gentleman from New | Jersey who tried to jump aboard one of the sound steamers as she was leaving ner pier, missed and {ell overvoard. He was found a few minutes after, floating in the dock (not yet dead), a rope was attached to him, he was tied to a post and left there for several hours. | If he had been taken out at once he undoubtedly could have been resuscitated; but, as it was, he was simply | donot take him | How inuch longer are sucn outrages A DAILY READE. PROSECUTE THE GUILTY PERSONS. New York, Mareh 25, 1876. To tue Epitor or tae Hena.o:— | Is there no. way by which Mr. Young can be assisted in prosecuting the parties in author'ty who perpetrated the outrage on Monday last and following days? Tho case appeals to every man of family and to al! who have read your graphic account of the poor bosband who was compelled to sit through the weary hours at Wall street watching the corpse of his poor wife as it floated with the tide. We shall ve haggis <<) to assist this matier, Yours truly, “JUSTICE.” to go unpunished? AFRICAN COMMERCE, Dr. Gerhard Rohifs, the celebrated African explorer, delivered a lecture last night on the commerce of Northern and Central Africa, at the rooms of the Ger- man Fortbildungs Verein, No, 816 West Thirty-sixth street, He began by referring to Morocoo, and d that the only remnant of trade left in that coun- | was in the leather which bears its | Even the art of tanning this leather try name, | was learned by the Moors at Cordova, when in possos- | sion of Spain, and carried back by them to their own | country when driven out by the Spaniards, Barbary | groat quantities of cattle and produce were exported, | as far even as England. Algeria next claimed atten- | tion, Dr, Rohifs said that it was surprising that a | country as large as Germany, with every nat- | ural advantage, should take scarcely any | part in the commerce of the world. He blamed two things for this—French want of administrative ca- | pacity and the Moslem religion. For fifty years the | Arabs had never missed a siagle opportunity of re- | yolting against their French masters, and yet the | French were perpetually making concessions to them. They should long ago have taken the advice which ho had given them in 1864 and have driven the Arabs into the desert, where they belonged. France should | imitate the policy of the United States in treating the In- | dian. With nomad tribes it 18 the only sound method. Tunis and Tripoli next received a share of attention, the latter chicily as pointing to the absolute rottenness of Turkish government. Once she was the granary of Europe; to-day she is to all intents dead. ‘Tho lecturer next plunged into the Sahara, telling the ladies that out of ten of their number eight wore tho products ot the Sahara in the aniversal ostrich feather. He haa bought a score for twenty cents each, every | | one ot which would sell in Paris tor some hundreds of francs. duly Tho date palm, with its universal uses, was celebrated, the Doctor surprising his audience by asserting that all the’ closely | packea heaps of dates which we see | in our grocery stores undoubtedly came from the oases of | | the Sahara, althongh he had not been able to discover from what point they were exported. ‘Ivory, paim oil and the nakita nut (which now supplies the pure olive oil of France) were in turn discussed as articles of commerce. But the most im- portant trafic of all in Central Arica was the slave trade, The slave in Central Africa costs but afew dollars. In Egypt he ts worth hundreds, and when he has reached Constantinople his price has risen to thousands, Dr. Rohifs was confident that, | whatever precautions might be taken, the slave trade would never cease until there were no negroes leit to | sell—a remove bat inevitable certainty. The lecturer next ‘© a brief description of the Abyssinian campaigns he having been sent with the Enghsh army by the Emperor of Germany to look aiter tho interests of the German prisoners in Theo- dore’s hands. After tho fall of Magdala he left the English army and visited tho interior of the province of Lisilalaba, where be saw several monolith churches, | that is, churches hewn out of one solid rock. These temples were equal in size to Trinity chureh, and, however incredible tt might appear, he could | asseverate, after the closest scrutiny, that they were | really hewn out of one rock. This 18 ‘certainly ’a total * eclipse for obetisks Here the lecturer took leave of | his audience until Tuesday evening, when be tectures Dr. Rohifs is a man of fine presence, a protound seholar and an accomplished orator in that terror of extempore | speakers—the German lacguage. PROBABLE WIFE MURDER. At No, 620 Flushing avenue, near Bartlett street, Wilhamsburg, a brutal wife beating took place yester. day. William H. Deviin, a laborer, twenty-nine years — of age, who bas been arrested three or four times for | wife beating, returned home about nine o'clock yester- | day morning, half crazy with rum. His wife, Mar- | garet, did not receive him with the cordiality he an- | ticipate: nd as she did mot provide him with break. fast as quick as he wanted it the two quarrelled. He went out and procured some more drink, of which, he | says, she partook, and, getting half drunk, com- menced another quarrel with him, during whieh be caught up a piece of pine board, about four feet long and one and a half inches thick, and strack ner over the bead sh it seven times, knocking her down, He was about striking her again when Oflicer McKvoy, of the Sixth sub-preeinet police, who had heard her | screams, burst in the door and secured the wretch, He | conveyed tim to the station house, The wounded | woman was taken to the Bastern district Hospital, | where she now lies na very critical cundition. There is a large scalp wound on the back of her head, ber | face is terribly cut and bruised, the upper lid of her | lett eye is cntirely cut of, and the lower tid nearly | severed, besides internal injuries received during tho | fight, She was attended by Surgeons 8. J. Brady. and | Wilson, who entertain but slight hopes of her fe- covery. SHOOTING A BURGLAR. Yesterday morning, at two o'clock, four men broke a | hole in the fence surrounding the Urass foundry of | Martin Reynolds, No. 370 Leonard street, and proceeded | to force an entrance into the foundry by breaking open one of the windows, The notse of the breaking glass and the barking of a dog within the foundry aroused Mr. Reynolds, who resided in an adjoining building, Rushing out of his house, un- dressed, and =o with =a revolver = in’ his | band, he espicd the four burglars and fired at them, discharging bis revolver as they ran away until be had | emptied its seven chambers. The cries of the men and the discovery of spots of biood on the sidewalk, about | 200 feet trom the factory, lead# the police ad Mr. | Reynolds to believe that one of the seoundri hit; of theit whereavouts bas yct been dis- PROBABLE FATAL FALL, | —— | Yestorday, afternoon Frederick Schroeder, a promt. | nent residentof North Bergen, while driving on the Hackensack plank road, was thrown from his wagon by coming in collision with another vehicle, He was frightfully cut avout the bea injuries which it is thought will resuit RAID ON GAMBLERS. OMcer Locke, of the Third precinet, Jersey City, made a descent yesterday on a gang of gamblers who were found on Magnoha avenue, William Brown, RKaward Cody and Thomas Meehan wero arrested. Seven of the gamblers made their escape. THE HACK DRIVERS. The regular mecting of the Hack Drivers’ Associa tion was held last wight at No, 200 Third avenue, The | business transacted was of a routine character— | namely, enrolling new members, receiving dues and | hearing reports, The annual election for officers will place at the next eat hen otter busi is also expected | and res THE VIENNA SCANDAL. THE EFFORTS TO CONCEAL IT—MB. JAY'S BEPLY TO THE NEW JERSEY COMMITTEE. Mossrs, Daxmm, Drake Surrn, W. R. Vexuitys, J. Wr- MAN Jones, Eowarp A. Watton and C. N, Jonpas, Committee of Citizens of New Jersey :— Sins—I beg to acknowledge your letter inthe Hmmaup of the 6th of March, in reply to my request for the au- thority on which you intimated that the government, disapproving my official action in reference to the Vienna scandal, had invited me to resign my post. It affords an instructive illustration of the methods re- sorted to from the beginning to mislead the world in regard to the facts of that business, and to malign the national officers who exposed and arrested the game of jobbery which had been conducted in the name of a commission intended to represent in an international gathering the respectability and culture of the Re- pobdlic, You suggest that the subject has become tiresome to the public. You may, perhaps, find that it has been in- vested with new interest and importance by the recent developments which, at this moment, excite the indig- thon of America and the scorn of Europe. ITS HRARING ON RECKNT DEVELOPMENTS. Tho Vienna story once resoued {rem the desperate efforts which have been made to conceal and pervert | it will bave for our countrymen the plarnest of lessons, as presenting the alphabet of corruption and disgrace. It will show that the same theory of appointments and | the same immoral rules of management must ipevita- bly produce similar results. The primary causes are stil! actively at work which at the last international exhibition presented the United States in the attitude of offering as its chief tribute to the civilization of the age “Yankee drinks’’ | and republican corruption; which, connected with the desecration of the government ships, so wrongfully charged upon the commanders of our navy; the at- tempt to elude the Austrian customs under cover of tho American flag; and crowned the levies of the first confidential assistant inthe shape of loans and gifts by the attempt exposed by his chief to defraud the treasury of the cominission, We are about to present a kindred spectacle for the governments and the nations which are coming to cel- ebrate our Centonnial, to observe the working of ro- publican government after a century of trial and to mark our progress since the days ot Washington, To _ the whiskey frauds, in their numerous and significant phases, and to exhibitions of offl- cial corruption im large variety, will be added the trial of a Cabinet Minister, the guardian and exemplar of’ our military honor, charged with the sale of traderships at the expense of soldiers on tho Outposts and of Indians on the plain, Ifthe first part of the Vienna record shall throw Nght on our home situation by showing that like im- moralties will produce like resulta, its second chaptor will indicate the skilful and persistent efforts in and oat of Washington to conceal both causes and results, and to transfer the odium of the scandal from those who produced it to those who atrested it and main- tained the honor of the government, The facts on this point will perhaps be found to have an equal bearing upon passing events, and the charge published by the governoment against the temporary Commissioners, to | whom the thanks of the cotatry are so eminently due for their gratuitous and invaluable services, may pos- sibly recall the Latin maxim, “He names all ctimes who names ingratitude,” If, as it would seem, I was in error when recalling the anonymous sianders of the European press, I greeted you as open and manly foes, pledging your reputation for the truth of your charges and making the honor of New Jersey tho subject of your story, I may at least welcome your explanation of the curious | process, shall T say, of mental casuistry and moral sophistry by which you would endeavor to persuade yourselves that you are justified in drawing inferences as you may find convenient and gravely treating those inferences as matters of fact, Had each untruth uttered in defence of the Vienna scandal been fol- lowed by the consequences that attended similar utter- ances ona memorable occasion in the times of the apostles, when for each lie spoken the young men at the door carried out a body, the population of Europe and America would have been seriously dimimished and the depletion of our own country would be still con- tinuing. Paschal attempted to explain in part the quantity of les told in the world by suggesting that there are peorle who lie simply for the sake of lying, but it has been observed of the stories touching the | Vienna scandal that they all lie in the same direction, MISSTATEMENTS CORRECTRD, With your permission, before passing to the chief subject of your note, I will take the liberty to correct four or five of your observations, each totaily and con- spicuously inexact, which, with a generous profusion, occur consecutively in a8 many lines. You remark, and I will designate by numerals the successive mis- statements, that ‘the government (1) abandoned the whole commission to the malignity or folly of Mr. Jay. (2) It authorized him to make an investigation. (3) After @ protracted delay (4) and finally a peremp- tory order (5) he sent his report to the Presiaent.’’ These statements your readers are expected to be- lieve from your assurance that you have impartially cxamined the record which the government has con- cealed from the world, and yot that record shows the untruth or unfairness of cach of these five assertions. 1. The government did not abandon the commission to the malignity or folly of Mr Jay, The power to supervise it was given to @ “special commission,” of which Mr. Jay was one of the members, 2 The government did not authorize Mr. Jay to make an investigation, but imposed that duty on the “special commission.” 3 In regard to the alleged delay in the report, about which you said in your pamphlet, page 36, “Mr. Jay | scoms to have been disingenuous cnough not to let tho | evidence come before the President for review until three months afterward,” you were careful to avoid all reference to the actaal and explanatory facts. The Chief Commissioner, for instance, had not mado the | task of eliciting the trath from the grantees of bars ‘urants more easy by bis instructions to Com. | missioner James, after the suspension of Mayer, “Be good enough to consider this letter strictly coofidential. See each of those claiming to have any authority from me to erect bars And restaurants, and say that I desire to question them on the subject as soon as 1 arrive in Vienna, and shail hold them to strict account for the slightest imputatgon upon my honor or integrity. ’? Then, again, the persistency of the Chief Commis. stoner jn upholding his first assistant in acts that the commission held to be immoral, seemed to render it the more proper for them to ascertain the facts with greater exactness. This was accomplished to an extent that effected an entire change in the views | expressed by the Chief Commissioner, On the 3d of March, 1875, the government was advised by telegraph | from the Legation at Vionna that “Presumptive indica. tions that General William Mayer, First Assistant missioner, runs and jobs commissions, and has | ‘ot interest in Exposition refreshments aad bars, induce recommendation of cautious scrutiny tonobing | his character, mabagoment, grants and appointees | before their transfer to Vienna.” On the 8th of March the government was again | advised that ‘‘startling charges of corruption threaten scandal,” and that “Erhart, 240 Broadway, knows ono ease.” The scrutiny then recommended seems | have been foregone on the assurance of the Chief Com. missioner that the charges were ‘foul and (aise, '* It was an unfortunate assurance, expecially as letter of Mr. Commissioner Sarjeant to Mr. Fish, dated May 3, 1873, showed how easily the matter could thew have beon sifted at New York and its transter to Vienna avoided. Mr. Sarjeant alludes not only w the moneys taken by the First Assistant Commisstoner, Mayer, from Denison, Sebedier, Boehm and Wiebi and Brewer, of which the special com- mission Jearned with so much diMculty, bat also of o division with his brother-in-law of the profits of the stevedoro employed to load the govern: ment vessels, and the shipment of 100 tone of private freight fora single firm. When Mayer, having been allowed to loave New York for Vienna, was suspended by telegraphic order, Chief Commissioner V. wrote to Mr. Fish, eulogizing Mayer, and sai seen him almost corfstantly, and, I think, learned to know him well; and [ affirm without hesitation that I believe him to be pure and upright, and as trae a | patriot and gentleman as know.’” But before the special commission concluded their nittings the Chief Commissioner, in a letter to Mayer, from which ho gives extracts, in bis pamphlet (pp. 11, 12, 13), reproaches him with having taken various sums without his knowledge, and accuses him of at tempting to rob the commission of government moneys, In this letter tho chief treats bis first confidential assistant no longer a8 guide, philosopher and DAY, MARCH 27, 1876.—WITH SUPPLEMENT. friond, but rather as ® traitor, a lier and a thief, If ever again, irs, you are disposed to question the value of the investigation by the special commission under the orders of the Presi dent, pray reinember that your client, the Chief Com- missioner, appears to have first learned from it at Vienna the crimes secretly dove at New York ander his own immediate observation, in the management of his own commission, To dispose definitively of the charge of delay in ad- vising the government of the result of the examination, and to prevent further untruth on the sabjeot, 1 will remind you that so far from keeping the government in ignorance the record of the testimony was forwarded in parts—Part L. to page 292, May 21; Part Il. to page 547, May 24; Part ILL to page 735, June 20; Part IV. to pago 790, July 10, together with two elavorate appendices, with documents and letters. The examination of tho last witnessclosed July 2, duly 5, With the record before you of the diligent execution of the work of the commission, amid the usual work of the Legation, largely increased by the Exposition, you deemed it expedient to make your readers belicve that we had kept the government in ignorance for three months, and to base on tbat as- sumption the charge of ‘-disingéouousness. ” 4& Your statemont that the repoti was mado ‘‘after & peremptory order” is inexact, and the repetition of the misstatement which you frst perpetrated in 3873 is the more inexcusable as tho record shows how the error of tho government arose, Mr. Dayis telegraphed July 30:—“Reeeipt of partial report of July 10 astonishes us. We thought caso closed and report made, Close commission at once if not done already, Future investigation may take place here if necessary. Communicate this to Mr. McElrath,’* sion closed, /aus Deo, with report July 5. Special re- port July 10 simply evidence taken previously.” 6, The report was not made by Mr. Jay, but by the special commission. THE COMMITTRE’S EXPLANATION, I pass to the principal point of your note, which you say was writton ‘as a matter of courtesy,’ and I have already acknowledged your tribute to Jay's maliguity or folly." On the 10th of February you an- Noaneed in the Hrratp as the®result of your impartial examination of the record that the Vienna “scandal appears tv have been mainly tho result of Mr. Jay’s eflorts,’’ a theory based, appareatly, on the first denial by the Chief Commissioner of the truth of the rumors, and in forgetfulness of his subsequent recognition of the scandalous acts committed by his first assist- ant, You thon backed your position by giving the public to understand that in condemning my official action in the matter you were not assailing the | conduct of a Minister who had acted in accordance with his instructions, but of one who, from the disap- proval of his action by the government, had been com- Pelled to resign, On this point your language, although in hypothetical form, as if for increased effect, seemed to exhibit no hesitation and to express no doubt. You moralized upon itas if upon a fact within your own knowledge, and made my assumed dismissal the text of a homily :—“If it (the scandal) tually recorled upon himself and ended in an invitation to retire from his post It 1s only another example of what has before hap- pened to those who plot mischief.’ Having thus achieved a palpable hit in presenting mo as a dismissed Minister, and arraying on your side in your disap- proval of my course the government itself, you con- cluded with a joint expression of your blended regret “that Mr. Jay should have seen fit to revive this w fortunate incident in his now ended diplomatic carcer, which, for the honor of the country and his own credit, might well have been allowed to slumber in forgetful- ness.”? Having been congratulated by the government at the conclusion of my duties connected with the Exposition and having received a further expression ot that ap- proval shortly before I left Vienna, I thought proper to ask your authority for the intimation that the govern- ment bad disapproved my conduct and had invited me to resign my post. I was atthe same time careful to say that, while the charge was untrue, “I did not as- sume that you had invented it nor that you had ut- tered it without believing it to be true.” In your reply you remark:—"The public action of the government is the precise authority, and in our judgment sufficient authority for our inference that Mr, Jay’s conduct inthe matter was disapproved by the government, and in so pronounced a manner that it might be considered an invitation. to retire from his post’? Had you expressed this idea in your first letter I should pot have troubled you for your authority, nor would it have atall concerned me what you might think constitated in your judgment a sufMcient basis for any inference you might choose to draw as to how the public action of the government might be con- sidered, But, sirs, you gave the public to understand, by distinctly imtimating it as @ matter of fact, that the government had disapproved my conduct, and had, in consequence, invited me to retire, And I accept your reply to my demand for your authority for that statement, not simply as admitting what I already knew, that your intimation was a pure invention, without a scintilla of truth, but, what 1 had not supposed, that it wasa fiction peculiarly and exclusively your own, indicating, Ladmit, a powerful capacity for invention and a strik- ing tomerity of utterance, and happily illustrating tho manner in which, from the time vhe irregularities in the original commission were first arrested at Vienna, the gentlemen who assisted in staying that national imfamy have been pursued with malicious inventions as utterly aonfounded as the one which your own admis. sion has 80 effectually natied, ‘ It is not, perhaps, strange that, after that cxplana- tion of your authority for the interesting story of the reasons for my retirement, the whole subject should scem to you, as you remark, ‘‘tiresomoe and distaste- fal;”” and your constituents of New Jersey will hardly question the wisdom of your resolve to retire from the contest which you commenced so vigorously in 1873, In your pamphlet of that year you observed that if you should attempt to express an opinion of Mr. Jay’s conduct toward the Chief Commissioner you would “be compelled to resort to expressions stronger than you desired to use.” Should you, in disregard of your resolve not to refer again to tho sub- ject, be induced to renew the attempt to show that the Vienna scandal was the result of Mr. Jay's efforts, pray consult simply your own pleasure in using what expressions you find necessary to describe your opinion of my action, in accord with the advice, Give thy worst of thonghts The worst of words, - But please be good enough to pay somo slight regard to accuracy In your statements, and to remomber for the future the difference between an inference and & fact, ' POSITION OF THE GOVERNMENT THEN AND Xow, Bofore we part, having relieved the sorrow you foot at the idea that the government has disapproved my conduct, allow mo toask you how, with a dae regard te the bovor of the government, you could reconcile that supposition with the appeals, orders and pledges of the President, which you found in the record and under which we bad acted in Vienna? Take, for in- stance, the order of April 21, to the special commis. sion, with its clear emphasis and manly tone:— “Do not nesitate to exercise the power given you to suspend any and every one against whom there is ground of suspicion. The commission must be free from taint, Your action in suspending any suspected Party will be sustained, no matter what may be his position, Tho honor of the country requires thorough examination and decided action. Report fully.” J was acritical and anxious position in which the government found itself as the Exposition was about to | Open, in consequence of its neglect to investigate at | New York the scandalous rumors that had filled the | Prater, and which were fast spreading in Vienna and throughout Europe, The extent of the irregularities, | as subsequently developed, was as yet unknown, but it was cleat that the honor of the country had been com- promised by private corruption in the management of the commission, and confidence had been replaced by doubt and fear. How loyally that instruction of the | President was responded to, how the delicate and re- | sponsible duties imposed on the special commission were performed, will appear vy the record, On the 24th of April the government suspended temporarily the entire commission, pending the in- vestigation, with the proviso that in quoti he’ telo- | gram (page 33 of your pamphlet) you thought proper | to omit, ‘that the sas ion is not to be taken to be | an opinion pronounced against any particular person | Suspended."’ The admiravie management of Colonel Cannon, Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Spang, of the tom- porary commission, and of their succossors, Messre, Schultz, Garrewon amd McBirath, avorted as lar and the report upon the evidence was forwarded | The next day the teply went back :---\‘Special commis} \ | nell, 86 —possinie the dishonor wrought by the origigal management, When you accused the covermment, as it now appears without justifica- tion, of disapproving my conduct, when I bad acted in the spirit and by the letter of its instructions, what, pray, was the meaning of yout accusation? You surely did not intend to intimate that the government had been from the to regard to the commis: sion, double faced,” with two tones to its voice, rowing one way and looking the other, hunting with thr hounds and running with the hare, giving an orde with one hana and @ dismissal for obeying with the other, Is it possible that you mean to imply that as times change and met change with them, the policy of the government adopted ina moment of peril bad beer discarded when it was passed; that it was found ex Pedient for unexplained reasons to conceal the truth, to let the world believe that the suspension of the original commission had been unworthily effected, and that “Mr, Jay and other members of the temporary commission were largely interested in sewing ma- chines,” ana thatthe rules and practices adopted by the chief commissioner, which had been first con- demned, were afterward approved and rewarded by the government, jn verification of the old proverb, “the river past and God forgotten.” But, whatever your meaning, the assumption that the rules an4 practices which Were condemned by the special commission are now indorsed at Washingtoo gives to them anew importance, as illustrating the theory of appointment, and the nabit of taking moneys for favors rendered, which lie at the basis of the offi. cial corruption of to-day; and your own action helps to illustrate the persistent hostility which those may expeét who defounte tho immorality and arrest the crime, Upon these practices, as stated in the exact words of tha Chief Commissioner, the importance of which seems to grow with each new and startling reve. Jation, I will, with the courteous permission of the HERALD, say once more a few words, and I am, sira, your obedient servant, JOHN ya¥. No, 22 Wasuixaton Sqvann, March 25, 1876. AMUSEMENTS, MADAME DU GRANDVAL'S STABAT MATER. M. Louis Dachauer brought out last evening at St Ann's church, Twelfth street, one of the most ‘im- pressive works written for the church in late years, and, Singalar Gnough, written by a lady. Madame du Grandval, sister of the Cardinal Archbishop of Lyons, enjoys the reputation in Paris of being arcal musical genius, This ‘Stabat Mater’? is, indced, a con- vincing proof. There is nothing commonplace, weak or effeminate in it, but in every phrase nobility of thought, grandeur of dramatic expression and charm ing themes wedded to ingenious and striking instra. mentation, The enormous technical difficulties in winch the work abounds must render it @ sealed book to the majority of choirs, but under the skilful direction and accompaniment of .M. Dachauer, and with such talented singers as Mile. Corradi, Mile, Gomien and Messrs, Fritsch and Blum, the iaterpretation was everything to be desired, Of the twelve numbers of which the work is composed it would be difficult to point out the bang! ys features, as all seem to be equally interest- ing. ‘The soprano solo, ‘*Oquam Tristis,’’ dramatically rendered by Mile. Corradi; the touching solo for coa traito, “Juxta Crucem,”’ magnificently, given by Mile. Gomien; the teror solo, ‘Kia Mater,”? with chorus of fomale voices, in which Mr, Fritsch’s voice shone to advanta, the duet for soprano and bi “Sancta Mater,” one of the most effective and singu’ Bumbers in the work and one that brought out the best notes in Mr. Blum’s voice, and the quartet, “Qui est homo,’’ may be specially mentioned. All other “Stabat Maters” sink into insignificance when ed beside this colossal work, . M. Dachauer should cor- tainly produce it at a concert hall with a large chorus and orchestra. Gounod’s “Stabat Mater’? will be sung next Sunday evening. MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC NOTES, The Opera Comique in Parts appears to be on its lam legs. Sir Michael Costa has recovered from a severe at tack of illness, The season at Her Majesty’s Opera, London, com-_ menuces on April 22, Sardou’s ‘Ferreol’”? has had a most brilliant run at the Carl Theatre, Vienna. Mme. Christine Nilsson’s husband has entirely re covered trom his late severe iiIness, The daughter of Charles Fechter is about to make her début at the Grand Opera, Paris, as Matnilde in “William Tell,’? Miss Emma Abbott and Miss Rosavalle, both Amer. joan artists, will make their début at the Royal Italian Opera, Covent Garden, this summer. Miss Emma C. Thursby, the popular artist, has a concert to-night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, in which she will be assisted by a number of artists, Dr. 5. Austen Pearce, the very distinguished organ ist, will give an organ recital this afternoon at St George's church, Rutherford place. fhe programme will be found very attractive. Gye, the London impresario, promises to bring out during the coming season at Covent Garden Verdi's “Alda,” with Patti; Wagner’s ‘‘Tannhauser,’’ with Al- bani, and Rossini’s “Moise,” with Bianchi. Signor A. Farini gives an opera concert this evening at. Steinway Hall, at which Mile. Rosetti, Signors Novelli, Mies Palmer, Miss Windt and Messrs. Bischoff, Mollenbauer, Bergo, Fridori and Weinlich will assist the bénéficiaire. Itis thought in London that arrangements may be made during tho summer at Drury Lane for a series of Shakespearian representations, in which Mme. Ristori, Signor Rossi and Siguor Salvini will appear together. That would be a treat... The applications for admission to Jerome Hopkins orchestral Easter vespers, to be held at Trinity chapel, are very numerous, The composer will repeat certain portions of the work at the Orpheon. Springtide Fes- tival on April 2 at the Academy of Musio, Mrs. Giilager, Miss Lehman and Mossrs. Wilkio, Wicket, Toulmin and Schnecker, with a large chorus, will appear at Chickering Hall to-morrow evening, under the direction of Mr. George W. Warren, for charitable purposes, under the auspices of the ladies o! St Thomas parish. A grand opera concert will be given to-night a Steinway Hall, under the direction of Signor Farint of the Italian Opera Company. The affair promises te be one of the most yaried and entertaining musical events of the season, Signor Farini’s reputation is itself being sufficient to warrant the success of the en terprise. Von Bilow’s Chopin programme to-night at Chicker ing Hall comprises the following works:—Third grand sonata in B minor, opus 58; variations ona romance by Herold, opus 12; Nocturne, opus 27; No. 2, scherzo, opus 39, in © sharp minor; Impromptu, opus 86; throe ‘waltzes, opus 34; ballade, opus 23; Noctarne, opus 9; No. 3, selection of mazurkas, berceuse, polonaise, opus 53; grand concert allegro, opus 46, A GYMNASTIC EXHIBITION. The gymnastic entertainment for the benefit of ‘Professor James O'Neil will take place this evening at Wood's Gymnasium, it hat being postponed on Saturday because of the storm, Among those who will ay during the evening are Professor Willtaw Miller | rofessor Witham Samy Mons. Uarteron, Mons Arnould, Billy Edwards, Warwick Edwards, R. A. Per a Detrick and others equally ki ‘woll known, THE TURN VRREIN. patos At the Turi Hall, in Fourth street, an exhibition of Turner gymnastica camo off yesterday afternoon, in which five different classes of the Turner schvol partic. ipated. Theirevolutions on the rack and bars excited goneral admiration. A large number of spectators were in attendance, including most of the Parents and frends of the youthfal gymnasts, THE SAENGERBUND. ‘The Saongerbund socioties held a meeting yesterday to complete arrangements for the Centennial celebra- tion, The Saengerbund is composed of about sixtees choral ‘Organizations, who will open the Centeania festivities by & grand vocal and musical entertainmen’ on Sunday evening, Jnly 2 The next day will see rocession of the diferent societies, which will be fob Toon by a festival at Hamilton Park. tach of the dit. ferent societies will farnish carr and trucks for the procession, with appropria: lecorations, During the progress of the festival per, to be known as the joat Gazette, will be publish to record the progress of events. THE SAENGERRUNDE, The Saengerrunde, one of the leading German voos Societies of this city, gave a fancy dress and calico bal ‘at the Germania Assembly Rooms last night, The hal Seana anid all 2 raphernalia of the late o soctoty, a ero Was & repetition of imelenta suacted on that occasion, most of the comic jena