The New York Herald Newspaper, July 23, 1876, Page 6

6 NEW YORK HERALD, SUNDAY, NEW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York Henaxp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. ee ee oon 112SOUTH Ratacriptiocs and advertisements will be réceived and forwarded on the rame terms as in New York. THE CUT GLOVE Ma KELLY & LEON’ atsP. M. TONY PASTOR'S THEATRE, VARIETY, at 5 P.M. HOWERY T HUSH ABY BABY ara P. PARISIAN > r atsP.M, FIFTH A PIQUE, at 8 P.M, ALLA’ THE MIGHTY Douua SHEET. Sere E "From our reports this morning the probabil are that the weather to-day will be cooler and generally clear. Noriczk to Counrny Newspzaurrs.—For prompt and regular delivery of the Hunan by Sfust mail trains orders must be sent direct to this office. Posi During the 8 summer months the Heranp will be sent to subscribers in the country at the rate of iwenty-sive cents per week, free of postage. Wan Srreer Yesterpay.—Stocks were dull, irregular and ciosed weak. Gold de- clined from 111 7-8 to 1113-4. Money on call was supplied at 21-2and2 per cent. The bank statement shows a further gain in the reserve. Government and railway bonds were firm. Tue Suootmne at Wiaretepon yesterday resulted in another victory for the English riflemen. The Scotch team did better than the Englishmen at the long ranges, their average being 80.28 percent. The Austra- lians were considerably behind the centre average. Tux Pnosprcr Pank Laxe Yacnt Racrs were unusually interesting yesterday, asa fine breeze brought out all the sailing quali- ties of the miniature craft. The yachts of two clubs took part in the regatta and mach emulation was therefore aroused among the youthful owners. This really delightful sport for boys has merits which need no words to make apparent. We View wita Atarm anp Diseust a probable revival of the Beecher controversy in all its revolting forms. Whilo we recog- nize the right of all to seck redress in the courts for real or even imaginary grievances we still regret that there is no secret tribu- nal where the very dirty linen of modern society can be washed out of the sight of all who admire the good and pure. AND THE WasutnGton Econo- mists have well nigh worn out our humbler Post Office officials—the first by a reduction pf vital forces and the second by a reduction of pay to the starvation standard. On the principle that too far east is west our democratic friends may pass from the virtue of economy to the vice of stupid niggard- liness in dealing with the public service. Tuer Senvian War has not taken a new aspect, the defeats on the northeast and southwest now reported being merely a con- tinuation of the disasters that have over- taken the Slavonic arms from the start. Roumania is said to be growing restive ; but the war party will have little to give them courage if, as is highly probable, the Turks continue to strike the Servians so sorely. Tur New Froatine Barus recently ordered to be erected by the city of New York under an act of the Legislature are not yet ready, although a considerable time has elapsed since the contract was awarded. It would seem as if the poor cannot enjoy the use of these necessary buildings until next sum- mer, by which time our officials and con- tractors will conclude to do something about the matter. Increpinzz Brunpeninc. of the boilers of the English man-of-war Thunderer appears to have been caused by a piece of negligence which throws the stupidity of the orders that resulted In the sinking of the Vanguard and the carelessness that almost sent the ron Duke to the bottom completely in the shade. Having wedged down all the valves of the boilers to test them by hydraulic pressure the engineers a few days afterward began to get up steam withont roe- moving the wedges. As there was no escape for the vepor except through the sides of | the boiler it went that way when the proper pressure had been reached. Tho English aro ominously unlucky with their new iron pavy. wae ‘Tux Carsizinc or THk Monawk has re- ealled similar disasters to shipping in New York Bay. One case which is almost an exact parallel is that of the revenue cutter Taney, which was overturned by a sudden squall between Governor's Island and Staten Island on the afternoon of August B, 1852 As in the case of the Mohawk the wind bolt struck the top- mast and she careened. Five lives were also lost on the Taney. We copy elsewhere the story of the sad event from the files of the Hrnatp. Another case, but not so strik- ingly similar to the Mohawk disaster, was the knocking over of tho hot air steamer Ericcson, in the North River, during a ter- rific storm of thunder, rain and wind on the afternoon of the 27th April, 1854. She had jast returned from a trial trip which was pronounced satisfactory, but since the dis- aster little has been heard of hot air asa marine motive power, There wore no livos dent in the latter case, —The explosion | ‘The City and Its Wants—What We Should Do With the Metropolis. The people of this city are profoundly touched with the developments of the sum- mer, so far as it has gone, in reference to the city and its health. The fact that, because of this oppressive weather, and because of our tenement house system and our entire disregard of the ordinary sanitary conditions of life in the government of the city, more than two thousand children under five years of age have died in less than a month—have died from diseases that might easily have been avoided—has alarmed all classes. In addi- tion to this heartrending fact statistics show that New York is the most unhealthy city in the world. Our death rate is three times as large as that of London; more than twice as large as that of Paris; nearly twice as large as in St. Louis, Charleston and Boston; eight percent more than Brooklyn; seven per cent more than Philadelphia. The duty, then, comes upon us of looking into the causes of this calamity and seeking out a remedy. The remedy is not merely a sanitary one. If we propose to make New York a healthy city we must study the examples of the great cities in other lands. We aim to rival Paris and London, and some day we trust to sur- pass them in the march of metropolitan greatness. Well, how is it that in Paris and Londen human life is somuch more secure ; from the ravages of disease, from sudden freaks of the season like this torrid spell which has fallen upon us, and to which we are sacrificing our children by thousands? The reason is that France and England take pride in their capitals and cherish them as the jewelsin theircrown. In Parliament we read constantly of debates about the develop- ment of London. The French even show a warmer interest in Paris. It is only a day or two since we had a cable despatch saying that the loan for the improvement of the city of Paris had been taken. The amount of this loan is twenty-four millions of dollars. It bears four per cent, and will be paid in five instalments. So high is the credit of France that already this new loan commands from sixteen to seventeen francs premium, while of the new German loan only one-fourth hus been taken. This shows the elasticity of French credit and at the same time the wisdom of the rulers of France in dealing with their metropolis. It is proposed to spend this twenty-four millions of dollars in beautifying Paris ; and yet Paris is the most beautiful city inthe world. The rulers of this capital see that the only way to keep their eminence is to expend money. The beauty of Paris would fall into decay if it were neglected. Disease would desolate its homes as it now desolates New York. The increase of population in a city as vast as Paris needs constant watchfulness and ex- pense. Nor, as may be supposed, is this money wasted. Every franc spent in adding to the attractiveness of Pans adds to her revenues. People come from all parts of the world and spend money there, and the result is ever-increasing wealth. Compare this policy with the miserable system which prevails in New York. Hero we have a city which is not only the metrop- olis of a nation but of a hemisphera Paris divides her supremacy with London, Berlin, Vienna, Rome. New York has no rival. We do not know what the second Centennial may do with Rio Janeiro, New Orleans or San Francisco ; but now and fora generation we are supreme. Nature has blessed New York with many advantages. While Paris is inland on a plain, with two or three small contiguous rivers, and without any special natural attractions, in a low region, with a humid atmosphere, New York ,has the sea, the mountains, river, forest and lake all within a morning drive. A spectator may stand on High Bridge on a clear day, and, with one range of vision, see Orange Mountain ; the brown, sombre, majestic Palisades, which look like a petrified Niagara ; the hills of Westchester, which cluster around Jerome Park; the Hudson on one side, and on the other the shining waters of the Sound; the Harlem and the nest of islands in the East River; the hills of Staten Island, the ocean far be- yond. He wilisce three great cities and fifty villages—Mannahatta, queen, and mother of them all, sitting like an eagle in her eyrie, with her childrenall about her. He will see the homes of two millions of people, and he will say that on no portion of the earth has ever metropolis found a fitter home. He can easily imagine, if his fancy moves him, what acity this might be in 1976, when we cele- brate our second Centennial. But, beautiful as the view may be, a study of it in detail shows how far we are behind the other great cities. New York has como to astandstill. We mourn the death of the children of the poor. We are the unhealthiest city in the world. We have done nothing in five years but moan over the money stolen by Tweed. Yet if Paris were disposed to moan she might speak of insurrections, of sieges, of fines imposed by victorious armies, of the Commune, Burden after burden has been heaped upon this devoted city, and | yet, instead of giving way, she assumes new ones. In spite of the losses, the exactions and the troubles of the past ten years; in spite of the prodigious sums expended by Haussmann, under Napoleon, Paris borrows twenty-four millions of dollars to continue the work. And it is the highest wisdom. It teaches us in New York a lesson. If we intend this city to be what it should be we must spend money ; not as Tweed and Con- nolly spent it, but as the French rulers pro- pose to spend it in Paris. It is a mistake to suppose that we are not ready and willing to incur this expense. What we want first is good, intelligent government, a man as hon- est as Mr. Green in control of the money, with a large, bold intelligence directing him. Once let us have a government like this, and we can then afford to spend a hun- dred millions on New York. Weshould knit together the metropolis that now lies around in shabby fragments. We should have rapid transit, so that the overcrowded lower wards might send their poor laborers to fresh air and green fields on the banks of the Harlem or Hudson. We should island with wharves and docks and piers like those around Liverpool. We should cover the East River and the Harlem with bridges like those across the Seine and the | Thames. We should continue the fine sys- tem of boulevards which we owe to the surround the | Ring, and the utility of which makes us for- give many of their sins. We should tunnel the Hudson so that the great trunk lines from the West and South could terminate on theisland, and not in New Jersey. Then we should havea perfect system of drainage. Our sanitary arrangements areacrime. Our streets, in nine cases out of ten, are a nuisance. We should have more parks and those we have should be made attractive summer resorts. Beyond a spot here and there like Madison square, Union square and one side of the Battery, New York in all respects falls below the true standard of metropolitan excellence. Let us, however, take heart from the ex- ample of Paris and see if we cannot revive and rebuild the: metropolis. Comptroller Green has a fine chance to lead in this work. The people respect him as an honest, bold man who has erred on the side of thrift. Now let him take the lead in the regenera- tion of the metropolis. If Mr. Green will only agree to take up this work he can have fifty or a hundred millions if he wishes. The people demand a new policy and they will have it, if mew men are necessary to carry it out. ‘There never was a time when a really great man could do more good than now. New York wants a government that will benefit the rich and the poor. She wants the bless- ings and advantages of civilization. She feels that she has been ruined by the small, narrow, thieving rulers who have preyed upon her substance. She sees the thief dy- nasty under Tweed give place to the imbecile dynasty under Wickham—and all the time matters grow worse and worse. If Mr. Green had the genius to build up as well as the genius to tear down; if he could see the future of New York as clearly as he sees the past ; if he were as far-seecing and bold as he has shown himself to be brave and honest, then we might see better days. The hour has come; we need the man. New York must enter upon a new career, for we have had enough of crime and folly. Whero is the man who can lead us? The Late A. T. Stowart’s Kinspeople. We print on another page an indignant let- ter written on the assumption that we had called some of Mr. Stewart's pretended rela- tives impostors. We have no recollection of applying that term in such a manner that any real kinsman or kinswoman of Mr. Stewart could tako offence; but we may, perhaps, have employed strong language in connection with the attempts to set aside Mr. Stewart's will. If the great merchant had died intestate it would have been proper enough forall his near and all his distant blood relations to have asserted their kinship and put in their claims to his prop- erty. But against a valid will all such claims are worthless and ridiculous. Every man has an unquestionable right to dispose of his property by will as he pleases, and Mr. Stewart very naturally and properly devised the bulk of his to his childless wife. If she had borne him sons and daughters, and they had been neglected in the will, there might have been a reasonable pre- sumption that the will did not express his real intentions. But no such presumption can arise in the case of distant cousins. It is not necessary to dispute the relationship of these people in order to explode their pretensions. The fact that Mr. Stewart during his life kept himself entirely aloof from them proves that he had no such special regard for them as would make his omission to recognize them in his will strange. The most they can say is that they would have a claim toa share of his prop- erty in the absence of a will; but against a will their claims are preposterous, unless they can prove that Mr. Stewart was of un- sound mind when he made the will. His neglect of distant cousins whom he never recognized during his life is quite consist- ent with the full possession of his faculties. He never gave them the slightest reason to expect that he would bequeath them a dollar of his property, and their parade of kinship against a valid will i is simply absurd, The ‘Tompkins Square Jop. The Tammany Aldermen yesterday suc- ceeded in obtaining enough votes to pass the resolution authorizing the grading and repairing of Tompkins square by day’s work, The majority had resolved to hold daily sessions until this resolution should be passed, thus endeavoring to coerce those who were opposed tothe work into voting for it, and their tactics, it seems, have ac- complished their object. Tompkins square, under the management of Tammany offi- cialis, has long been a disgrace to the city, the large amount of money heretofore appro- priated to its improvement having been shamefully misapplied. No person objected to its being again put into proper condition, but the majority of the republican Aider- men insisted that the work should be done by contract and not by day's work. The resolution, in tho shape in which it has been driven through by the Tammany members of the Board, is simply a job. Its supporters cared nothing for the interests of the people of the dis- trict who live in the vicinity of the pest hole, but only wanted to supply some work on which they could put laborers to help them in the aldermanic elections. Long strings of their hangers-on will now be filing up to the office of the Commissioner of Pub- lic Works with cards from the Riellys and McCarthys and Tuomeys of the Board, who, having secured the resolution, will, of course, each be able to puta hundred men to work immediately. But if Commissioner Campbell employs these loafers of the ward pothouses in the place of honest, compe- tent laborers the money will be expended and Tompkins square will be in no better condition next year than it is at the present moment, Two Exxctions.—Lerdo de Tejada and Boisrond Canal have been elected Presi- dents of Mexico and Hayti respectively. The former has, doubiless, been aided in his canvass by the rebellion at present on its last legs; the latter had to knock his predecessor on the head beforo he could get a Presidential vacancy. Lerdo is not sure that the Mexican Congress will confirm the vote which prolongs the power he gained by the death of Juarez, and General Canal’s position may be chronically regarded as “mighty onsartain,” JULY 23, 1876.—TRIPLE SHEET. The Lesson of the Mohawk. Some excellent suggestions have been made by the leading journals of New York in respect to the necessity of employing none but first class sailing masters on yachts, and they deserve to be promptly considered by yacht owners. A competent captain anda good crew should be secured at any price, for without them no one has the right to risk the lives of innocent people on the ocean. Mr. Garner unquestionably believed in the courage of his crew and the capacity of his captain; but it is shown that the sailing master was rash in not preparing for the squall, and that the men were engaged in taking care of themselves as soon as the danger was known. Half a dozen deter- mined sailors could have rescued the unhappy persons who were prisoners in the cabin. Butall the heroism was shown by the gentlemen on. board. Mr. Garner perished in seeking to extricate his wite. Mr. Montant and Mr. Howland-*acted with great courage and devotion, and the heroic daring of Colonel Crosby is above all praise. He remained in the stateroom with the drowning and the drowned till all hope was over, and _ then saved his own life as by miracle. One brave sailor stood by him in the hour of death; his name isas yet unknown, but it is the duty and the desire of all the survivors of that dreadful scene to give him the honor and thanks he so nobly earned. But the lesson of the Mohawk has yet to be learned. “The crew and the captain are not solely to blame for the terrible disaster. The Mohawk was not able to stand a squall in the harbor. What would she have done in astorm at sea? She had never known what agale was, but had sailed before summer breezes, The description which Colonel Crosby gives of the cabin where the agonized women were crushed by the furniture, pinioned hopelessly by sofas and ballast, proves that the Mohawk was not prepared for that rough weather which may come at any moment. Her furniture should have been secured to the sides of the cabin, in- stead of dashing leeward when the squall struck the yacht. Above all her ballast should have been firmly placed, so that it would have remained fixed like the masts ; but this cabin was more like a parlor on shore than the hold of a vessel liable to be capsized at sea. We do not blame any individual, but the system which has lately grown up. It is likely that two-thirds of our yachts in the neighborhood of New York are in the same condition as the Mohawk was and are exposed to the same dangers. But a yacht should be prepared for any emergency, as an army is prepared for war. It ought to be always ready. The English yachts are rigged and ballasted to sail around the world, and these precautions should be taken here by the smallest boat that ventures upon the water. Ocean yacht- ing has demonstrated the immense value of preparing for all emergencies, and the lesson to be learned is that, even in a mere holiday excursion on smooth Long Island Sound or the tranquil Bay of New York, prudence, foresight and good seamanship require a yacht to be fitted out to stand successfully a storm in the mid Atlantic. The Mohawk has gone, her sad story will long be remem- bered with grief; but, though the gallant Garner and his companions who went down in sight of their horrified friends cannot be re- stored, it is in the power of every owner of a yacht in the United States to take warning by the event and make similar calamities impossible hereafter. Pulpit Topics To-Day. The sad disaster to the Mohawk in the Lower Bay will form food for meditation to- day with Mr. McCarthy, of this city, and Mr. Steele, of Brooklyn. The former will utter some reflections on the dangers of the deep, and offer to weeping mothers and friends the consolation of knowing their children and friends when they meet on the yonder shore. The latter will use the disas- ter to emphasize the Scriptural doctrine of Christian watchfulness and care. Mr. Lloyd will take leave of his congregation to-day for six or eight weeks, but before he goes he will show how the righteous shall grow as the lily, and cast his roots as Lebanon, and spread his branches and cause his beauty to appear as the olive tree, and his fruitfulness asthe vine. But this will be due to the Lord's influences falling as the dew upon him. And thus thriving, the righteous many will be ready to crown Christ with many crowns as Lord overall. The value of men differs. Some are worth more than others. There is, too, areal and a fictitious value set upon men, and the difficulty arises in setting the actual value upon them. Mr. Hepworth has a standard by which he will estimate men in his congregation to-day, and declare the ac- tual value of each. Of course shams will not care to be valued thus, and they will prob- ably keep away. Starting from an humble model many a shapeless thing has been made a thing of beauty and a joy forever, and many a dry bone has been quickened, as Mr. Rowell will quicken some into life to-day. And in times of need like these it is encour- ing to know, with Dr. Deems, that God is able and will supply all our needs, That the Gospel is the power of God unto salva- tion we have known for a long time, but the fact is worth repeating and emphasizing by such a teacher as Dr. Armitage; and that the Lord will give strength unto His people and bless them with peace we have had as- surances in the past, which Mr. Johns will give fresh point to to-day. Bishop Snow, of Mount Zion, thinks the last trumpet is now sounding, and that the destruction of the Ottoman Empire is near and inevitable. It has been a long time coming, however. Somz Person Unknown to tHe Juny shot a man dead on the Fourth of July, and the announcement of that fact, with the simple qualification by the Coroner, scems to satisfy that official that his duty is fully discharged. The law clothes coroners with almost abso- Inte power in the matter of investigating the causes of violent death. It certainly does not speak well for the efficiency of the Coro- ner and his assistant when a case of homicide ean be disposed of in few sentences, of which the first few words above form the sum and substance. Tue Dereat or tax University Brun by the Senate, owing to the Bonapartists, like | true friends of confusion, siding with the | crew and know just how far Captain Row- | 1’m very aisy to teach.” Right to harass the government, has naturally led to strong language on the part of the republican journals. Hard words, however, will break no bones, and although it must be galling to tolerate a party whose votes are cast without principle and for the most un- patriotic of purposes, the republicans must bottle up their righteous anger and wait till they can extirpate Bonapartism at the polls. A few years more of the moderate Republic will thin their ranks in the French Parlia- ment wonderfully. A Suggestion to the Cambridge Crew. The committee who will meet the newly arrived Cambridge First Trinity Four should urge them, instead of going di- rectly to Philadelphia, where the races in which they propose rowing do not come off until about the last week in August, to go at once to Saratoga and row in the Open Ama- teur Fours there on Wednesday, August 9. In President Close’s letter of the 25th ult. he states that the principal race in which his crew hope to row here is the intercollegiate one of Philadelphia. But, unfortunately, this year's intercollegiate race was rowed last Wednesday on _ Saratoga lake, the plan of the Centennial Com- mittee to. have it at Philadel- phia not succeeding, so that our English guests are in a way to be seriously disappointed. An intercollegiate race is, to be sure, still advertised to take place at Philadelphia among the Centennial races, but only two colleges, Yale and Columbia, are at present talked of as likely to send crews, and there is little chance at best of its being such arace as Cambridge had con- templated. Now it would be great rudeness on the part of our students to let this or any college crew come three thousand miles to. row them and not give them arace. By making one purposely for the second week in August on Saratoga Lake, and Yale and Cor nell, Harvard and Columbia all taking part, this could be accomplished, and Yale and Columbia would thus have a chance to beat Cornell and make a very interesting struggle. If this plan is rejected all these college crews could enter the race for international amateur fours in August, and so the famous Atalantas and Argonautas, Beaverwycks and Neptunes, of the East, and the Duquesnes, Wahwahsums (the new crew that recently beat the latter), and perhaps the Buffaloes, of the West, would all have a chance to measure blades with the foreign foe, and this ona track long enough to test endurance instead of merely speed. A most potent reason why the Cambridge men should go to Saratoga is that they have just come to a climate hotter than their own, in a year when it is far hotter than usual, too, andif they go directly to Philadel- phia they will find an especially hot city, while Saratoga, far to the north, is the very place by going to which troops of our best people seek to avoid even New York heat. Let Saratoga also later that same week offer a purse for international professional fours, and have the St. John, Halifax, Pittsburg, Boston and Biglin teams in, and they will have such a week of racing as this country never saw, while all the crews can go from there to Philadelphia with a most valuable bit of experience of each other's quality and yet have ample time to learn the short Schuylkill track and be in the heat as little as possible. We respectfully urge the at- tention of both the Cambridge men and the committee to these suggestions, The Mohawk Inquest. The inquest resulting from the Mohawk disaster only adds to the terrible pathos of a story without parallel in the history of ship- wreck. At every step of the investigation the heartrending details show some new fea- ture and much of the testimony is epigram- matic in its revelations of the disaster. Still neither the investigation nor the ver- dict can ftove satisfactory to the public or to those most deeply interested in the re- sults, All that was shown were divided opinions and the necessity for further inves- tigation, while the only effect of the verdict can be to prevent the whole truth from being told. There is a strong feeling that the yacht might have been saved after the squall struck, and many who are strongest in this opinion are ready to admit that the Captain’s explanation of the cause of the ac- cident is frank and manly. ‘The whole secret of the disaster hinges upon one little thing,” he said, and this “little thing” was “that the squall strack her when she was not under way.” Unquestionably this is the whole case; but Captain Rowland’s cul- pability is not to be measured by this sim- ple fact standing by itself, and other ques- tions remain to be decided before he can be pronounced free from blame. The want of preparation for the squall was ao grievous error, the Coroner's jury to the con- trary Shotwithstanding; but the Captain, if his own testimony is to be believed, was act- ing under the orders of the owner of the yacht, and neither of them be- lieved that there was any danger beyond a spanking breeze, to catch which the anchor was being raised and the sails had been set. At first blush it would seem that the culpa- bility for the accident and its cause were identical—that everything was owing to the fact that the sails were set with the anchor down. A closer scrutiny will show, however, that the completeness of the disaster was due to something apart from its cause—the fearful want of disciplino among the crew. Neither the printed accounts of the disaster nor the testimony elicited at the inquest show what the crew were doing while the vessel was careening and the Captain giving his orders and crying for help. Rowland says his orders were disobeyed, and we are almost compelled to believe him in view of the abject terror and coward- ice of the crew. The seamen, with a single exception, appear to have rushed from the vessel like rats deserting a sinking ship; and with such want of discipline and base fear among the crew there is little wonder that the yacht and her owner, his wife and his guests, were left to their fate. In view of these facts we cannot accept the Captain’s acquittal by the jury as in any way creditable to him, while we would be equally careful not to deduce his culpability from the cause of the disaster—culpable as that cause was in itself—until we have all the facts in relation to the condition of the ES eu ea RAR eee Pe 9 OA EST AER land is responsible for that condition. It ts evident, from the testimony of Quartere master Palm and others, that there was a spirit of mutiny on board the vessel. The Captain's unpopularity is confessed. To be complete the inquest, shoyld have shown us whether Rowland was in any way to blame for the insubordination and want of discipline among the crew of the Mohawk. All the other facts are plain, but it is in the condition of the crew, rather than the cause of the disaster, that we must look for the moral quality of Captain Rowland’s offence. The interest of yachtsmen and of seamanshig in general is bound up in the answer to thit point, and the investigation touching if must be more completely made before thit question can be considered definitely set- tled. There is a great wrong somewhere in this matter—a much greater wrong than is shown in the mere condition of the yacht when the squall struck her or the conduc of the Captain at the time, and every in- terest requires that it shall be fully exposed and punished. The Expected Currency Sensation. in the House. Among our Washington despatches yester- day was one fitted to excite public curiosity, Everybody knows that the Committee on Banking and Currency has long been at deadlock by the absence of Mr. Gibson, serving on the Custom House investigation at New Orleans. The Banking and Cur rency Committee consists of eleven mem: bers, and in the absence of Mr. Gibson the other ten stand five for hard money and five for soft money. The return of Mr. Gibson, who is a sound hard money democrat, would have given that side a majority if the othe1 members had remained firm. But the Hen- dricks intriguers have found means of ins fluencing Mr. Wike, of Illinois, one of the hard money members, who has been brought to surrender his views in obedience to 4 demand from his constituents. In conse quence of this change the committee now stands six soft money men against five hard money men, and it is expected that it will make a report recommending the repeal of the law which requires resumption of specie payments in 1879. If such a report is made it will lead to one of the most ani- mated and exciting debates of the session, a debate in which democrats will be arrayed against democrats in vigorous conflict. When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war, A fierce debate on the currency between the Tilden men and the Hendricks men would be full of peril to the democratic party. It will be in vain for Mr. Hendricks to pretend that he does not inspire and abet such acontest. If his friends would unite with those of Mr. Tilden so unseemly a family quarrel could easily be averted, but Hendricks has a suicidal ambition to appear as a leading figure in the canvass. The Hendricks wing have plausible ground to go upon and they seem determined to make the most of it, at whatever cost to the party. The St. Louis platform demands the repeal of so much of the Resumption act as fixes a date, and the Hendricks faction are prepared to taunt the Tilden men with desertion of the national platform ifthey make a strenuous opposition. On the other hand a repeal would weaken Gov- ernor Tilden and seriously impair his chances in the Eastern States. He is com« mitted to the Resumption act, date gnd all, After its passage by‘Congress the New York Legislature passed a law indorsing it and pledging the State to pay all its debts in specie on and after January 1, 1879. This bill waa signed by Governor Tilden, and he will be put in an awkward predicament if the dem- ocrats of Congress should censure his action and condemn his record. Moreover, such a report of the Committee on Banking and Currency as is expected would be a gratui- tous insult to Governor Tilden, because a repeal of the act of 1875 is known to be im- possible. A repealing bill might possibly be carried through the House, although this is doubtful, but it would be certainly de- feated in the republican Senate. The at- tempt would only divide and weaken the democratic party and proclaim the dissent between its candidate for President and its candidate for Vice President. If Mr. Hen- dricks has the least particle of loyalty or decency he will actively ‘intervene to pre- vent so disgraceful and damaging a spec« tacle, PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Floridians are eating native figs. Colonel Forney is at Martha’s Vineyard. Sir Charles Dilke will not come to America, Robert Buchanan, the English poet, is thirty five, ‘A number of big San Francisco spectlators are about to fail, Rugby School is provided with a plenty of swim ming baths. If the weather warriors are correct look out for Rain-in-the-face. A boot and shoe exhibition will soon be opened af Berne, Switzerland. ‘A fashion eritic says that old women should not wear full suits of white. Fred. Douglass, while at Newport, was the guest of Mr. George T. Downing. Cornish pilchards are now preserved in oil, and they are equal to French sardines, Seven thousand four hundred English soldiers in Im dia refuse to drink spirits or malt !iquor. Not @ single German vessel trades to India, but the German commerce with China is very large. You can walk around Sebastopol with difficulty be. cause of the holes leit by the cannon shot Colonel Bob Ingersoll, who made the famous speech in the Cincinnati Convention, is in Washington. Eighty tons of fresh meat from New York aro now sold in the West End markets, London, every week. The English shooting senson promises well, the moors having been neglected by sportsmen last year, Rochester Democrat:—“None of us are safe, Wé learn from the Chicago Times that a Dubuque mule ro cently died of suastroke.”” Sporting rents in shootings, deer forests and fish ings, in the counties of Inverness and Ross, Scotland, annually fetch $400,000. Second Lieutenant Grant, recently promoted by hig father id the United States Senate, might win hig maiden dive ribbon along the Big Horn. A gentleman from California its now in Chicago nee gotiating for the purchase ota full-sized canal schoones to take avargo of black walnut lumber from Chicago te San Francisco, via the St Lawrence and Cape Horn. The report that Judge Daly wa: ng dangerously sick at his country residence, Sag Harbor, L. L, ig fortunately, uofounded. At ten o'clock last night he was perfectly well and enjoying the delicious atmo sphere im front of his house, A metropolitan housekeeper advertised recently for a wet nurse. A young Irish girl offered horscif, “How old aro you, Bridget?" said the dame. “Six. teen, please, mam.” “Haye you ever hada baby “No, ma’am, but [am very fond of them.” “hen 1 am aftatd, Bridget, you will not do for ino; it is a wog nurse wank’? “Oh, pase, ma'am, I know I'll dog