The New York Herald Newspaper, August 31, 1876, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD | BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR. THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Four cents per copy. Twelve dollars per year, or one dollar per month, free of re. All business, news letters or telegraphic despatches must be addressed New York Henatp. Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. PHILADELPHIA OFFICE—NO.112 SOUTH SIXTH STRE. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO, 46 FLEET STREET. PARIS OFFICE—AVENUE DE L'OPERA. Subscriptions and advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms KELLY & LEON'S MINSTRELS, ats P. M. pe OLYMPIC THEATRE. VARIETY, at 8 P.M. GILMORE’S GARDEN, CONCERT, at 81. M. PARI at8P.M. Matinee at VARIETIES, THEATRE, hern, WALL EATRE, THE MIGHTY DOLL. M. Mr. and Mra, Flor BOWERY THEATRE, AMERICANS’ GOLD, Mr. G. C. Boniface, SAN FRAN ateP.M. TIVOL, VARIETY, AT 8 P. M. THIRD A VARIETY, at 8 P.M, UNION SQUARE THEATRE, TWO MEN OF SANDY BAR, at 8 P.M. THEATRE COMIQUE, VARIETY, at 8 P.M. BOOTIVS THRATRE. BARDANAPALUS at 8 P.M. Mr. Bangs and Mrs. Agues jooth. “NEW YORK. THURSDAY, AUG 31, 1876, "From our reports this morning the probabilities are that the weather to-day will be warm and cloudy, possibly with rain. During the summer months the Hrrzaup will be sent to subscribers in the country at the rate of iuenty-five cents per week, free of postage. Watt Sremner YesTerpay.—Speculation was moderately active ona rather feverish market, which declined toward the close. Gold opened at 110 1-8, and, with sales at that rate and a fraction lower, closed at 109 7-8. Money was in full supply atla 11-2 a 2 per cent on call. Our Frenct Lxerrrr, published to-day, contains the latest political news and Pa- risian gossip, with other information of in- terest. Tus Esrimmarzs of the expenses of our county offices will bo read with interest by the citizens who are obliged to pay the bills. The high hats will mourn when they read the salaries of the superb swallow-tails. Tae Scorrisa Rirremrn.—The arrival of the Scotch Rifle Team is an interesting event in our centennial display. The gallant shots of the land of Burns and Sir Walter Scott will receive a warm welcome from the Ameri- can people. Coxyecticut.—The report of the Repub- lican Convention of Connecticut is interest- ing. The speeches of Messrs. Jewell and Hawley signified that the discord in their party is ended. Mr, Robinson was renomi- nated for Governor. Tue Tonks ix Evnore are very much like what one of the Western farmers called a pig in a clover field. What the hog could not eat he laid down on. Vide Servia and Mon- tenegro. What the Turk cannot conquer and utilize he crushes and destroys. Rarmw Traxsit.—Of course rapid transit will be opposed by every horse car company in New York. They hate the Elevated Rail- road as muchas a plump mouse dislikes a ‘hungry cat. The citizens of New York care nothing for the elevated or the other com- panies, but they desire to get down and up town quickly, and will not be retarded by such obstacles as Judge Sedgwick. Ovr Anmy in THE Sovtnern Srates.— The part the army will be forced to play in the South is of importance in the approach- ing canvass. The soldiers have no wish to be made the tools of either party, and would much rather go to the West than to the South. But our Long Branch letter gives the latest news as to the intentions of the President in respect to the army and the South. Tur Ex-Stavz Owxers or Porro Lrco are to receive indemnity bonds for the loss of their human property. A forced loan from these gentlemen is now in order, so that the interest and principal of the bonds may be paid. The great merit of Spanish financiering is that ail government creditors are compelled to pay themselves. The sys- tem works charmingly, and everybody is satisfied except the creditors. Tas Disaster on Boarnp Her Maszery's Snir Tuuxperkn has been thoroughly in- vestigated by the Coroner, and after an in- quiry lasting several weeks the jury has returned a verdict of ‘“‘accidental death.” This rendering is in keeping with a recent one in the case of the running down of a yacht by Queen Victoria's pleasure steamer the Victoria and Albert. Of course it was a pure accident that the safety valves of the ‘Thunderer’s boiler were tightly wedged down when the fires were lighted and steam was gotten up. The omission on the part of the engineers to examine the condition of the boiler must be recognized as accidental. It was an unfor- tunate accident that water in close reser- voir should make steam when the tempera- ture was raised above the boiling point. It was entirely accidental that the ship was bnilt at all, for that matter. If the English people are satisfied with the verdict we have nothing more to say, but the word “acci- dent” has received a new meaning, NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 1876.--TRIPLE SHEET. EEE The Political Muddle at Saratega— Nomination of Horatio Seymour. Had Mr. Seymour been nominated with his consent, and not in spite of his refusal, there could be no question of the expediency of such a step nor of his great strength as a candidate. It isthe unanimous sentiment of the democratic party of this State that Horatio Seymour is its best and truest representative, and that he is the one man above all others for whom every democrat is proud to vote. There is no other name in the democratic party whose slightest mention in any public assembly calls forth such a storm of spon- taneous and hearty cheering. The enthusi- asm felt for Mr. Seymour in his own party has hardly a parallel in our political history. His nomination, with his consent, would unquestionably be the strongest possible, and his nomination with- out his consent and against his protests is also the strongest possible if he can be per- suaded to accept. We suppose it will be known in the course of the day whether he adheres to his original determination. If he does the party will find itself in an awkward predicament. But if he yields to the pressure which has been put upon him, and at last accepts, the work of this Convention will have been well done on the principle that ‘All is well that ends well.” In view of the distraction and ‘‘con- fusion worse confounded” that would ensue in the event of his obstinate and final re- iusal it would seem to bea duty which he owes to his party to conquer his repugnance and sacrifice his repose as the only means of establishing. harmony among the jarring elements. Certain itis that no other nom- ination could doso much to strengthen the democratic canvass. The difficulties and embarrassments of the Democratic State Convention prove to be of quite a different nature from those which were apprehended. The clashing Tammany and anti-Tammany factions, and the double delegations from this city, which were feared as unmanageable elements of trouble and discord, have hardly made a rip- ple, so easily was the quarrel adjusted by a spirit of concession on both sides and mutual willingness to accept a truce. This grand source of difficulty hay- ing been put out of the way by a suspension of hostilities the ordinary work of the Con- vention should have been gone through with by easy sailing in smooth waters, It was expected that Governor Tilden would have a favorite candidate for the first place on the ticket, and there seemed a prevailing disposition to indorse his choice if he would but make it known. But when the Conven- ticn met it appeared that he had no prefer- ence, or none which he was willing to avow. This unexpected hesitation and in- decision on the part of its supposed master threw the Convention into confusion. It became a maze without a plan, nobody hav- ing come to it with any definite purpose, because everybody supposed that the pro- ceedings would be shaped bya firm hand behind tho scenes. Governor Tilden’s hesitation in this crisis might be variously explained. It may be that he had encouraged the hopes of so many different candidates that he could not have signified a pref- erence for one without exposing himself to charges of bad faith on the part of the others. It may be that Mr. Hewitt was his real fa- vorite, and that he was so disconcerted by discovering that his selection was a blunder that he lacked heart to try again. It may be that by a stretch of foresight and political cunning unwonted even for him he had deliberately planned to put the Con- vention at loggerheads by promoting rival- ties among impossible candidates, in order that, in the confusion and despair, o situation might be created which would in- duce Governor Seymour to come to the rescue in spite of his repeated refusals to be acandidate. Whether any of these explana- tions be the true one it is certain that the business of the Convention has been queerly managed, and that the gnpplication to Governor Seymour to retreat from a position which he had deliberately taken was even more singular than the selection of an ineligible carpet-bagger from New Jersey to supplant Dorsheimer, Potter and Marble. It seemed like hanging out a flag of distress ona side from which there was little reason to expect relief after the positive and reiterated refusals of Mr. Seymour to be a candidate for any office. If this was the work of Governor Tilden he lost his head on tho field of battle. It was a curious infelicity for a Gov- ernor, who is also an eminent lawyer, to select # candidate who is constitutionally in- eligible ; but his faculties ought not to have got bewildered by his sense of so unlucky a mistake. He need not have lost his conrage with his presence of mind and have per- mitted signal guns of distress to be fired in an appeal to the Sage of Deerfield to come to the rescue and save the ship. It is a little too humiliating for a great political party to exhibit itself almost under the very eyes ot its Presidential candidate in so beseeching an attitude. And yet it may be, after all, that Governor Tilden has stood aloof and left the Conven- tion to drift, inconsistent as such a course would be with his ordinary methods. All the confusion that has prevailed may have been the work of others, Governor Tilden holding back because he had confidence in all the rival candidates and felt assured that he is strong enough to carry the State on his own merits and his reform record with any fair candidate for the Governorship. If this was his view his abstinence may have been wise, although in permitting the appeal to Mr. Seymour, which looks too much as if the salvation of the party de- pended on one man, and a different man from its candidate for the Presidency, there is an appearance of weakness. Perhaps he thought it expedient to give even this hazardous proof of his serene indifference to anything the Convention might do in order to advertise his entire confidence in the strength of his own nomination and his in- dependence of subsidiary support. Whether Governor Tilden left the Con- vention to follow its own impulses or craftily planned from the beginning to bring Mr. Seymour to the front is a question which will fade into insignificance if Mr. Seymour accepts. The party will be too glad of so strong candidate to cavil about the means by which his nomination was secured. We | suppose the committee appointed to wait on Mr. Seymour and inform him of his nomi- nation will have reached Utica by the time the Convention reassembles this morning, and will immediately telegraph his accept- ance or refusal. Under all the circum- stances we incline to think he will accept. The New Loan. The true reason why the new four and a half per cent loan bids so fair to be a splendid success is not, perhaps, very clearly understood. The cardinal fact is that the full amount called for is already invested in United States bonds. The success of the loan requires no drain of capital from other sources, The Syndicate is merely a financial machine for compelling the holders of three hundred millions of six per cent bonds to exchange them for the same amount of four andahalf per cent bonds. The six per cents are payable at the option of the gov- ernment five years after the date of their issue, but it is not obliged to pay them until the expiration of twenty years after their date. The mode of conducting the Syndicate is for it to take, to begin with, a moderato in- stalment of the new loan, say ten millions, and authorize the government to draw upon it for that amount of gold. The Treasury then gives notice that certain specified bonds of like amount are to be called in and paid, and that the interest on them will be stopped after a given date. The holders of the called bonds have then to consider what they will do with this gold when they getit. Tho stagnation of trade both in this country and Europe makes it difficult to find employ- ment for large amounts of money, and, be- sides, most of the bondholders prefer fixed investments, Their experience in United States securities has taught them that our bonds are among the safest investments of capital. The six per cents are bought every day in the gnarket at premiums which make the income on the investment but little more than four per cent, and there is really nothing better which the paid-off bondhold- ers can do with their money than to rein- vest it in the new securities, In con- sequence very little gold will be handled in the conversion of the public debt. Instead of going through the for- mality of receiving coin for the old bonds and then purchasing new bonds with the proceeds the holders will go to the Syndi- cate and make a direct exchange of the six per cents, on which interest is about to be stopped, forthe four anda half per cents, on which interest is about to begin. When the first instalment of the new bonds has been disposed of in this way the Syndicate will take another and another until the loan is exhausted. ‘The few holders who do not wish to make the exchange will be paid in gold, but their number will be very small. If the problem of Secretary Morrill were to find three hundred millions of uninvested money and borrow it forthe government it might be oneof no small difficulty. The easier task which devolves on him is merely to get capital which is already invested in United States securities transferred to other United States securities which will yield as good areturn as the old bonds would to present purchasers. The Battle of the Oar. There is a story in the Bible which tells us that a certain Philip was recommended to bathe in the Jordan River—a miserable little stream, as the English crews speak of the Schuylkill—and that this great man ob- jected to that obscure lavatory because of the argument that the Euphrates was the nobler torrent of the two. Still, there is proof that the Jordan cured the bather, Philip, of his infirmities, and, if we may trust our information, elsewhere printed, the Schuylkill has convinced the English oarsmen that they cannot row as fast or as strong as the Americans, The race was wonderful. The London rowing crew had plenty of backing, and were expected to win. The almost unknown crew of the Beaverwyck club beat the cele- brated English oarsmen by o mere miracle. What are eighteen inches in a mile and ahalf struggle? In this case the Englishmen did their best, and if they failed they failed gloriously, and all the honors must be divided. The race was almost a dead heat, and we cannot see that either the English or the Americans descrve the victory. The great international boat race was determined by inches, not by yards, and the credit should be divided. Nothing more brilliant than this contest ever occurred on the waters of America, yet we concede that the London Rowing Club is one of the best in the world. It should have beaten the Beaverwycks, but it did not. We trust the Nautilus Club will again do itself full justice. Its representa- tive oarsmen are light weights, but both Mr. Walsh and Mr. Roach have done themselves honor by the magnificent style in which they have rowed against superior odds. The re- gatta on the Schuylkill River has not been, thus far, a defeat for American oarsmen, but no one cares who wins if the best men are the most successful. Ina short time the Lon- don professional crew will measure their skill and power against our own men, and it is not improbable that the Thames may again revenge itself upon the Schuylkill. A Coorrn-Cany Mass Mrrrixc,—Mr. Cary discoursed eloquently last night at the Cooper Institute on his favorite subject, “that blessed baby.” Whatever the audience lacked of sympathy for the ragged bantling they made up for by gennine applause whenever the speaker suggested that the Cooper-Cary platform meant money for everybody. Not that they put implicit faith in Sam Cary’s panacea for all the evils of the times, but because the bare suggestion was a pleasant one under any circumstances. The name Cooper alone is enough to set every impecunious listener thinking about ‘that barrel of money” and the flush times when the crisp greenbacks filled the pockets of the workingman. In order to carry out the programme properly, each one present ought to have been presented with a greenback on entering the hall. This would compel the republican and democratic candidates to serve out silver bricks at all their meetings, in order to maintain their principles and their ground against such an overwhelming argument in favor of paper money. Extradition with England. We print elsewhere a communication which contains valuable and interesting in- formation relating to extradition between Great Britain and the United States under the treaty of 1842, and why Lawrence, hay- ing been demanded of England for forger- ies on twelve importations, was surren- dered on only one importation. Discus- sions of that treaty are becoming ob- solete, because, as our correspondent truly states, the extradition article of that treaty has become a dead letter. But if the meaniug of that stipulation has become an obsolete question the subject of extradition has not, being in fact a question of great interest and urgency between the two governments. The present state of things is hardly tolerable between two coun- tries having such large facilities of inter- course. To say nothing of constant steam communication across the Atlantic, the Brit- ish provinces, which stretch for several thou- sand miles on our northern frontier, sepa- rated at Detroit, at Buffalo and at Ogdens- burg only by rivers, and in many other places only by a mathematical line, present facilities for the escape of criminals from just punishment. Neither country has any interest in protecting cutthroats and scoun- drels who flee from the other, and corrupt- ing its own society by association with crim- inals. Instead of stickling for the privilege of harboring them it is for the common inter- est of both to surrender them to justice. It is, therefore, to be hoped that the two gov- ernments will meet each other in a fair spirit and speedily adopt some arrangement by which the territories of both will be relieved of the presence of unpunished criminals. We think Secretary Fish has been entirely right in ‘his interpretation of the dead treaty, and are confirmed in this opinion by a recent able discussion in the House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor made a long speech in support of the view of the British government, but he was followed by Lord Selborne, a legal authority of equal emi- nence, who spoke in support of the Ameri- can view and pretty effectually demolished the Lord Chancellor’s arguments. We will not repeat the reasoning or the replies, be- cause the interpretation of the treaty of 1842 is a dead question; but the fact that some of the greatest lights of the legal profession in England think that Mr. Fish stood on ten- able ground is at least a pretty conclusive proof that the British government had not a very clear case, An admission that the ques- tion is even doubtful is quite enough to justify Secretary Fish in resisting the novel British demand that Winslow should not be tried on any other charge than the particular forgery on which he might be surrendered. The necessity for refusing such a pledge grows out of the nature of our institutions. Most of the criminals surrendered to us are tried by a different government from the one which demands their surrender. We have thirty-eight States, each of which has its own criminal jurisprudence, with which the federal government can interfere only in exceptional cases. It is true, indeed, that treaties made by the national government bind all the State courts; but unless a treaty is explicit and its interpretation clear one State court might take one view of its meaning and other State courts a different view, and amid the multitude of our tribunals and the diversity of their in- terpretations the whole subject would be involved in confusion, Mr. Fish acted with foresight and wisdom in declining to open the door to such a state of things by refus- ing to give a pledge as to how the State courts would interpret a treaty about whose meaning the most eminent lawyers of Great Britain differ. But his views of the treaty of 1842 should not in any way bind him in entering on new negotiations. Both governments should now approach the subject as a new question. It is no longer a question of interpretation, but a question of expediency. The old treaty being dead, neither party has any right under it, and an entirely new bargain is to be made on the basis of a fair exchange of equivalents. Almost any extradition treaty would be better than none, provided it was so clearly and carefully worded as to’ preclude differences of interpretation by the two contracting governments and among the subordinate governments in this coun- try and Canada that administer the criminal laws. There can be no difficulty between the federal government and our State goy- ernments on such a subject if the provisions of the new treaty are free from ambiguity, because nothing is better established than that national treaties are the supreme law of the land and bind all the State tribunals, The Weather. The haziness of the atmosphere yester- day precedes rain, which will possibly visit us toward evening. ‘The tempera- ture will increase so that the afternoon record will again go above eighty de- grees. These conditions are due to the barometric depression now central in the region east of the Mississippi, and which on the night before last proguced a rainfall at Milwaukee of 1.71 inches up to midnight. The rain area yesterday morning extended over the lower lake region from Buffalo to Chicago, the fall at the latter city being 1.51 inches. Yesterday afternoon the rain area moved southward into the Ohio Valley, and extended from Cairo to Pittsburg, with a light precipitation. The movement of the high barometer southward will cause a series of disturbances in the Gulf of Mexico, which may develop into severe storms. We are now entering the period when the atmos- pheric waves are set in violent motion by the changes of temperature, and may look forward to the approach of frequent storms and rains in this latitude. The develop- ment of cyclones in the Atlantic has already begun, and their arrival on the European coast has been attended with short spells of extremely bad weather on the coasts of Ireland and Northern France. ‘To-day the weather Dom Prpno is about to visit'Madrid, where he will be received into the Society of Poli- tical Economy. Spain has for some years been spending other people’s money with great liberality and entertains no idea of paying it back. If this comfortable system of finance is the basis of organization of the Madrid society we hope that Dom Pedro's Bourbon blood will prevent his learning anything from his new associates, for he is already credited with forgetting nothing that he has ever seen or heard. The Indian Campaign—Why it Has Failed. At the commencement of the present war against the Sioux, and when the confidence of the country in a speedy and successful issue of the operations was raised to the highest pitch by the announcement of the movements contemplated by the leaders of the expeditions, we took occasion to express doubts regarding the wisdom of the general plen of campaign, which have since proved to have been too well founded. In suggesting the existence of radical defects in the system of warfare which was adopted we entertained no doubt whatever of the skill and experi- ence of the commanders in the field or of the indomitable bravery and devotion of the troops. But at the same time we credited to the Indians an equal degree, of skill and bravery, and certain resources which our men could not hope tocommand. In the first place the enemy was in his own country, with every creck and ravine of which he was fa- miliar from’ childhood. His mode of life peculiarly fitted him for the system of ha- rassing attacks and rapid retreats which have enabled him to paralyze the movements of his opponents and to elude their pursuit. His commissariat department and military train were organized with the utmost sim- plicity, each warrior carrying his own pro- visions and ammunition, so that even large bodies of Sioux were independent of bases of supply and other military necessities to civilized warfare. In point of arms and horses his equipment was decidedly superior to that of our best troops. His long range rifles and countless herds of hardy ponies made him one of the most formidable oppo- nents that any soldier could desire to meet, It therefore cannot be wondered at that he should have succeeded in defeating our troops, with all the advantages on his side. But it is here that we are called on to expose the futility of the plan of campaign arranged by our military authorities. With inade- quate means of transportation, inexperi- enced and poorly equipped troops, and an absolute ignorance of the field of operations, the idea of entrapping the Indians by the movements of two converging columns ap- pears so absurd that it needs the memory of disasters like that which overtook Custer to lend gravity to its consideration. The plan could only be conceived by men who enter- tained a thorough contempt for their enemy and regarded the force sent against him as something like a sheriff's posse on a grand scale moving to arrest noted horse thieves or other criminals. It shows after all that the most experienced and talented generally fall into the greatest errors; for they are moro liable than others to dispense with that cau- tion which mediocrity would deem indis- pensable to success. Converging columns usually have some object to converge on, and their movements are directed so as to reach the objective point simultaneously. In order to do this the position of the point of convergence is previously determined. But in the case of the Sioux war, the Indian force being what was sought to be reached, not even the most experienced scouts could determine its probable position and, conse- quently, the object of the movements was defeated at their very commencement. It became a necessity to grope cautiously through the ‘bad lands” for the Sioux, and it was soon found that'the best way to meet the Indians was to wait for their attack. Thus the conditions became reversed, for the warriors of Sitting Bull held the coun- try, and chose when to attack or retire, while the United States armies were compelled to remain in camp in the vain hope that the red man’s temerity would exceed his pru- dence. In this the leaders were disap- pointed, for when the Sioux chief found that he had practically defeated the columns in detail he resolved to withdraw, knowing well that his disappearance would compel the troops to move out from their camps for another groping scout over the deserted country. Sitting Bull has always been ready to receive an attack in one of his chosen po- sitions; but in not one single instance be- fore the junction of the Crook and Terry columns have our troops been in a condition to assunie the offensive. It is obvious, there- fore, that this union should have taken place from the very first, and that only one large column should have been directed against the Indians. It may be pleaded that if the force was not distributed the Sioux would escape. But we answer that they have escaped in the face of two columns and could have done so had five been in the field. Tho severest blow received by the Sioux in this campaign was the interruption to their hunting of the buffalo for the win- ter’s provision. They have dispersed be- cause a prolongation of the fight would have rendered their position desperate on this account. With the money and other spoils taken from Custer and his men Sitting Bull can purchase supplies enough to sustain the most valuable of his warriors during the winter. The others, with the women and children, will go to the agencies to be fed. They will not bring in their arms and ponies, as is fondly believed by the War Depart- ment. These nseful adjuncts to next spring's campaign will be secured beyond the reach of the troops, to be used again when the opportunity presents itself. In the event of a renewal of operations against the Sioux in the early part of next summer it is to be hoped that a force of five thousand cavalry will be put in the field, with a com- plement of artillery or rocket batteries suffi- cient to dislodge the savages from their posi- tions in the hills, This force should operate westward from achain of strong posts ex- tending from Fort Fetterman to the mouth of the Tongue River. Thus the ends of this line would rest on points within easy communi- cation from the east and south, and prompt relief could be afforded in case any one of the positions was attacked by the Indians, If the Sioux assembled in force they should be attacked and persistently followed up until they are dispersed and driven west- ward into the mountains, When this is ac- complished another line of posts resting on old Fort Smith and the Yellowstone River should be established further west, and so the savages would be either finally con- quered or driven to where they would speed- ily perish from want, Forest Fires. Since the commencement of the present summer the territory that is now swept by the forest fires, and which embraces portions of the States of New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, has received scarcely, any rain, and consequently the vege- tation is parched beyond measure. The surface soil, being sandy and underlaid by 0 denser stratum, retains at a considerable depth below the surface the water from the winter snows and the spring rains, and, being also sheltered from the sun’s rays by the forest growth, loses very little moisture by evaporation. Therefore, while the great trees that send their tap roots deep into the earth to the very springs of moisture receive the requisite. nourishment the younger growths and the underbrush dry up and wither. Many resinous trees oc- cur in these forests which, when ex- posed to the powerful flames from the burn- ‘ing serubwood, add their quota of highly inflammable matter and help to destroy their less combustible neighbors. A spark from a passing locomotive or an abandoned camp fire of a wandering party of tramps may be the direct causes of these conflagrations, but indirectly they are due to the conditions above named. The influence of mountain ranges on the movements of areas of low barometer with their accompanying rains is very marked. The Rocky Mountains have created avast desert on their eastern sides, on which no tree or shrub can be found except along the banks of the creeks. In like manner the region which now suf- fers from the forest fires comes within the influence of the northern end of the Alleghany range, which diverts the rain areas from it and produces prolonged droughts. In glancing over the diagrams showing the monthly means of precipitation in the Territories east of the Rocky Mountains we find that this partic- ular section shows an extremely low average, and from its peculiar topography is least calculated to retain the surface moisture which it receives during the winter and spring. Under these circumstances the crime of incendiarism which is charged against evil-disposed persons assumes & gravity which it otherwise would not wear, but there is an absence of intelligent mo- tive for such wickedness that leads us to think the fires are due to accidental causes, There is only one reliable means of preserv- ing valuable timber lands from destruction by forest fires, and it is to encircle them by a belt of clearing which would intercept the progress of the flames by failing to furnish matter for combustion. The value of the property is well worth the labor that might be expended with this object. Tae ‘Tvrco-Servian War.—Telegrams from the scene of the conflict are as conflict- ing as war telegrams can well be. One day we learn of Turkish victories and the anni- hilation of the Sultan’s enemies, but the next despatches bring us intelligence of a. directly opposite character. Whatever may have been the successes of the Montenegrins it is certain that they have not gained ground in the war, and have made little or no impression on the armies of the Porte. The neighborhood of Podgoritza con‘inues to be the scene of many battles, but the military situa-: tion remains unchanged. The Servians still maintain a bold front and clamor for a con- tinuance of hostilities. Unless they have good grounds for this warlike resolution— and perhaps they have—their persistence amounts to insanity. True, their army iv rapidly developing into a Russian corps, and coming events may still further Russianize them. Ex-Premier Gladstone declares that his feelings are harrowed by the accounts of the Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria, and he deplores the policy of the British govern« ment with regard to these terrible outrages, Altogether the situation is strained to ita utmost tension and the war cloud in Europe shows no signs of being speedily dissipated, PERSONAL INTELLIGENCE, Texas Jack is in South Carolina. Secretary Morrili bas gone to Maine. Hallett Kilbourne is in San Francisco, Senator Spencer, of Alabama, is at Cape May. Dr. H. Van Buren arrived from Europe yesterday. Augustin Daly and E, L. Davenport aro visiting Boston. Senator Henry B, Anthony, of Rhode Island, is at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Eaglish birds on the moors this season are strong ox the wing and healthy, : Bob Ingersoll says there is no more flesh on Tilden than on an old umbrelia. A Newark conductor put @ mosquito offa street car for not paying full fare. Colonel Merrison, candidate for Speaker, is sick at his home in Waterloo, Lil. Colonel Tuker, of the United States Army, is among tho passengers of the Bothnia, A8t. Louis man ran six blocks after his nose, think ing that he was going to a fire, Mr, Benjamin H. Bristow and family arrived at the Windsor Hotel yesterday from Saratoga The French Commissioners have applied for samples of text books used in the Ohio schools, Senator John W. Stevenson, of Kentucky, arrived from Newport yesterday at the New York Hotel, Lieutenant General T. Saigo, of the Japanese Cen- tennial Commission, is at the St. Nicholas Hotel Major General John M. Schofield, United States Army, arrived last evening at the Fifth Avenue Hotel, A French clergyman being asked for a copy of hig prayer, said, “It was not addressed to the spect: tors.” Governor Tilden dined last Sunday with Hon. Abram &. Hewitt, at Ringwood, in the Jersey Highlands, whore the latter lives. M. Pinant, a French scientist, who has spenta long time on the Pacitic, says that the ancient Oregon Indian was a cannibal, A lady writes:—‘The very little fpotatoos that a farmer leaves upon tho ground may be roasted and eaien like chestnuts, General Sherman is going to California in Septem. ber and on the way will investigate, with Secretary Cameron, the Western posts, On the cool, green hillsides bitter-sweet vines climt to the tops of dark cedars, and their berries break inte burning scarlet, like a street amp, Count T. de Cambray Digny and Baron George Levi, of Italy, arrived from pede in the bps Bothnia, and are at tho Hoffman House, Viscount Vilain XIV., Secretary of the Belgian Le Gatton at Washington, and Mr. George W. Warts, Sec. retary of the United States Legation at Rome, are at the Brevoort House, lt now turns out to be the Paragraphist of the Kochester Democrat who, in the dim twilight and in behalf of orthodox institutions, seized the spielt form by the neck, just unuer the cork. Rev. Henry M. Field, editor of the New York Evangelist, hastened to celebrate the safe ending of hit Hotable journey around the world by getting engaged to be married. The future Mra Field is Mise Fanny Dwight, of Stockbridge, an accomplished Indy ot one of the old and mach honered families ot Berke shire,