The New York Herald Newspaper, December 14, 1876, Page 6

: 6 N EW YORK HERALD BROADWAY AND ANN STREET. JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR —-—__—_ THE DAILY HERALD, published every day in the year. Three cents per copy (Sun- day excluded). ‘Ten dollars per yeur, or at rate of one dollar per month tor any period jess than six months, or five dollars for six movths, Sunday edition included, free of postage, All business, news letters or telegraphic | despatches must be addressed New Youre Hexarp. | Letters and packages should be properly sealed. Rejected communications will not be re- turned. PHILADELPHIA OFFIC E—NO,112SOUTH SIXTH STREE’ T. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. PARIS OFFICE—AVENUE DE L'OPERA. NAPLES OFFICE—NO. 7 STRADA PACE. Subscriptions and advertisements will be received and forwarded on the same terms as ir New York. VOLUME XU. AMUSEMENTS TO-NIGHT. GRAND OPERA HOUSE, CRABBED AGk, e SP. M. TiS THEATRE. KING LEAR, at 81 P ath Lawrence Barrett. GERMANTA, THkar BHRLICHE ARB+IT, at 8 P. Matinee at 2. BATRE, ‘M. Edwin Reote, Frit BE THEATRE, THE scrooL von SCANDAL, at 8 P.M. “THEATRE. THE muavonnatl THEATRE MUSETTS, at 8 P. x“ Lotta. UNION # eaRE RE THEATRE, MISS MULTON, at 8)’. path TORE AQUARIUM. Open daily. OWERY THEAT RE. BENEFIT OF BROOKLYN SUFFERERS, at 8 P. 3. Mr, Dominick Murray, STE! JALL, \ BYMPHONY CONCERT, | and perhaps never surpassed. GILMORK' GRAND EQUESTRIAN FESTIVAL, at 5 P.M, ' COLUMBIA OPERA puguas VARIETY, at 8 P.M, Matinee at 2 P. THEATRE ¢ soungun VARIETY, at 8 P. M. ARDEN. NIC TEMPLE. TRATIONS, at 8 P.M, PIC THEATRE, P.M. CROMWELL'S IL ow VARIETY AND DRAM TONY PA VARIBTY, at 8 P. M. THEATRE, PARISIAN VARIETIES. VARIETY, at 8 P.M. slatinee at 2 P.M. TIVOLL THEATRE VARIETY, at 8P. M. Matinee at 2 P.M. RAGLE THEATRE. VARIETY, at 8 P.M. SAN FRANCISCO MINSTRELS, ateP.M. KELLY & LEON'S MINSTRELS, BP. M. HELL THEATRE PRESTIDIGITATEU PHILADELPHIA THEATRES, EW NATIONAL 1 THEATRE, wasrionsi FRANCAIS; KIRALFY'S: ae PALACE. AZURINE; OR, A VOYAGE TO THE EARTH, TRIPLE SHEET. NEW YORK, THURSDAY, = FOTIOB TO KEWSDEALRRS AND THE PUBLIC, DEC! :MBER M, 1876, Owing to the action of a portion of the carriers, newsmen and news companies, who are determined that the public shal! not have the Herarp at threo cents per copy if they can prevent it, we have made arrangements to place the Heraip: in the hands of all our readers at the reduced price. Newsboys and dealers can purchase any quantity they may desire at No, 1,265 Broadway and No. 2 Ann street, and slco from our wagons on the principal avenues. All dealers who have been threatened by the news com- panies are requested to send in their orders Mitrect to ‘ws, at No, 2 Ann street, From our reports this morning the bc graeme are that the weather to-day will warmer and partly cloudy or clear, Wait Sreeer Yesterpay.—Gold opened at 107 1-2, receded te 107 1-4 and closed at 107 3-8. Money on call was supplied at 4 and 3 per cent. Government bonds were higher. Railway mortgages were generally steady. The final transactions in stocks indicated a firmer tone, but the market was dull and feverish. AyotHER Drsrressixa Sxipwreck, with attendant loss of life, is reported in our marine columns. How Even United States marshals do not always recline on flowery beds of ease is explained in our report of the case of Doyle vs. Sharpe. Tas Famovs Panis W11t. is again in con- test in the courts, and the second day's pro- ceedings hint at a woman inthe case. We publish the opening address of Mrs. Par- tsh’s counsel. Ovn Hanrowrxe Sronr of a husband’s sruelty stimulates the terrible uncertainty about the actual lives of men and women who present a calm exterior and seem to be content. Violence may be imagined between married couples who are of the dregs of so- siety, but the parties to this suit are of wealth and social standing. We Parvr a special appeal from the Asso- ciation for Improving the Condition of the Poor, with the earnest hope that our readers will not think their duty done when they have read it, The largest liberality that can be hoped for will not be sufficient to the honest demands upon the association. With the appeal we give o letter containing prac- 4ical suggestions to everybody. Tax Untrap Sratzs Crecurr Court, in Chambers, at Hartford, is endeavoring to learn whether a coasting vessel is a ferry- boat. That ferryboats are sometimes. coast- ers is well known’ to some residents of Brooklyn and Staten Island, but the case in question, given at length elsewhere, is of peculiar interest to every one who would like to see money flow into our city coffers, Waica?—Mr, William M. Evarts is credited with saying at Washington, in substance, that party leaders and party organs hold now the oil in their hands, and ean choose whether to throw it on the water or on the fire, The troubled waters need ite calming influence ; the smouldering fire is prepared to receive it. In the one case the result will be peace and safety ; in the other conflagration and destruction. Can any sensible man hesitate as to which use to put the oil? NEW _YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1876. —TRIPLE SHEET, ‘ Advice ‘to Democrats—Don’t seuttle | without seeming to act in complicity with Your Own Ship! Our esteemed contemporary, the Sun, is sagacious as well as sprightly. Behind the tone of light mockery and sportive irony, which make its columns so racy, it has more resolute earnestness than the solemn jour- nals which look upon the owl as the bird of wisdom. The Swh's jauntiness and talent for pleasantry only irradiate its surface, beneath which there is a downright persis- tency of vehement purpose seldom equalled The vigor- ous service rendered by that journal to the democratic party throughout the Presiden- tial canvass gives it a strong claim on demo- cratic attention in this crisis. We rejoice to see this influence exerted for wise ends. The Sun's emphatic leading article yester- day deserves to be thoughtfully weighed by all democrats. It ought to be copied and commended by every democratic paper in the United States. We advise the whole press of that party to reprint it, as we do this morning, and exhort their readers to pass it around among their democratic neighbors with the same urgency that they. exhort their readers, on the eve of:an election, to bring their neighbors to the polls. We are glad that this wise advice appears in the Sun, because that journal stands so high in democratic confidence that good counsel from it is more likely to be heeded than from any other source. The danger which the Sun sees and dep- recates and warns the democratic party against is not unreal. If the party can be gonded and provoked into violence the republican schemers will have plain sailing. It is as much for the interest of the republicans now as it was in the spring of 1861 to have their opponents commit some signal blunder. From the moment that the popular heart was fired by the assault on Fort Sumter the fortune of the republican party was made for a long, long period. It would be political lunacy for the democrats to give their opponents a similar advantage now. It would be down- right insanity to give them a pretext for rak- ing operf smouldering fires and appeal- ing to the country to put down a new rebellion. We have persistently cau, tioned the democratic party against so fatal a step, and we are too glad to be reinforced by the wholesome warning and powerful aid of the Sun, whose unflinch- ing friendship and zeal the party cannot dis- trust. “It is for the interest of the republi- can party,” says the Sun, ‘‘and of the conspir- ators who now control it that the progress and the final consummation of the plot to make a President by fraud and force should be violently resisted. They desire that the just passions of the people should be excited to the point of actual sedition in order that they may seize the opportunity to proclaima new war, to raise new armies, to subjugate anew rebellion, to hide their own crimes with new bloodshed and ruin, and to gain a new and long lease of power for them- selves.” We indorse this timely caution. Why should democrats cut a club for their enemies, to.be wielded with mighty effect in giving themselves o cudgelling? The Sun wisely advises that, come what will, “there should be no outbreak, no act of violence, no attempt at forcible resistance to the conspiracy and the usurpation, no opportunity for bloodshed and for armies.” The democratic party never had sounder advice offered to it than this, nor advice from a more disinterested and friendly source, Woe betide the prty if it fails to listen to it! We are sorry that some other democratic organs, less clear-sighted and sagacious, think they can promote the interests of their party by incendiary appeals to its pas- sions. There is no way out of this danger- ous complication without the co-operation of moderate, fair-minded republicans, Patriotic republicans are not only re- pelled by angry democratic vapor- ing, but their influence in their own party would be destroyed if they should be reduced, to the alternative of justi- fying revolutionary violence or compro- mising their ideas of fair play.: If re- publicans of position and influence cannot remonstrate against fraud without becoming abettors of rebellion they will prefer the peace of the country as the paramount interest. Butifthey can be satisfied that peace is insured in any event their candor and sense of justice may restrain them from giving any support to fraudulent claims. What indescribable folly it is for democratic journals to invent and ‘circulate wild canards, which can only disgust repub- licans, whose support they need! We refrain from naming particular offenders, because we are willing to think them rather ‘thoughtless than ill-intentioned. It always gives us hearty pleasure to commend our contemporaries, and we considerately give alocus penitentia to such as unwarily fall into errors. We deem it a great error to give currency to baseless incendiary ca- nards in such a crisis as the present, That kind of tactics is hardly excus- able in the heat of an exciting elcc- tion. It is suicidal folly when the decision has passed out of the hands of a squad of ignorant voters and de- pends on the, action of intelligent, inde- pendent men in the federal Senate. If the reports of the committees sent to the South should show that Mr. Tilden was really elected, strong speeches by two or three able Senators of the type of Mr. Conkling might insure justice in the- final count. Why should democrats put obstacles in the way of such Senators? Why give a handle to unscrupulous, passionate republicans who ‘would be prompt to accuse independent Senators of aiding a new rebellion? ‘The main reliance of the democratic party in this conjuncture must be on thé sense of justice of high-minded Senators, who are unwilling to be accomplices in a palpable fsaud. Why should these Senators be em- barrassed and their influence nullified among their political associates? Why should they be put in such a position that they cannot expose and denounce fraud without subjecting themselves to the impu- tation of abetting violence? Make the case as easy for them as possible, and they will still be assailed by hot-neaded members of their own party for infidelity to its interests, But create such a state of things that thoee Senators cannot spenk for justice rebellion and their influence is wholly de- stroyed in their own party. They can carry yo republicans with them in their protest against wrong. Mr. Tilden’s chances will be ag hopeless with their support as without it. Inasmuch as the decision does not de- pend on crazy democratic partisans, but on moderate and fair-minded republican Sena- tors, the democratic party owes it to itself to maintain such an attitude that men like Mr. Conkling would not bring _politi- cal ruin upon themselves by resisting fraud and supporting justice, The bearing of the democratic party should be such that republicans can interpose to see justice done without destroying their standing in their own party. But is ‘there any republi- can Senator who does not despise the incen- diary tale about General Sheridan coming to New York to bull-doze the city? Can any Senator with a grain of sense credit the wild story that Senator Sherman and his brother General Sherman have formed a conspiracy to seize -the government? Democratic papers which fabricate such stupid stuff only prejudice and disgust the men on whom they must rely for justice. If they make it impossible for any man who voted for Hayes to unite with them in 4 protest against fraud they will find them- selves supporting a “lost cause.” The wisest democrats are giving no coun- tenance to this miserable, suicidal folly. The Southern members of Congress are acting like men of sense. The demo- cratic Senators did themselves honor in refusing to contend for the twenty- second joint rule against their ideas of parliamentary law for mere party ad- vantage. Let all democrats emulate their high-toned example, scorning any advan- tage won by a trick or by incendiary appeals, claiming nothing but what is clearly right, and asserting the right only by legal and peaceful methods. If they win by such means they will win nobly ; if they lose they will nevertheless retain the respect of the country and occupy an admirable position for efficient appeals to public opinion in fyture elections. Candor of the Comte de Paris. It was not to have been expected that so voluminous a work as that of the Comte de Paris, written so near to the events it nar- rates and judges, would escape errors of de- tail. In the four volumes of his lucid history which have thus far been published only one mistake of any considerable importance has thus far been detected, and this the distinguished historian has been prompt to acknowledge. In his ac- count of the military events of the sum- mer of 1861 he imputed blame to General Patterson for his failure to reach the scene of action at Bull Run and avert the dis- graceful defeat with which the war opened. The public opinion of the country, both at the time and since, passed the same judgment on General Patterson which is recorded in the interesting pages of the Comte de Paris. But General Patterson wrote a book on the Shenandoah campaign’ of that summer which, in the opinion of his friends, was a complete vindication. The book, however, had: but a limited circula- tion, and the original impression of General Patterson’s conduct has remained on the minds of his countrymen. As it has turned out the Comte de Paris did him a real ser- vice in repeating the judgment of General Patterson’s conduct so widely formed by his countrymen. As soon as the French Prince's history was republished in this country the friends of the aspersed General sent a copy his book to the Comte de Paris, who, after a careful examination of the evidence it con- tained, made haste to acknowledge the error into which he had fallen in the candid letter toa citizen of Philadelphia which we print in another column. This letter will be more widely published than any history of the war, and will secure for General Patterson the justice which he failed to obtain by his own book. - That so competent a judge, who had o natural bias in favor of his own first opinion, pro- nounces the vindication successful and pronsises to rectify the error in the second edition of his history, must be highly satis- factory to General Patterson and all his friends. The allusions of the Comte de Paris to the action of General Scott in that initial campaign of the war will be read with melancholy interest, Polo and the Cavalry Service. We print elsewhere an article from the Com- mercial Advertiser setting forth the advantages of poloasatraining for cavalrymen. It neatly enumerates the variety of motions in the exercise of thia manly game, which, it says, give a rider “that seat which gentlemen in the cities cannot acquire.” This is quite true. A week of polo is worth a whole year of the tame and easy riding school practice for the acquirement of a good seat in the saddle and a perfect mastery of the horse. Asa training for the cavalry service it would be invaluable, and we suggest that it might be very advantageously utilized at West Point. The drill now in use there is as mild and commonplace to the spec- tator as it is .irksome to the riders. Let the young men who are to be our future Sheridans have a polo elub by way of practice in horsemanship. Let them become proficient in the handling of the pony and mallet, and in “the con- tinual mélée, rushing to and fro, stopping and starting, turning around and around,” and there need be no fears of their future capability in this branch of their profession. The cavalryman who is a master of polo could safely be trusted for service in an Indian campaign, without fear of his tum- bling out of his saddle at the first fire, Let the West Pointers have polo, by all means. Tux Derais of the Russell murder case are strange enough to fill anovel. A man who, while under arrest for murder ‘not only neglects his opportunities to run away, but nurses the sick officer who has him in charge, throws Bret Harte’s Gabriel Conroy entirely into the shade. Every ono, will rejoice to know that sentence in «the pris- oner’s case is suspended. Bos Hanr, the comedian, gave an im- promptu performance in Judge Brady’s Court. yesterday and brought down the house, See court reports, Ice Gorges and Inundations, The prospect of a severe winter brings to our notice a very important subject and one highly interesting to property owners along the banks of the great rivers. Accumula- tions of ice in the sharp bends and narrow gorges of these streams, and particularly above the points where tributaries empty their waters into the main channel, cause an enormous destruction of property when spring melts the snows of winter, unlocks the fountains and pours immense volumes of water downward to the obstructions. It has been noticed that certain points along the course of a river are peculiarly liable to ice gorgesand inundations caused thereby; con- sequently ample preparation should be made to prevent their formation and to break them up when formed and free the river channel for the spring floods. The value of the prop- erty annually destroyed is great enough to warrant the expenditure of all the money that is necessary to lessen the danger, if not to remove it altogether. The old adage, “Prevention is better than cure,” applies par- ticularly to conditions that can be controlled if only proper measures are taken for that purpose. It will be remembered that nearly two years ago an immense gorge was formed at Port Jervis which defied the utmost efforts Gunpoyder and nitro-glycerine were used without effect on the solid masses of ‘ice | which completely filled the river bed. The obstructed flood waters forced the ice blocks up the sloping sides of the valley and caused @ great destruction of property by the press- ure as well as by the inundation. Now, when it is known that certain bends and stretches of a river are. liable to these ice gorges the latter should not be permitted to form at such places. ‘The channel should be torpedoed in advance of thg spring freshets and when there is no difficulty in placing the explo- sives in proper position. Taking any part of the Delaware River, for example, at which an ice gorge annually forms, a line of torpe- does should be sunk for at least a mile up stream, the charges being set at not more than one hundred yards apart. These should be arranged in their order of power, the heaviest being placed at the down stream end. The object of ‘this arrangement is to secure by a violent and powerfal explosion the breaking up of the gorge at the point where it is pre- sumably most firmly fixed. Once the head of the ice mass is liberated and sent floating down the river the explosion of the other torpedoes, one after another, will break up the body of ice as fast as it can be carried off by the current, But a chief advantage will be to prevent the ice gorge from form- ing at all or assuming the proportions usu- ally attained by these obstructions. To do this a regularly organized torpedo corps should be stationed on ench of the great rivers and at points liable to ice obstruc- tions. Already a gorge is announced as having formed in the Ohio at Cincinnati. A for instance, than that reached by few well placed torpedoes would soon de- stroy this accumulation of ice and free the channel, besides relieving property along the river from a great danger. The destruc- tive gorge at St. Louis is due to the sudden breaking up of the ice on the river north- ward of the city. The rapid changesof tem- perature to which we referred in yesterday's Henatp render the Western rivers peculiarly liable to these movements and great accu- mulations of ice, and it is a matter of the gravest moment to owners of property along the rivers to provide for its protection by an organized system. Had the torpedoes been applied in tiine no such losses as those re- ported would have been sustained by the people of St. Louis. Bombast, or What? The National Democratic Committee, through its Chairman and Secretary, issues an address announcing as the result of the Presidential election held on the 7th of November last, the election of Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, as President, and Thomas: A. Hendricks, of Indiana, as Vice President of the United States, congratulat- ing the people of the United States on this victory for reform and giving them the im- portant intelligence that it now only remains for the two houses of Congress in the perform- ance of their duty on the second Wednesday of February next to give effect to the will of the people, thus expressed in the constitu- tional mode, &c., &e., &c., &e. Of course, President Tilden will. be gratified at this happy settlement of tho Presidential diffi- culty, and he cannot in fairness do less than confer Cabinet offices, custom houses and other enviable honors upon the goen- tlemen who have brought about this result. There may bo some trifling obstacles in the way of their ad- vancement, it is true; .the two houses of Congress, in giving ‘‘effect to the will of the people,” &c., &c., may find some other the democratic committee. There is a gen- tleman at Utica, the inmate of a public in- stitution, who regards himself as tho Em- peror of China, and issues edicts by the score ; but we have never heard that he en- joys the revennes of the Celestial Kingdom. The result of the Presidential election is not yet decisively announced, it is true, and so there may be said to be still a chance fors both parties; but Mr, Tilden is'no more President elect of the United States to-day than the unfortunate gentleman in the interior of the State is Emperor of China. It is to be hoped, however, that the democratic committee's congratulatory address is only a piece of innocent bombast, and is not a part of an organized attempt to inflame the public mind and excite the passions of the people overa yet undecided question, which must be finally settled in accordance with law by other authority than that ofa political committee. vice on the Pennsylvania road is to be re- sumed next Monday, on and after which day the Henatp will be received in Philadelphia at half-past seven o'clock in the morning, in Baltimore at a quarter-past eleven, at Wash- ington at one o'clock in the afternoon, and will be delivered in all parts of New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland Tar Postan Srnvics.—The fast mail ser- and in parts of Virginia before oralittle after of the people of that district to break it. . noon, The Post 0 Post Office authorities deserve cfedit for the earnestness and perseverance they have evinced in securing these advan- tages to the public, and it is to be hoped that they will be afforded all the facilities necessary to enable them to more fully carry out their plans in regard to a fast mail service. A Great Outrage. The brutal treatment of the insane has been made the theme with which more than one novelist has aroused the indignation of his reader gs he contemplated to what depths it was possible for man to descend in the scale of cruelty. There have been also, time and again, investigations into the treatment of patients at various asy- lums which have shown neglect that has reflected strongly upon the management of such institutions. But the reader of a work of fiction always believes that the’web and woof of the story is manufactured to a large extent from the brain of the author for the purpose of attracting popular attention, thus bringing to himself reputation as an author and increasing the sale of his book. Charles Reade has depicted the horrors of the madhouse’ treatment in language so graphic that the blood curdles at even the contemplation of the facts he presents, yet few of his readers beliéve that he has founded all his statements upon facts. We naturally recotl from admitting man’s inhumanity to man to the extent that he nafrates in his book ‘‘Very Hard Cash.” Again, there is so general an inclination on the part of the public to believe that be- cause a man is confined in an insane asylum nothing he may say or his friends may assert is worthy of credit. On the one hand the novelist is believed to be peopling his chamber of horrors with actors that may play his tragedy for his individual profit, and on the other the charges brought by the insane are believed-to be only the un- healthy coinage of the brain. We, however, have a case presented to public notice to- day that shows that,-however we may be inclined to question the picture that the pen of fiction may,paint, it is possible for truth to present a story of brutality that will chal- lenge any that the novelist’s imagination has conceived. Here we final a lady whose brain has lost its balance under conditions that make a special appeal to .tender consideration. She is placed in the Bloomingdale Asylum for treatment. According to her statement she is first subjected to the straitjacket daily, the use of which is unpardon- able with a delicate woman. Yet this is kindness in contrast with her after experience. Every effort was made to heap upon her the most degrading insult, and nothing seems to be omitted that would strike at every feeling of self- respect and that modesty which isthe crown- ing virtue in woman. When her family called to inquire about her health they were informed she was not well enough to be seen, in order to prevent their seeing the results of the assaults made upon her by her inhuman attendants. The full details of this case will be found in another column, and it will there be noticed that the repre- sentative of the Hznarpy has seen the wounds that have been inflicted upon the victim by the wretches that were employed to care for and protect her. This case is one which calls for prompt investigation. For the unfortunate lady who has been subjected to the tortures of the tools of the Bloomingdale Asylum inqui- sition nothing can be done. But surely some provision should be made to prevent a repetition of such outrage. This sad story indicates that an insane asylum is an insti- tution where the helpless are securely barred from the protection of their friends that they may be punished for lunacy as if it were a crime. Indeed, by comparison, the crim- Tnals in our prisons are treated as the guests of the Commonwealth. What Is a “Vacancy!” In the web of quibbles woven around the democratic dodge in Oregon one of the most prominent is the pretence that a va- cancy can exist only when an office has becn regularly filled and the person elected after- ward dies, resigns, absents himself, or in some other way quits the position to which he was legally entitled. It is contended, in applying this quibble, that inasmuch as the | Postmaster, Watts, was ineligible and the votes cast for him were void he could not va- cate an office which he never held, and that the other republican electors therefore ex- ceeded their authority when thoy assumed to fill a vacancy which did not exist. This wire-drawn reasoning may be easily dis- posed of. An office is vacant when it is not filled, precisely as a house is vacant when it has no occupant. It,would be absurd to say that a new house which had never been occupied is not vacant because no family had ever lived in and vacated it. We only need to look into the laws of the United States or any of the States to find that an office may be vacant by the mere failure to elect an incumpent. The Revised Statutes of the United States (section 26) declare that ‘thé time for hold- ing elections in any State, District or Terri- tory to fill a vacancy, * * * whether such vacancy is caused by a failure to elect at the time prescribed by law, or by the death, resignation,” &o, Here is a clear proof that a vacancy may exist “by a failure to elect at the time prescribed by law.” This upsets the quibble that there was no vacancy in fo Oregon Electoral College because there was no election of one of the three on the 7th of November. Our whole political sys- tem recognizes’ the existence of vacancies whenever from any cause no valid election took place at the proper time. If a Repre- sentative, to Congress should be returned who had resided only four years in the United States he would be incapable of serving, and the Governor of tho State would have to order an election to fill the vatancy. The language of the United States statutes and of all the State statutes agrees in describing such a failure to elect as a vacancy. The Revised Statutes of New York declare that a vacancy exists when an election or appoint- ment is void. They also provide that the Prosidential electors shall ‘fill all vacancies in the Blectoral College * * * occasioned by an equal number of votes having been given fortwo or more candidates.” When an equal number of votes are given for two candidates there is no election any more than when an ineligible candidate has re- ceived a majority; but our statutes expressly authorize the Electoral College to fill vacan- cies resulting from a failure to elect. In Oregon, the votes for Watts being void, there was a failure to. elect, anda conse- quent vacancy, which the Electoral College was empowered by law to fill, So the no vacancy quibble explodes, The Diplomatists at Constantinople. For some days past the tenor of despatches from the Turkish capital has been as reso- lutely pacific as a few weeks ago it was blus- tering and warlike. In the intercourse of nations, as in that of individuals, there is no process more likely to insure the ex- change of civil words than that of put- ting the parties fairly face to face Even Lord Beaconsfield will use in Lon- don, with the Czar at Moscow, phrases that could not be forced from him by any process whatever if the Czar were on the other side of the table ; and the conduct of the Czar is not beyond the influence of the same human rule. Doubtless a great dealof the softened tone of the despatches is due to the fact that the Marquis of Salisbury has found General Ignatieff an exceedingly agreeable person, and as there is no man in Europe who believes more firmly than Salisbury does in blue blood, or more scorns the pretence that men are equal, the pleasant impression of personal intercourse has, perhaps, been mutual. It is well for both countries if peace may be reached by so easy a road as this. Another reason for the peaceful feeling is that Russia is really ready for war. Si vis pacem para bellum. No secret is made anywhere of the fact that the mobilization of the Russian army was pri- marily intended to affect this conférence, , Russia meant, of course, to be ready really for war, but she meant more imme: diately that the representatives of all the States should deliberate at Constantinople in the full knowledge that her armies stood at the frontier like hounds in the leash, ready to move at an hour's notice if the conference should refuse her demands, and her conscious strength enabled her to make the demands so moderate that all must recognize their propriety. These tactics will, perhaps, secure, peace. Ovn Rurorr of the probability of rapid transit soon becoming a fact will rejoice the thousands of citizens who daily suffer the agonies of horse car travel, sustained and strengthened only by the hope which is in- spired by a sight of the Elevated Railroad Company’s posts, The company is at present restrained from completing the downtown end of its road by an in- junction issued at the request of a ware- house owner whose property is several hun- dred feet from the Battery, of the desecra- tion of which he complains. As, however, warehouse owners have no constitutional right to prevent business men from trav- elling speedily and comfortably between their homes and offices, it is believed that the Court of Appeals will soon drop its im- pressive weight upon the red tape barrie: which is the only remaining hindrance to rapid transit, and thereafter the principal response in the Litany will not se fre quently be uttered out‘of church, PERSONAL: INTELLIGENCB, Rose Eytinge 's In sooty Cincinnath. _ The republicans are mad enough co eat Gronin. Young ladies sti)! wear pre pans on their belts, There is now another and a littler Dickie Lingard. Governor elect Lucius Robinson ts at the St James Hotel, Empress Elizabeth of Austria had an early love foo emeralds. Farm laborers in California receive from $25 to $54 month, with board. Major General John M. Schofield, of West Point, at the Hotel Brunswick. There are 12,000 parish priests in France whose salary is only $180 each a year. The giant Ferragus, slain by Orlando, nephew ow Charlemagne, was eighteen feet high. George Eliot gets homelier as she grows older, while Lewes improves in appearance The San Francisco Post, in the course of a long de- scriptive article, says that oysters bave no feet The total production of béct root sugar in Europe is now estimated to considerably exceed 1,000,000 tons. Forty-five thousand old Austrian Wentzel muskets have been bought by the Russian government and shipped to Russia They are eating strawborrics in Southern California, ‘This news makes a man curse Arctic rabbers and mo- Jagsen tafly parties. When the country heard that Tilden was within one of being elected the hard times ceased and ginger | snaps went down two cents a bushol. Rochester Democrat:—''Lacy Hamilton Hooper say the average American husband is a niggard. Woalé you bave your daughter marry a niggard?”” Russians hate Germany, and fear her; hate Austria, and despise her ; and neither despise nor hate England, bat fee! called on by destiny to go to war with her. M. Henri Cernuschi, once a wealthy opponent of Napoleon, has satled for America, ro he will argue tn favor of making the silvor dollar equal to the gold. . At the recent marriage of Mile. Weisweiller, the Baroness Thérése de Rothschild wore a white par- dessus, embroidered in gold, cut in the style ofa man vean de visite. In the many matrimonial reunions In Paris among la mode élégante recently toilets have not been a little remarked which combine with dark silks a mixture of cashmere or plain China crape. Kansas City Times: — And carry the news to Rutherfora B Mr..Giadstone ases postal cards No matter what the subject upon which a correspoodent writes to him the ex-Premier sends a few lines upon a half-penny card, which, a few days altorward, duly appears in the newspapers. From Punch:—Elder Sister (wishing to show off her small brother's accomplishments)—‘Now, Jack, who was the frst man?’ Jack=—‘Adam!’ Elder Sister— “Quite right! And whore did he live?’ Jack (who has notions of his own ewer an earthly paradise)— ‘In the Z'logical Garde: Evening Telegram the Custom House police arrested a young man yesterday who had only 1,300 cigars in’a rubber bag. The plea that he was 8 philan- ‘hropist, ana that the cigars were ‘give aways,’ was indignantly scouted by the authorities, But they wore ‘give aways’ all the same,” ‘The Donner-Reed party of forty persons left Spring- flold, 11., in April, 1846, was increased 10 100 in Mis couri, took the Weber canyon route, quarrel: d at Salt Lake, were snowed in on the mountains (snow thirteen feot deep), lived on cattle hides and human bodies, and the fow who did not die reached California in April, 1847. Evening Telegram ;—''It was said that the eulogies have not been pronounced on the late Speaker Kerr] and the steel portrait business ought not to be prohib- Ned till afterward. But this isa mistake, If we an- derstood the character o! Mr. Kerr ho would esteem it © high compliment to his memory to take advantege of his individual caso to put a summary end $0 thus gross Piece of extravagance,”